Outside Lands (Oh Mama!)

By Mike Ruby


As a festival reporter and potential attendee, it's high time I examine the lineup of San Francisco's debut festival, Outside Lands. First off, San Francisco is an amazing place to spend a long weekend. It's the home of the windiest road in the world, it's where some guy lost his heart, and it's where the legendary 49ers play (hey, shut up, they'll go to the Superbowl some day). I can't imagine a better location to hold an event of this caliber than Golden Gate Park, a place which I've visited consistently since I was a baby.
This is the first year that Outside Lands will take place, serving as a Bonnaroo West, of sorts. And wow, what a lineup. For an event that's yet to enter its freshman year, the organizers have sure assembled one hell of a group of artists. I do have one complaint though. Despite the fact that the lineup is great throughout, the organization of acts seems a little skewed. I don't want to say that the lineup gets worse each day, but the headliners get less amazing and the festival doesn't end on as strong of a note as was hoped by many festival-goers.
The first day of the festival looks nothing short of mind-blowing. Although it's only half as long as the two proceeding days, the two headliners compensate. Beck and Radiohead will supposedly be the last two playing on Friday. Radiohead, who will be the first band to ever play Golden Gate Park at night, is one of my favorite bands, and I'm anticipating their performance more than any other act at the festival, probably because I've never seen them live. The same goes for Beck, who is supposed to have a fantastic live performance. In addition, Cold War Kids and The Black Keys are something to look forward to.
Day two is also pretty damn good. But unfortunately, Radiohead and Beck are two acts that, needless to say, would suck to follow. Still, if Primus is as good as they were when I last saw them, that should be a surefire festival highlight. Also, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are always fun, but again, not the right band to perform on the night after Radiohead. I predict that Ben Harper and Devendra Banhart will be memorable. And of course, I wouldn't miss The Coup for the world. I'm also curious to see Steve Winwood and Cafe Tacuba.
Now the third day is the only one with which I have a bit of a problem. Let me just say that if you are a Jack Johnson fan, I don't think any less of you. But come on, that guy in no way deserves the closing slot for the festival. Frankly, I'm tired of all the hype around Jack Johnson. His slew of acoustic diddies that all sound pretty much alike don't have a fraction of the depth of the music of Tom Petty or Radiohead. And yet his mediocrity is being constantly awarded. I'm sorry, I don't get it.
My dislike for Jack Johnson doesn't fully extend to Wilco or Widespread Panic, but I do think both bands are overrated to a point where I'm plain tired of seeing them on festival bills. I'll give them points for talent, but it just seems anticlimactic to have these bands on the last day. The act I'm looking forward to most on Day 3 is Rodrigo y Gabriela. I'm also curious to see Broken Social scene and Ian Neville's Dumstaphunk.
For the record, my complements toward Outside Lands vastly outweigh my criticisms and with a little rearranging, this could be the ultimate festival. Stay tuned for more Ouside lands posts.