The 2016 edition of Outside Lands takes place August 5-7. 2016 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park
We’re less than one week away from this years installment of Outside Lands, the Bay Area music festival that’s taken place in Golden Gate Park every summer since 2008. It’s easy to write the event off as Bonnaroo-West due to their shared founding by Superfly but the event has its own identity and currently hosts a better lineup than their Tennessee counterpart did.
In addition to the music, the festival showcases on-site food and beer festivals (Beer Lands, Chocolands) and has a full schedule on Gastromagic Stage, which bridges the gap between the musical programming and the foodie offerings. Performances by Big Boi and a Bloody Mary Bash hosted by Mother of Pearl’s star mixologist, Jane Danger. Members of Ra Ra Riot will even be performing as A Humiliating Kick In The Crotch. The Gastromagic Stage is shaping up to be all the best kinds of weird.
Headline sets by Radiohead and LCD Soundsystem will earn the lions share of the press and between Lana Del Ray, Zedd and J. Cole, there will be plenty of sets jam packed with youthful attendees. Legacy acts Duran Duran and Lionel Richie are sure to be well received and both Ryan Adams and Sufjen Stevens have the singer songwriter category covered. But what about the rest of the lineup? Glide’s assembled a list of bands on the bottom half of the bill that you shouldn’t dare to miss. Theses aren’t the bands that earned the event sellout status months in advance (hosting the only performance by Radiohead West of Chicago aside from a theater in Los Angeles might have had something to do with it), but if the devil is in the details, these are the small font acts we’re paying the most attention to.
The Muppets’ Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem: Odds are anyone raised over the past thirty years grew up on the Muppets in one medium or another. While most are familiar with the TV shows and movies, attendees at Outside Lands have the opportunity to see the first ever live performance of Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem, the fictional rock band whose leader is based upon New Orleans icon Dr. John, and featuring Animal, Keith Moon’s Muppet counterpart, on drums. This performance will be 25 minutes long and festival promoters have been tight lipped on how this set will actually play out but our bet is there will be a live band side-stage synched up to the work of the puppeteers. However this set plays out, it is guaranteed to make history. Muppet History.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium: The son of John and Yoko has teamed up Supreme Bass Freak Les Claypool for a psychedelic pairing that first seemed like a novelty but proved during their high profile Bonnaroo set that they’re a festival draw to be reckoned with. They’re going head to head with resurgent livetronica act Miike Snow which will be a real test for the width of their appeal but between a quality studio record and a “Tomorrow Never Knows” cover that actually brings something new to the table, you can bet Glide will be front and center for Claypool and Sean Lennon. Miike Snow will have to wait.
Kamasi Washington: While Washington has performed with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Chaka Khan, this tenor sax player has introduced a new generation to jazz through his affiliation with DJ/Rapper Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, Compton’s Human Sacrifice. Washington’s long awaited solo debut, The Epic, is an ambitious three-disc voyage through the history of modern American music and his role as host of this years Bonnaroo Superjam was met with universal acclaim. Unfortunately, Washington is taking the main stage at noon on the third day of the festival, which means plenty of folks will be too wiped to make it. But with that said, he doesn’t face high profile competition on the other stages and is absolutely worth the early arrival.
Hiatus Kaiyote: This Neo-Soul Aussie Quartet has been bringing their self proclaimed Multi-Dimensional, Polyrhythmic Gangster Shit to sold out clubs around the world and their set at Outside Lands is likely to drop like a bomb. They have the misfortune of being scheduled during performances by Beach House as well as reunited headliners LCD Soundsystem. With that said, there’s a great chance that if you wander over to their Panhandle Stage set on the first night of the festival, it shouldn’t be tough getting close to the stage. If you can’t bear to miss LCD Soundsystem, do yourself a favor and try to catch at least a song or two of Hiatus Kaiyote’s performance. You’ll be glad you did.
Vulfpeck: While the Ann Arbor-bred funk quartet has been around since 2011, it wasn’t until the release of their first full-length studio album, 2015’s Thrill of the Arts that they became a certifiable Band On The Rise. They’ve received praise from The Wall Street Journal, as well as The String Cheese Incident, who covered “Funky Duck” over Independence Day Weekend. Their quirky humor has earned them standout status in a crowded field of Neo Funk Fusion acts. Everyone you know who has seen them probably hasn’t stopped raving about them and now’s your chance to follow suite. Their performance comes mid-afternoon on the first day of the event so you’ll have fresh legs to get down and groove with.
