As this year’s Outside Lands approaches, we can’t help but reminisce about the many beautiful moments spent at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park since the festival launched in 2008. Here are some highlights from KALW’s Outside Lands veteran, Margarita Azucar.
Being there to see the first headliner of the festival
Radiohead (2008) was the first Outside Lands headliner, and the first ever to play in Golden Gate Park after dark. After a day of exploring this new festival – dancing to Manu Chao, and watching a crowd knock over the fence surrounding the Lindley Meadow to see Beck – I settled on our blanket in the Polo Field with friends, Roberta and Sean. Despite the sound dropping out intermittently as the set started, they kicked it off strong with “15 Step” from the then-new album In Rainbows. Between “Reckoner,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” and “Karma Police,” Thom Yorke’s achingly beautiful vocals seemed to hypnotize the crowd. The effect on me was one of blissful spiritual elevation. I left floating, feeling like I was in love with everyone and everything in this world. Even the long wait for the N Judah didn’t dampen my spirit.
Getting sweaty jumping along to "Everlong"
Foo Fighters (2012) were the penultimate act on the Friday night lineup. To witness the power of Taylor Hawkins’ drumming immediately blew me away. I turned to my friend Leila, who was learning to drum at the time, and the look on my face said it all - I was hooked. We rocked out to crowd favorites as Dave Grohl belted out “My Hero” and “Aurora,” and had us all sweaty and jumping as they closed their set with “Everlong.”
Crying to the lyrics of “As”
To witness Stevie Wonder (2012) in one’s lifetime is a dream. The legend started his set with a cover of Marvin Gaye before moving into his classic “Master Blaster (Jamming).” The performance spanned his decades-long career with hits like “Higher Ground,” which had all the funk, and “Sir Duke,” which was immediately met with joy and movement. I was so moved by the lyrics of “As” that I inexplicably found myself fully crying in the middle of the Polo Field. He closed the show with the song that he penned during his campaign for a national holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Happy Birthday.” I still have a low resolution phone video of that performance in some corner of an old Flickr account.
Witnessing the best performance of the Friday night lineup in 2011
The original Big Audio Dynamite (2011) lineup reunited for a brief tour, “Re-Booted and Re-Loaded,” with San Francisco as their final stop. The Clash and B.A.D. were active when I was too young to have the freedom to attend concerts, so I was not going to miss this rare treat. They played their classics “E=MC2,” “Rush,” and “The Bottom Line” to a full crowd at the Twin Peaks stage, and Billboard magazine deemed this the best performance of the Friday night lineup that year.
Janet Jackson playing all her career faves (plus all the costume changes)
Janet Jackson (2018) was the first woman to headline the closing night of Outside Lands. Despite being a fan since her role in Good Times, and her 1986 album Control featuring in my early teen rebellion, this was my first time getting to witness her live. At a time when white supremacy was re-filtering into the mainstream in the U.S., Janet opened her set with a video montage condemning prejudice and bigotry. Throughout her set, she moved through various outfit changes and delivered a medley of her early career favorites, including “Control,” “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” and “The Pleasure Principle.” Plus, slow jam favorites like “Any Time, Any Place,” and “If,” complete with sexy choreography. She closed with the iconic “Rhythm Nation,” including in her set a video homage to her father Joe Jackson, who had just died a month before her performance.
Outside Lands takes place on August 8 - 10 in San Francisco. Take a look at some of the acts KALW Music is excited to see this year.
