Outside Lands 2016 Festival Review: From Worst to Best

If Outside Lands doesn’t feel like other summer music festivals, that’s because San Francisco’s idea of summer involves donning a waterproof jacket and freezing your ass off in line for a five-dollar cup of coffee. While other parts of the Northern Hemisphere melt into a pool of molten lava, Golden Gate Park remains damp and chilly throughout most of August, transforming its premier summer festival into something that hardly resembles the Coachellas and Lollapaloozas of the world. “It’s too cold to wear my slutty Coachella outfit,” one attendee lamented, and though she may have been kidding around, the sentiment resonates.

Chalk it up to the abundance of clothing or the fact that nobody under the age of 30 can possibly afford rent in San Francisco these days, but the crowd at this year’s Outside Lands seemed remarkably low-key. Perhaps it’s because the festival has fully embraced a more eclectic identity in its ninth edition, focusing less on the music and more on other aspects designed to appeal to the young, affluent urbanites who’ve taken over the city in recent years.

Photo by David Brendan Hall

There was the exclusive Barbary Comedy & Improv tent, which seemed like an absolute bitch to get into unless you knew someone or cared to stand in line for hours. There was the long wall of “Outsider Art” curated by Jeben Berg and San Francisco’s own Juxtapoz Magazine and the bear-shaped pedicab belonging to local celebrity author Dave Eggers. And then there was the food, embodied by an entire area known as GastroMagic and attracting the sort of people who instinctively know what type of wine pairs best with beignets. None of the above had anything to do with music, and that’s kind of the point: You could spend a full, robust day at Outside Lands without stopping to hear a single song.

Then again, why wouldn’t you stop? Outside Lands may not crack the very top tier of summer festivals, but tell that to a lineup featuring the likes of Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Lana Del Rey, and Chance the Rapper. Even the side stages offered plenty of their own attractions, especially for the early birds who showed up to Julien Baker’s quietly powerful noontime set on Saturday. And with festivals inching ever closer toward complete homogeneity, it was nice to see local acts such as Fantastic Negrito, Con Brio, and — fuck it — Third Eye Blind get their moment in the sun (figuratively speaking, of course). Throw in a 25-minute serving of The Muppets, and you’ve got all the ingredients necessary for a successful festival.

Photo by Philip Cosores

To get an on-the-ground view of what Outside Lands 2016 was like for fans, we threw on our parkas and filled our sunscreen bottles with vodka (just kidding, security!) before hitting as many stages as we could. What follows is our best approximation of which acts stood out and which left us feeling soggy inside. We may have left our hearts in San Francisco, but let’s hope our critical faculties didn’t leave us in search of sunnier pastures.

–Collin Brennan
Associate Editor

Least Likely to Leave an Impression

Oh Wonder

Photo by David Brendan Hall

London-based synthpop duo Oh Wonder sound exactly like their name would suggest: a mildly pleasant approximation of awe that never warrants an actual exclamation point. Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West follow the CHVRCHES blueprint a little too closely for comfort, throwing in a dash of R&B here and there but failing to meaningfully separate themselves from the dozens of other bands doing exactly the same thing, more or less. There’s something to be said for “pleasant” when it comes to the early Sunday slot at a three-day festival, but we would have liked something a little riskier — a little more wondrous, perhaps — out of a main stage act. –Collin Brennan
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Best Chance to Sneak In an Afternoon Nap

Rogue Wave

Photo by Philip Cosores

Whether you’re a headliner or slugging it out on one of the side stages, there’s really only one rule at a festival: Don’t be boring. Oakland’s own Rogue Wave got points right off the bat for being hometown boys, and it was nice to see a healthy contingent of local bands on Saturday (Fantastic Negrito was actually playing at the Twin Peaks stage at the same time). But Zach Rogue and his band of generic indie rock dudes failed to quicken the crowd’s pulse, delivering a listless if pleasantly melodic set of tunes that could have soundtracked any season of Grey’s Anatomy. Even their big surprise guest — Michael Deni of SF-based rock group Geographer came out to sing “Ocean” — was only a treat to those who continue to follow the band closely enough to care. Judging by the crowd response, that’s a pretty small demographic. –Collin Brennan
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Wettest Blanket

