Photos & Video from Outside Lands 2011

18 Comments

1. The concert was great! No extreme bad behavior, lines weren’t too long, the music was fun and, considering there were 60,000 people, I felt that the impact on the neighborhood was really well-managed. We also bumped into a bunch of people from other states and other countries, so it seems that Outside Lands has really good buzz right now. I’m looking forward to the next one.

2. Yes, what a fantastic event. Had a blast. Many respectful people, and like Scott I ran into many people from other places; didn’t meet anyone from other countries but heard lots of people walking by speaking other languages so I’m sure there were lots of international tourists at this event.

   This is one of those things that helps keep SF on the map as an international destination. Despite the fact that some neighbors were irritated, many were not and enjoyed the event.

   For those of us who live nearby and enjoyed it, remember there are some people here who are trying to shut this event down. We need to be vigilant and let our supervisors know how much we appreciate this event.

   The pictures above show how much fun this event was; the sight of 180,000 people enjoying themselves really does put the noise complaints of a few neighbors in perspective.

   Here’s hoping for a bigger and better Outside Lands next year!

3. As a Cabrillo Street neighbor who didn’t attend the concert, parking was a little easy this year, since I didn’t waste my time trying to find parking south of California Street; I found a great spot on Lake Street, only a mile from home. (Last year I had a 1-1/2 mile walk home from out near Baker Beach).

   On my way home Saturday afternoon I stopped for a piece of pie in the garden of Bazaar Cafe; fetching the car this morning at 7 AM my walk was serenaded by only distant foghorns. I paused for a warm piroshki at Moscow and Tblisi so I’m not sure I lost any weight for all this walking. But that’s a hazard of the Richmond District anyhow.

   Except for the last set of Saturday night, the volume was not objectionable, but all the same, my errands in Noe Valley and SOMA were blissfully quiet w/o background musical residue.

4. I think I’m one of those neighbors who’d be ok with Outside Lands shutting down. The parking obviously is a huge problem for people without garages (my girlfriend) and I don’t appreciate the intersection I live at becoming a car accident-prone parking lot (I witnessed one and heard another). Also bus loads of people from the bart shuttle were being dropped off literally right in my driveway every hour. I’d be ok with that last part if these people hadn’t left a bunch of garbage all over the front of my building. I’ve never been a fan of this event and don’t think the organizers could do much to change my mind unless they got Faith No More and Slayer to play next year.

5. Looks really fun!
   The only negative impact this Richmonder felt this weekend was crowded Muni buses… Otherwise, seems like it was great (I went last year and had a blast, would have loved to go this year, too).

6. Good things about the event itself:
   1) The wine bar was amazing. there were about 30 wineries represented, providing examples of their wines at fairly reasonable prices. This was quite a good change from many events like this where all you have are bad beer and hard liquor. It was in a classy pavilion, and it was excellent to see so many young people being introduced to some of the great and lesser known wineries from up in Sonoma and Napa.
   2) There were quite a few local businesses represented. Stores from the Haight were there. A lot of “environmentally conscious” booths were represented, community organizations, etc. I really enjoyed these, I wish there were more of them, but my suspicion is that the price for local businesses to get in is rather steep. i can think of a number of businesses, like Cards and Comics central that would be very appropriate for this.
   3) Music was OK, but mostly not my cup of tea; the DJ dome was clearly not big enough because the line to get into that was very long. Needs to be bigger and more of those.
   4) The food trucks in the woods were great. Didn’t expect to see those there.

   Overall I was very impressed wit the efficiency of the event. Not what I expected, although for people who paid a lot of money to see these bands, I think they got what they paid for. Well done.

7. Absolutely great event – clean, well-organized, not too loud, didn’t impact much. I live at Geary and 16th, and can’t wait until the event is back next year, even if I just experience the larger amount of foot traffic on Geary. I talked with the owners of a couple different restaurants, and this weekend was phenomenal for them – it would be nice to find a way for a similar event (doesn’t have to be music-related) to happen once a month or so to bring more folks out our way to support the neighborhood businesses.

