Outside Lands 2014

The best of Outside Lands 2014

August 15, 2014 by Molly Kish 3 Comments

Photos by Pedro Paredes, Benjamin Wallen and Marc Fong // Written by Molly Kish //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

With so much to offer this seventh year of Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, the celebration of music, food, art and everything in between was at an all-time high! Boasting a packed lineup of diverse performers, culinary innovators and artists, Golden Gate Park hosted a wonderland of possibilities. Here are our favorite features from this year’s extravaganza.

Read our daily recaps from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
View artist photography by Pedro Paredes below.

TOP SETS FROM THE WEEKEND

With a lineup of more than 70 diverse performers, naming the best shows of the weekend is at best an exercise in personal point of view. With opinions running rampant on headliners, under cards and buzz-worthy acts, we instead choose to focus on what caught our attention as some of the most memorable performances of the weekend for better or worse.

How do your favorites match up with our top sets and moments from the weekend? Leave your comments, opinions and personal picks below!

Most Controversial Headliner: Kanye West
Most Explosive Dance Performance: Flume
Biggest Crowd of the Weekend: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Biggest Local Draw: Atmosphere
Best Rock Performance: Deer Tick
Best Hip Hop Performance: Run the Jewels
Breakout Artist of the Festival: Lucius

Best Crowd Engagement/Dance Moves: Cut Copy
Best Use of Stage Design/Props: The Flaming Lips
Heineken Haus MVP: Gorgon City
Loudest Sing Along: The Killers
Best Comedy/Improv Performance: Improvised Shakespeare Company (with guest Patrick Stewart)
Best Quote: “You’re gonna tell your kids about this!” -Kanye West

TOP TACTICS TO KEEP THE GROUP TOGETHER

A festival at maximum capacity can already be hard to navigate, especially with large groups of various paced members, and Outside Lands is no exception. With the innumerable obstacles present in the park’s terrain, even the most seasoned shepherd will at some point find difficulty in herding their festival flock.

This year, especially with the stricter rules regarding what attendees can bring in concerning poles, flags, hoops, etc., the Outside Lands crowd got creative with their tracking skills.

Innovative Beacons/Totems: No pole, no problem! Although the presence of PVC pipes still managed to make their way into the masses, people got pretty imaginative with their signage and “find us here” monuments. Ginormous balloons (even full bouquets of them by weekend’s end) soared hundreds of feet in the air, flocks of Flabongos bounced together above the crowd all weekend and cardboard cutouts of Hodor, crying Kim Kardashian and poop emojis received praise from the crowd. Even those with a history flag waving kept the tradition alive amidst the pole ban by finding the biggest stick within Maclaren Pass to wave their banner high.

Festival Wear: Fickle weather kept the costumed crowd members on their toes this past weekend, with temperatures fluctuating as quickly as a set change, Karl the Fog intermittently reared his mischievously muggy head. Outside Lands is an atypical festival in the sense that it fails to adhere to most counterparts’ “clothing optional” fashion guidelines, so attendees have to get creative in the Bay Area when it comes to group uniforms — and this crowd didn’t fail. Most effective use of costumes this year included creepily monochromatic “balloon people” with fully inflatable body suits and face masks, a storm trooper masked duo (made out of cereal boxes) donning a “show us your taun-tauns” sign and flocks of animal onesies.

TOP OUTSIDE LANDS FOOD MOMENTS

With almost as much excitement revolving around the fare of Outside Lands as the music and art portions of the festival, this year’s attendees were treated to an exorbitant amount of delicious options to satiate their palette. Marrying the festivals’ live entertainment with culinary prowess, a lot of the action took place on this year’s inaugural debut of the GastroMagic stage and surrounding food “lands”. Some of our favorites included:

Big Freedia’s and Brenda’s French Soul Food “Bounce Brunch”: This was where fans of Southern cooking and the transgender twerking sensation, the “Queen Diva” herself, were treated to an early Saturday afternoon, interactive mini set. Freedia took the stage with her co-ed twerk team and two members of Brenda’s French Soul Food, coerced the crowd to join her on stage and twerk for made-to-order beignets. Almost immediately, lines formed to strut in front of the audience for the piping-hot pastries, with the restaurant staff joining in on the fun, tapping their powdered sugar dispensers along to chants of “Shake for your beignets…”

Photo via Pop Sugar.

