San Francisco Music Blog

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Vinyl Vamp: Zap Mama

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Fickle weather and last-minute headliner replacements aside, Outside Lands was a success, by most yard sticks. Here's what folks are saying about the three-day extravaganza, which drew more than 100,000 people to Golden Gate Park:

Local reaction:

The Chron's Aidin Vaziri noted the lack of "urgency in the air" for big-ticket headliners, but added that the event itself was the event: "unlike last time, when people stampeded for hot commodities like Radiohead and Wilco, this year it felt like they were there simply soak it all in - the sun, the spectacle, the food, the alcohol and, hey, maybe some music from a lineup that was decidedly diffuse."

7x7 posted a video compilation of some of the performers, including M.I.A., Silversun Pickups, Bat For Lashes, Zion-I, Portugal. The Man, the Dead Weather, and John Vanderslice.

SFist's Day Three coverage gushed over Bettye LaVette: "the best performance of the day, if we had to choose, came from recently re-issued soul singer Bettye LaVette, who sang a doozy of a number called 'Let Me Down Easy' and also covered Sam Cooke's 'Change is Gonna Come,' which she sang at President Obama's inauguration." SFist's Day One and Two photo galleries and commentary is here and here .

Bay Area News Group's Jim Harrington announced, "the event was definitely better organized, with the promoters (Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment working with a pair of national presenters) having ironed out many of the issues that dogged the 2008 affair. Notably, the traffic control -- in terms of both foot traffic inside the park and the public transportation serving the event -- went smoothly. Also, the bathroom and concession lines weren't as intimidating as last year."

The improved logistics made a huge difference from the previous year, others agreed. "I was really impressed with the infrastructure," said Power to the Peaceful's Gina Gallo.

"I don't feel comfortable at a lot of festivals," Boots Riley confessed, adding that this one was different, since it was in his home region, and he knew more people.

Christopher Victorio

​Outside Lands Day Three: Tenacious D, M.I.A, Ween, The Avett Brothers

Golden Gate Park
August 30, 2009
Better Than: Being warm.

The fog that began showing up in wisps over Dave Matthews Band on Saturday night turned into a typical freezing summer in San Francisco day by Sunday morning. The weather may have thwarted plans to show-off yesterday's tan, but it didn't prevent crowds from packing into the park for one more day of Outside Lands. Luckily, even non-San Franciscans know to come prepared: Whereas most of Saturday's festival goers wore little more than sunglasses and smiles to stave the heat, most of Sunday's crowd arrived in layers (aka parade of ugs and furry hats with ears). Some dealt with the cold in other ways (aka booze, furry costumes, and frantic dancing).

But at least for this reporter, the cold simply melted away at the first banjo strum from the Avett Brothers, whose energy on stage radiated out to the bundled crowd. Whether the Northern Carolina-based brothers were singing a slow tune, voices harmonious and sweet, or whoopin it up and slamming their weight on the bass drum to set the beat for a raucous hoe-down, everyone in the crowd bounced along. The brothers play hard - by which I mean, the banjo had lost a string by song two - and give their audience a show that's truly worth standing in the cold to watch.

Joseph Schell

The Avett Brothers

​Most of the crowd appeared unfamiliar with the Avett Brothers -- who play a mix of rock, folk and country -- as there were few people singing along. But it's clear they'll have some new fans now. "I can't believe y'all are still here," said one of the Avetts midway through the set. A humble remark coming from a band that's been seeing sold-out shows since the release of their 2007 album, Emotionalism.

But festivals aren't just about the music. They're also about the mob scene, which on Sunday was pretty mellow. Until...

EKAphotography

​Outside Lands Day 2: Street Sweeper Social Club, Trombone Shorty, Black Eyed Peas, The Mars Volta, & more, Saturday, August 20, 2009.

Better Than: sitting in the park, waiting for you.

The first day of Outside Lands was a huge freakin' success, especially if you stayed at the Twin Peaks stage (like I did). The opening night salvo of Zap Mama-Midnite-Q.Tip-Thievery Corporation was a potent one, to be sure. But how would Day Two line up? First of all, unlike the first day, there was no 'groovy bloc' of artists all lined up at a particular stage, all day long. This encouraged wandering. Besides Twin Peaks, there were several other stages, and with the talent level spread out fairly evenly among them, it only made sense to check them all out.