Wet

Photo by Philip Cosores

The problem with naming your band Wet is that sometimes, either by choice or by accident, you’ll live up to it. Outside Lands got off to a soggy, sluggy start on Friday, but Whitney and Caveman did their best to brighten up the Sutro stage with songs one could conceivably dance to. By the time it was Wet’s turn, the pink beach balls were flying and the crowd felt ready to welcome the weekend, but the Brooklyn trio made it their mission to bring everybody down with their sadsack brand of minimalist R&B. Don’t get me wrong — vocalist Kelly Zutrau possesses a fluid, full-bodied voice that invites intimacy and demands attention. But there’s a time and place for everything, and I’m not so sure Wet makes sense in a festival setting. “This next song is maybe the saddest song on the album,” Zutrau said before launching into Don’t You closer “These Days”, and there was really no coming back from that. Such is the harsh truth about festivals: It doesn’t matter how beautiful your music is if you insist on being tone-deaf. –Collin Brennan
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Least Adaptable to Daylight

Tokimonsta

Tokimonsta // Photo by David Brendan Hall

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Tokimonsta // Photo by David Brendan Hall

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Tokimonsta // Photo by David Brendan Hall

It’s not so much that Tokimonsta did anything wrong; the issue with her set lay with the choice to place the Los Angeles-based DJ also known as Jennifer Lee on a smaller stage early in the day. As festivals continue to grow both in size and genre, more and more DJs find themselves playing alongside traditional rock acts in outdoor settings. Some can rise to the challenge, but others, like Tokimonsta, feel out of place trying to conjure a nightclub energy in a foggy afternoon forest setting. Credit to the artist for inviting singer Gavin Turek to pace the stage and add her impressive vocals to several tracks across the set. Ultimately though, what could’ve been quite a captivating extravaganza under the stars ended up feeling somewhat stilted as a matinee booking. –-Zack Ruskin
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Worst Crowd Response

Poliçia

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Nobody had more fun during Poliça’s Outside Lands set than vocalist Channy Leaneagh, who seemed singularly intent on bringing the party to the Twin Peaks stage on a sleepy Friday afternoon. Slinking back and forth across the stage in a glittery top, Leaneagh was perfectly at odds with a crowd that simply wasn’t having it, no matter what Prince-ly gestures the Minneapolis synthpop group threw at them. On paper, Poliça look like the type of band that should just work in the context of a festival. But a charismatic frontwoman, a locked-in bassist, and a couple of drummers can only take you so far if the tunes lack a certain spunk. Poliça specialize in a subgenre of dance music that’s weirdly difficult to dance to; it’s not bad, per se, but it’s a little too cold and impersonal to really get those butts moving. And on a chilly day at Outside Lands, you’d better get those butts to move. –Collin Brennan

Worst Dance Party

Grimes

Photo by Heather Kaplan at Lollapalooza

Grimes is a unique artist, and one would expect her Friday night set at Outside Lands to be anything but a little weird. Yes, there was screaming, and rolling on the floor, and awkward asides between songs, but what wasn’t there was any sense of energy or cohesion. Claire Boucher took the stage with two dancers who looked like they may have just wandered out of that rave scene from The Matrix Reloaded. Their choreography was on point, but what’s choreography if the music behind it isn’t potent? Grimes’ set was a master class in dissonance and misplaced energy, with Boucher placing more importance on bashing her drum pad than taking center stage to actually sing. Perhaps part of the issues surrounding a lack of intimacy can be attributed to the poor stage placement for Grimes, who drew so many fans to the Twin Peaks stage that many were forced to watch from a football field away. Regardless, what they saw wasn’t the writhing, intoxicating pathos on full display in songs like “Oblivion” and “Life in the Vivid Dream”. Instead, it was something far more diluted. –-Zack Ruskin
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Most Poorly Attended Headliner

Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie // Photo by Philip Cosores

Lionel Richie // Photo by Philip Cosores

Lionel Richie // Photo by Philip Cosores

Lionel Richie // Photo by Philip Cosores

Here’s a question I’ve been pondering for a few hours now: If Lionel Richie says “Hello” but there’s nobody there to hear it … does he still make a sound? It’s difficult to recall a headlining set more sparsely attended than Richie’s on Sunday night, and festival organizers have only themselves to blame. Why book Richie at all? Sure, he had some fun piano ballads back in the ‘80s, but did you really think he’d be able to compete with Lana Del Rey at a festival that seems to grow younger each year? I just feel bad for Richie, because he gave it his all and at least he knew what the score was. “Tonight I only have one job to do,” he told the crowd. “Play all the hits!” Well, at least he did that much. He even turned the Commodores’ classic “Easy” into a nearly seven-minute jam, complete with an extended guitar solo and sax solo. Say what you will about the guy, but he knows how to milk a good thing. –Collin Brennan
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Most Prominent Use of the Slide Whistle

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen // Photo by David Brendan Hall

Bob Mould and Fred Armisen // Photo by David Brendan Hall

To be fair, Portlandia star and former Saturday Night Live standout Fred Armisen didn’t actually use a slide whistle. He was too busy doing his impression of a guy who thinks doo wop is the hardest music he’s ever heard, screening a clip from the upcoming second season of IFC’s Documentary Now and jamming out with Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould. It was guest comic Charlyne Yi, memorable as Martin Starr’s stoner girlfriend Jodi in Knocked Up, that wielded the slide whistle as part of her incredibly awkward, supremely hilarious set.

Armisen tried to do a lot with his time, and while screening the Documentary Now segment was perhaps not the best use of his moment on stage, watching him serve as drummer for Mould as the rocker shredded “Hardly Getting Over it” was something special indeed. Later, as his alter-ego punk rocker Ian Rubbish, Armisen closed things out with his legitimately catchy ditty “It’s a Lovely Day”. It was the track he played during his final bow on SNL, and it was an apt sentiment once again. –-Zack Ruskin
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Best Sedate Starlet

Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey // Photo by David Brendan Hall

It’s easy to crack wise about Lana Del Rey. She waltzes across the stage like Florence had her Machine replaced with a Xanax prescription. She not-so-subtly celebrates herself by broadcasting her name in giant neon letters above the stage. Yet, on the other hand, she also has a phenomenal voice and a startlingly dedicated fanbase. When the sound momentarily cut out during opener “Cruel World”, the overflowing crowd at the Twin Peaks stage nearly had a collective heart attack. Tears were legitimately shed when she descended the stairs to the crowd barricade during “Cola” to take selfies and sign autographs.

When her band struck up the first notes to Del Rey’s Born to Die single “Summertime Sadness”, the crowd fidgeted with elation, muting the artist herself by vociferously singing every word. While “proper” headliner Lionel Ritchie languished a field away, the masses gave in to the sleepy siren songstress and her muted but undeniable charms. As Outside Lands came to an end with a noticeably spirited performance of “Off to the Races”, the questions of Del Rey’s place in the modern music pantheon remained unanswered. All that was certain is how deeply so many people clearly care for her, which, in a way, is the only thing that matters. –-Zack Ruskin
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Best Band to Catch Again at a More Intimate Venue

Methyl Ethel

Photo by David Brendan Hall

It was a small but eager crowd that gathered to see Australian export Methyl Ethel open the Panhandle stage on Saturday afternoon. The Perth trio got down to business playing cuts off their dreamy debut, Oh Inhuman Spectacle, but despite consistent charisma from lead singer Jake Webb, the band was the victim of the tardy, unfocused attendance that most festivals experience early in their second day. Decked out in an Empire Strikes Back tanktop, Webb looked ready for sunshine that was never to come. Also absent was the small club venue in which the band would likely have thrived. A young band with plenty of promise, they’ll surely have another chance soon to earn their keep and maybe upgrade to a Return of the Jedi windbreaker. –-Zack Ruskin

