Outside Lands Festival 2009: The Bay is treated to one of the best lineups of the summer
August 28 – 30, 2009, at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
By Amy Westervelt & Emily Chow
Published: September 2nd, 2009 | 12:00am
In the grand tradition of outdoor summer music festivals, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival brings together big-name bands with small-town favorites, and hip-hop with hard rock and country — all on several stages with great sound and virtually no interference. This was only the festival’s second year running, but Outside Lands 2009 was once again a slick production, which means it’s likely to stick around for a few years to come.
Day One: West Indian Girl replaces Maandig with Miranda while Tom Jones proves he’s still a panty magnet
West
Indian Girl
kicked off Friday with a respectable show considering that the band lost their
frontwoman, Mariqueen Maandig, just a few months ago. Miranda Lee Richards
stepped in for the weekend and tried to fill the void with a stunning harmony
to the flourishes of Robert James' guitar riffs and Amy White's electronic
keyboard tunes, but Maandig's melodious additions were truly missed. The band's
energy, still calming and captivating in bold atmospheric hits, was simply not
the same.
Zap Mama’s Marie
Daulne wowed the crowd the minute she stepped onstage with a large vinyl record
adhered to the side of her head. Her headpiece was a pleasing but loud
statement, just like her entire performance. Promising to "zap"
listeners away to a vacation, Zap Mamadid just that with Daulne's beautiful
vocals and the band's entrancing exotic beats. True to her rich Afro-Euro
roots, Daulne dished out eclectic, body-moving ,and smooth, soulful tunes like
old favorite "Show Me the Way" and hits from her new
Brazilian-flavored album ReCreation.
Petite in stature, Zee Avi is a testament to the power of YouTube personal
promotion and viral videos. There was quite a following at the Panhandle Stage
for her set time and Avi had the audience chuckling from the beginning as she
poked fun at her own height and Malaysian background. Avi made up for her size
with a rich, paradisiacal voice and raw, down-to-earth tunes dripping with honesty. For songs
with such bitter notes about addiction and disappointment, they were met with
charming, upbeat tunes that offered hope and optimism. Avi’s personal favorite,
"Honey Bee," became my personal favorite and everyone in the crowd
just about melted to the ukulele chords of "Just You and Me." By the
end of Avi’s set, she had the audience warmly belting out the classic "I
Fought the Law" in a final sing-a-long.
The Silversun Pickups were far from mellow and pumped up the volume on Outside Lands’ opening day. With their fuzz rock hits reminiscent of Metallica, the Pickups drew one of the largest crowds of the day, even to their own surprise — evident in lead singer Brian Aubert’s trails of F-bombs and genuine gratitude. The band truly let loose with a perfect balance of anthemic pop melodies and impressive distortion, and showed their range on “There’s No Secrets This Year” and “Kissing Families.” At times the distortion overwhelmed the vocals, but that didn’t keep the audience from rocking out to the band’s biggest hit, “Lazy Eye.”
When Incubus’ lead singer Brandon Boyd pulled out the bottle of red wine three songs into the set, no one knew if it was for better or for worse. Evidently worn out from their massive tour and battling a cold, Boyd sang his songs almost half-heartedly and barely belted out the words to “Anna Molly” and “Megalomaniac.” Although, Boyd did make up for his off-pitch vocals with an entertaining performance and the audience didn’t seem too disappointed as they sang with him. — Emily Chow
As the day wore on the crowds got a bit bigger and so did the names, but it was still nothing compared to last year’s double-header of Beck and Radiohead. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t ample entertainment. Q-Tip kicked off the Friday night fun as he jumped on speakers and got everyone dancing to “Bonita Applebomb” and “Vibrant Thing.” His 5:50 p.m. time slot made for fewer people than might be expected at a Q-Tip show, turning what could have been a huge and informal show into a pretty fantastic little dance party.
