Day 2: Almost getting smashed in the face and then eating the best Indian food ever

Words & Photography by Jenn Hernandez

The good weather continued for giddy Outside Lands second day concert-goers eager to soak in as much sun as possible while also getting their fest on. As we listened to a smooth Raphael Saadiq croon from the main stage – who started out dressed in a three-piece suit to later strip down to a rolled-up collared shirt – it was worth admiring the diversity in the crowd as well as the lineup we were about to drink in. We had metal time with Mastadon, the most magical five minutes with Bat For Lashes, and rumpshaking with TV On The Radio courtesy of Tunde Adebimpe’s hips, all in the course of one day.

The big news of the night, however, happened at 7:40 p.m. at the Twin Peaks stage. As I got situated in the photo pit, The Mars Volta were into their second song and more or less blowing out my ear drums. My camera was in love with singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, following him everywhere he went: handstands, spazzing and tossing the mic stand effortlessly into the air. At one point, he dived belly first onto the floor, popped back up, grinded against his mic stand, and then shuffled off to the side of the stage to drink tea out of a white mug.

Bixler-Zavala then grabbed the sign adjacent to the band that spelled out “THE MARS VOLTA” in giant capital letters, hocked it on his back, and then proceeded to kick the shit out of it, breaking it in the middle before nearly throwing everything into the crowd and grabbing another photographer’s camera in the process. All photographers were promptly bounced out of the photo pit breathless, and I was just glad to not have been caught in the crossfire. Best ten minutes of the whole weekend.

Other boring highlights included:
- find out trampolines really are as good as you remember from childhood
- the awkward hug I received at the Hug Station
- the Os Mutantes broken string incident
- TVOTR absolutely dominating “Wolf Like Me”
- Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox not knowing who else was on the festival bill with his band: “Who is Conor Oberst? Is he a singer?” (after being clued in by an audience member: “Oh, you mean Bright Eyes?”)
- eating something called a cookie pie
- nearly getting demolished in the photo pit during The Mars Volta set, but getting bomb Indian food to make up for my near-death experience

Sadly, news of DJ AM’s untimely death the day before had gripped everyone, and lots of people in lines, drinking near each other, or standing near one another in the crowds discussed the tragedy.

Raphael Saadiq

Portugal. The Man

Mastodon

Os Mutantes

TV On The Radio

Deerhunter

The Mars Volta

Brazilian psych legends Os Mutantes, who returned to the stage in 2006 for a handful of decidedly retro shows (see “A Minha Menina” in London above), are now coming back with their first new album in 35 years on September 8th through Anti- records, also home to everything from Porter Wagoner to Sage Francis to Antibalas and Man Man. Who knows what to expect from this band at this point, but with reported collaborations with awesome weirdo Tom Zé and smooth Tropicalian Jorge Ben on the album, entitled Haih, don’t be surprised if it’s the soundtrack to some indian summer sojourns.

Speaking of which, if you’re in San Francisco or Montreal in late August or early September, respectively, Os Mutantes will be playing Outside Lands and Pop Montreal.

With hundreds of artists still yet to be announced, the Pop Montreal International Music Festival released a small slice of its upcoming line-up today. We’re already jazzed. Feast on early highlights: Os Mutantes, Fever Ray, Faust, DJ/Rupture, Destroyer, Teenage Jesus & the jerks, Thee Oh Sees, and Dinosaur Jr. sharing the stage with Butthole surfers. Stay tuned for even more reasons to make that trip to Montreal at the end of September this year.

The line-up for San Francisco’s second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts festival has been announced. The three-day festival will take place in late August at the Golden Gate park, and headliners include Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, M.I.A. Dave Matthews Band, and… Tom Jones. (If that’s not enough to make you want to go by itself, than we don’t know what to tell you.)
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Luaka Bop has never done us wrong. The legendary world music label established by David Byrne is responsible for opening up a generation of American music listeners to the likes of Os Mutantes and Tom Zé among many others. Now that the playing field has been evened with music once considered outside the realm of American popularity breaking down barriers left and right, Luaka Bop has started to turn their attention to new artists. Enter Márcio Local.
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