Outsidelands, SF '13: Day Two Gallery

OUTSIDELANDS 2013

GOLDEN GATE PARK, SF

10 AUGUST, 2013

Still buzzing from Paul McCartney's monumental performance, it was onwards to Saturday, which offered its own distinctive pleasures, from the up and coming (Young The Giant and Australia's Atlas Genius), to festival workhorses (Gary Clark Jr.), pleasant surprises (The Growlers), indie figureheads (Grizzly Bear),  to the closing majesty of a resuscitated Nine Inch Nails, who, in the spirit of Neil Young's '12 set, front loaded the set with compelling new material, and a stage show that tipped its hat to the Talking Heads legendary Stop Making Sense tour. For the faithful who waited out the hiatus, it was all manna from heaven.

GARY CLARK JR

 ATLAS GENIUS

 GROWLERS

 YOUNG THE GIANT

 GRIZZLY BEAR

 NINE INCH NAILS

Coachella Festival 2010, day one

And so it begins...another weekend in the desert. Weather is uniformly beautiful, mid to high 80's, truly a best case scenario. Friday was full of nice surprises...nothing i really had my heart set on except for the Specials reunion that night, so it was just stroll and dig.

Came in on the very end of Kate Miller-Heidke, who kicked the weekend off in style, following her partner's solo with an operatic high note...would like to have caught more of the set.



Programming notes: changes to this year's fest included dropping one day tickets in favor of three day only passes. Interesting swim against economic trends, but it worked for them, culminating in a complete sell out. Another change was allowing car camping and in and outs for the first time. Sources in the camping area report growing pains in the car camping concept, first not allowing cars in an ancillary area, then relenting. As for in and outs, the number of gates was not increased, and the subsequent backup of traffic caused lines by mid.day of up to 1000 people, and waits in the 90 minute to 2 hour range. This was mostly due faulty scanners, and they were back on line later in the day. High tension on the first day, but soon it was just a memory as the festival kicked into gear.

Cruised sets by Pablo Hassan in the dj tent, Jets Overhead, a young band from Vancouver, and Alana Grace on the outdoor stage (pictured above).

There's always that lull moment when you think 'nothing's really happening', and before you know it, some band steps up and smacks you in the face...First happy discovery of the day was Deer Tick, who opened with a drunken monologue that ended with the point that nothing in punk has improved since the second Meat Puppets record. Touche!
They went on to bash out an inspired set of shambolic roots punk.




Headed over to the main festival stage to catch the highly anticipated rapper Wale. He remained highly anticipated for half an hour after his scheduled start time, at which point, beside myself with what else i was missing, voted with my feet. I could hear that he did come on, from the rumble, and I clocked from my phone that he did a twenty minute set...wow. Campers told me that he'd soundchecked the night before, so what exactly was the problem? Not like anyone was onstage fiddling with the equipment. People need to learn, this isn't the Key Club...it's professional time, especially if you're honored with a main stage spot.
Hid out in the mojave tent, and salved my bitterness with a rocking set from 'As Tall As Lions', (pic above)...
Hustled back to catch the Avett Brothers, graduated to the outdoor stage after a raucous tent appearance in '07.

This set marked the first instance of major sound issues that randomly plagued the festival throughout the weekend. I'm not an engineer, so i won't speak as to cause, but i can certainly speak to effect...eww!

The Bros soldiered on, showing no signs of discontent, simply bailing on malfunctioning instruments and working harder to make up for it. Set built up to a rousing climax, then ended with a really touching sing a long. Never count out the Avett Brothers...

With a little trepidation, I headed back to the main stage for Calle 13 from Puerto Rico, and this time i wasn't disappointed...Party Time with a capital P! The brother/sister led combo held the crowd rapt. Special shout out to the relentless horn section that underscored the drive & kept things moving.

First volcano related scrub of the day was the Cribs, who now feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Was quite looking forward to them.


Back to the tents for Brooklyn's much heralded Yeasayer, fresh off their second album, and Syracuse's own Ra Ra Riot. (both pictured below) Yeasayer had a hugely packed tent, and their new material held up better live.
Ra Ra Riot didn't have the crowd, but played with a lot of heart...