8. Wow, just read through the other post with people complaining about the event. I’m beginning to wonder if I was in a different city this past weekend? I went to the event on Saturday, but I couldn’t really hear a thing on the other days aside from some faint bass a couple times. Definitely much quieter than the annoying Tuesday sirens or the mind-bogglingly loud traffic every day on Geary and Park Presidio.

   The only event that typically annoys me with regard to noise and house-shaking is Fleet Week, but I’m fine with the disturbance for one weekend because so many people seem to really enjoy the spectacle of that event.

9. I did not attend, but I really enjoyed hearing John Fogerty coming back from shopping on Geary. After reaching home, hung out in the backyard for a bit to catch a couple of more tunes.

10. I have to say it was heartwarming to hear an entire audience singing along with The Arcade Fire’s signature song “Wake Up” all the way from 24th and Clement last night! 🙂

11. i live in the inner sunset and the music at night was very loud and since i did not attend the concert, i felt lock out of the western park of the park which i use alot.. it looks like it was alot of fun

12. GREAT photos. GREAT music. GREAT effort by promoter.

    WRONG venue.

    If “Outside Lands” is such a wonderful cultural treasure and it does so much for our neighborhood businesses, etc. — I say we should be nice and share it. After all, we’ve had it for 4 years.

    I nominate the Marina Green. No houses at all on one side (so far fewer complaints by area residents). MUCH better access to BART, Ferry. Good access to 101, GG Bridge. Major arteries serve it : Lombard, Bay St. It’s MUCH better for handicapped people, because it’s all flat, no trees, no hills, berns, roots, rocks — so also much easier to fence off and to police.

    Why, I’m sure that the residents of the Marina aren’t the old-fogey, music hating, backward, complaining , NIMBY’s that we in the Richmond have been accused of for four years! The Marina residents are younger, hip, happening, cultural savvy, love music and are sophisticated — so you don’t have to worry about complaints about 3-days of nonstop music, traffic congestion or fencing off the Marina Green for 9 days with cyclone fencing so that the public can’t use it.

    Makes sense to me! And you know — if Rec and Park does think Marina-ites might object, they can just handle it exactly the way they did with the residents of the Sunset and Richmond — just don’t bother to ask us before they sign a 3-year contract.

13. This is the correct venue for this event. The different areas divided by trees make it so that one band’s sound does not bleed into another. If you are at Speedway Meadow you can’t hear the music on the Polo Fields and vice versa.

    The Marina green is not big enough for this event; while certainly some events are suitable for that area, this event is much to big for that. There’s actually more room in the park for the event to expand into; the entire area directly west of the panhandle was quiet yesterday and there were numerous open fields where this event can be expanded to.

    In addition, the major draw of the event is that it takes place in the park. People at the event are able to see just what a wonderful park we have, and I am sure the local businesses that see increased businesses during the day would rather not ave their added business move to the Marina. My suggestion is that it stay right where it is.

14. Commenters – Please try to keep the comments/criticisms about the venue, noise etc over on the original post at https://richmondsfblog.com/2011/08/11/neighbors-guide-to-the-outside-lands-festival-in-golden-gate-park/. This will help whoever else is reading (city officials?) view everything altogether.

    This post was meant to share some of what happened at the event and to let those that attended share their thoughts. Thank you!

    Sarah B.

15. @stoirin – the Marina Green is set to be used for the America’s Cup, which will be MUCH longer and have a LOT more people attending it for weeks on end in a few years. Aside from that, the Marina Green is used every year for Fleet Week, which is MUCH louder and more disruptive than anything about this past weekend. I don’t really think that your point about shared sacrifice holds much water IMO.

    Loved the weekend, even though I didn’t attend the concert. Lots of folks out and about, lively streets, occasional music floating in from the distance. Good stuff.

16. Aliens in our midst. Like I needed it confirmed.

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18. It’s interesting to see that those whose homes adjoing the park, particularly in the Sunset, are expected to endure three days of amplified bass and drums invading their homes.

    Why is it thought undreasonable to reduce the overall sound pollution from the concert to levels that are undetectable in nearby residents’ homes?

    Oh, I forgot — lots of people have paid money to be herded into an area where they can spend more money. Screw the neighbors, then…

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