“I’m so hot my eyeballs are fuckin’ sweating!” Those were my exact thoughts as we rolled up to the 2009 Outside Lands music festival. I gotta admit, the LA heat and blue skies must of followed me to San Francisco cause it was record breaking heat at about 100 degrees.
LA’s West Indian Girl hit the stage and I wasn’t too impressed. I enjoyed their eclectic sound and psychedelic riffs, but I’m just not feelin’ the new front-woman. Moving through the long Outside Lands speedway, lined with tents of beer, bevies, food, lounges and everything else your happy heart desires, we wondered off to see Akron Family. These guys fuckin’ ripped! Whether they were bustin’ some down-home-blues, psychedelic or just some sweet ass rock ‘n roll, Akron Family was a definite highlight with their fun stage presence and bevy of instruments. I wanted to give the dude in the salmon button-up a hug, he just looked so high-in-the-clouds friendly.
I had listened to Los Campesinos many times but was never quite into them. I figured I’d check em’ out live and maybe they’ll tickle my fancy in a live setting, eh, not so much. The front man is a flamboyant Welsh ball of energy which I loved, but Los Campesinos just isn’t my thang. It’s a lil to pop-tarty for me, although they seemed to have drawn a crowd of fun-loving hipsters.
Back to some more LA goodness, Silverlake hometown heroes, the Silversun Pickups absofuckinlutely killed it on the main stage. Their performance was full of movement and sound. Front man Brian Aubert is a guitar god. The man shreds chords of unspeakable measure. His unique vocals are quite the treat in their own. In a moment of awe he shared, “I’m going to geek out here. We didn’t know Built to Spill was going to be here . . . and we are so excited cause they are one of the greatest bands around!” Closing it up with “Lazy Eye” we then moved onto get our panties ready for the tossin’ at Tom Jones. And let me tell you, Tom Jones was incredible, sexy dancing-fun. No matter what age he hits, that man will always enamor the crowd. We left just as “She’s a Lady” was coming on and danced are way back to the mainstage for Pearl Jam.
It was amazing to hear Peal Jam and see Eddie Vedder. The music was pure nostalgia bringing me back to my grungy days of junior high when I had an immense crush on Vedder. I was stoked to hear him play a variety of songs from “Ten,” but a bit disappointed when his vocals started to fade in both sound and energy. Apparently it was the end of his tour and his vocals were basically shot. The outstanding instrumentals led quite a portion of the show, but in the end Veddar came back through and closed the show up with that killer Pearl Jam sound we all know and love.
With barely any energy left in me, we ventured over to an Outside Lands night show at Mezzanine for the Golden Gate Gramble. With a variety of killer bands jamming out (ALO, Counter Clarkwise, Newfangled) and featured artists, the place was fuckin’ packed; great way to end Day One of our Outside Lands experience.