Bacon Bacon Lands flights: For the truly decadent, this year’s Bacon Lands covered all the delicious meat-candy bases. Most often seen floating throughout the park via the Bacon Bacon flights, the well-known Bay Area food truck offered a skewered sampling of three various types of cured fat, packaged as a between set “meat-sicle” snack comprised of everyone’s favorite part of our piggy friends. The aroma wafting from this “land” was hypnotic, coaxing weary festivalgoers rummaging through Maclaren Pass to the magical pork stand tucked away in the trees. Surpassing all of its other neighboring “lands”, this location easily had some of the most enthusiastic lines with patrons salivating for their chance at some greasy goodness on the go.

Macgyver Mini Bars: While we at Showbams do not condone attempting to smuggle in anything restricted by Outside Lands (or any festival for that matter), we have to acknowledge the attempts both successful and foiled. By the weekend’s end, security was a force to be reckoned with, but what seemed like an ocean of alcohol still made its way inside. Even in a setting that one can traverse the fairgrounds openly with some of the world’s best beer and wine while adorning a legal ID wristband, people got ingenious with their covert booze operations, tipping authorities off to some of the greatest sneaking-in secrets in the festival’s history.

Beyond hiding alcohol in legal food boxes, wrappers and the obvious camel back and thermos containers, many used the park’s topography to literally bury their liquor treasures. There were hollowed out loaves of bread, burrito wrapped liters, creepy nether-region containers and more. Some successful showoffs even boasted about it to local press and spattered social media with their accomplishments.

TOP “ONLY IN SF” OUTSIDE LANDS ATTRACTIONS

Digital Detox, Camp Grounded Analog Zone and Sober Lands: In an attempt to reunite the festivalgoer with the true concept of what a music festival essentially is/used to/should be, Outside Lands brings a truly “unique” experience to the forefront with its campaign to “disconnect to reconnect” with these three features. Attempting to remove attendees from the digital noise of the modern world and get back to a simpler, more organic festival experience, Digital Detox and Camp Grounded Analog Zone provide the opportunity to drink tea in a yurt while making arts and crafts, playing board games, meditating, face painting or writing love letters on a typewriter to leave on a missed connection board sans social media and telephones.

If you’re not a fan of partying with the inebriated masses, Sober Lands had you covered. With meetings scheduled throughout the day, the tent offered a place of solace for those looking to clear their head between smushing up against sweaty booze-soaked bodies all day amidst the craziness of the typical festival crowds.

Outsider Art and The Barbary: This year’s art program, curated by Jeben Berg and the legendary SF art publication Juxtapoz Magazine, brought an incredible roster of talent to the festival forefront. Between the live graffiti art, painting, theater and insane installations, the visual art at this year’s festival was better than ever before. From the individual wall panels lining the polo fields to Dennis Mcnett’s incredible sculpture piece, even Ranger Dave got in on the fun with his larger-than-life welcoming statue next to the North Side entrance/Sutro Stage.

Along with the stunning visuals, Dr. Flotsam’s Hell Brew Revue dominated the Barbary area, causing mischief throughout the McLaren Pass with his frolicking band of Carny Bastards. Very rarely could you make the mission through the woods without encountering a circus sideshow of random clowns playing “bowling for drunks”, whips cracking, roots revival hoe-downs and odd Nordic funeral processions clouding up the overpass. It wasn’t something most would consider having to navigate around at a sold-out music festival, but when in SF, one better come prepared for more than just cold weather and marathon-style walking.

