The Wrap Up
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.
