A stellar lineup and an abundance of alcoholic and delicatessen options were topped with the cherry of perfect weather this past weekend after Golden Gate Park delivered yet another successful Outsidelands to festival attendees.
From the moment that the entrance gates opened for fans on Friday morning, the mosh pits, crowd surfers, hula-hoopers, belly dancers, and everyone else in between remained enticed and euphoric for the entire weekend.
Although the major headliners were no strangers to the household conversations, (Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, and Red Hot Chili Peppers), it was much of a surprise that the fan favorites were in the nooks and crannies of the festival.
Multiple stages and an extensive layout guaranteed guests the ability to plan as they explored the park. Stages included were “Lands End”, where the headliners performed, as well as “Twin Peaks”, where bands such as Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, and Matt and Kim enthralled audiences.
As of Friday morning, die-hard Beatles fanatics began lining up along the front of the Lands End pit with hopes to remain front and center for sir Paul McCartney’s set, scheduled to begin at 7:10 p. m. Crowds continued to form throughout the day, and by 6:00 p. m., lingering last-minute fans were forced to squeeze their way through the crowd of thousands to even catch a glimpse of the stage.
The weekend’s truest rock moments began with McCartney hitting the stage and staying there for a massive three-hour set. Songs included in the set were “Helter Skelter”, “Let it Be”, and “Hey Jude”. Along with tributes to John Lennon, George Harrison, and his wife, Nancy Shvell, McCartney’s performance literally lit up the stage with help from blasts of fire, explosives, fireworks, and bursts of confetti that rained on the ecstatic audience. After three encores and returns to the stage to thrill fans, McCartney responded to the crowd with, “The show has to eventually end, ya know!”. This statement received thousands of “boo”s, in the most loveable forms, of course.
Saturday started off on the right foot with unforgettable performances by Atlas Genius, known for their hit, “Trojans”, along with Irvine natives Young the Giant, and The Growlers, who headlined Pasadena’s “Make Music” festival in 2010.
Heineken, a strong sponsor of this year’s Outsidelands festival, contributed more awesomeness to the event with the Polo Field Dome, a giant dome filled with a state-of-the-art surround sound and intensely explosive speakers. What was blasting through these speakerS? Each day of the festival, five disc jockeys mixed music and entertained guests for an hour and a half. The dome also featured a bar, serving multiple brews and of course, Heineken.
After Grizzly Bear left their crowd craving more, I had to make the hardest decision of the weekend. On the Lands End stage, Nine Inch Nails prepared an unforgettable set of songs, led by the amazingly charismatic lead singer, Trent Reznor, while on the Twin Peaks stage, Phoenix was dishing out their newest tunes alongside their French vocalist, Thomas Mars.
Phoenix won me over after seeing their opening performance of their track, “Entertainment”, and they continued to surprise me with following performances of “Lasso” and my favorite, “Lisztomania”. These lads managed to stick to their recognizable sound and keep their crowd on their feet with their hands in the air for the entire hour and 15 minute set.
“The crowd literally stretched across the entire field and probably went on for, like, a quarter mile,” said San Francisco local, Victor Valencia., 22. “They were definitely placed on the wrong stage,. The crowd was too big for the area that they were given.”
I luckily got to catch the last song of Nine Inch Nail’s set, “Head Like a Hole”, which blew me away. I’m sure I wasn’t the only festival-goer who knew I was missing out on something, whether I chose NIN over Phoenix, or vice versa. Nine Inch Nails’ fans screamed and chanted until they could yank the 20th song out of them, as Reznor and his mates returned to the stage to encore with their track, “Hurt”.
Fans poured into Golden Gate Park’s entrances on Sunday morning with hopes to continue making memories and top off their weekend with more remarkable events.
For a quick laugh, guests headed to the Barbary stage of Lindley Meadow to catch Craig Robinson, comedian and actor. Robinson entertained guests with a hilarious set of standup comedy, along with a presentation of his hit song from the 2013 comedy, “This is the End”, “Take Yo Panties Off”.
Foals, a British rock band with sweet vocals, took the main stage Sunday evening and captured an audience much larger than imagined.
“Foals always shows so much more attitude live, it’s crazy to thing that the band you hear on your iPod is the same as the one you’re seeing on stage,” said Ronnie Livas, 19, a first time Outsidelands attendee from Los Angeles.
Daryl Hall and John Oates revived the funk in the crowd when their band opened with “Out of Touch”. My award for most surprising response to a band’s set definitely goes to these men, who managed to grab such a large crowd that people were riding on their friend’s shoulders and climbing onto rafters to catch a glimpse of the phenomenal set. Though only nine songs were performed, the encore of “Rich Girl” and “You Make My Dreams Come True” blew the minds of thousands while their soft-rock melodies were embedded into the hearts of fans.
Vampire Weekend followed Hall and Oate’s performance, and dance pits formed across the pit as fans of all ages flailed their arms in the air and shouted every lyric to hits such as “Holiday” and “A-Punk”. Those catchy riffs and harmonious articulations of their famous lyrics echoed through the park, leaving fans pumped and excited for what followed on Lands End stage.
While big-name bands were thrilling mass audiences, classics like Willie Nelson, who turned 80 this year, kicked off his set on the smallest of stages, Sutro, with his 1973 hit, “Whiskey River”.
“There’s no way in hell that the staff had their heads screwed on straight when they threw Nelson on the Sutro stage. That sh*t is so tiny and there were so many fans there that people near me couldn’t stretch even an inch without groping me”, said Christopher Lee, 46, long-time fan of Nelson and family.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers closed the eventful weekend with a fantastic set. Thousands of voices filled the park as fans sang along to favorites, “Under the Bridge”, “Californication”, and “By the Way”. The only well-known song left out of their set was “Scar Tissue”, which left fans slightly upset. Although the two-hour set managed to fly by in almost an instant, fans are deemed to always remember the insane closing to the unforgettable 2013 festival.
From unforgettable music moments to unparalleled standards of food, art, and drinks, and comedy, over 60,000 guests from around the world gathered together for the sixth annual, three-day Outsidelands festival.
Oxford, England natives Foals rocking the main stage on the morning of the third and final day of Outsidelands.
Sir Paul McCartney and his band performing for a group of thousands during the closing performance of the first day of Outsidelands.
Sir Paul McCartney performing his classic Beatles hit, “Hey Jude.”
Frontman Anthony Ketis leading the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the final performance of the three-day Outsidelands festival.
Phoenix sending groovy vibes from the Twin Peaks stage at the Outsidelands festival.
Vintage duo Hall & Oates giving a nostalgic performance on the main stage on day three of the Outsidelands festival.