The final day of Outside Lands 2009 was my most anticipated and jam-packed of the entire festival. We found ourselves running from stage to stage to catch bits and pieces of performances from Other Lives, Sherry Sirof, Brent Weinbach, Atmosphere, The Avett Brothers, The Dead Weather, Modest Mouse, Ween, Band Of Horses and festival closer Tenacious D.

Read all about Sunday, August 30th of the 2009 Outside Lands Festival after the jump.

Our day began with an amazing breakfast in Lower Haight, before making it to the festival around 1 pm. Our goal was to catch at least a bit of Stillwater, OK folksters Other Lives. I'd seen them once prior, when they opened up for Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Walter's here in Houston, and immediately fell in love with their simple melodies, so I was pretty excited to see them again. When we arrived they only had about four songs left, but those four were more than worth the long haul all the way to the Presidio stage. "Black Tables" made the modest crowd perk up and take notice, before Other Lives transitioned into the very Radiohead-esque "Don't Let Them." I was extremely excited to here my favorite, "Paper Cities," close out the early performance, capping off a set that left their wealth of new fans clamoring for more.

Other Lives

For the next hour, we didn't have a definite plan, so we wandered over to see what the Barbary was all about. A scheduled comedy showcase featuring both Sherry Sirof and Brent Weinbach was just getting started as we arrived. We took a seat just as Sirof had begun, and started to chuckle along at the bounty of sex jokes she was firing out from the get-go. Her set was pretty funny, but she only got me to laugh out loud during her improvisational parts. Weinbach, on the other hand, was a completely different type of comic that had me laughing pretty hard throughout his set. His odd-ball sense of humor led to some pretty awkward stage moments, and what seemed like unfinished jokes that turned out genius due to his impeccable timing. We couldn't stay for the third showcasing comedian, but it was nice to get a chance to experience that part of the festival.

Sherry Sirof

Brent Weinbach

The Lands End stage was home to several good sets of hip-hop throughout the weekend, so it was only fitting to go out strong with a set from Ant and Slug, better known as Atmosphere. The Minnesota-bred duo consistently put on an impressive live performance, so it was a goal of ours to see at least some of their set. We made it just in time for the start, which found them running through the anthem for those of us that are unfortunate in the looks department, "God Loves Ugly." Last time we caught them they were supported by a cast of musicians, including a guitarist, drummer and back-up vocalist, whom were all a nice added touch. For this performance they decided to scrap the band, and bring along label-mate Brother Ali to guest through a majority of their set. Slug's rhymes are infectious, but for me it's Ant's beats that really draw me in. Chain smoking while mixing, Ant brings so much originality to his beats, then drops a whole lot of clean bass over the top. Slug has no problem working over the crowd, easily making them his by song two. Brother Ali guested with Atmosphere the first time I caught them, so it was quite nice to see this format again. Slug and Ali work quite well together, which brought a certain familiarity to each of their flows, but with their styles being quite different, Ali sometimes served as more of a hype man than a guest rapper. They were still pretty deep into their set when I left, but I know they kept their crowd rocking until the very end.

Atmosphere

If you would've asked me before the festival who I was most excited to see, my answer would instantly be The Avett Brothers. Two days before this performance I received word that their show I was supposed to photograph in Dallas, that was originally scheduled for mid September, was postponed until the 3rd of January, 2010. This bit of information made me seeing this set even more pertinent, so I wasted no time shuffling out of Atmosphere's crowd and across the park to The Sutro Stage. I arrived in perfect time, just as they had begun their set with one of my favorites, "Paranoia in B-flat Major." They easily had the most attentive crowd of the weekend which was displayed on a stunning version of "Murder In The City," that saw Seth and Scott Avett supported only by a single guitar belting away to a silent audience. Usually at a festival there are a host of talkers in the audience, but this version of "Murder" had them all drawn in from the start. One of only two new songs played from their forthcoming LP, "Laundry Room" was probably the most well executed performance of their set. Immediately followed by stand-out versions of "St. Joseph's," "Salina" and "Shame," I was in indie-grass heaven. As I said on Twitter during the set, "It's as if they asked me what I wanted them to play!" They didn't stray too much from 2007's Emotionalism and 2008's The Second Gleam EP, but they did pull out one of their early gems – the rousing, whistle-heavy "At The Beach" from 2004's Mignonette. A charming "Bella Donna" was followed by a set-closing punk-inspired number I was unfamiliar with, that found each member dawning electric instruments. It was by far the best set of the weekend, but I'm somewhat biased having had such a high level of excitement about it before it even started. With all that being said, I'm already counting down the days until January 3rd, 2010.

The Avett Brothers

I had decided to check out a bit of Jack White's new project, The Dead Weather, strictly based on the fact that it was Jack White's new project. I'd given their debut album, Whorehound, a few listens leading up to this performance, but wasn't attracted to it as much as his prior work with The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. As I walked up, Alison Mosshart (The Kills) was steadily howling out the lyrics over the top of what I can only describe as the devil's blues. Mosshart was the perfect counterpart for Jack White, with their vocals meshing nicely throughout the set. Mosshart is the definite front-person of the group, but most of the people were there to see White. While they were somewhat messy at times, it fit with their darker, rough and tumbling image. I'm interested to see if White continues with this project on top of the two already established bands he already works with, but after seeing them live, I'd be surprised to see him give it up.

