Attending a large, multi-day music festival has been on my musical bucket list for quite some time. I’m happy to announce to the readers of The D Man’s Music that I’ve just returned from attending the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
The reason I chose this particular festival, besides the great location, is because Neil Young & Crazy Horse were headlining (along with Jack White, Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica). I’ve been a fan of Neil Young for many years, including his work with Crazy Horse, Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. So I jumped at the opportunity to see him play Outside Lands.
I was anxious going into the festival for a number of reasons. First, because it is huge – 65,000 people per day were expected (the festival officially sold out a few weeks prior to opening day). Second, it would be my first music festival experience. Third, it would be my first opportunity to see Neil Young play live, so I was constantly calculating the odds of obtaining a decent spot for the main event.
Friday proved to be cool and overcast. I began the day at the Sutro stage watching White Denim and Sharon Van Etten before moving to the main stage to watch Beck and the Foo Fighters, both of whom played a great festival set of mostly “hits” with some rarities thrown in to mark the occasion. The Foo Fighters did their best to remind the huddled masses that they are the best rock band in the land, while constantly reminding the audience of who was playing next. By the time the guys were through with “Everlong,” my fleece and ball cap were on (undoubtedly the only Twins cap in a sea of Giants gear). The temperature had dropped and the fog rolled in – it was like the ghosts from Sun Kil Moon’s “Lost Verses” had decided to linger over the festival’s main stage above the thousands of fans below.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse started with a twenty minute rendition of their early 1990’s track “Love and Only Love” off Ragged Glory before transitioning to older material like “Powderfinger." Neil seemed to be in good spirits, taking every opportunity to indulge his musical whims – including extended jams and lengthy feedback experimentation. “How many of you were conceived in a Ramada Inn?” Neil asked before launching into the new track “Ramada Inn” – which should give you an idea of the feel of the evening.
Skipping material from their latest effort Americana, Neil Young & Crazy Horse blended brand new, soon-to-be-released material and classics with relative ease - a wise decision in my estimation. Let's face it, who wouldn’t want to hear Neil go crazy during the Ragged Glory classic “F***ing Up”? It’s a favorite and showed his playful side when gesturing to an engaged audience. While transitioning to his acoustic guitar only once (for Harvest’s “The Needle and the Damage Done”), the set was loud, loose, and always exciting.
Though only a 13 song set, the band played for more than two hours, finishing the evening with “Mr. Soul” and “Roll Another Number." While not the Greatest Hits style set many might have expected, Neil proved he can still perform at a high level and that he is one of the more unpredictable artists in his class.
While I’ll remember my first Outside Lands for many things, I’ll mostly remember it as the time I saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse for the first time. He rocked, he rolled, he shook the earth…Everyone (including the fog) left feeling enriched and fortunate to have spent the evening in a park with one of the world’s most revered musicians.
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