EKAphotography

Street Sweeper Social Club

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Arriving at just after 2 p.m., I was sorry to find out I missed both Albino! and Zion-I. Too bad these local acts couldn't have been scheduled for later in the day, but that's how it goes. Still, I did manage to see the Street Sweeper Social Club, which I had earmarked before the festival as one of my must-see bands. Tom Morello and Boots Riley did not disappoint. Their set of revolutionary rap-metal had Molotov intensity, although it did kind of sound like an aggregate of Rage against the Machine and the Coup (which, to a certain extent, it was). Still, I dug their "SSSC" uniforms (which evoked both classic Soviet Communism and the Beatles, circa Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). Boots' famed Afro stood tall, and Morello's rock star-riffage was on point.

EKAphotography

SSSC's Boots Riley

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Chritopher Victorio

Tom Jones

​Pearl Jam, Tom Jones, Incubus, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Outside Lands
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009

Better than: Anything else you could be doing in Golden Gate Park on a Friday night.

The opening day of the second annual Outside Lands was, overall, what I'd call a pleasant experience. There were no big hassles, and no outstanding peaks either. It was a meat 'n' potatoes evening of music on a night when everything from the concertgoers to the weather seemed in cooperation with the event.

We didn't get Radiohead magic in the fog,  but we also didn't have "trying to get into Beck" bottlenecks. It was a well-run festival full of polite music aimed at an older, mellower crowd. The roughest situations I saw in the park came from the cops--who would swarm in on some unsuspecting kid and drag him out of the crowd for doing god knows what. Oh, and one dude was throwing up some bright yellow substance in the trash cans outside Tom Jones. But otherwise, the event was just as tame as a family day in the park--down to the parents at Pearl Jam dancing with their pre-adolescent kids on the lawn.

Lineup-wise, opening day at Outside Lands was a strange one. There were a number of popular indie acts on the bill (Autolux, The  Duke Spirit, Built to Spill) but they were all pretty early in the day. By the time I arrived in the late afternoon, the good stuff was nearly over. I was, however, able to check out Austin's Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, who were excellent performers perfect for an outdoor summer fest. The band went well with the random heat turning the park into a giant sunbathing belt. Under hazy, humid skies, Lewis belted out Otis Redding-worthy rock 'n' soul songs in long shorts, a t-shirt, and baseball cap, playing the guitar as he sang about doing his woman wrong--but trying to do her right by bringing home some chicken. He was backed by a dress shirt 'n tie horn section, whose enthusiasm was evident not only in the constant grins but in the energy the guys gave their late afternoon set. Around the stage, Black Joe Lewis fans did their little hippie dances in bikini tops and low-slung summer shorts, showing lots of skin--and bare feet--a look that continued late into the night, the big winds never kicking in.

Zap Mama

​ The headliners for this weekend's Outside Lands festival--Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, and M.I.A.--need little introduction. But what about the undercard?

One of the coolest things about this event is the sheer number of acts playing, not to mention the tremendous range and diversity of style. Since it's impossible for any one person to know everything about every act playing, we thought we'd give ya a little trivia quiz to help you bone up on the lineup.

Match the letters column with the numbers column (after the break).

A. The Onion called them "two radical firebrand tastes that taste great together."

B. This Brazilian band, known for fusing Tropicalia and psychedelic rock, reunited in 2006.

C. This Belgian-Congolese singer known for her vocalese has recorded with the Roots and Ekyah Badu.

D. Before being "rediscovered" by Gilles Peterson and Ubiquity Records, This Bay Area soul singer recorded three classic 45s while moonlighting from his day job as a pimp.

E. This three-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter's 2008 album was called Little Honey.

F. This retro soul singer, whose real name is Charlie Ray Wiggins, has produced songs for Lucy Pearl, D'Angelo, and Joss Stone, in addition to his own solo material.

G. This Arizona-based rock outfit mixes country-rock with Tejano and mariachi music.

H.In addition to collaborating with David Bowie and members of Antibalas, this popular New York-based band has remixed Beck, Lee Scratch Perry, Fischerspooner, the Knife, and Nine Inch Nails.

I. This Bay Area band's tagline is "heavy heavy Afrobeat."

J. He told Lady Miss Kier, "baby, just sing about the groove."

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Hatin' on the D: M.I.A.