Next up was the controlled chaos that could only be the Dillinger Escape Plan, (pict left), easily the loudest band to this point, who laid down an ecstatic barrage. Amazing energy, and certainly not for the faint of heart. Pictures don't even begin to suggest what went down, I really should have shot some video of these guys.

Just four songs left me absolutely drained, at which point it was back to the main stage to stake out a front and center spot...



Which ended up being a front left spot, but who am i to quibble...the moment i'd been waiting 30 years for was here...the legendary Specials, (above) reunited for a brief 30th anniversary tour, (with everyone but founder Jerry Dammers), and took the coveted sunset slot and turned the main stage into a whirling dance party. Losing none of their energy, they rarely stopped moving, and worked their way through an impressive catalog of hits. All the favourites were there, 'Monkey Man', 'Too Much Too Soon', 'Night Klub', and more.

Now totally totally drained, drifted back to the tents for another 'always wanted to see..', the one and only Gil Scott-Heron, backed with a full band, which proved to be the perfect antidote to the frenzied day...didn't even try to fight the packed Gobi tent, just layed back on the grass and soaked the goodness in...his set ranged all over, touching on the new record, and running the gamut of his storied career...



Thus restored, i staked out a space next door in the Mojave tent for the triumphant return of Grizzly Bear, fresh off last years 'Veckatimest', and a followup to their '07 appearance here.

Grizzly Bear didn't disappoint, bringing the intricate record to life, and adding a lot more oomph to the songs in a live setting.

Finished off a long day with another reunion, Echo & the Bunnymen on the outdoor stage. Their majestic tunes fared well, and some well picked covers, (Doors 'Roadhouse Blues'), helped save the day for them.

top ten time...

Ah, finally cleaning up the files...here's the dreaded 'end of year list''...Fascinating year, and deep, lots of quality music...many oldsters-i so thought about having junior/senior lists, but what the hell...in all it's glory, here we go:

Honourable Mention: (VA) dark was the night, Joe Henry, Neko Case, Fanfarlo, Avett Brothers, Le Loup, Norah Jones, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs get the Honorable Mention...

As for the toppermost, it would be:

10 BROWNIES ourknife yourback
A spastic blast of good old rock and roll from the UK...In the wake of Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Kasabian, and for god sakes Muse, you really had to wonder what had got into the old chaps...was there really no life left in the form whatsoever? Here is your answer, everything great, rude, crude, and socially unacceptable in one neat little package...



9 YO LA TENGO popular songs
Still defiantly barking up their very own tree...this one's front.loaded with great songs, and then finishes with three long jams ranging from sublime to spiky. It could only be Yo La Tengo!








8 ANTLERS hospice
Happy surprise in the form of a desperately dire concept record...(see title). Actually uplifting, in that downbeat kind of way...









7 DINOSAUR, JR farm
Along with Mission of Burma, Dinosaur Jr has managed to pull off the rare reunion that transcends its original work. Their reunion album Beyond was a great return to form, but Farm ups the ante with an emphasis on tightness, and Mascis' amazing guitar work.







6 GIRLS girls
Buzz band with a crazed backstory and a Phil Spector/Jesus & Mary Chain fuzzball sound makes waves w/their debut...compulsively listenable...(& yet another show i missed this year, sigh...)









5 MOS DEF the ecstatic
A serious return to form; Mos hits it hard and doesn't quit, effectively cancelling out the 'WTF' that was 'True Magic, with a lean and muscular record. He's totally committed, riding over some jawdropping samples, culminating the whole trip with a Black Star reunion on key track, 'History'









4 SONIC YOUTH the eternal
Aging gracefully is such a rare thing (to paraphrase Ornette Coleman), and while their peers made marginal records, broke up, reformed for big $$$, Sonic Youth kept the bar raised...Some records were gauzier and less linear, some sharper and shorter, but they maintained a certain level, and never backed away...
Perhaps inspired by their trotting out of Daydream Nation for ATP shows and a move to Matador, this is a career record in terms of looking back across the landscape of their career and bringing all the different elements of noise back under one roof, while maintaining their cohesiveness.












