all words and photos by Dakota
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(see this image BIG)
Day 1
The Outside Lands experience.
Mmmm... and so now, please allow me to take you on a journey to my second favorite city: San Francisco.
I recently (as in a couple of weekends ago now...) attended the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park. There were six stages and if I had to approximate, 100 bands? Needless to say, impossible to capture it all, so I bring you some of my choice shots, favorite bands, and pretty much whatever I could get... shooting was a bit cutthroat at the festival, too many photographers.
The headliners for the festival were Pearl Jam on the first day, Dave Matthews the second and Tenacious D on the third to replace the Beastie Boys who had to cancel due to Adam Yauch's health issues. I have pictures of none of those bands. Why? Because photographers needed special releases to shoot those bands, and I didn't get them. But really who cares right, I mean, that's what I'm going to tell myself, whatever, Connor Oberst is waaay cooler with hipsters anyways.
So here are a few shots of hometown heroes The Dodo's:
Then The National, so amazing live. So amazing.
I kind of accidentally ended up seeing Q-Tip as I was waiting by the stage to meet with Eric and Rob of Thievery Corporation for a style piece I was working on for AOL. I have to admit, although I was prepared for the worst and have sort of resigned myself to believing that Q-Tip is far beyond his glory days, I was pleasantly surprised when he played his hits from A Tribe Called Quest and even brought Phife onstage for "Award Tour"... it was quite awesome, actually.
Awesome art installations all over the grounds (click to see bigger versions).
Day 2
I have no idea who these people were, but they were singing ridiculous porn-type education knowledge to children while wearing clown/mime costumes, so they were eminantally worth photographing in my book...
Portugal. The Man... lead singer John Gourley and I actually got to hang out a little bit. He's from Wasilla, Alaska (of Sarah Palin fame)... and his band is named after a country on the Iberian peninsula. They killed. You heard it here first, check these guys out, seriously.
Jason Mraz, mmm, yeah, not really sure what to say about this guy. I honestly lost respect for this guy seeing him in concert if only because he's such a dipstick on stage. "Peace and love and give the guy standing next to you a hug for coming with you to the show, this is what peace looks like... " barf. Death and murder, I should have gone to Mastodon instead. Chicks dig him?
Bat for Lashes, indie chick-rock, multi-instrumental sensation Natasha Khan and company. Incredible live. See them. Hear them.
Connor Oberst playing with his most recent iteration of whatever the hell he's doing, don't ask me.
Please watch this video... Patrick Scott's "Light Portal" was actually one of the coolest things I saw during the whole festival... it's an interactive exhibition combining music and light and sensors activated by proximity, very cool.
Oh, Dave Matthews, while you occupy a very special place in my 11th grade heart, I was unable to capture photos of you due to lack of a credentials. Ew. Nobody cares. We all know what you look like anyways, and that stupid voice is cool when you sing, but when you talk onstage you sound like a moron.
Day 3
Matt and Kim, funnest band ever, they both look like their faces are going to break from smiling so hard when they're onstage. Fuckyes. So simple, yet so good.
My first time seeing Modest Mouse live. I think I will love this band forever.
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Band of Horses, by far the most profoundly inspiring performance I witnessed at the festival. Just a beautiful kind of sound. Unbelievable live, I would go so far as to say even moving.
And that pretty much sums it up... I caught a little bit of a burlesque act near the tail end of the festival. Good stuff. Thanks for reading.
Previously in Tangents:
- 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
- 11/2: PHOTOS: TAXLO Halloween (feat. Chain Gang of 1974)
- 10/10: #OccupyWallStreet
- 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
- 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)
- 7/20: PHOTOS: Artscape
- 7/19: Miho Hatori's Guide to New York City
- 4/11: Cirque Du Soleil: Totem (A Review)
- 12/29: War, Reenacted
- 12/29: What in Hell is Slaughterama?!?
God loves a cheerful giver.
Superfly Productions is taking over the world.
Thanks for the experience.
Ahhh, Dakota these shots are so ace. I'm so jealous!
I think BYT needs to throw a big festival like this outside DC...possible somewhere in Virginia (seriously, you can drive about 20 minutes out of the city and find yourself in some pretty beautiful spots!) How about next summer? US Royalty can play a long set and we can all roll around in the mud.
beautiful job dakota. not even jason mraz's presence could ruin it for me.
The Dodos!!! They need to come to DC. Someone please make that happen.
@Ryan: Why not go east? Anacostia must be full of beautiful locations, sorely lacks hipsters, is metro/bike accessible and I bet cheaper to book/create a venue than VA.
nice photos, but man, what a shitty line-up for the festival.
@W/ and F:
http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/6937.aspx
@Ted
... while I will agree with you that festival line ups can be underwhelming when taken in their totality (especially if you're looking only at the headliners), what makes a truly great music festival is the quality of the lesser known acts.
if you come away from a festival with 10 new favorite bands, i'd say the festival did it's job, and Outside Lands while maybe lackluster in terms of headliners, was certainly not short on talent.
on the third day, in the course of 3 hours i saw Matt and Kim, Modest Mouse and Band of Horses. now granted, it's all totally subjective, but that alone made the festival awesome for me.
for instance... http://www.treasureislandfestival.com/
let's take a look at this lineup... is this a better lineup because MGMT and the Flaming Lips are headlining?
i mean this festival hits on a lot high notes with a lot of great bands... and i've seen mmm ALL OF THEM.
how many festivals can the Lips headline? they're incredible live no doubt, but i'm really wondering whether MGMT is big enough to headline a festival?
i mean, i'm not gonna lie, the Decemberists, Beirut, Grizzly Bear and Yo La Tengo with a Flaming Lips Cherry on top, all on one stage sounds pretty much divine... buuut, is it just because i've seen all these bands before and love them already?
it's almost too perfect... which begs the question, is it better to have a festival that taps talent that is all basically the same genre, or to have a diverse lineup with all kinds of acts ranging over all sorts of genres?
what does the ideal festival lineup look like to you?
what. a. lineup. & beautiful photos