Outsidelands, Sunday: Sights And Sounds

OUTSIDELANDS (day three)

GOLDEN GATE PARK, SF

10 AUGUST, 2014

Another successful year of Outsidelands is on the books, and we made it up for Sunday, spending the day with friends new and old in the comfy confines of Golden Gate Park.While the overall multi-day lineup spoke more to the conformity of today's big festivals, we managed to carve an enlightening path through the day, starting with Jonathan Wilson, from LA. He's spent a few years behind the scenes playing and producing, but two albums in, is making his mark. Woods, fresh off hosting their own festival, journeyed up Highway One to Golden Gate Park, using the meadow to the advantage of their soaring sound, doling out generous portions of their most recent LP, With Light And Love, and dropping in an obscure early Pink Floyd cover for good measure.
Moving over to the Panhandle Stage, the big discovery of the day was North Carolina's Hiss Golden Messenger, who have joined forces with Merge Records for their brand new LP, Lateness Of Dancers. M.C. Taylor made for a compelling front person, a small horn section was a most welcome bonus, and I very much look forward to diving into this record. Next up was Courtney Barnett, who didn't seem any the worse for wear after journeying up from their last stop in Pioneertown. Perhaps sensing their tour's finishing line, started with a stomping take on "David" and never looked back, once again backloading "Avant Gardener" and "History Eraser" in the set to maximum impact.
Having the fortune to see Spoon in a record store during the past week was the mother of all outliers. Returning to their natural state, they rocked the main stage, unleashing the new songs from They Want My Soul, and sneaking in enough older material to keep the crowd on their toes. From there the day dissolved into catching up with friends amidst the frenzied backdrop of a typically psychotic Flaming Lips set, nosing around Beerlands, Winelands, and the Food Truck rodeo, as well as a full on excursion into Chocolands. Ranger Dave, our hat is tipped for another fine year.

JONATHAN WILSON

WOODS

HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER

COURTNEY BARNETT

SPOON

OUTSIDELANDS 

members of Lucius watching Woods...

Flaming Lips on the main stage

Flaming Lips break out Rover...

Spoon: Live At Amoeba LA

SPOON

AMOEBA MUSIC

HOLLYWOOD, CA

06 AUGUST, 2014

In honor of their first LP release in over 4 years, Spoon dropped in to Amoeba Music in Hollywood the day after release day for an instore performance, giving a packed house a thorough taste of They Want My Soul. Launching right into the first three songs, "Rent I Pay", "Inside Out", and "Rainy Taxi", they were loud and sharp, covering most of the Spoon emotional/musical spectrum. Moving on to "Knock Knock Knock", they raised the tension level, before throwing the audience a sizable bone, with a take on "I Turn My Camera On" that set the store in motion, and made one fear for the fixtures. The real jawdropper was next, as they stomped into "Small Stakes" from Kill The Moonlight, and the party was seriously on. Cruising home with two of their signature songs: "Don't Make Me A Target" and "Got Nuffin'", the job was complete, and a sizable line awaited at the signing table with records in hand.

Divine Fits: Hollywood Forever Cemetery

DIVINE FITS 

MASONIC LODGE

AT HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY

28 AUGUST, 2012

Divine Fits celebrated the release of their debut LP, A Thing Called Divine Fits, with the mother of all record release parties-an evening at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. 
Divine Fits are: Britt Daniel (Spoon), Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade), and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks).  They've banded together in what some might slap with the hoary phrase 'supergroup', given the members backgrounds, but it's much closer in sentiment and execution to Wild Flag, which happened to have Britt Daniel produce their first single. There's no trace of ego, and the creation of an entity that's far more than the sum of its parts.  And did I mention that they rock?

This was show #9 for the band, with Boeckner taking the opportunity to riff on the Beatles "Revolution #9" for the occasion, and the third in a mini-LA-residency, (see above poster).  They wasted no time getting the ball rolling with the Daniel leading "Flaggin A Ride", and Boeckner showed his stuff on "My Love Is Real", (videos above and below, respectively). 

Other highlights of the evening were "Wouldn't That Be Nice", which took full dynamic advantage of the old room, and "Civilian Stripes" was given an affecting reading.  That the band is so seamless after such a short time is notable, and Boeckner and Daniel have stated in interview that they would like it to be a going concern.
Britt Daniel, of course, is no stranger to these pages.  As mastermind of Spoon, he made our radar at Coachella in 2010, and later in the year at the Matador 21 celebration in Las Vegas.
What a year for Dan Boeckner, not only this new project, but a Polaris Prize nomination for the final Handsome Furs record, Sound Kapital was a welcome surprise after the band wound up earlier this year.  Didn't realize at the time that their January gig covered here would be among the band's last.
While not sporting his mates high profiles, it was cool to notice the way Sam Brown took directional charge with his playing, and helped lift the songs intensity above the recorded versions.  It will be interesting to see this band again with more shows under their belt.  The mind reels...

A Thing Called Divine Fits, released 28 August on MERGE Records.