My festival quota is full for another year thanks to having spent almost all of today in Golden Gate Park at Outside Lands. It was hotter than Hades so I dressed light and made sure to pack a liter of electrolyte water, snacks, reading material, and sunscreen, and then rather than trying to hoof it all over the park I just hung out at the one stage that had all the acts I really wanted to hear:
- Akron/Family - These guys are carrying the tribal-beat freak folk flag high, and I love them for it. Half of Howlin Rain came out to jam with them for part of the set to divine effect.
- The Dodos - Their song "Fools" is my favorite track of the entire decade, and now that I've finally heard it live I can die happy, especially with the long drawn-out intro they did for it today that had me jumping up and down for so long my heart nearly gave out. Oh my hell they are amazing.
- The National - I had heard these guys were good in person and I adore their albums, but I was still not quite prepared for the mind-blowing emotional honesty of their performance. Singer Matt Berninger has a voice that grabs you and will not let go.
- Tom Jones - The man is a consummate showman. And you haven't experienced cute until you've seen an entire meadow of hipsters dancing joyfully to "It's Not Unusual". Yes, panties were thrown.
- Pearl Jam - Really I just meant to check out a song or two on my way out the gate, but I heard the opening chords of "Why Go" and suddenly I was running over to the stage like I was 16 again, which is about how old I was the last time I saw Crazy Eddie and company. I then proceeded to rock out.