Best Set Sabotaged by Subpar Sound

Vince Staples

Vince Staples can’t stop trying to top himself. The Long Beach rapper begins practically every song by asking his audience to “Bounce!” a dozen or so times, and he refuses to take no for an answer. Nobody brings more energy to the festival stage, and Staples smartly tailors his set to the EDM crowd, throwing in plenty of epic bass drops to get folks as lit as humanly possible. Through no fault of his own, Staples had a rough-ass start to his Saturday evening set, popping out on stage in full Tazmanian Devil mode and not realizing that his mic wasn’t turned up for the entirety of opener “Lift Me Up”. That’s a difficult thing to recover from, though he eventually found his groove and salvaged the rest of the set. By the time he busted out crowd favorite “Norf Norf”, I had already taken note of some dude passed out in the bushes. Like I said, folks get lit. –Collin Brennan
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Least Likely to Live Up to the Hype

Air

Air // Photo by Philip Cosores

Air // Photo by Philip Cosores

Air // Photo by Philip Cosores

When the Outside Lands lineup was announced back in April, Air stood out as an impressive get for the festival. The perpetually chilled out French duo has been a rare sighting on American stages as of late; they’ll play at FYF Fest later this month, but that’s about it in terms of U.S. shows. So Saturday evening’s set on the main stage seemed like a wasted opportunity for Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel to make a lasting impression. Clad in all white and performing in front of a weird, wobbly box of light, the sexy boys cycled through their sexy hits, but the overall energy at Lands End was lower than it should have been. Air salvaged some good will by closing with an extended psychedelic jam that felt very much at home in Golden Gate Park, though they might have been better off on a smaller stage where their fans wouldn’t have had to compete with the Radiohead faithful camping out in droves. –Collin Brennan
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Best Afternoon Daydream

Lord Huron

Lord Huron // Photo by David Brendan Hall

Opening with “The World Ender” off 2015’s Stranger Tales, Lord Huron set the scene for a brisk afternoon offering of folk-infused rock ballads. “Six years ago today, we played our first ever show,” Ben Schneider told the sprawling Sutro stage crowd, “so it feels like an auspicious occasion.” The band made the most of their anniversary, playing tranquil but stirring songs culled from their new album and 2012’s Lonesome Dreams. When they launched into their excellent single “Ends of the Eath”, Schneider’s twangy drawl ricocheted off the trees and across the blankets of lounging couples, a perfectly peaceful respite from the music festival mayhem. –-Zack Ruskin
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Most Pleased With Themselves

The Last Shadow Puppets

The Last Shadow Puppets // Photo by Philip Cosores

The Last Shadow Puppets // Photo by Philip Cosores

The Last Shadow Puppets // Photo by Philip Cosores

Alex Turner knows he’s hot shit. You can see it in his black leather jacket, his perfectly coifed pompadour, and his not entirely necessary sunglasses. “Can I call you San Francisco?” he purred as bandmate Miles Kane looked on. The Last Shadow Puppets can bring the noise, but with it comes a healthy dose of smarm. Tracks like “Sweet Dreams, TN” carried with them a welcome burst of energy and distortion, but it was their faithful cover of David Bowie “Moonage Daydream” that left the most lasting impression, as if they were telepathically aware that less than 24 hours later Third Eye Blind would blaspheme the legacy of the Thin White Duke. Naturally, Turner had every right to be pleased. Celebrity sighting: Willow Smith not whipping her hair from the crowd. –-Zack Ruskin
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Most Likely to Be Mistaken for Dylan

