can't emphasize that enough.
I'm so beyond belief happy that I attended this year's Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival last weekend. I already miss being in the chilly san francisco atmosphere of golden gate park, frolicking in the dirt and grass without a care in the world...just to listen to good music and be around great people.
really no words to describe how perfect our first day at OL was. the crowds were definitely scarce compared to the next two days, which I liked. our first band was tanlines and they sounded great live! even better than on record. we trekked over to the sutro stage to see reggie watts who triples as a beatboxer, rapper, and stand up comedian. by far the most interesting 45 minutes of my life at OL. there's much to explore at this festival, including the heineken dome which we checked out for a little bit to get some fist pumping in. yacht was our next stop, followed by die antwoord who easily became one of my favorite new acts. in between dancing like a crazy person at the twin peaks stage, we mellowed down to tennis. who put on one of the greatest live shows. her voice is just so magical. but you know who else's is? dave grohl. foo fighters was so sick, I loved feeling like I was in the '90s again. we ended the night with electronica at mstrkrft and the incredible justice (my #1 highlight of the weekend for sure & that was so unexpected). again, no words. I'm pretty sure I was almost completely sober during both acts but felt such a high, like I was one with the music. I think I danced the most I physically could that entire day, it was just perfect! also, the response to our King Joffrey stick was another success. so glad I made it!
after getting a solid 5 hour sleep friday night, it was time to prep for day two. so many great acts, yet we didn't get to the park until after 5:30. I was disappointed that we missed geographer, who would've been fantastic....but thankfully, we made it in time for the kills who I've been dying to see since college. allison mosshart is so badass! next up was norah jones who really is my idol. I've wanted to emulate her voice since high school, try as I may. her rendition of "don't know why" was so beautiful. got to catch passion pit for a hot second - literally! got there in time for "the reeling" & met up the other half of our group to see sigur ros. again, talk about magical. I was in such a daze within the first 15 minutes of their set. all the instruments and his voice were just drowning me in the utmost trance. was so relaxing to just sit on the grass and enjoy each other's company while listening to such beautiful music, even if we don't understand a single word of what they're singing! the icelandic language makes for amazing tunes. we took a bit of a 180 degree turn and decided to head over to metallica for some head banging and heavy metal rock n roll. it was serendipitous walking into the polo fields, with the fog rolling in, lights beaming through the trees, as "enter the sandman" played from a distance. how perfect was that? thus ended our short day at the park.
*le sigh* just thinking about how we closed our epic weekend at OL makes me sad. made sure to get an early start even if it meant roaming the grounds by myself...which is exactly what happened for the first couple hours! after brunch with non-OL attendees, I got to the park alone and watched big gigantic. SUCH an awesome duo! had fun dancing around the crowds, somehow finding my way to franz ferdinand where I met up with my friend. hopped back over to the panhandle stage only to bump into some more friends & get introduced to electric guest, who were incredible. next up was santigold who I've been dying to see ever since coachella live streamed her show last april. loved her energy. bloc party was a perfect follow-up, after bomba estereo for a hot minute. SO much international talent we got to witness! sunday was the ultimate festival close-out, as everyone knew it was "stevie wonder night." but for our group, we took the alternate route, without any regrets. we were in the mood to be flat out ratchet. and where better to act a fool than at wolfgang gartner & skrillex? I can't even begin to describe the energy bursting through the crowd. I'm sure the same was happening over at Stevie, but we wanted to be loud & obnoxious, and soak up in all edm goodness. it was such a great closing night, and skrill took me by complete surprise.
