2011 Outside Lands Festival Wrap-Up
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011Recently, I attended the 2011 Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, CA at Golden Gate Park. For those of you who are unaware of Outside Lands, I suggest you dig yourself out from under your rock and join the rest of the mustache sporting, marijuana indulging, barefoot dancing, cut-off jean shorts wearing, Hipsters that make this one of the most exciting festivals each year.
Ok, maybe I was a little harsh on you…especially considering that personally, I only fit into two of those categories (I’ll let you decide which two)…but this is definitely a life experience like none other, regardless of your views on that kind of debauchery.
The bill for the 3 day extravaganza included performances by Muse, Arcade Fire, 2 back to back sets by Phish, The Black Keys, The Shins (added last minute), The Decemberists, and the list goes on…..
This was my first Outside Lands experience, and the show did not disappoint. On top of having an INCREDIBLE line up of phenomenal musical acts and allowing me an opportunity to be front row for Arcade Fire, Muse, The Black Keys, and The Tune-Yards, the festival maintained a tremendous sense of community by giving everyone a true taste of San Francisco.
Most of my afternoons began by heading to the wine tasting tent titled “Wine Lands” which was filled with over 30 different area vineyards for attendees to sample. There were also a plethora of local restaurants scattered about the festival grounds that had set up vendor stands allowing us to sample the local Nor-Cal fare with everything from local organic ice cream and smores, to fried macaroni and cheese.
Staying true to remaining a very “Northern Californian” event, there were ample opportunities to “recycle for points” where you could win camping gear and even a ticket to next year’s festival, as well as specific areas to learn about the benefits of alternative energy, gardening workshops, refillable water stations, and one of the music stages was powered entirely by solar energy.
On top of the ample options of things to do at the festival, everyone in the crowd was there to have a great time and enjoy themselves which set the tone for the weekend. On Friday evening my girlfriend and I even met a random group of local San Franciscans attending the festival who later invited us back to their home that evening for late night food and drinks.
My biggest complaint of the festival was that space was fairly limited considering the size of the crowd. But, despite my impending claustrophobia, I had an amazing weekend and would recommend this festival to just about anyone who likes good music, good food and wine, and good people.
See you there in 2012!
-Drew
Best Band: The Black Keys
Best Winery: Drew
Best Restaurant: Andalu
Some of my shots:
(that's Linda)
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