Outside Lands 2009: Friday In Review

Read about Friday, August 28th at the Outside Lands Festival after the jump

We made our way towards Golden Gate Park decently early, with enough time to get a front row spot for Akron/Family's 1:45 pm performance at the Sutro Stage. They had been one of my most anticipated acts going into the festival, so I was already pretty amped up about their set. We had tried to attend their official aftershow the night before, but was turned away at the door when we found out it had just sold out. It was quite disappointing, and only added to my overwhelming desire to see them. As soon as they started, I was a pretty happy camper, and during their forty-five minute set, my obsession only grew. They built jams around several of their new songs, including a ten-minute "River" and an incredibly funky take on "Everyone Is Guilty." Soon they were into their show-defining experimental masterpiece "Ed Is A Portal" which had the audience jumping, clapping and shouting along throughout. They closed the set with an ad-hock acoustic version of "Woodie Guthrie's America," that found the crowd singing along with the simple set of lyrics. It was quite the raucous set of music, and a perfect way to start out Outside Lands with style and vigor.

Akron/Family

Soon we were off to the Lands End stage, where Built To Spill had just started their set. I've seen Built To Spill on a few occasions now, and this only secured them as one of my favorite bands to catch live. This was a much mellower set than the last couple times, but was still absolutely brilliant. They brought out a host of their easier listening tunes like "The Plan," "You Were Right" and "Carry The Zero," which fit perfectly with the melancholy-but-attentive crowd in attendance. Built To Spill also became the most referenced band during Friday, with bands like Pearl Jam and Silversun Pickups name-checking them later in the day – only adding to their influential prowess. Even after just seeing them, I'm counting down the days until their stop in Houston towards the middle of October. I can't freaking wait!

Built To Spill

After BTS finished their set, we headed back towards the Sutro Stage to catch the start of The Dodos. I'd seen them once before on Easter last year, and they impressed the hell out of me, so I was looking forward to the home-town performance from the drum and acoustic guitar duo. While a huge crowd started to gather (which was much different than the 25-or-so people in attendance before), we made our way to the hill to catch this show from a seated position. They filled the field with their brand of indie-folk which lies heavily on rapid drum-beats and very strummy guitar work. The set started with "Jodi," a tune that I fell in love with over the course of 2008, so from the start I knew it'd be a good performance. They played a bunch of new songs from their soon-to-be-released second LP Time To Die that all sounded quite good, but the biggest crowd reaction came during a rowdy version of "Fools" and a heavy "Paint The Rust" towards the end of the set. I didn't get my "Red And Purple," but it still didn't stop this from being one of the standout sets of the weekend.

The Dodos

The next hour or so I gave myself to wander the festival grounds and check out a bit of each band playing. I started at the Presidio Stage, where Blind Pilot were just beginning their set. They had a simplistic folk sound that translated very well in an outdoor format. Fronted by the unmistakable Israel Nebeker, and supported by a cast of musicians rotating through a plethora of different instrument, Blind Pilot provided a nice compliment to the set The Dodos had just performed. I had only heard a few songs, but I decided to move on in favor of checking out the grounds.

Blind Pilot

After a nice walk-through, taking in all the different vendors and activites, I decided to give the Silversun Pickups another chance. I'd seen them once prior last year at ACL, and left after only a few songs due to not really digging screaming in my rock. I sat down for a couple songs at their OSL set, and the same fate hit me this time. They have a good sound to their music, but just like The Mars Volta, I can't stand their lead vocalist. I'm not sure who told them it was cool to scream instead of actually sing, but it doesn't work for me. I soon packed my things and headed out in search for something a bit more listenable.

The Sutro Stage hadn't yet done me wrong, so I decided to take in the entirety of The National's early evening set. I've been a big fan of The National since catching them at an ACL aftershow in 2007, and again during the festival the next day, so this set was another set I was really looking forward to. I had the chance to see the National perform earlier in the year, during the Dark Was The Night concert at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, so I had an idea of what they were sounding like these days. This set was by far the best of the four times I've seen them. They were visibly happy to be performing at OSL, which seemed to be a theme that would continue on through the weekend. Normally quite serious lead singer Matt Berninger joked around throughout the set, at one point even exclaiming that he just killed a bug, then soon after dedicating the next song to said slain bug. They brought along an additional two-piece horn section to fill out songs like "Start A War," "Secret Meeting," "Abel," "Squalor Victoria" and their latest effort "Vanderlye Crybaby." Particularly stirring was a set-ending version of "Fake Empire" that stopped me dead in my tracks on my way out of the field. What a great way to end a stellar hour of music.