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: GastroMagic, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2014, Outside Lands Music Festival 2014

Outside Lands Day 3: Flume draws massive crowd, inspires tree dancing

August 11, 2014 by Mike Frash 3 Comments

Photos by Marc Fong // Written by Mike Frash //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

When we wrote about Flume possibly playing Outside Lands this year in our artist rumors article, we mentioned the Australian DJ could headline this year, a divisive point that got some folks questioning our claim. Based on the crowd that showed up and the high level of sustained excitement on Sunday, that possibility isn’t too far away for Harley Streten. Sure, CHVRCHES’ cancelling their set caused some massive swelling at the east end of the festival for Flume, but many of the disappointed must have found a new favorite.

Australian producer Harley Streten weaved together a crowd-pleasing set that had a saturated Twin Peaks field bouncing along with hands up for the duration, all in the 3 p.m. hour on Sunday. In the past year, Flume’s set has become more sophisticated, led by a restrained approach that intermingles hip-hop, trap, R&B and rap. The drops are inverted in their intensity compared to traditional EDM, offering slight delays and unpredictable syncopation.

Flume has helped to create and capitalize off music’s popular trend toward marrying dance music and hip-hop, and his ability to curate a festival-sized mega party cannot be questioned at this point. Fortune favors the bold …

Add in remixes, including Major Lazer’s “Get Free” & Lorde’s “Tennis Court”, while throwing back to Friday with a rework of Disclosure’s “You & Me” and “Insane” with Killer Mike’s verses, and even the uninitiated were pulled into the excitement. Streten was also able to bring in “Touched” by What So Not, his new duo with Emoh Instead.

And did I mention how packed it was? Twenty minutes before Flume was to start there was nowhere to go. Some folks had to resort to tree dancing … for mostly hilarious results (watch the video above). While the conservationist in me says raging out a tree for an hour isn’t right, it was pretty funny — but not to Ranger Dave. According to a user on a Reddit thread titled FLUME FUCKING KILLED IT, “Apparently he got fined, and just posted his ticket on Facebook.” So think twice before trying this next year.

Some shows, per usual, were very crowed this year. Perhaps too crowded. Atmosphere’s show on Saturday left no room to breath. Capital Cities looked really packed. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis easily outdrew Tom Petty. So, would you pay a little more money if Outside Lands sold less tickets? Or do you prefer the masses like penguins huddling to keep warm in the winter, or maybe just going to where the crowds aren’t.

• Woods are the most quintessential California band that is not from here — they call Brooklyn home. The group curates the Woodsist Festival down the road in Big Sur, their most famous song before this year was “Cali in a Cup”, and they felt right at home in the confines of Golden Gate Park early Sunday. When they played their new song “With Light And With Love” — one of the best songs of 2014 — the spirit of the Grateful Dead performances from the late ‘60s felt present on what used to be Speedway Meadow.

• Jenny Lewis, sporting a snazzy technicolor dream-coat that matches her new album cover for The Voyager, delighted with a slew of new cuts from the record along with some Rilo Kiley joints.

• A buzzy yet not overwhelming crowd came together for Spoon, who released their addictive new record They Want My Soul the Tuesday before Outside Lands. There are a bunch of future classics to be found in the new material that was played, including “Inside Out”, “Do You” & “Outlier”, and the new jams mixed in seamlessly with songs such as “I Turn My Camera On” and “I Summon You”. Britt Daniel looked inspired after four years on break from Spoon with Divine Fits. Watch for Spoon to have a big year, and give the new album a listen if you haven’t yet.

• You certainly can’t say The Flaming Lips aren’t trying. They seem to change from year to year, and when the Lips form a set that centers around Wayne Coyne’s voice as they did at Outside Lands, it can feel uninspired at times and triumphant at others, but our heroic muscle man gives 100 percent the entire time amongst psychedelic spectacle. Their Halloween show from 2013 in SF made my top 10 shows list last year because they took the opposite approach with Coyne’s voice, modulating it into an electronic instrument, and gone were the hyper happy Yoshimi songs, the cheerleaders, the confetti cannons and human hamster ball. All of it. Instead, the Halloween show was a glorious drone-filled, psychedelic freak out, reflecting the studio work they’d released the past two years.