At the other end of the park (and the musical spectrum), Sir Tom Jones, “the voice of Wales,” was warming up on the Sutro Stage. He started with “I’m Alive,” a fitting opener for ole Tommy who, as an English guy in the crowd put it, “doesn’t have much change off of 70.” Nonetheless by the time he started in with “Delilah,” about three songs in, the crowd was singing along and he had gathered about half a dozen panties on stage. Apparently the fake tan still does wonders; the butt-shaking on “Mama Told Me Not to Come” didn’t hurt either.
Just as Jones was closing his set with “It’s Not Unusual,” everyone was running up the hill to catch a piece of grass in front of the Land’s End Stage for Pearl Jam. Taking most of the crowd back to their high school days, Eddie Vedder showed up in a worn flannel. But unlike their ‘90s heyday, 2009’s Pearl Jam is a band of great performers. Vedder paced the length and width of the stage, addressed the crowd a few times (remember when he was totally audience shy?), crouched, and wailed with the best of them. Although he said his voice wasn’t what it used to be and flying around on tour recently had weakened it, Vedder still had that deep, booming quality he’s known for. In a “wow, Pearl Jam is getting old,” moment, Vedder asked the crowd to look out for each other, to “be good neighbors and all that.” But just as we were thinking “um, okay Dad,” Vedder launched into “Even Flow,” and took us all back to his grungier days. — Amy Westervelt
Day Two turns into an international affair, from the rising heat of Dengue Fever to the stage melting of the Mars Volta
Day Two brought out more people — in addition to the promise of stellar performances from the likes of TV on the Radio and the Mars Volta. It was one of those rare San Francisco August days that actually felt like summer. Unfortunately, only about 100 folks made it out of bed in time on Saturday morning to catch the Dirtbombs energetic noon-time set. Lead singer Mick Collins stomped and jumped all over the stage, while bassist Ko Melina kept the fast-paced punk beat going, banging her head along with it. The crowd was small but mighty, with plenty of raucous yells and jumping around — and the band got a shout-out from TV on the Radio later in the day, which at least made people regret having missed them.
Extra Golden slowed things down considerably and provided a near perfect soundtrack to the sunny early afternoon. Straight from Nairobi, the band mixes Kenyan Benga music mixed with American indie rock guitar. Lead singer Onyango Jagwasi allowed the crowd to sit through the first couple of songs, but then he had enough:“Okay everybody, if you’re going to continue to sit out there, then I will sit up here, too.” And just like that, everyone was on their feet, dancing. Jagwasi danced around onstage (clearly pleased that the crowd was joining him) while guitarist Ian Eagleson made some spirited, though endearingly awkward, rock kicks. It was an interesting mix of both bandmates and musical genres — and it worked.
Deeper in the woods, on the Sutro Stage, Dengue Fever stirred up the crowd with its 1960s Cambodian psychedelic rock. Bassist Senon Williams (Radar Brothers) was all over the stage, joining each band member for a few minutes of jamming, while brothers Ethan (keys) and Zac (vocals and guitar) Holtzman kept things subdued and groovy. Cambodian lead singer Chhom Nimol drew hushed “wows” from the audience with her incredible vocal range and captivated with her traditional dance moves while saxophonist David Ralicke (Beck, Ozomatli, Brazzaville) was every inch the cool jazz sax player, using his leg on occasion to muffle his instrument. Together the group transported the crowd from a park in San Francisco to a tropical lounge in Phnom Penh.
As enchanted as I was by Dengue Fever, I had heard Portugal. The Man was not to be missed live — so I ran up the hill and through the woods to the Panhandle Stage to catch the last of their set, and it was well worth it. Members John Baldwin Gourley (guitar, vocals, organ, machines) and Zachary Scott Carothers (bass, percussion, vocals) bent over backwards — literally — to please the crowd, which returned the favor by singing along with the chorus to “People Say,” off the band’s popular 2009 release The Satanic Satanist. Wasilla, Alaska must be an interesting little town to have produced both these hard-core rockers and Ms. Sarah Palin. — Amy Westervelt
When lead chanteuse Midnight Rose (aka Carrie Katz) stepped onto the stage with her stringy red hair and eyelashes a touch too long, The Barbary Stage transformed into a smooth, velvet nightclub on a Saturday night. The nine-person Rosin Coven had the audience tapping their toes and little girls dancing around to sassy theatrical cabaret with an enchanting blend of cello, violin, horns, and vibraphone. This San Francisco band’s quirky and carnival-like appearance juxtaposed with Katz’s ethereal vocals and violinist Lila Sklar made their show an intimate yet outstanding hit.
