Outside Lands Music Festival is one of those festivals that bring people together. With a large variety of music varying from stage to stage, people boogie, dubstep, mosh, and dance in pure happiness throughout the park. This year, Techibeats was lucky enough to attend the event and get a taste of what Outside Lands is really about.
Friday’s line up consisted of a variety of bands however; the one that really started off the party was Die Antwoord. For those of you who don’t know, Die Antwoord is the South African rap-rave group consisting of Ninja and Yolandi Vi$$er, accompanied by their DJ Hi-Tek. As the three approached the stage in bright orange , Die Antwoord’s crazy and creepy stage presence resonated through the crowd. As the temperature dropped and the fog rolled in, MSTRKRFT turned up the heat with some bass heavy remixes. While Neil Young brought Outside Land attendees back to the golden years, Justice threw down hard at the other end of the park. Taking remixes to extremes, fans were literally shaking in the trees throughout their set.
As Saturday started, MiMOSA came in hard with a bottle in hand. However, nothing could quite compare to Metalica’s two-hour heavy metal set. With fireworks, gunshots, and lasers that lit up the notorious San Francisco fog, this set had everyone in the crowd moshing and running into each other.
The last day of Outside Lands approached way too soon, but the three artists that closed down the festival definitely gave it the happy ending that it deserved. With everyone singing along to Stevie Wonder’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” to everyone bouncing to Wolfgang Gartner’s set, it was almost unreal.
Then, there was Skrillex. With Skrillex moving his way up to the top throughout 2011 and 2012, there was a lot of anxiety throughout the crowd due to their high expectations of his set. Throwing down his usual songs to busting out a little trap, Skrillex went past all expectations and rallied the troops.
Outside Lands 2012 came and went, but it created a memory that will continue on for the rest of the year. With people, friends, and family from all over gathering around to hear good music, it is a guaranteed good time. Especially when you are in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Photographs by Philey Sanneh
