Monday, April 27, 2009

Outside Lands lineup: WTF?


Last year's inaugural Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park was certainly not without its problems: overselling of tickets, difficulty in getting from one stage to another, low volume at side stages. But all it really needed to redeem itself was that magical nighttime closing performance by Radiohead.
This year...well let's just say the headliners are not up to the same caliber. Let's look at 5 of the top 7 acts on the bill: Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Black Eyed Peas, and Jason Mraz. If that was the entire lineup, I'd rather go 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao while wearing a straightjacket than go to this festival. But they complicate things by throwing some bands I really would like to see (MIA, Band of Horses, Q-Tip, Modest Mouse, Atmosphere) and some that I haven't really gotten into but I'm sure would at least be interesting, possibly amazing (Mastodon, Kinky, Deerhunter, Built to Spill). Then there are the complicated ones like Beastie Boys (they've made some of my favorite records of all time but dudes in their mid 40s rapping in jumpsuits seems kind of embarrassing), The Mars Volta (Used to literally be my favorite band but their last few albums have done nothing for me. Edit yourself, Omar! It's not a contest to see how many notes you can play per measure!) and TV on the Radio, who I unequivocally love on record but based on the recordings I've seen/heard of their shows, I really don't think they can recreate their studio sound on stage and I'd probably be left disappointed.
But I'll be interested in seeing how the day-by-day breakdown ends up. I'll probably end up going, and maybe some of these bands I've never heard of will pleasantly surprise me. But seriously guys, TOM JONES?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

"Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Black Eyed Peas" - what is this? 2001?