The enigmatic Bat for Lashes put on a fabulous show and surely didn’t disappoint as the girl group transformed the Panhandle Stage into an otherworldly, ethereal space with signature sparkles, crows, and a Jesus figurine. The audience, captivated and entranced by songs from Bat for Lashes’ newest album Two Suns, danced along to multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Natasha Khan’s haunting harmonies that channeled the band’s mystical, dreamy quality into danceable pop tunes. — Emily Chow
Back down in the woods, Brazilian sixties psychedelic rockers Os Mutantes were putting on their crazy outfits (guitarist and vocalist Sérgio Dias came out in a floor-length embroidered robe looking like the high priest in some sort of weird rock cult, while percussionist and vocalist Bia Mendes sported a black body suit sprayed with rainbow glitter). Requesting that the mics all be at the same decibel level “for vocal democracy,” the set got underway with all three vocalists belting out the group’s popular catalogue. The set sort of floundered though with the replacement of a guitar string and the band’s seeming confusion about the set list, but fans of Os Mutantes couldn’t have expected a seamless show — the storied band is almost as well known for being a little nutty and chaotic as for its eccentric brand of Brazilian tropicalia.
Having seen TV on the Radio a few other times I was looking forward to their set — but about ten minutes into it, I couldn’t help but wish I was watching them in a smaller venue. The horns and lead singer Tunde Adebimpe’s trademark booming voice seemed a bit lost in the expanse of the park, and the band seemed a bit tired as usually dynamic Kyp Malone (vocals, guitar, electronics) and David Sitek (guitars/keyboards/electronics) moved around less than usual. Then the band got a sudden burst of energy and became the TV on the Radio I love.
“We are Deerhunter from Atlanta and we are a professional rock band,” proclaimed lead singer Bradford Cox as the rest of his band shuffled onstage ten minutes late for the band’s set. Bassist Josh Fauver smirked as he took a swig from a bottle of Maker’s Mark and a drag from his cigarette, and strapped on his bass. Despite the shaky start, some shaky vocals, and a few technical difficulties, the crowd was determined to love Deerhunter’s performance.
“C’mon I’m missing Conor for you!” one impatient Deerhunter fan yelled while waiting for the band to come onstage. Cox joked around about Conor Oberst not existing, but his set with The Mystic Valley Band proved otherwise. Running down the hill to catch the last half, I had two thoughts: “Bright Eyes has a beard now?” and “Oberst has gone more country, I like it.” Moving around the stage and singing earnestly into his mic, Oberst played the music he was born to play — a perfect mix of Southern rock and alt country made all the sweeter by his whip-sharp lyrics.
The Mars Volta played a freakin’ amazing set to end Day Two just right. (As a side note, it was awfully weird to have the Mars Volta playing in between the Black Eyed Peas and the Dave Matthews Band.) At any rate, from the first second to the last, the band absolutely tore up the stage, with lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala shaking his fro, throwing his white mic in the air, using the mic stand like a baton, and tearing down the stage’s sign only to stomp through it with his boot and throw it into the crowd. — Amy Westervelt
Day Three: M.I.A. loses her patience, Alison Mosshart gets aggressive, and Lucinda Williams keeps her cool
Day Three brought the fog back to San Francisco, making for a nice frigid day in the park. But us San Franciscans are used to our foggy summers and if anything, there were way more people in the park on Sunday than any other day of Outside Lands. Cage the Elephant, from Kentucky, drew the unlucky 12:45 p.m. slot, but drew a much larger crowd than early shows on previous days. Lead singer Matt Shultz seemed like he was still drunk from Saturday night, but that made for a pretty awesome performance as he ran around the stage, jumped into the crowd, head-banged, and turned purple as he screamed out lyrics. It was enough to make me want to see those guys live again.
