The weekend of August 28-30 is shaping up to be a veritable music bonanza. Organizers of San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival have announced a series of night shows for those who just can’t get enough live music that weekend (or who don’t take well to crowds.) The night show series will take place at three fine San Francisco venues: The Independent, Mezzanine, and Rickshaw Stop and will feature a tasty line up of artists such as Calexico, Conor Oberst,The Dodos, The Dirtbombs, Ty Segall, Gang Gang Dance and more.
For the full line up and schedule, click here. Tickets go on sale at 10AM today! Calexico at The Independent? I’m on it.
I took a bunch of photos with my puny little digital camera at the Outside Lands Festival yesterday in Golden Gate Park, but this one captured the essence of the evening for me. Throngs of humanity trampling barriers and blazing trail through Eucalyptus groves to get to Radiohead. Anxiety got the best of the crowd during Beck as thousands of people realized they had to haul ass across the park to get a seat for Radiohead. And no one had the patience to be herded through the narrow walkways set up by festival organizers.
We all got there in the end, but it was a squash. Much more so than the All Points West show in New York two weeks ago. But that in part was due to the festival capacity. There were reportedly 60,000 people at Outside Lands vs. 30,000 at All Points West. Even with the bigger crowds, however, Outside Lands was a much better organized event. I didn’t feel like I missed half of the festival waiting in lines. And not having to consume alcohol in a designated Beer Garden was a plus.
The technical difficulties we experienced during Radiohead was quite a let down. The sound cut out twice for substantial periods during the performance. But once the crowd settled down and people stopped shoving to get to their destination, we all had a fantastic time. I’ve always had great Radiohead experiences. And while this performance wouldn’t rank to the top of my Radiohead show list, it certainly didn’t disappoint. They are always exceptional to see live. Each performance is just a different degree of greatness.
To see the full Radiohead set list, go to 58Hours, a great Radiohead concert database. My highlight for the evening? Paranoid Android.
Whoo hoo! Two more days to Outside Lands and Radiohead. Here’s a mix I compiled of the bands I’m looking forward to seeing on Friday. If I can cram it all in. Enjoy! If you want the MP3 file, you’ll need to sign up for the OCMD Mixtape newsletter.
Carney – Testify
Howlin’ Rain – Dancer at the End of Time
Black Mountain – Angels
The Black Keys – Psychotic Girl
Cold War Kids – Something is Not Right with Me
The Benevento Russo Duo – Best Reason to Buy the Sun
the OCMD 