Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco

Six stages. Sixty-five acts. Eighty acres. Three days. $255 per 3-day ticket.

My husband Joe and I arrived home in the wee hours Monday morning, after three days in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, in the company of about 150,000 other hardy souls who endured the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. We were beat, but it was worth all of the hassles. (Barely.)

Friday was such a bummer, we almost didn't return for the next two days. The gates were supposed to open at 2:30 p.m., as Friday's shows didn't start until 5:00. We got in one of the three lines shortly after 1:00. The line didn't start moving until about 3:00, but at least we could hear some sound checks while we waited along the chain link fence. Once inside, we had some time to kill, so we visited the Artist Dome hosted by Dell and checked our email on the many laptop computers lined up. We checked out the various eco-related booths, artist booths, food booths, and the CrowdFire tent, which was a large circus tent. CrowdFire was very dark inside, with plenty of sofas, beanbag chairs, and screens and laptops aplenty. Festival goers were encouraged to upload their festival photos and videos for mashups and mixes. They had a Guitar Hero area for those who wanted to indulge their inner rock star.

Our first show was Howlin Rain at 5:00 on the small Panhandle stage on Speedway Meadow. Their short 30-minute set featured songs from their second LP, Magnificent Fiend. They played to a small but enthusiastic crowd. Then from 5:30 to 6:10 we went over to the larger Twin Peaks stage, also in Speedway Meadow, to hear Black Mountain, who performed a haunting neo-psychedelic set. Afterwards, we made our way to the Sutro stage at Lindley Meadow to see Beck at 6:40. That was a mistake; in hindsight, we should have stayed at Twin Peaks to see The Black Keys at 6:50. There were so many people crushing in to try to see and hear Beck, that it was becoming a bit dangerous. The Sutro stage was the second largest stage at Outside Lands, and it should have had two jumbo screens like the main stage, Lands End. We heard the first few Beck songs, and while he was singing "Nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone", we were gone, too. We headed to Lands End in the Polo Field where Radiohead was scheduled at 8:00. Too bad, because we would have liked to have heard more from Beck, including his first hit, "Loser", which he played.

Now this is where it got a little crazy. The area they had set up and fenced off between Lindley Meadow and the Polo Field was ridiculously and unrealistically narrow for the sheer amounts of people who would be passing through. While we were crammed together like cattle, people started pushing down the chain link fences. We created an alternative path through the woods, stepping over logs and pushing tree branches out of our faces. (When we returned to our hotel room hours later, that fence incident was covered on the local news along with general coverage of the event.) By Saturday, the passage had been widened considerably, with lots of cedar shavings and sawdust laid down on it.

Radiohead was amazing. Unfortunately, the sound totally cut out twice for a brief period, but overall the show's sound, light show, and split screen effects on the jumbo screens was a class act that did not disappoint. Radiohead's atmospheric, ethereal music had the audience around me spellbound; in fact, I was surprised at the attentiveness and lack of talking and cell phone usage during their nearly two-hour closing show. Radiohead's show marked the first concert ever performed after dark at Golden Gate Park, and the setlist which represented their oeuvre seemed to please their fans. (I wanted to hear "Creep" and "Lucky", but those two songs were not played Friday night, darn it.)

The real nightmare started after the show ended. Heavily promoted as an ecologically-minded event with bins for compost, recycling, and landfill, we slogged through tons of trash on the grass as we left the show. So much for "leave no footprint", ha! This was not a tree-hugging hippie crowd with concern for the environment. We were also encouraged to use public transportation, so we had left our Prius at the hotel garage, taking the Muni bus to the park. Big mistake. There were not nearly enough Muni busses available after the show let out to provide transportation for the hundreds, maybe thousands of people who were trying desperately to take a bus or even flag down a taxicab, ourselves included. (I thought, if The Apocalypse happens during our lifetime, we're screwed, if this is any indication.)

We walked 30 hilly San Francisco blocks (thankfully, mostly downhill), on top of at least 30 or more blocks we had walked earlier in the day. We were beat to the feet. Busses were full or out of service. Cabs wouldn't stop, and the two we approached said they were "out of service". We sat at a bus stop on the opposite side of the street from the direction we needed to head for the hotel. Finally, I said let's just get on a bus....I don't care where it's going. So that's what we did. We went to the end of the line, transferred, and soon the bus was full. By the time we got to Geary and Van Ness (normally a 10 minute cab ride), it had taken us literally three long exhausting hours to get "home". Joe was ready to leave for our real home in the morning. Personally, I was just hoping that I'd be able to walk the next day.