After choking on the sugary sweet lyrics and Manga-ish performance of Australian pop star Lenka, John Vanderslice was a welcome, er, slice of authenticity. With complex musical arrangements, the singer/songwriter grew his tiny crowd of about 20 to a large and sprawling mass of happy fans midway through his set. In addition to the always goofy and endearing Vanderslice, his band (including a stand-up bass, clarinet, drums, and piano) kicked serious musical ass.
Speaking of ass, Kim of Matt and Kim was shaking hers at about 3:00 p.m. on the Panhandle Stage. These two Brooklynites were an unexpected highlight of the festival — as they had such an amazing time onstage it was impossible not to grin and bop along with them. Sure, their brand of electro-hipster-pop isn’t exactly unique but it’s very listenable, and these two don’t take themselves too seriously. At one point Kim jumped up and grabbed the mic with a little lesson for the crowd: “There are two times in life when it’s important to take your hoochie hoops off: when you’re about to get in a fight, and when you’re playing the drums.”
The Dead Weather lived up to the hype with a high-energy performance from Alison Mosshart (plenty of head-banging and stage-stomping) and some delicious licks from Jack White. It was all kinds of Southern voodoo magic: between the Southern influence, the dark underpinnings, and the sexual tension between White and Mosshart — if True Blood didn’t already have a soundtrack, this would be it.
And speaking of Southern rock, the legendary Lucinda Williams, asomewhat late addition to the Outside Lands ticket, brought it during her set as well. Looking a bit weathered (maybe it was the shift to brunette? I can say that ‘cause I am one), Williams took the stage with the Buick 6 and surprised the mellow crowd with some hard-driving guitar solos and up-tempo beats rather than her typical drawling love songs. It was a fun set, but I heard a few folks complaining that she didn’t play some slower numbers to suit the foggy backdrop.
I was probably more excited to see M.I.A. than any other band at Outside Lands and she both delivered and didn’t at the same time. On the positive side, M.I.A. brought along some pretty kick-ass dancers, sported her usual inventive attire, and jumped around the stage stopping occasionally to hump a speaker. She also tried her damnedest to rev up the crowd, throwing out plastic horns and yelling “get your hands up,” while providing a fitting tribute to the Beastie Boys who were originally scheduled to headline on Sunday and pulled out when Adam Yauch revealed that his cancer diagnosis. Then, M.I.A. tried out “a new song” and completely lost the crowd’s support. More punk rock than garage, it turned off new and old fans alike (although it could wind up being better than it seems once she fine tunes it). M.I.A. seemed visibly annoyed at the crowd; she followed the new single up with a phoned-in version of “Galang” and then hurried off stage.
Meanwhile, over in the woods on the Sutro Stage, Band of Horses drew one of the largest crowds of the festival, with people standing on tables and chairs miles away to try to get a glimpse of lead singer Ben Bridwell’s cowboy hat. The North Carolina group got the whole crowd singing (and waving hands and lighters) on the rabble-rousing “Funeral,” and had plenty of couples cozying up in the fog on some of their slower numbers.
People have been scratching their heads over the festival’s choice to replace original headliners The Beastie Boys with Jack Black’s gag band Tenacious D, but I think it was a smart one — there’s no way the organizers would have made the “right” choice for everyone if they had gone with a “real” band. And besides, the D did what they do best: they entertained. There were stunt doubles, huge props, and plenty of chuckles to be had. Plus I didn’t feel bad leaving early to get out of the cold the way I would have if it was one of my favorite bands playing. Thanks Tenacious D! — Amy Westervelt
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For more photos from the Outside Lands Festival, see Venus Zine's Flickr page
Issue #44
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