Coyne and company realize a festival set is different than a normal show, so they have tried to find middle ground. The Flaming Lips leader wore a muscle body suit as if he was skinned, the cheerleaders are now put in rainbow, sun and earth costumes, while songs like “Do You Realize?” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” were played with a dystopic, bleak tone. So, by having a setlist of lighter hits that were played through a jarring lens, nobody got what they really wanted. On a positive note, the Flaming Lips are keeping it weirder than ever, and many of the extended whiffs of Pink Floyd’s languid guitar hit the spot.

• We weren’t that excited about The Killers or Tiësto to finish the festival, but we’re ready to eat our hat. I went to Tiësto since I firmly believe it’s best to say goodbye with a dance party, leaving it all on the field. The Dutch DJ was far less anthemic than anticipated, dropping some surprisingly powerful bass that speaks to his progressive nature behind the dials. Lands End was going bonkers. The overall reaction to The Killers from various press and social media websites has been very positive — Another Planet Entertainment and Superfly Presents have got their fingers on the pulse of what works for entertaining the masses at Outside Lands. We’re already looking forward to the schedule for year No. 8 in 2015.

What was your favorite act on Sunday? Did you see the dude in the tree at Flume? Tell us your story below.

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: Flume, Jenny Lewis, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2014, Spoon, The Flaming Lips, The Killers, Tiësto, What So Not, Woods

Outside Lands Day 2: HAIM take another step toward the top

August 10, 2014 by Mike Frash 1 Comment

Photos by Marc Fong // Written by Mike Frash //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

Saturday brought a more celebratory tone to Outside Lands Music and Arts Festiva despite the typical August fog’s return to SF’s Golden Gate Park. Following Kanye West’s exciting Friday set that was marred by multiple man-baby moments, it was time for smiles to become contagious and for the communal spirit of the fest to take flight.

No one led this Day 2 transition better than HAIM. “I want to see babes on babes on babes. Totem pole!” demanded ESTE FUCKING HAIM of the Outside Lands crowd, and oblige they did. An effective festival technique, Alana, Danielle and Este quickly counted as festivalgoers doubled up toward the sky like a meerkat looking for a predator. And by the time the awesome threesome blasted into “Forever”, the crowd had been primed by funny, engaging banter.

More importantly, they are remarkably talented at what they do. HAIM fucking rocks live. They elongate and have adapted some of their songs, like “Forever”, for the better. Before introducing “The Wire”, Danielle prepped the audience for the call and response of “Right!”. Full buy-in permeated the Lands End stage as most everyone joined in the fun.

If HAIM continue to write undeniably catchy songs while retaining their fierce attitudes, the sky’s the limit. The atypical vocal phrasing never gets old, and I hope they continue to create music that develops around their quirky approach to modern pop while re-purposing the familiar. These Los Angeles-based sisters could be headlining big festivals in 3-5 years.

• Jagwar Ma displayed noted improvement since their show last year at The Independent, the group has expanded their sound further on stage, stretching out the vocal mantras into delirious territory. Jano Ma’s production showed shades of Nine Inch Nails, balancing Moog synthesizer and a squelchy analogue sound.

• Big Freedia was everywhere Saturday. The Queen Diva brought a taste of NOLA to the new GastroMagic stage, allowing proactive patrons to cook up a beignet while they got there bounce on. Then, Freedia was at the Soundwave tent, and finally for her proper set at the Panhandle Stage. Ass Everywhere!

• SF-based graphic designer-turned-musician-turned-full-band Tycho had a prime spot mid-day at Twin Peaks, but it’s unclear if Scott Hansen’s minimalist approach translates in a big, open field at a festival. While the crowd energy was low as expected, it was a solid set accompanied by a new, intriguingly odd video component.

• The Sutro Stage was alive with an intimate crowd for Deer Tick. Screaming fans belted out lyrics and danced with interlocked arms to the group’s raucous, twangy Southern rock.

