Going on its eighth year in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands music festival brings together many different musical acts, artists, food, beer and wine, and local businesses for three says of fun. Here’s our quick take on Day 1. Remember to follow us on Twitter @ToneCritic for more Outside Lands coverage!
The Best: Wilco
Wilco was the second to last headliner on the Lands End stage, essentially opening for Mumford and Sons. Their folksy Americana take on rock and roll and kitch setup led to a very fun fan experience. Their musicianship was tight (after 20 years that is to be expected) and everyone in the crowd seemed into it. A concertgoer next to me stated “That was not a rookie’s setlist – that one was for the fans.”
The Surprising: Lake Street Dive
This four piece consisting of drums, guitar, upright bass, and vocals went for that early rock influence and brought it to a crowd of twentysomethings with great success. I only caught the last few songs of their set, but absolutely loved their take on Van Halen’s “Jump”. Vocalist Rachel Price has just the right smoothness to her voice, while keeping the lyrics relevant to today’s listeners.
The Disappointing: Lindsey Stirling
We caught the first few songs of Lindsey Sterling’s set and after a few songs, the novelty kind of wore off on me. While an incredibly talented artist, her fusion of modern electronica, violin, and enercetic dancing may hold the attention for a 4 minute youutbe video (which is what she is known best for) but not quite festival crowd material. She is playing at the Greek Theater in Berkeley this weekend, which should hopefully prove a better venue type for this type of production.
The Fan Favorite: Mumford and Sons
I’ll be honest – I wasn’t really looking forward to a 2 hour set from Mumford and Sons. I had heard a few songs before and found them a bit dry and too folksy for my tastes – I like a good electric guitar in there. I was excited when I heard that the band had finally ditched the hipster attire, bought a full drum kit, and plugged in those guitars. But this band is one of the most musically split bands I have heard. Literally going back and forth every other song between the new and the old, it was very clear what the fans wanted: they liked it unplugged. When Mumford plugged in, they essentially became a generic indy rock band – albeit a good one. I was able to get into some of their new songs. For me, the show would have benefited from two sets – essentially splitting between their old and new stuff. But the crowd went nuts for this day one headliner, which I guess is the sign of a good day at Outside Lands.
The other acts I caught: St. Vincent, The Revivalists, Ron Funches, Rory Scovel and Jenn Kirkman (comedy)
All solid acts. St. Vincent continues to be a fantastic live act, though their afternoon timeslot left much of the lighting design to be imagined. The Revivalists took a slightly southern take on rock at the small Panhandle stage, and a comedy set with Ron Funches, Jen Kirkman, and Rory Scovel in The Barbary tent was a great way to start the day off with a few laughs.