The Dead Weather

My next journey found me all the way across the park at the main stage to catch the majority of Modest Mouse's set. I caught a bit of Modest Mouse's performance a few years ago, but not enough to warrant a good judgment, so I was excited to see them at Outside Lands. With the exception of a ripping "Fire It Up," they started out somewhat slow, pulling out a host of quieter songs for their cool afternoon set. In fact, most of their performance was lacking the energy that I expected to be there. There was one stand-out performance of the set – an extended drugged-out version of "Parting Of The Sensory" that matched acoustic instrumentals with the hard-hitting lyrics of front-man Isaac Brock. Overall, though, it was as if they decided to play the first part of their usual setlist, but only had an hour so they left off the run of songs that would normally close out one of their shows. Good, but not as great as I was hoping. Hopefully, they'll get their asses to Houston so I can form a proper opinion of their entire live show. Unfortunately, that might be a while.

Modest Mouse

It had been a while since I last caught Ween, so I rushed over just in time to catch the start of their set. "Bananas & Blow" was an early highlight, with them letting it out to a lengthy jam highlighted by the guitar work of Dean Ween. When they busted into "Roses Are Free," I quickly ran to my group of friends to have a nice healthy sing-a-long. While it's always a treat to hear my favorite band Phish cover this tune, Ween proved that nobody can fuck with the original. A few of their quirkier tunes followed, but the best crowd response of the set was during "Your Party," which had Ween thanking us continuously for letting them attend our party. The vocal differences from song to song displayed by Gene Ween were unmatched by anyone that entire weekend. We could only stay for half the set due to time constraints, so after a psychedelic version of "Zoloft," we headed across the park.

Ween

One of my most listened to acts of the past few years is undoubtedly Band Of Horses. Over the past year, I've been lucky enough to catch BoH four times, including three different festival sets. The first time I caught them was unreal, so the latter two times didn't come close to living up to that. This performance on the Sutro Stage at OSL almost did, though, especially when they busted out the rarely played "Our Swords" to close out the show. Ben Bridwell never failed to excite the audience, especially with well-placed banter in between the beautifully crafted songs. They executed tracks like "Ode To LRC," "The Funeral" and "The Great Salt Lake" perfectly, sounding just like they do on their studio albums. Despite my tiring legs, body and mind, I still pulled out the energy to sing and dance along throughout the entire set, even sneaking up close for a majority of it. Band of Horses were the perfect way to close out my favorite stage of the weekend, and as always, the perfect lead-in for a Sunday night headliner.

Band Of Horses

Several weeks before OSL, original festival closer The Beastie Boys had to pull out due to member Adam Yauch having surgery to remove cancer. Everybody had their guesses as to who was to replace them in the days leading up to OSL, but I can guarantee nobody had comedy/folk/metal duo Tenacious D on the mind. When I first saw the D were going to be the replacement, I was ecstatic, but I think I was in the vast minority with my opinion. I had talked to friends and read message boards, and most people were quite disappointed in Superfly and Another Planet Entertainment's choice. Not that they wouldn't want to see Tenacious D, they were just displeased about them closing the festival. I can understand why, as Tenacious D have never been that big, but I'd never seen them before, so I was pumped.

Tenacious D

Jack Black and Kyle Gass made it to the stage with coffee mugs in hand, ready to start demolishing the hell out of some rock. From the get-go, the set was extremely scripted, but at the same time, freaking hilarious. The songs we've all come to love were all good for a laugh, but it was the words that came out of Black's and Gass' mouths that made the set worth seeing. "Kielbasa" proved itself a worthy opener, while D set standards like "Saxaboom," "Tribute," "Wonderboy" and "Fuck Her Gently" were all well recieved. During the hour-and-a-half set, Tenacious D – supported by three unknown-yet-talented musicians – made easy work of rock, especially during their two distinct "battles." First they brought "The Metal" to shame, only after having a dance-off with it. Second, they decided to take on the Devil in a battle of song, with them eventually sending Satan packing after rocking his face off. Their encore found them working through a pretty on-point medley of songs from The Who's Tommy, including "Pinball Wizard," "There's A Doctor" and "Go To The Mirror Boy." It was an interesting way to end such comedic set, but I wasn't complaining as The Who are one of my all time favorite bands. The D proved worthy of the closing spot, leaving several people perplexed, but pleasantly surprised. I hope this leads to more appearances by Jack Black and Kyle Gass' pet project in the very near future.

Tenacious D

Overall, Sunday of the 2009 Outside Lands Festival was the most satisfying musically, especially with performances by The Avett Brothers, Band of Horses, Tenacious D, Ween, The Dead Weather and Atmosphere. I was as tired as can be, and had a plane to catch in the morning, so instead of another night of partying, I opted for comfortable clothing, a bed and the last of my heady medicinal. We had such a good time traversing the streets of San Francisco, and an even better time during the entirety of the festival. After hearing about the many problems encountered during the inaugural event, it was nice to see that they worked the kinks out for round two. I'm putting OSL on my list of recommended festivals for 2010, even over its older, more established big brother, Bonnaroo. The location matched with the festival grounds and incredibly diverse line-up is more than enough to warrant a return trip next year.

My Top 7 Sets From Outside Lands 2009

1. The Avett Brothers
2. Akron/Family
3. TV On The Radio
4. Bat For Lashes
5. Band Of Horses
6. The National
7. Tom Jones

Sunday in photos to follow shortly...

-Eggs