• Duck Sauce is refreshing for embracing the absurd, boiling down dance music into explosions of bass with melodies as obnoxious as “Gangum Style” or happy hardcore. But A-Trak and Armand Van Helden have pinpointed the perfect equation for a ridiculously good time, making sure not to ever get too jarring or obvious. When looking for a raging, good time in a festival setting, nothing may be more fun than Duck Sauce. Quack.

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are just about as “legend” as it gets, and tracks from Petty’s 2014 LP Hypnotic Eye were laced throughout the main stage headliner’s set. “Friend of the Devil” was covered, a nod and a wink to the Grateful Dead’s home turf, while “American Girl” finished of the night on a high note.

• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at Twin Peaks was way more crowded than Tom Petty’s show. Macklemore brought out Mary Lambert for the GBLT anthem “Same Love”, which included a wedding proposal well-suited for SF.

What was your favorite show or moment on Saturday? What are you looking forward to Sunday?

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: Big Freedia, Day 2, Deer Tick, Duck Sauce, Golden Gate Park, Haim, Jagwar Ma, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2014, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Tycho

Outside Lands Day 1: Kanye West rants like a petulant child

August 9, 2014 by Mike Frash 4 Comments

Photos by Marc Fong // Written by Mike Frash //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival has graduated to the upper tier of festivals in its seventh year, selling out within 24 hours and packing in SF’s Golden Gate Park on Friday afternoon much earlier than past iterations. And for the first time, the Lands End main stage featured rap and electronic-oriented music, drawing a youthful crowd usually reserved for Justice or Pretty Lights at the Twin Peaks stage.

But more than imagined and expected, Friday’s headliner Kanye West showed that he behaves like a petulant child, launching into mini temper tantrums throughout the night, amidst an inspiring show the crowd was digging. His performance confirmed everything his detractors spout —- that he’s a narcissist to the point that he truly believes it’s a form of art.

Yes, I understand that this is what Kanye does. It was expected. It’s still a buzz kill, almost a tactical time killer.

“I want you to tell your kids about this night,” he said. This advice came amongst one of the four rants that cut off songs at their best moments, stopping all the natural momentum so Kanye could drop all sound and preach. It’s reminiscent of Andy Kaufman’s “challenge the audience” mentality, getting people to question why they came in the first place.

There were moments of complete crowd elation, but when the encore was over by 9:50 p.m. (10 minutes before last call), you have to ask, did he give it his all? Kanye is the ideal artist of this generation —- innovating to push the lines of contemporary pop while being completely self-absorbed.

Should Kanye give up the rants for the sake of entertainment or will you be telling your kids about it? Leave a comment with your favorite rant line, your top show of the day, a link to your photos or video.

“Imma need y’all to make a bigger circle!”

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: Arctic Monkeys, Day 1, Golden Gate Park, Kanye West, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2014

Outside Lands 2014 beer/artist pairings

July 21, 2014 by Steven Wandrey Leave a Comment

By Steven Wandrey and Corey Jay //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

When strolling through the polo fields at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, sometimes you need a refreshing beverage. Most of the beers listed here are so good that you’ll have a sip and be forced to stop walking to take in the overwhelming flavors, but don’t lose your friends. Located conveniently at the back of the main stage, Beer Lands has been getting better and stronger with (mostly) local craft beer selections. Here is a carefully curated list of beer/artist pairings that will even further accentuate each other at the festival.

The wind rips through the park at night with a chill from the ocean, which is why there is a focus on darker more robust beers here. While all of these beers may not be the exact selections offered on the days of the festival, there are sure to be plenty of tasty options from these tip-top breweries.

View the 2014 schedule and create your custom grid to share with friends!
View our Outside Lands night show breakdown!

