The Bully Pulpit

So, yeah, I failed until now in wrapping this glorious festival up, but only because I was exhausted, I went straight back to work after an early morning drive, and it was the first day of school for two of my kids, including the first EVER for Hank, my 5-year-old.

But all that aside, I've now processed all the great photos taken by one of my best friends Glen, and am ready to post some of them so that you too can see the ringside view of Outside Lands.

To help you rank the bands, here's my assessment -- the best band all-around had to be Cage the Elephant, which gave the most intense performance I've ever seen, all without the slightest hint of pretension. Next came Ween, because they have mastered their catalogue and gave a flawless and energetic performance of some strange and difficult material. Street Sweeper Social Club is next, primarily because of the mammoth guitar chops of Tom Morello and the verbal calisthenics of Boots, without the icky taste of someone else's cloying politics.

The best new band is a toss up -- Portugal The Man was good, if too into staring at each other while ignoring the audience. The Dodos were also amazing, as was Loop!Station, and AudioLux.

The only band we didn't like (I'm going out on a limb here by speaking for Glen, but I'm pretty sure he's with me on this) was the Morning Benders. With that name, you'd expect a grizzled group of road veterans finally breaking into primetime after a decade spent behind stage cages, dodging beer bottle shards and stepping around strippers on stage. Instead, we got four high school sophomores with three chest hairs among them. They had zero energy, and less stage presence.

Still, as Glen said, they were the best band at Outside Lands without driver's licenses.

Anyway, on to the pictures. Glen took all these with a consumer point-and-shoot camera, garnering better photos than a lot of other photogs who had thousands of dollars in gear hanging around their necks. He's got mad skills, as they say.

Loop!Station

Street Sweeper Social Club

TV on the Radio

Cage the Elephant (here the lead singer is standing on the shoulders of the crowd, shoe and microphone in hand, surveying the raucous crowd)

The Dead Weather

and

MIA

Tenacious D

and

And here's just a great photograph. Thanks Glen, for everything.

Posted by James Faulk at 09:43 PM | Permalink

I don't have much time, as I slept in late after a late return last night, but the best bands on Day 2 were Mars Volta, TV on the Radio, Mastodon, and Street Sweeper Social Club.

Here's some pics:

Posted by James Faulk at 11:06 AM | Permalink

The Dirtbombs are yet another surprise this weekend. With two bass players AND two drummers they create a huge and classic sound.

Posted by James Faulk at 01:01 PM | Permalink

You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get this pic:

Turns out that Pearl Jam has a ton of strange rules about who can photograph their shows. At Outside Lands, there are likely scores and scores of photogs, most of whom wanted to get in the photo pit to shoot Eddie Vedder's flannel. But only 20 got in. Randomly drawn apparently. Outlets like AOL didn't get in. We got in.

It's not as impressive as it sounds when you realize it was for just one song, and the whole time you're wondering if PJ's publicist is having a hernia. But, it's always nice to win something. It's no foot massager from the church raffle, but it's still a prize. Here's another shot:

Aaahhh, media privilege.

The photo, BTW, was obtained by Glen Cooper, who was shooting for the T-S at the festival because of this:

Others were somewhat upset that we got in ... Alas, I kicketh too much asseth.

Posted by James Faulk at 10:55 AM | Permalink

With five stages rotating through a dynamic roster of musical talent -- many of whom have hit records and large followings -- Outside Lands was remarkably full of surprises. Several times on Day 1, Glen and I stumbled into a stage where an unheralded band bent old musical rules to make something new and good. Really new. Really good.

Loop!Station

The Dodos

Autolux

(no picture, dammit)

Every band exceeded expectations, but of the major acts, Sliversun Pickups kicked the most ass. And mainly it was the singer, whose infectious good humor and strong vocals -- not to mention his serious guitar chops -- kept the swollen crowd loud and moving.

What else can you say about a festival where Tom Jones -- yes, THAT Tom Jones -- and Q-Tip can find robust crowds who know all the words.

Posted by James Faulk at 11:01 PM | Permalink

Here's a link to the Facebook page where I'll be posting photos and comments from the field today.

Also, because I'm a geek, here's the view from our inner city hotel -- we've already seen a man and woman get arrested as they had a "415 with themselves," just as a horrified tourist family walked by ...

Alas, no one got Tasered.

Posted by James Faulk at 10:03 AM | Permalink

Rock festivals have a special taste about them ... like body odor and hardening mud. I can't wait to get out to the grounds of this year's Outside Lands Festival in SF's Golden Gate Park to get my first whiff.

My buddy Glen and I drove down last night from Humboldt County, checked into our rather 1950s chic hotel room in the city, and are now freshly showered and plugged in to the Internets.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Glen Cooper, 31, of Washington state:

There's a laundry list of bands performing this weekend, but I'll keep it to a short list:

Pearl Jam
Incubus
The National
Autolux
Q-Tip
The Duke Spirit
The Do Dos
Built to Spill
Kinky
Silversun Pickups

And, of course, Tom Jones

That's just one day folks. We're making our schedules now, trying to plot out some harrowing conflicts. For instance, on Sunday, the legendary (to me) band Ween is bisected by MIA. What are we to do? The station KSLG has gotten us all so addicted to MIA that I may have to duck out for a moment or two to catch the band's international sound.

Yikes. At least Ween is playing for two hours.

Anyhow, we're off in a few moments to search out the press tent, find Will Call, and see if this silly chain of events comes to some kind of enjoyable conclusion.

More photos and words to come ...

Posted by James Faulk at 09:12 AM | Permalink