SATURDAY/DAY 2:
Some Real Estate for Mellowness:
Real Estate’s easygoing sound and mellow sweetness was a much needed warm-up and mental preparation for the considerably heavier energy, which was set to hit the neighboring stage later in the day. The band’s casual vibes and dreamy melodies drew a sizable crowd, filled with colorful leggings and babies with headphones. It was the kind of loving vibe you want to teach your kids about, the kind of pretty music you want to share and cuddle to. The sort of positivity you’d hope to find at a good festival that makes you feel like everything is alright in the world.
Most Enigmatic Performance: S U R V I V E
Just like I imagine music on Mars would sound – or the soundtrack to some out-of-space movie, S U R V I V E hit the stage with four synthesizers and a drummer. (Think Stranger Things soundtrack. There, now you got it.) Although not a particularly long set, they managed to surprise, hypnotize and perplex their fans with eerie, mystifying tunes you don’t experience every day. True ear candy that was incredibly fun to watch!
Cage the Elephant Steals the Show
You can’t cage this elephant. Here’s someone who comes out kicking and screaming. A U-shaped stage allowed frontman Matthew Shultz to live out his most punk rock dreams. Known to mingle with the fans, their guitar player jumped into the audience by the end of their first song already. These Nashville maniacs are reminding the Bay Area of the true definition of what it means to be a rock star. And yes, they live and breathe it. But the band also showed a softer side, when along several shout-outs to Nashville, they reminded us that the South is not all racist and backward. (Remember, the tragic news from the Charlottesville protests was still very fresh in everyone’s mind.) “Some people say you only live once. I don’t believe in that. I believe in love.” (Shultz)
Most Disappointing Moment: A Tribe Called Quest Cancels…Again
A Tribe Called Quest stood up their audience – again. Just half an hour before their scheduled show – an already rescheduled performance from the hip hop group’s original Friday night set – officials alerted fans via Twitter that the band had canceled, without providing further details. The last-minute fill-in, a Los Angeles based DJ named Claude VonStroke, stood no chance of appeasing the vastly disappointed festival crowd.
Spreading the Rage: Metallica
Maybe it was the amount of booze that had set in by the evening hour, maybe it was the heavy metal tunes, but by the time Metallica hit the stage, the demeanor of the festival crowd had changed. Suddenly the chipper, dancey, lovey audience was picking fights and showing inpatient, disrespectful behavior toward other fans. There was, without a doubt, an ominous tone in the air. Metallica, performing their vast catalog of heavy-metal classic hits, channeled the audience’s aggressions with their own snarls and growls. Adding to the hellish ambience, the band lit up the stage with a wall of fire. Even Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun, who was headlining at the opposite stage, slammed and broke his guitar on stage after his last song in an unusual display of rage. Hey – it can’t always be all roses, right?
Best Audience Quote:
“It’s so tropical, I almost forgot it’s so cold outside.” (Fan during the Colombian-based Bomba Estereo performance)
– Story by Brian Hinman and Michaela Marchardt –
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR FRIDAY REVIEW OF OUTSIDE LANDS 2017