After a good night's sleep, Joe decided we'd head back to the park on Saturday, but this time we were not going to take any chances with the bus. We took the Prius and parked on a residential side street. Yes, we still had to walk, but it didn't compare to Friday's fiasco. (I heard that the Muni had many more busses available Saturday and Sunday, but we were not going to chance it.)

We could hear Devendra Banhart while in line waiting to get in, including his rendition of Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" (2:15-3:00, Sutro stage). We headed for the main stage, Lands End, to take in Galactic's Crescent City Soul Krewe (2:50-3:50). Then we stayed put for Steve Winwood (4:10-5:10). I've been a big fan of Winwood's since he was the wunderkind keyboard player for The Spencer Davis Group, before he went on to greater success with Traffic, Blind Faith, and a solo career. He did not disappoint us, giving us "I'm a Man", "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", "Empty Pages", and "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone".

After Winwood's performance, we made our way back to Lindley Meadow, taking in the remainer of Regina Spektor's show (5:15-6:05), so we could get a good spot for Cake (6:50-7:50). When did looking like an 85-year-old grandpa become fashionable? Cake's lead singer John McCrea looked like he was ready to tee off with Hope and Crosby in his blue windbreaker and Bing Crosby hat. "Sheep Go To Heaven" was a crowd pleasing singalong ("now the men....now the ladies"), but we were hoping for "Nugget", with the refrain "shut the fuck up".....which I was hoping some of the kids around me on their cell phones would have done. (Curmudgeon? Oh yeah.)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played from 7:55-9:55 at the main stage, but we heard the first half dozen songs as we were walking to the car. We'd seen Tom Petty play at Vegoose just two years ago, and he pretty much plays the same hits. Later I found out Steve Winwood came out on stage and played Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" and the Spencer Davis Group hit "Gimme Some Lovin'". Oh well, such is life. It had been a chilly day, and our feet and legs were still trying to recover. We were more than ready to call it a day. (I heard later that the sound cut out three times during Petty's set.) Who else I would have liked to have heard on Saturday: Two Gallants, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Primus.

Sunday lived up to its name; the sun actually came out. I had dressed more warmly, since Saturday had been cold, but I guessed wrong again. Such are the vagaries of San Francisco weather. Checking out of the hotel before noon, we grabbed some lunch at Mel's Diner, parked about where we parked the previous day, and walked to Golden Gate Park. We arrived early, taking in one of the first shows of Sunday, Jackie Greene (1:00-1:45). We've seen Jackie many times, performing with Phil Lesh and Friends. I was glad to hear him perform "New Speedway Boogie" by the Grateful Dead, which Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia wrote about the concert-gone-wrong at Altamont Speedway many years ago. After a great set, we stayed put for Toots & the Maytals (2:25-3:25). How can you not dance, at least a little, to reggae? My husband and I were on our feet, swaying and dancing in place, and as I glanced around I noticed not too many people were so moved. We are used to the Deadhead crowds where there's much more boogie-ing going on. Toots and company put on a very good show, opening with "Pressure Drop".

Back we went to Lindley Meadow again, for the remainder of the day. On Sutro, Drive-By Truckers played from 3:55-4:45, and Joe, a big fan, was a little disappointed because he didn't hear some of his fave DBT tunes. Lead singer Patterson Hood gave a shout out for the good historical musical vibes in San Francisco, stating that he arrived on Thursday so he could have a little vacation and see the sights. From 4:45-5:35, we went across the field to the smaller Presidio stage for Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, who we have seen open for Gov't Mule and Phil Lesh and Friends. Excellent band, and Grace is gorgeous, mucho talented, and a force to be reckoned with. Next it was Widespread Panic, who played on Sutro from 5:40 to 7:35, going over their scheduled ending time of 7:10. Jamband fans were rocking out and dancing during their set of tasty extended jams. The sound quality was right on. We started to leave around 7:10, but got up to the fence on higher ground leading to the exit and stopped to take in the rest of the show. We were going to stay for Mike Gordon of Phish fame on Presidio from 7:10-7:55, but Joe had had enough. He was ready to go home. The closing act Sunday on Lands End was Jack Johnson, but we aren't so much into the surfer mellow, so we didn't stay.

Crowded hordes of mostly young people, overpriced food and drink, long lines for the porta potties and concessions....Joe says it is his last festival. Time will tell. I did have to agree with him that it was too much moving around and the sets were too short. But it was an interesting experience, nevertheless. I had a good time after all was said and done.

Next weekend, Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, Colorado. The music never stops!