MAGNET’s Maureen Coulter reports from the 2010 Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park.
Sunday, August 15
On day two of Outside Lands, I spent all my free time signing up for contests I’ll never win and nabbing swag I’ll never use. So far the count is two headbands, a neon-colored bandana/scarf, a T-shirt, shampoo, glow-in-the-dark dog tag and a Shrinky Dink. I also ate an entire meal comprised of free samples.
After making rounds at the promo tables, I joined the crowd on the Polo Field and hung out for Janelle Monae. Although she was a half hour late coming on, she made up for her curtailed performance in hair-tossing, hip-swiveling intensity. Monae is a pixie with American Idol-worthy pipes, and her music is spunky and distinctive, like a female Gnarls Barkley.
Having Al Green on the festival ticket may have seemed a bit out of place, but he owned the crowd. Beseeching trumpets and trombones combined with the gospel crooning of his three daughters onstage with him complemented his conversational, raspy voice and expressive hand gestures. He drove the audience wild with a cover of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” and had them singing, “I’m … I’m so in love with youuu,” on “Let’s Stay Together” as he tossed roses into the flock of middle-aged women with yoga-toned bodies, Ray-Bans and Chuck Taylors.
French pop group Phoenix played an energetic set anchored by a rumbling bass that could have triggered a tectonic shift. Lead singer Thomas Mars roamed around like a hyperactive child, climbing on speakers, bounding offstage and ultimately crowd-surfing. The percussionist whaled on the drums, sweat flying. The burgeoning swarm of shiny, booze-soaked concertgoers equaled Phoenix’s vivacity, showing its stamina even after two straight days of partying.
