WITH SO many great acts playing at various stages around Golden Gate Park, the only losers at last weekend’s Outside Lands were the crowd’s shoes. While The Original Meters were firing up the main stage, it was time to head across to Lindley Meadow to catch Foster the People. After that, there was barely enough time to get some refreshments and see MGMT before the wave of day-glo colored girls (with their entourage of brooding young men always 20 feet behind) took over the Polo Field. Some festival goers had to make the difficult decision between seeing Big Boi or The Limousines. The Big Boi fans ultimately regretted their choice, since he never took the stage (although he was able to hang out backstage with Dave Chappelle). Luckily, Big Audio Dynamite had no problems.
Saturday and Sunday were epic in the way music festivals should be. Muse sent off the crowd on Saturday night, spilling thousands of happy people onto the city streets.
With legends like Mavis Staples (featuring Win Butler), John Fogerty and Lyrics Born solidifying the musical foundation, Sunday was also the perfect day to catch the next generation of talent: Little Dragon, Major Lazer, the Decemberists, Beirut, Deadmau5 and the Arcade Fire, to name a few. Even Tommy Lee took time out to visit, but with a roster that includes the best musicians around, who wouldn’t?
