Pics by Andrew Rowley // Rowlbertos Media
I’m usually pretty torn on the last day of a festival like this. I’m happy to have made it through the weeds of physical and mental exhaustion, but that also means the better part of all that anticipation and excitement is behind as well. Good things come to an end, I guess, it’s fucking sad, but that’s life, right? All you can do is be thankful to have another day of festival-style hedonism and fucking kickass music. I mean, jesus, Elton John!
So as is standard on the last day of any festival, the damage from the night before had me slower and dumber and running behind on my basic human goals. There’s a little bit of damage control that goes into getting your ass nourished and prepared to go ahead and fuck it up in the coming hours, but it is definitely worth the effort to get the most out of that last day. So when a few friends showed up at my apartment to have a few of the cheap beers before heading out, I greeted each one of them with a big hug because I was happy to have one more day.
All of this is to say I was running a little late getting to the park on Day 3. I missed the Allah-La’s and St. Paul & The Broken Bones, which is a huge bummer because I haven’t seen either live, and their set times were actually attainable. I was too late for DMA’s also, but 12 noon is a ridiculous time to have your ear drums blitzkrieg’d, so maybe I’ll just have to be okay with missing the opening band to have a few beers as long as I can see Benjamin Booker, Hot Chip, The Devil Makes Three and Sir Elton.
Benjamin Booker
As I mentioned I arrived a little later than I wanted, so I didn’t get a chance to drift between stages much; but the upside was that I had plenty of time to get real close for Benjamin Booker with a bunch of virgin listeners who had just missed the Givers. Looking back, they probably would have opted for DJ Mustard if I had presented the option, but I was very adamant about Benjamin Booker and I think he fucking delivered. His crunchy blues guitar with punk rock tempo, raspy voice and kind of “aww shucks” demeanor are real fucking charming and I can’t wait to see Benjamin Booker for a long time.
Hot Chip
My apathy toward electronic music is pretty well-documented here, but Hot Chip is something different. I thought it might be Glass Animals this year, but Hot Chip turned out to be the electronic dance thing that totally won me over and turned me into a dance machine for an hour. I love that the lead singer isn’t a very cool looking guy, I love the infectious drum beat and I love that everyone seems to have their own way to get down to Hot Chip. This was a lot of fun and I’ll definitely see Hot Chip the next time they tour.
The Devil Makes Three
I thought I’d be more alive for The Devil Makes Three, but this was some serious sit down and get some rest time, because the sun had fallen behind the tree line and Elton John was here. Oh, also Sam Smith was on at the same time and people cared about that, I guess. So I drank, ate and rested up against the grassy hill.
Sam Smith
I didn’t actually see Sam Smith, but one of my favorite stories from all of Outside Lands came when I was talking to a co-worker on Monday. She was describing the real shitty time she had with a friend who had come out to see her from Mississippi, and profess his love. Ever the awkward situation when unrequited love travels two thousand miles and then has to endure an entire music festival with weird unintentional touches and hand-grazing. So when I asked, “who was the worst band you to watch together?” she answered almost immediately, “Sam Smith.” Obviously.
Elton John
Don’t get it twisted, Elton John is still one of the biggest rock stars in the world. He didn’t do much in the way of crowd banter or story telling, I don’t think anyone wanted it. He just ripped song after song, occasionally getting up to goad the crowd like, “did you guys fucking see that!” As if anyone had even considered that Elton John might have lost it. Neither father time nor fatherhood seem to have slowed him down in any way. The lineup at Outside Lands is quite contemporary, so I was curious to see what type of reaction Elton John might elicit on a Sunday night, but every person in that crowd was singing along, dancing their balls off and playing air piano–AIR PIANO! Amazing.
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