Bitter American by 21st Amendment Brewery for Kanye West

Here’s Kanye on a review for College Dropout: “A horrible album with just Jesus Walks on it is a four! C’mon dog, the demo version was a five! You need to rate it again, but you’ll have to create a new rating system.” Bitter, Kanye? While he may not actually be the most bitter person around, I think we can all agree that he is always full of … confidence. In spite of Kanye’s overflowing self-love and general obnoxious behavior, we’re all plenty stoked to go see the production Yeezus puts on. Bitter American is a hoppy American pale ale with relatively low ABV that’ll be perfect for the polo fields during the rap king’s headlining set. Just remember not to be too bitter while he’s ranting about how incredible he is (in the third person), and have fun. -SW

Wookey Jack American Black Ale by Firestone Walker Brewing for The Flaming Lips

When subjecting yourself to the intense sensory onslaught of the Flaming Lips’ live show, you may need a hefty beer to anchor yourself down. That’s where the Wookey Jack comes in. This 8.3-percent beer will give your taste buds a grip with a balance of syrupy but crisp, roast-y, hoppy goodness. The Flaming Lips may decide to play a set deeply mired in psychedelia or a poppy one heavy with Yoshimi, and you’ll be dually covered with the Wookey Jack. -SW

Inception by Triple Voodoo Brewing for Typhoon

Only four years since their debut release, Typhoon is experiencing a breakthrough in exposure and popularity. Their anthemic indie rock is cathartic and widely appealing. Triple Voodoo is also close to its debut release, and the SF-based brewery has been making big strides as well. Inception is a Belgian-style Triple with a dry finish that neatly disguises its burly alcohol percentage of 8 percent. Hopefully both Typhoon and Triple Voodoo continue to grow in popularity, because both are well deserved of their acclaim thus far. -SW

Campfire Stout by High Water Brewing for Woods

High Water Brewing out of San Leandro, Calif., has been making some fine brews for a while now, and one of the best is their Campfire Stout. Made for the outdoors, roasty malts, vanilla, caramel and marshmallows will swirl around your palate as Woods’ psychedelic-folk swirls in the air around you. This beer is as close to eating a s’more in liquid form as you can get. Touring in support of their new album With Light and With Love, Woods has a hefty slate of shows on the docket, including a night show at Brick & Mortar the night before their Outside Lands performance. -SW

Kalifornia Kolch by Magnolia Pub & Brewery for Nikki Bluhm and the Gramblers

Nikki Bluhm is a local favorite in SF because of her powerfully soulful singing and classic feel-good rock. What better way to enjoy the show than with a beer most likely brewed within five miles from her? Magnolia is making fantastic beer with storefronts in the Dogpatch and the Upper Haight. Assuming this is a day time show, their Kalifornia Kolch will blend perfectly with some sun and dancing. Clearly a group of heady guys, whatever Magnolia decided to bring will be solid. Other favorites are their Proving Grounds Double IPA and the Weakapaug Gruit. -SW

Bigfoot Barleywine Ale by Sierra Nevada Brewing for Duck Sauce

Right as the true depths of the intensely flavored Bigfoot by Sierra Nevada surface, the non stop rhythm and beastly sounds of the “Big Bad Wolf” by Duck Sauce should be allowing your true inhibitions to surface. The pairing will create a plethora of robust favors, explicit undertones, and sensual excitement if given the chance to groove side by side. When you see “Barbara Streisand” on the dance floor, just make sure to thank the local Bigfoot by Sierra Nevada. -CJ

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: 21st Amendment Brewery, Bigfoot Barleywine Ale, Bitter American, Campfire Stout, Duck Sauce, Firestone Walker Brewing, High Water Brewing, Inception, Kalifornia Kolch, Kanye West, Magnolia Pub & Brewery, Nikki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2014, Sierra Nevada Brewing, The Flaming Lips, Triple Voodoo Brewing, Typhoon, Woods, Wookey Jack American Black Ale

Five Outside Lands trends in 2014

April 9, 2014 by Kevin Quandt & Mike Frash 3 Comments

Photos by Marc Fong // Written by Mike Frash & Kevin Quandt //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 8th-10th, 2014 //

The lineup for the seventh annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, taking place August 8th-10th in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, was announced Tuesday. Headliners Kanye West, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and The Killers were the focus of the many knee-jerk reactions, but what does the lineup say as a whole? Here are five trends we’ve spotted.

