Now in its eighth year, the annual Outside Lands festival will once again bring top-flight music acts, headlining comedians, internationally known DJs and the kind of world-class cuisine, beer and wine San Francisco is known for to Golden Gate Park this weekend. Since it's inception in 2008, Outside Lands has established a deserved reputation as one of the country's best summer music celebrations.
That reputation is part of what led to the festival selling out for the fifth year in a row, thanks in part to one of the best line-ups Outside Lands has had yet. In addition to headliners Mumford & Sons, returning favorites the Black Keys and piano legend Elton John, the marathon festival offers up a host of established stars (neo-soul giant D'Angelo and his band the Vanguard, '80s punk singer Billy Idol, roots rocker Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, alt-country greats Wilco), major indie acts (guitar heroine St. Vincent, Australian psych band Tame Impala, British electro-rockers Hot Chip, LA-based crew Cold War Kids), rising R&B and hip-hop performers (next generation lyrical master Kendrick Lamar, the Bay Area's own G-Eazy, throwback vocalist Leon Bridges, UK singing sensation Sam Smith, retro southern soul group St. Paul and the Broken Bones), and popular EDM acts (SF resident Amon Tobin and his mind-bending ISAM 2.0 stage show, production wizards Porter Robinson, Caribou aka Dan Snaith, RL Grime and the Bay Area's Toro Y Moi).
The culinary side of Outside Lands has come to garner nearly as much attention as the music over the years as the festival has continued to expand the range of food offerings, culinary demonstrations and specialized areas. In addition to the long-standing cornucopia of food-focused "Lands" -- A Taste of the Bay Area, Wine Lands, Beer Lands, Choco Lands and Cheese Lands -- the festival will offer up another full schedule of appearances at the GastroMagic stage, a demonstration/performance space that was introduced last year. The stage will creatively pair restaurants and chefs with musical artists, as for Saturday's second annual Beignets & Bounce Brunch with Big Freedia that will feature the New Orleans bounce pioneer and reality television star handing out beignets made by Brenda's Soul Food to those willing to twerk for food.
Comedy fans will doubtless gravitate towards the Barbary, the antique tent presenting an all-star crew of comedians and variety shows co-curated by local institution SF Sketchfest. Friday's schedule includes such outstanding comics as Tig Notaro (the subject of the celebrated new Netflix documentary Tig), "Maron" regular Andy Kindler, "@Midnite" champion Ron Funches, Rory Scovell and Jen Kirkman and the panel discussion Uptown Showdown Debate to discuss the merits of Teen Pop Stars vs. Grizzled Old Rockers. Dance-music enthusiasts may have plenty to enjoy on the main stages, but the Heineken-sponsored space the House will feature local and international DJs throughout the festival. Friday highlights include Green Gorilla Lounge founder M3, eclectic tech house DJ Vitamindevo and the tandem DJ face-off between Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap.
Friday night Lands End Stage headliner Mumford & Sons first came together in West London in 2007, coalescing around principle songwriter/singer Marcus Mumford. Developing an indie-folk sound that nodded to American roots music (especially the high harmonies of traditional bluegrass), within a year the group had played its first Glastonbury Festival and started writing the songs that would make their 2009 debut Sigh No More a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Powered by the hit singles "Little Lion Man," "Winter Winds" and "The Cave," the album helped catapult the band from playing clubs to theaters and arenas as the tunes became staples of alternative-rock radio. The band's follow-up effort Babel in 2012 continued the streak with the fervor of their earnest hit "I Will Wait." The band took a major step away from it's indie-folk roots on its latest effort Wilder Mind, ditching the mandolins and banjos for electric guitars and employing a drummer for the first time. Leading up to Mumford & Sons' headlining set will be performances from acclaimed alt-rock roots band Wilco (who recently gave away their new album Star Wars away for free download) and David Byrne collaborator/indie-rock favorite St. Vincent, but fans of acoustic sounds should try to come early to catch the orchestral indie chamber pop of San Francisco's own The Family Crest and the swinging jazz-pop of YouTube stars Lake Street Dive.
At the other end of Golden Gate Park, the Twin Peaks Stage delivers a mostly electronic line-up that will be topped by Brazilian beat maestro Amon Tobin and the presentation of his groundbreaking 3-D projection show ISAM 2.0. Tobin first came to fame with his jazz-inspired dance albums Bricolage and Permutation for Ninja Tune Records, but he moved in a more moody, cinematic direction with 2000's Supermodified. That album led Tobin towards more sonic experiments, recording the evocative soundtrack to the video game Chaos Theory - Splinter Cell 3 and sampling live musicians for the sinister sounds of Foley Room.
For his futuristic soundsculpture of 2011's ISAM (an expansive, ethereal album built from manipulated field recordings), Tobin teamed with the Creators Project to develop a visual counterpart for the live presentation of the recording's intricate sound. The dazzling projection-mapped performance sculpture made Tobin's tour of the album one of the year's most celebrated shows, selling out performances around the world and creating such a demand that a larger 2.0 version of the high-tech projection set be built to present to larger festival audiences. Less a dance show than an interstellar journey more akin to a Pink Floyd concert, Tobin's performance will draw thousands to eastern end of the park where crowds will have gathered for earlier sets from Porter Robinson, RL Grime and dubstep violinist Lindsey Sterling.
The Sutro Stage in Lindsey Meadow will be anchored Friday night by neo-soul great D'Angelo and the Vanguard. One of the artists to spearhead the revival of more organic soul sounds with his seductive 1995 debut Brown Sugar that focused on the songwriter's falsetto croon and quiet storm electric piano. A bout with writer's block delayed a follow-up album, but when D'Angelo finally produced Voodoo five years later, it was rightfully hailed as a masterpiece.
Drawing on a large collective of musicians organized by co-producer/drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of the Roots, the album mixed the gritty, murky funk of Sly Stone's There's A Riot Goin' On with the multi-tracked, ecstatic vocals of Al Green and Marvin Gaye through a prism of classic funk and modern hip-hop. The single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" -- and the accompanying video of a naked D'Angelo shot from the waist up -- and an acclaimed tour featuring the Questlove-led Soultronics ensemble featuring bass giant Pino Palladino and keyboardist James Poyser set a new standard for live soul and funk performers by using James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic and Prince as benchmarks.
D'Angelo would withdraw from public view after the tour, struggling for several years with alcoholism but eventually refocusing on music. After over a decade of delays and cryptic reports on progress, it appeared his mythic third album would never see the light of day despite the singer returning to stage performance in 2012. But late last year, D'Angelo suddenly released the politically charged effort Black Messiah to rave reviews. The vocalist cancelled a planned appearance at Outside Lands a couple of years ago, but if his show at the Fox Theater in June is any indication, he and his current band the Vanguard will blow the proverbial roof off the Sutro Stage.
Doo-wop style soul singer Leon Bridges and slow-burn electro-pop act Glass Animals are among the earlier highlights at that stage. Fans also should not neglect the intimate Panhandle Stage, which will present sets from rising East Coast indie rockers Speedy Ortiz and breakout British band Wolf Alice, who have gotten plenty of attention since the release of their dazzling debut album My Love Is Cool earlier this year. For more info on what else is going on at Outside Lands including complete schedules and maps, please visit the official website.
Outside Lands 2015
Friday-Sunday, Aug. 8-10, 12 p.m. $135-$695 (sold out)
Golden Gate Park