San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival kicked off last night with Steel Pulse, Carney, and Howlin Rain on different stages simultaneously.  Some of the artists that followed included Manu Chao, Black Mountain, and the Cold War Kids.  The closers were the Black Keys, Beck, and headlining, Radiohead.  The supporting bands including the Black Keys I would have to say were the highlight of the day. WHAT? Yes, you heard me right, it was the supporting acts that trumped the headliners.  It happens, rarely, but it happens.  The crowd poured in to see Beck which had a very flat performance, and that's putting in nicely.  To be brutally honest, he had the energy and stage presence of an armadillo.  Well, let me take that back, an armadillo running across the stage might have been entertaining.  It's not like he didn't have some songs that would get people going, Devil's Haircut, Loser, and New Pollution most people know.  However, like the overcast marine layer that rolled in, the performance was damp and dull.  I spoke with a festival-goer who asked how far the stage was for the Black Keys and if he could still make it time (since they played during the same time slot).  Lucky for you if you chose them.  let me just say this, people on ludes should not perform. Ok, I said it. 

    Radiohead performed to the masses and was good but not great.  There were many technical difficulties during the set which on a couple of occasions the sound completely cut out.  It was almost comical to see them on the screens still rockin' with absolutely no sound.  I reminded me of Ashley Simpson on SNL accept instead of the wrong song someone hit the pause button.  No, I am not saying they were lip-syncing. I'm just saying that's what in reminded me of.  The crowd didn't seem to happy either. Do you blame them after paying all that $ to see Radiohead to be met with glitches, blips, and outages?  When your getting paid a million dollars to put on a show it better be flawless.  Despite that, they were very apologetic and put on a good show.

   We will see how day 2 goes.  I over heard some girls talking about the days leading up to the festival, getting tickets, and who was playing.  A friend said, "are you guys going to this great festival?" She responded, "who is playing?""Radiohead, Tom Petty, and Jack Johnson". "Who would want to see that line-up? Can you get single day tickets? Radiohead, sure, but why would they pair up those acts together?" I laughed as I though about this while stepping off the bus but didn't catch the last of it.

  Today, in addition to Tom Petty, the acts include Steve Winwood, Ben Harper, Primus, and Matt Nathanson among others.