Landing Outside

The second annual San Francico festival got a bit of a bad rap. There was heavy criticism regarding the lineup, which I thought was unfair. Considering the fact that this lineup was put together much later than expected (due to park permit issues), I think they did quite a job. There was great music to be heard if you were willing to listen. But most people weren't.

The biggest problem was not the lineup or the schedule but the crowd. I felt as though I was among a group of restless and disinterested high school kids, with more attention being paid to the next stop than to the actual destination.

Outside Lands lacked the sense of collective enthusiasm for music that makes live shows special. Artists struggled to garner emotion from the crowd, as toe tapping and drink passing replaced dancing and cheering. Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz's attempts to crowd surf resulted in awkward confusion from an audience too weak to hold him up, and MIA received radio silence after introducing her newest material. "Sorry. Get to know it later," she offered.

In spite of the unfazed attendees, there were some very noteworthy performances. Below are my top 3...if you get the chance to see any of the groups below, I hope, for your sake, that it's with people who can appreciate what they're watching.

My top 3:
1. The Dead Weather
2. The Avett Brothers
3. TV on The Radio