The National

I made my way across the festival grounds to see what the Lands End stage had to offer. I'd walked by the stage prior in the day, but was yet to see any music at the second largest performance area of the festival. Q-Tip was a few minutes into his set when we arrived, and we jumped into the crowd to get our fix of hip-hop for the day. I'd seen Q-Tip back in December of last year, so I wasn't too worried about missing the beginning, but we walked up just in time. Q-Tip jumped into a few tracks from his latest A+ effort, The Renaissance, before digging deeper into his earlier work with A Tribe Called Quest. "Bonita Applebum" worked its way into "Electric Relaxation" which soon gave way to "Scenario." It was an instant dance party, and everyone was eating up every minute of it. Q-Tip's biggest tune outside of ATCQ, "Vivrant Thing," was well received, but the real treat of the set was soon to follow. The familiar first notes of ATCQ's "Award Tour" came on the PA, and Q-Tip ripped into the first line. He immediately stopped, and had the DJ bring it back. The beat was back on, and again he sang the beginning then stopped. He did it three or four more times, which became somewhat annoying, but he more than made up for it with the ensuing events. Q-Tip proceeded to ask the audience if he could bring out a friend, which was an easy yes, and soon a back-packed Phife Dawg was walking to center stage. A legit A Tribe Called Quest reunion right in front of me at Outside Lands...how could I be so lucky?! "Award Tour" began again, but this time, instead of stopping, Tip and Phife killed it. After the song and set ended, and Phife Dawg had left the stage, Q-Tip proclaimed to the crowd – "Don't know when you'll see that again!" – making me feel even luckier for being a part of it.

We again found ourselves running across the park, this time to catch legendary vocalist Tom Jones at the Sutro Stage. I'd never had the opportunity to catch the Welsh singer before, so I was not going to miss a minute of his set. We walked up, and Jones was working his way through a jazzed-up version of The Black Crowes' "Hard To Handle," which initially through me for a shock, but soon I found myself really enjoying his take on the tune. We grabbed a tuft of grass on the side of the big hill overlooking the entire stage. Backed by a 12-piece band, including horn players, back-up singers and a solid quartet on drums, bass, guitar and keys, Jones had no problem entertaining his audience, one of the biggest of the day. Classic standards such as "She's A Lady," "It's Not Unusual," "What's New Pussycat?" and "Delilah" were performed, and as I said via Twitter during the show, "Panties [were] flying like glowsticks at a Phish show!" His performance was excellent, and I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I ever thought I would. He's definitely worth seeing sometime in your lifetime.

Tom Jones

Our group decided to split up after Tom Jones, half going to grab a spot for the headliner, and the other half going across the field to catch a bit of Thievery Corporation. I was in the Thievery boat, and I'm glad I did so. We walked up to the beginning of their tune "Lebanese Blonde," which was made popular with its inclusion on the Garden State soundtrack. It's always a treat to hear live, but this version had a little bit more energy involved than the previous times I've heard it. Soon after, they made their way into another middle eastern-influenced tune before changing their sound to more of a dance-hall reggae with the inclusion of two different vocalists. The beauty of Thievery Corporation is their ability to keep their sound consistent, while rolling through a variety of different genres. Each song features a different singer, with each one bringing a completely unique sound and style to the performance. They are always a fun time, and I was dancing my ass off, but I'd never seen the headliner, so again I found myself hoofing it all the way across the park.

Thievery Corporation

I have always been a fan of Pearl Jam, not an uber-fan like some, but still a fan. Even though they tour pretty consistently, it took me until now to finally see them live. Eddie Vedder is an undeniable musical presence, and at 44 years old, still has enough energy to run around the stage for over two hours. The entire band actually was filled with energy, much more than I would have expected. I arrived during "Even Flow," which was a great way to start off my first PJ experience. The rest of the set featured a wealth of new material, all pretty good, and welcoming hits like "Black" and "Do The Evolution." The best part of the set came when they returned for the first of two encores. Vedder started out with an acoustic take on "Wasted Reprise" which led into the one-two punch of "Betterman" and "Daughter." My highlight came with a spot-on cover of The Who's "The Real Me" followed by the rarely played "Crazy Mary." The first encore finished with an intense version of one of my favorite PJ tunes, "Alive," so I could have left right there a happy man, but they weren't done. They came back after a few moments and started with "Throw Your Hatred Down," a Neil Young Cover they recorded a while back, before busting out another Young song to close out the night, a fitting "Rocking In The Free World."

Pearl Jam

I really enjoyed Pearl Jam live, especially the song selection during the double encore. While it wasn't my favorite set of the day, they still showed why they belonged at the top of the festival line-up. Their fans came out in hordes to witness the set, and most people didn't leave disappointed.

The first day of Outside Lands left me impressed, not only by the stellar musical selections, but by the general layout, the added amenities, the lax security and the overall positive vibe flowing throughout the grounds. I still had two more days to go, and was more than ready for it.

Stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday in review, as well as photo galleries from all three days and a video round-up of the weekend.

Words and Photos by Jim "Eggs" Bricker