(Want to skip to Day 2? Or maybe Day 3?)
Let’s get one thing straight, right off the bat: There’s always going to be rivalry between Northern California’s concert scene and Southern California’s concert scene. We’re always looking for reasons to stay up here and not go down there. Never mind any of the usual excuses people give for not going to Coachella in April: it’s far away, it’s hot, it’s got a different crowd, the scene is too (insert choice phrase here); it’s just not “us”. So, while we’re happy for things like Fauxchella to keep us from having to go down to Indio around the cusp of summertime, there’s always that infectious festival vibe that pulls us in somehow. However, mere moments after remarks begrudging the Coachella 2011 lineup — which looked remarkably like our 2010 Outside Lands and Treasure Island lineups — the 2011 Outside Lands lineup popped up, and this time, it was clear that we had gotten things right. Back to 3 days, back with some of the biggest acts in music to date, and loaded with a bunch of new treasures to discover, Outside Lands was going to be bigger this year than ever.
That being said: This is a long entry, because it was a long weekend. We’ve got a collection of highlights that we wanted to share with our readers, because it’s impossible to fit everything in. Hope you can keep up!
Continue reading “San Francisco’s 2011 Outside Lands Festival, Day 1”