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Courtesy of Perez Hilton via Prefix magazine, SriLankan/UK rebel rapper M.I.A. has dropped the Twitter equivalent of a stink bomb on her fellow Outside Lands performers Tenacious D, who had the misfortune to replace the ever-popular Beastie Boys at this weekend's massive San Francisco music festival. "IM TAKIN BIRD FLU OUT OF THE SET ! JUS TO MAKE A POINT," M.I.A. Tweeted in all-caps, showing her apparent anger at preceding the "School of Rock" star and his overweight yet rockin' buddy.

WTF, M.I.A.? Okay, you love the Beasties, we love the Beasties too. But why hate on the D? They're nice enough guys trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation, and who knows? They might just be able to pull off the biggest show of their entire careers without a hitch or hiccup (anyone got a spare Pick of Destiny?). Why not show encouragement toward your fellow musicians?

M.I.A. promises, "WE HAVE TO GO HARD!!!" and invites everyone on stage with her "FROM THE GET GO," but it's difficult to understand why she's kvetching so loudly. She's lucky enough to be playing the festival in the first place, especially on the main stage, and if she disagrees with the headliner, why not just commit all that fire to a blazing-hot cover of a classic Beasties song, like "High Plains Drifter," "So Whatcha Want?" or "She's Crafty"?

NIMBY Targets: Black Eyed Peas

​In a clear case of covering all one's bases, the SF Chronicle has managed to both support this weekend's massive Outside Lands festival and criticize it. This past Sunday, the three-day extravaganza garnered lots of Pink section coverage, with a Joel Selvin feature whose headline declared "Outside Lands gets ready to rock." The Datebook cover package also included an Aidin Vaziri Pop Quiz with Jack Black & Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, and a list of bands and set times  for those attending the festival.

Sunday Datebook editor Sue Adolphson called the festival a "megamusic event" and compared it to Woodstock, while Selvin's article, which included an interview with Another Planet Entertainment impresario Gregg Perloff, noted "the festival does not lack for star power. But the real pleasures of Outside Lands will be found scattered on all eight stages across the Polo Field, Speedway and Lindley Meadow."

Yet just one day later, in Monday's SFGate, blogger Michelle Richmond took up C.W. Nevius' NIMBY torch with a post highly critical of the festival. Unfortunately, Richmond failed to do even basic research which might have informed her viewpoint. The ticket prices were an easy target for Richmond's ire: "If I want to take my preschooler to the meadows this weekend, it will cost us $89.50 (per person) for the day, $225 (per person) for three days. In this economy, those ticket prices aren't exactly appealing to the masses."

Too Expensive? Tom Jones

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Ok Michelle, we understand that that's a wee bit more than you might expect to pay for two tickets to see Tom Jones  (who appears at OL) at the Starlight Room--although you'd probably want to get a babysitter (in case you feel the need to toss your granny panties at Mr. "What's New, Pussycat"), so you'd probably break even on that one, all told.

And, we have to wonder: is your preschooler a Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas or Dave Matthews Band fan? Does your tot rock out with his wee-wee out to Os Mutantes, Atmosphere, Zion-I, Zap Mama, Raphael Saadiq, Lila Downs, Incubus, or Street Sweeper Social Club?

If so, $90 for a full day of incredibly diverse music doesn't seem so exorbitant; lots of folks are paying those prices (which amounts to approximately $4 per band), and as the Chron itself noted back in January, the festival is expected to raise as much as $ 1.7M  ($950,000 of which is guaranteed) for the cash-strapped SF Parks & Rec Dept.

(Outside Lands 2008)

Yes, we bombarded you with Outside Lands photography not too long ago. But professional photographer Tim Wagner has graciously allowed ASD to share select pieces from his festival reel, so here's more of the colorful people in attendance. --Janine Kahn

Summertime music festivals used to be a safe time to wear ridiculous clothing, but not anymore. Back in the day, you didn't have to worry about seeing someone from Coachella or Bumbershoot ever again, and your embarrassing visage lasted only through the weekend. Now with the advent of live blogging, we have the technology to capture your goofy style and blast it throughout the information superhighway in a timely manner. Check out our slideshow where we've brought back the most outside fashions from Outside Lands, and prepare to cringe repeatedly. --Oscar Pascual