Outside Lands

August 10, 2014

Destination: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Cost: $133 plus gas

“You realize that life goes fast - It's hard to make the good things last.” So sang Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips during an extravagantly staged performance at the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park. Earlier, while wearing a lycra bodysuit imprinted with human musculature topped with a silver fringed cape, he danced among giant aliens. Later, he encased himself in a giant plastic bubble and crowd surfed his way to a platform on the sound booth – about 50 yards away.

This was theatrical rock at its finest and the highlight of my Sunday trek to San Francisco to attend Outside Lands for the third time. The draws for me this year, besides The Flaming Lips, were appearances by Ben Howard, Spoon, Gardens and Villa and the Killers.

I've learned that the strategy for these giant festivals is to arrive early in order to find parking and enjoy the venue before the crowd gets too large, too drunk and too out of control. After watching a few minutes of Jonathan Wilson’s opening set, I wandered over to The Barbary Tent to watch a performance by The Improvised Shakespeare Company. These guys were hilarious as they created a full Elizabethan-esque play to the audience-provided title: “Melissa Saves Her Salad.” There was a special surprise: Patrick Stewart joined in their zaniness. This was particularly magical for me as I had met Mr. Stewart in the 1970’s – hanging out with him in various London pubs and backstage at the Royal Shakespeare Company during a theater course there.

After this special treat, I stopped at Beer Lands for a Kolsch from Magnolia Brewing and a fabulous chicken tamale from Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas. Next stop – the Panhandle Stage for a set by Hiss Golden Messenger – weird name, good southern rock band. The day was mellow until I headed over to the Twin Peaks Stage to check out electronic music from Flume. The crowd swelled with young concertgoers anxious to hear this musician I’d never heard of. I listened for a few minutes then grabbed a bourbon-and-cornflakes ice cream cup - the flavor is named Secret Breakfast - from Humphrey Slocombe and went over to the Lands End Stage for Paolo Nutini – quite the heartthrob. This put me in a good position to catch the upcoming Spoon performance – which I had to cut short to see Ben Howard at The Sutro Stage.

Speaking of heartthrobs, Ben Howard, in his quiet, unassuming way, grabbed the attention of many  young girls in the crowd – some screaming out “Marry Me!” as he dazzled with his unique guitar style and impassioned vocals. Okay, I’ll admit it – I fell a little in love, too.

Watching Ben Howard’s full set, I missed the opening of Flaming Lips, a recurring problem at this festival, with so many artists overlapping. The Lips were a revelation and performed with such vitality that I felt satisfied and decided to depart (and miss The Killers) as the crowd got sloppier and the beautiful park completely trash strewn by inconsiderate fans. I caught a few minutes of Ray LaMontagne on the way out and then walked off into the foggy dusk.

It’s hard to make the good things last, indeed – but a full day of inspiring music of all genres is great way to spend a Sunday and very good for the soul. Until next year.