Three-day passes for the festival go on sale Thursday, April 10th at 10 a.m.

1. RAP IS REPRESENTED MORE THAN EVER
Outside Lands missed out on the OutKast nostalgia sweepstakes, but the far more controversial (and relevant), Yeezus has been crowned as the first rap headliner in the festival’s history (see below). Beastie Boys were slotted to headline the festival in 2009, and they sadly had to pull out due to Adam Yauch’s cancer diagnosis. Tenacious D ultimately became the headliner over M.I.A. The Bay Area doesn’t attract an abundance of hip-hop or rap in general, yet many in the SF music community have wondered when Outside Lands, now a top national festival, would get into the game. El-P and Killer Mike, one of most dynamic music duos in years, are working on a follow-up to their incredible Run the Jewels debut and are sure get Golden Gate Park pumped. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed at noon in 2011 at Outside Lands, and since then, they own four major singles and seemingly sell out every show they perform. But they are dangerously within the range of overexposure, and since winning “Best Rap Album” at the Grammys over Kendrick Lamar (and Macklemore felt the need to text-apologize to Lamar), some music fans are out for vitriolic blood. That said, Macklemore’s impact on the popular music landscape is undeniable. Atmosphere, Aer and Watsky, also successful suburban-oriented spitters in their own right, are also on the bill this year.

2. KANYE WEST IS AS DIVISIVE A FIGURE AS EVER
Reaction to Kanye West as the top headliner was distinctively negative Tuesday, at least from the loudest people. West is at the peak of his career, releasing two of the most essential albums of the past five years with Yeezus and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The mega-narcissistic artist of a generation is already busy working on a follow-up to be produced by Q-Tip and Rick Rubin, and it may be out before Outside Lands in August. Odds are Yeezus will pull back from minimalist trap production and go back to his soul-sampling roots to cast a wider net. West has won over music critics with his recent boundary-pushing efforts, but the question becomes, can he avoid a Kardashian-enhanced mainstream backlash bigger than the “Swifting” he pulled at the MTV Video Music Awards? Our money is on ‘Ye.

3. THE FIRST REPEAT HEADLINER
Now in its seventh year, Outside Lands has finally reached the point when we see our first repeat headliner in the form of classic rock demigod, Tom Petty and his band the Heartbreakers. Having played on the second day of the inaugural year to a healthy-sized crowd, Petty worked through some technical errors with a set heavy on his standout hits from the past decades. A new release and tour recently announced lead us to think that Mr. Charlie T. Wilbury is primed to have a big second half of 2014.

4. A SLIGHT SHIFT IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC CURATION
One thing that Showbams noticed when culling through the lineup was the inclusion of slightly more progressive EDM. What was once a genre more reserved for Treasure Island Music Festival is making its way to Golden Gate Park, hoping to turn some folks onto a newer style of electronic production. This new shift is mainly represented by Disclosure, Flume, SBTRKT and Gold Panda. Each act brings a quality that is slightly out of the “dance music” box, whether it’s Disclosure’s 2-step-garage sound or Gold Panda’s experimental beat production. Even after all these years, Another Planet and Superfly keeps us on our toes.

5. THE MOST ECLECTIC LINEUP YET
Outside Lands has always basked in musical diversity, and this notion is true now more than ever. As our collective access to music becomes easier and more plentiful, so does our acceptance of a greater variety of genres. In one weekend, festivalgoers will bounce to Big Freedia, get rural with Kacey Musgraves and dance with Duck Sauce. Whether it’s folk, EDM, hip-hop, indie rock, country or soul, Outside Lands’ eclectic lineup suits the integrity and character of SF and the Bay Area.

Follow our Outside Lands 2014 playlist on Spotify.