3 GRIZZLY BEAR veckatimest
How to follow up Yellow House? Grizzly Bear chose ostensibly the harder road, the arrangements getting denser, the hype starting with internet leaks of early mixes, a summer tour slot opening for Radiohead, and a sense of having to lay all its cards on the table.
Veckatimest is a magnificent success, the very definition of a 'grower' record, one that seeps into your senses, and crawls under your skin.











2 MISSION OF BURMA the sound the speed the light
The latest salvo in the second wave of Burma is, like Sonic Youth's 'Eternal', at once a summation record of all the strands that made them great, and a statement of current purpose...Never have they rocked harder...each song building upon the previous with little let down. Perhaps no individual songs will match the Burma anthems of yore, this relentless disc as a whole could well be their finest album.











1 DIRTY PROJECTORS bitte orca Stunning from the first listen, still revealing months and months later, like a crystal held to light...Dirty Projectors come into their own.

Misc cleanup...still haven't heard Bat For Lashes new one...loved the first, and how did she not get the Mercury Prize?! Did they turn into the Grammy's when i wasn't looking? Also, just got new Trail of Dead, back in business in a big way. I think both of those would have tussled for a spot on this list if i had it together...



Forward Ho! in the 010, already can't wait for Spoon's new album, 'Transferences', as well as new records from Los Campesinos! , the Besnard Lakes, Shearwater, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Midlake, and Shearwater. In the studio as we speak, (w/no reported release dates), are both Radiohead and Arcade Fire...

what is hip?

Once one gets over the sheer proliferation of music available on the internet, (developing avalanche instincts, as it were)...the logical response, aside from flight, is to set up a gatekeeper, or series thereof, where one can turn on a trusted tap when one feels the need to dabble in the new, or get an opinion on new from the old.

Along with the innate excitement of watching social media progress is the flip side...an abundantly exuberant blogosphere that seems intent of burn & churn, the building up and tearing down of new acts to quickly fill all that cyberspace. Almost to the point of resembling the tawdry English music weeklies...

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Vampire Weekend were two great examples of this...So far it seems only the Arctic Monkeys, and some would say Animal Collective, have had the musical goods to transcend this...making it to a third album relatively unscathed.

Today's object lesson is Grizzly Bear. 2007 saw the release of the much praised 'Yellow House', and with news that they were back in the studio working on a followup, the stage was set for the hype machine to reach full throttle...

Last year saw them secure a high profile opening gig for the east coast first leg of Radiohead's US run. They acquitted themselves well, and the buzz built, leading up to the leaking of tracks from the by now, highly awaited 'Veckatimest'. It was immediately acclaimed as on the best albums of 2009, even though it was: a) still 2008, and b) horrifying to the band, given the less than ideal sound quality of some of the leaked work.

Still, the machine rolled on. When the album was finally released it somehow cracked the US Top Ten, the tumult growing to dizzying heights, and having swallowed the giant lump of salt needed at this point, one actually listened to the finished product. And was quite pleased. It's a really good album, heavily layered in a baroque indie.pop style that reflects the sixties masters, but seems firmly of the moment. Beach Boys comparisons abounded given the ornate vocal layerings, but to me it seems most redolent of Love's 'Forever Changes', perfectly capturing that elusive melancholy...maybe not the year's finest, but surely a lock for the top 5 at this rate.

Rolling right along, the next stages of the process being Celebrity Interest, (Jay Z?!), in the band that generated more headlines, and then of course, Backlash...in a sweetly subversive move, news broke of the newest single, which featured a guest artist lending his pipes to a remix of 'While You Wait For The Others'...
(wait for it...)
Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, solo, et al) was the voice of choice, and early fingers pointed the obvious crossover sellout potential inherent in the move, but once again, the proof is in the listening...what is dreadfully and absolutely Wrong on paper, once heard, is like chocolate and peanut butter...it just flows...

and that's where we'll leave our Grizzly Bear, ambling through that particular Hundred Acre Wood of the music blogosphere, living to ramble another day...