The third and final day of Outside Lands wrapped up yesterday and I was there to catch a bunch of the untz-y action. I made the festival grounds just in time for a full !!! (Chk Chk Chk) set, a high-energy Major Lazer set that seriously got people rocking and waving their shirts, a bit of the Decemberists then the remainder of STS9, and a headlining slot by Deadmau5 that brought the kids to their feet hopping and wearing glowsticks and random furry costume accessories. In other words, it was a solid end to a successful festival for me and I’m hoping to finish off my main thoughts on the event while I’m mid-flight to Chicago for the Phish three-night run that begins tonight at UIC Pavilion. Let’s hope this wifi holds out! >>>
Yesterday at Outside Lands was amazing; the weather was perfect all day, the music was fantastic and I was in an abundance of crew featuring many of my good friends for 100% of the day. It’s hard to do better than that, but we’ll all give it a shot with today’s third and final day of the festival. Tomorrow I hope a 7am flight to Chicago for three nights at UIC in Chicago, so holler if you’re out at the festival today or if you’re going to be at UIC. >>>
Outside Lands Music Festival began yesterday and I caught a seriously wicked day of music and definitely enjoyed myself out there; front to back I was able to catch Lotus, The Meters, MGMT, and Phish all with great sight lines, plenty of friendly connections and some free beer courtesy of the media tent. Day one spoiled me completely.
Here’s a bunch of my quick shots and cell phone photos from yesterday; I’m heading back out there now and plan to recap the whole weekend once I’m on a flight to Chicago for the three-night Phish run at UIC Pavilion… >>>
Phish rolled through SF last night and headlined the first day of the Outside Lands Music Festival with a set full of fan favorites, big surprises and a few choice covers that seemed to keep everyone rocking into the night and right up to the 10pm SHARP curfew. Here is the setlist:
Set 1: Kill Devil Falls > Wilson, Funky Bitch > The Moma Dance > Peaches en Regalia > Sample in a Jar > Possum, Tweezer > Mound, Suzy Greenberg > Axilla > Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
Set 2: Rock and Roll -> Steam -> Piper -> Roses Are Free, Julius, Life on Mars?, Birds of a Feather > Fluffhead > Backwards Down the Number Line > Also Sprach Zarathustra > Chalk Dust Torture
Encore: Cavern > Tweezer Reprise
Notes: This show was part of the Outside Lands festival. [via Phish.net]
I’ll recap the show in more detail in my day one review from the festival, but it should be a fluffy and light one. I had a great time last night and welcomed Phish to my own backyard (basically); it’s hard to have a fully objective opinion on such amazing luck.
For the 2nd time this summer, the four original members of The Meters will share the stage tomorrow and perform at a Superfly Presents-produced mega-festival (after earlier this summer performing at Bonnaroo with Dr. John and Allen Toussaint). At 2:50 p.m., in San Francisco’s historic Golden Gate Park, the seminal NOLA funk band will take the Land’s End stage, and later that evening, Phish will headline that stage, and I’ve gotta think that a collaboration between the two is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities, one can dream right?
This weekend Phish will continue their 2011 summer tour at the aptly named Gorge(ous) Ampitheatre in George, Washington. With a first leg down and a festival that surpassed most people’s expectations, the band looks to continue the good fight with nine shows in August at some historic venues in the West and Midwest.
8/5-8/6 ~ The Gorge Ampitheatre
It’s called breath-taking for a reason. Walk over the hill, shed a tear, then let Phish take you on a journey amongst the cosmos. Never has a venue evoked such a strong reception from this author. In 2009 at the Gorge, Phish played arguably the best jams of their return year. There aren’t many replay-value (RV) shows from 2009 but the “Bathtub Gin,” “Sneakin’ Sally,” “Light,” and “Rock and Roll” from 2009 all evoke the “This is what I follow the band for” reaction. It had the same quality of 2003 and earlier gems in ’97 and ’98. I’ll take another stretched out “2001″ second set opener! With the band at peak form, and most likely rehearsing as they did for the Bethel run (some of which contained the best jams of the first leg), I wouldn’t bet against these shows taking on a different feel than your average “opener.” There are very few things one can count on — Death, Taxes and Phish at the Gorge. How about another “Hood” in the dark or maybe a fog machine “Steam” for it’s West Coast debut?
Notable Videos from the last time they played there: Sneakin’ Sally Jam, Tweezer at Sunset
8/8 ~ Hollywood Bowl
Wait, really? After years and years of off and on again rumors…Phish will make their long awaited debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2011 — one of the venues you can’t help but admire for it’s location and history. The stage’s architecture is the outspoken gem and obvious allure of this venue. One person who will hopefully utilize the “shell”, a set of concentric off-white arches is Phish’s lighting director, Chris Kuroda (Happy Belated Birthday!). After the “same-old” in stage architecture at most outdoor amphitheaters, there is a little more room for creativity on the 2nd leg. The Hollywood Bowl is unfortunately the ‘skip show’ for some since it’s a big leap down south, on a Monday, and then no off-day before Phish rolls into Stateline, Nevada. Bottom line, the audience will know once they set foot inside, take the escalator up into a hillside…this won’t be “just another show.” Situated in the Hollywood hills for the first shows in the proper Los Angeles area since 2003 (Goodbye Forum!) fans are ready to go! Either the band plays it safe and pops off the classics for the tinsel town agents or we get something special, “Tube” opener or not… >>>
