Freewheelin’, fun-loving, funky-fresh San Francisco. The City by The Bay has been accurately described as an artistic haven, a food Mecca, a paragon of urban beauty, a human zoo, a cauldron of progressive thought, a surrealistic pillow, a fog machine, and, generally, a rainbow.
In all of its quirk and charm, in glorious celebration of all of these traits, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park proudly played host to the third annual Outside Lands Festival.
This year’s Outside Lands was truncated with editorial precision into a two-day affair. I attended the first day of the festival.
I arrived on festival grounds shortly before 3:00 p.m. I had planned to arrive at the event much, much earlier…so goes time in San Francisco.
Green Spaces
The Outside Lands Festival begins and ends with Golden Gate Park.
The Park is a testament to the possibility of old-growth forestry and gorgeous, sprawling green-space amidst a dense and highly active populous. Really, I could extol the virtues of this public treasure for the remainder of this article – it is one of the prettiest, most unique, most accessible venues for a music festival in the country, and it is one of my very favorite places in the world.
Suffice it to say that the contoured, manicured, tree-lined lawns of Golden Gate Park’s Speedway Meadows and Polo Field won the hearts of music fans and artists alike.
Old Places, New Faces
As I made my way into the venue, I was immediately struck by how different The Park felt as host to a big-ticket summer festival. Even in comparison to other major musical events that enjoy the same space (e.g. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Power to the Peaceful), the vibration was unusual.
Part of it was the level of order in contrast to the typically quiet anarchy of Golden Gate Park. Security redoubled its efforts to prevent fence-hopping, pond-swimming, tree-climbing, and uncouth loitering in one of the loosest places in America. For the most part, the-powers-that-be kept The Park on lockdown – you decide if it was wise.
Another major piece of it was the crowd. Wildly divergent, fully-intensified musical frequencies from all points on the map mingled peacefully, yet at a cautious observer’s distance. I found myself explaining to a curious couple, “In Grateful Deadanese, ‘cash or trade for your extra’ means that the offeror would gladly furnish some negotiable form of compensation in exchange for one of more of your extra tickets.” I urged old Deadheads, “If you electrified the punchbowl at a Broadway dress rehearsal for Fiddler on the Roof, you’d wind up, in the best of all worlds, with Gogol Bordello.”
As the evening drifted with the fog, everyone eventually merged into a single, tranquilo blob of musical satisfaction. The blob made me appreciate those initial, curious encounters all the more.
Good Graces
Once I entered festival grounds, I was blown away by the quality and organization of the event. I mean, I knew what to expect, but seeing it executed was a thing of beauty.
Many of San Francisco’s tastiest restaurants and confectioners staked their tent at Outside Lands. The prices were reasonable, the food was healthy, and the offerings proved generous. Special kudos to fine-dining staple The Slanted Door – your vermicelli quelled my belly – and Philz Coffee, which is always on point. The food, alone, made a strong case for a two-day ticket next year.
The wine tent was vintage Bay Area, a real touch of class. Good beer – ubiquitous. Earth-friendly threads, fun toys, and cheap sunglasses could be purchased throughout festival grounds. In true San Francisco fashion, Outside Lands prominently featured activist organizations like the Surfrider Foundation and OXFAM. I liked the souvenir metallic Outside Lands water bottles that came with unlimited free refills.
Perhaps best of all, I located a non-VIP bathroom trailer with wallpaper, photos of Bay Area landmarks, sinks, hand-dryers, and overall cleanliness. I think that merits its own paragraph.
The physical layout of Outside Lands was ideal. The stages were located in fairly close proximity, so that festival-goers could easily move between acts. Festival grounds flowed in a long, relatively narrow, rectangular-ish polygon running from Golden Gate Park’s Speedway Meadows through the Polo Grounds. The venue provided plenty of individual space, yet the setting felt intimate amongst two-hundred foot trees and a cool ocean breeze. This all meant that, wherever one turned, there was music and a comfortable place to dance or sit or lie down and soak it all in.
Security inside the festival was considerably more relaxed than outside Outside Lands. Moreover, there was no apparent need for enforcers to harsh our mellow – everyone, it seemed, was copasetic. How could they not be? This place had all the trappings of a concert-goer’s Valhalla!
And then there was the music…
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