Kevin Morby

At this point it’s probably lazy to compare Kevin Morby to Blonde on Blonde-era Dylan. But aside from the obvious sonic similarities, who else comes across as this effortlessly cool? Sporting long curls and a thin but unmistakable Midwestern drawl, Morby has really come into his own since recording his third studio album, Singing Saw, in Woodstock earlier this year. The former Woods bassist isn’t much for stage banter, but he doesn’t leave a lot of room for silence and comes across as a songwriter fully in command of his own ship. He peppered his Saturday afternoon set with touches of psych rock and other San Francisco-friendly sounds that don’t always come to the fore on his studio albums, and the crowd rewarded him with a warm reception. –Collin Brennan

Least Necessary Bowie Tribute

Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind // Photo by David Brendan Hall

We’d ask Stephan Jenkins to never change, but that’s not necessary. The 51-year-old frontman of Third Eye Blind still comes across like a 20-something college student who just finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in one sitting. Dressed in baggy shorts and an oversized beanie, Jenkins turned the Lands End stage into a San Francisco love fest on Sunday afternoon, making a point to mention how much it means to play his hometown. “We rode our bikes to get to this gig,” he exclaimed between songs. “My surf spot is down the street!” The crowd was willing to go with it — and to suffer Jenkins’ cheesy banter — as long as Third Eye Blind provided the hits, and they did. The only real misstep was an extended medley of David Bowie songs that seemed a little too contrived (and a little too vanilla) to do the Thin White Duke any real justice. But when Jenkins and co. stuck to their own material, the audience responded with more than semi-charmed enthusiasm. –Collin Brennan
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Best Use of Silly Accents

Spontaneation

Taping a podcast live at a music festival isn’t without its share of risks. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins knows this better than most: he’s had plenty of experience bringing a much-needed dose of giggles and bowties to the music festival circuit. His latest endeavor “SPONTEANEATION” is an Earwolf network podcast built around a single-narrative improvised scene informed by a conversation with a special guest. For his Outside Lands’ episode, Tompkins wisely recruited fellow Barbrary Tent performer Fred Armisen, who set the scene for guest improvisers Janet Varney, Craig Cackowski, and Tawny Newsome to adopt a myriad of accents and spread mirth throughout the packed house. Bonus points to the amazing Eban Schletter, who live scored the whole affair on a piano as it occurred. –-Zack Ruskin
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Setlist Most In Need of Improvement

Radiohead

Radiohead // Photo by Philip Cosores

Radiohead // Photo by Philip Cosores

Radiohead // Photo by Philip Cosores

Let’s cut to the chase: Radiohead was awesome. How could Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Phil Selway be anything less? Their headlining set on Saturday night of Outside Lands was an expected mix of tracks off their latest, A Moon Shaped Pool, with forays into their extensive and beloved back catalogue. However, while Lollapalooza was treated to cuts like “No Surprises”, “My Iron Lung”, and “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, the Golden Gate Park faithful had to make do with slightly less varied offerings. Pleasant surprises included The King of Limbs single “Lotus Flower” and the always haunting “Exit Music (for a Film)”. Fan favorites like “Everything in its Right Place” and “Pyramid Song” were reworked with slightly more uptempo, danceable tweaks that worked to both freshen up the tracks (not that they needed it) without compromising their appeal. It was fireworks by way of piercing melodies and delicate falsettos. It was Radiohead. –-Zack Ruskin
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Most San Francisco-Friendly Sounds

The Claypool Lennon Delerium

Photo by Philip Cosores

One of the big talking points this festival season has been the increased homogenization of lineups, but The Claypool Lennon Delirium are one example of a band that makes a ton of sense for San Francisco. Featuring freaky bassist Les Claypool and freaky guitarist Sean Lennon, they play right into the city’s long affinity for drugs and psychedelic rock. The cloud of weed was notably thick over the Sutro stage during their meandering Friday evening set, but the two leads showcased some impressive chemistry. San Franciscans love jam bands and things that remind them of the ‘60s, and The Claypool Lennon Delirium delivered on both fronts. Throw in a callout to “our lord and savior Bob Ross,” and you’ve got the makings of something special. Or at least something really fucking weird. –Collin Brennan
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