Outside Lands returned one more time for its 2019 edition with another day of fantastic tunes, food, drinks, pot and Bay Area weather. There was a mellower vibe on the Land’s End Stage, perhaps due to the more low-key artists or the collective fatigue of having two days of festival-going already on the books. This main stage featured the most cohesive batch of artists of all three days, and there was a case to be made for sticking around there all day to see Mavis Staples, Judah & the Lion, Kacey Musgraves, Leon Bridges and Paul Simon.
After traveling to the festival for three days, Outside Lands deserves credit for a bunch of factors. The security lines throughout the afternoon were plentiful and not overcrowded. Set times generally ran pretty close to on time. The festival-sponsored shuttles to Bill Graham Civic Center were running nearly constantly before, during and after the event. (Getting out of the throngs of fans was a bit of a slog, but that’s expected when tens of thousands of folks are leaving an event simultaneously.) And of course, the plentiful local food and drink options were well appreciated. The pot expo Grass Lands also seemed to be a big hit, with myriad options, knowledgeable staffers and solid pricing. On the music side of things, here are four sets that impressed:
Mavis Staples
Soul legend Mavis Staples rocked the Land’s End Stage for some powerful Sunday Service. At 80 years young, the vocalist’s voice still rang strong with a rich, sonorous timbre. Staples inspired the audience with her political message throughout the set, from “Build a Bridge” to “Change”. Guitarist Rick Holmstrom was a joy to watch as well, delivering searing solo after searing solo (much to the constant delight of Staples). To close out the set, the band finished with “No Time for Crying”. At the track’s breakdown, Staples powerfully highlighted causes she’s passionate about, such as combating homelessness, gun violence and child separations at the border.
“I’m going up to the White House,” Staples exclaimed. “You know I might just run for President myself. Would y’all vote for me? I’m going! I’m taking you with me!”
She certainly had the vote of the Outside Lands crowd.
Judah & the Lion
To call Judah & the Lion just folk-rock or alternative rock doesn’t do them justice. It’s more like if Andrew W.K. and “Weird Al” joined Mumford and Sons — folk with a heavy dose of glam rock, camp and a good sense of humor.
Energetic frontman Judah Akers wasted no time in hyping up the audience by crowd surfing on opener “Quarter-Life Crisis”. On their anthemic hit “Suit and Jacket”, he divided the crowd into two parts: “Team Beard” vs. “Team Five O’Clock Shadow”. As he frantically bounded from side to side onstage, he hyped up both squads to roar along to the track. They even put their own rollicking spin on Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” for a huge singalong. On “Don’t Mess with My Mama”, the band members all took up the drums (resulting in four kits going simultaneously) to deliver a massive, tribal beat.
Then, the band launched into a cover of Gary Glitter’s iconic riff from “Rock and Roll Part 2” as the prelude to “Alright (frick it!)”. Shortly thereafter, all the members disappeared offstage. They ran back onstage rocking matching singlets and snap-off pants (which promptly went flying off) to close out the set with their big hit “Take It All Back”. Earlier in the show, Akers promised, “We’re going to give you everything we have for our set.”
As he launched his body back into the crowd for a final crowd-surfing session, it was clear he wasn’t kidding, as the band delivered one of the most joyous, fun shows of the weekend.
Kacey Musgraves
“This didn’t work at Coachella,” Kacey Musgraves teased toward the end of her set at Outside Lands. “When I say ‘yee’, you say ‘haw!’”
As she revved up the fans with her signature call-and-response, the massive crowd roared to life each time with some of the loudest screams of the entire weekend.
With the sun starting to come down in the late afternoon, the Land’s End Stage was a perfect setting to hear Musgraves’ latest country masterpiece, Golden Hour. Whether the song was slow-paced (“Slow Burn”, “Golden Hour”) or more up-tempo (“Velvet Elvis”, “Wonder Woman”), the singer masterfully commanded the crowd’s attention with her pitch-perfect voice and easygoing grace.
The vocalist also made sure to give a wink to the pot festivities with the throwback “High Time”. (“It smells really good out there,” she said with a grin.) “Butterflies” also featured colorful, kaleidoscopic visuals that were surely appreciated by those who stopped by Grass Lands earlier in the day.
After the poignant “Rainbow”, Musgraves got the crowd moving one more time for the closer “High Horse”. “I need you to jump!” she urged the fans, who gladly obliged in a final bit of yee-haw bliss.
Paul Simon
Outside Lands granted Paul Simon the festival’s longest set, and it was a well-deserved two-hour block to close out Sunday night. Simon is officially retired from touring, but continues to occasionally play shows with good philanthropic ideals. “All my proceeds from the show are going to the San Francisco Parks Alliance and Friends of the Urban Forest,” he explained early on in the gig.
With an impressive band at his back, the veteran singer-songwriter got the crowd vibing early with “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”. There was a loose, unstructured feel to the instrumentation. “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” followed shortly after to wild cheers, and was buoyed by triumphant trumpets and a rollicking saxophone breakdown.
In the middle of the set, a smaller group of musicians (sextet chamber ensemble yMusic) ringed Simon for some orchestral-backed pieces. The highlight of this section was their take on Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. The track featured some gorgeous instrumentation, with piano flowing underneath like a swift current. Simon & co. were greeted by a sea of hands bobbing and waving back at them.
The main portion of the set closed out with the one-two punch of “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” and “You Can Call Me Al”. On the former, many of the musicians in the larger backing band joined forces with Simon for massive, gospel choir-level harmonies before the track kicked into its more traditional arrangement. On the latter, the crowd bounced along to the iconic horn section before the band gave way to a slapping bass solo.
Simon briefly left the stage, but returned shortly after to jam through the bouncing bassline of “Graceland” and the poignant “Still Crazy After All These Years”. After these two tracks, Simon set the crowd abuzz with a juicy teaser: “I have an old friend who’s joining me on stage tonight.”
No, it wasn’t Art Garfunkel, but San Francisco legend and Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir. Simon recalled how he was in SF trying to recruit Grateful Dead to play Monterey Pop Festival, and Weir answered the door. The two have been buddies ever since, but he explained that this was actually their first duet as they teamed up for a powerful rendition of “The Boxer”.
After Weir departed along with the backing band, only Simon remained onstage with his acoustic guitars. He closed out the Land’s End Stage with low-key solo renditions of “American Tune” and “The Sound of Silence”. As he reached the “And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more” line in the final track, the massive crowd let out a cathartic cheer. For the enraptured audience lucky enough to see one of Simon’s rare late-career performances, this was an unforgettable sho
