2015 Neighbor’s Guide to the 8th annual Outside Lands Music Festival, August 7-9

70 Comments

1. Thanks, Sarah! It’s so helpful that you post these each summer!

2. no details of the cash payoffs or bribes.

   no details of the cost to 900,000 city residents for losing our park for a week.

   no details of the clean up which the city ends up doing at significant cost for two to three weeks after this crap. no wonder the rest of the city’s parks are in such a shitty state of disrepair and lack maintenance.

   no details of how long the polo fields will be closed to children’s soccer practices and games in september to allow the party-hardy damaged field to recover. The same field we spent $2 million on a total re-sod a year ago.

   Just get ready for drunk hordes disrespecting the neighborhood and parking all over the place.

   And, pedestrians, get ready to get hit on fulton by nine out the ten drivers who do not yield to people in marked crosswalks, and by the five of ten who accelerate towards peds in crosswalks to try to get by first and save 10 seconds.

   Hey, Capt of the Richmond police station, how bout organizing a booze bus doing random breath testing of drivers driving home afterwards, say from 7 to 10 PM on fulton? Now that would be a true public service.

3. The first two comments sum up everything perfectly

4. “no details of the cash payoffs or bribes.”
   [citation needed that these exist]

   “no details of the cost to 900,000 city residents for losing our park for a week.”
   It’s three days, it’s only part of the park, there are other parks, and you aren’t losing it.

   “no details of the clean up which the city ends up doing at significant cost for two to three weeks after this crap. no wonder the rest of the city’s parks are in such a shitty state of disrepair and lack maintenance.”
   You can find details on how exactly the city requires the people who run OL to do cleanup on many sites. They do a good job. The park has been in great shape most of the year.

   “no details of how long the polo fields will be closed to children’s soccer practices and games in september to allow the party-hardy damaged field to recover. The same field we spent $2 million on a total re-sod a year ago.”
   There’s lots of other soccer fields in the city for kids to practice on during the short time the fields may be out of use. While the parents of the kids pay taxes for the use of the field, the concert goers also pay, in that a huge amount of taxes are collected from OL, contributing to the city’s coffers. And more people use these soccer fields during this short event than the number of kids who use it all year, I would wager.

   “Just get ready for drunk hordes disrespecting the neighborhood and parking all over the place.”
   Ready!

   “And, pedestrians, get ready to get hit on fulton by nine out the ten drivers who do not yield to people in marked crosswalks, and by the five of ten who accelerate towards peds in crosswalks to try to get by first and save 10 seconds.”
   Ready for that too, thanks to the hotline number posted above!

   “Hey, Capt of the Richmond police station, how bout organizing a booze bus doing random breath testing of drivers driving home afterwards, say from 7 to 10 PM on fulton? Now that would be a true public service.”
   Probably a good idea, except that there’s a huge amount of traffic there during that time, both pedestrain and auto, so there might be safety issues caused by backing up traffic to do this on Fulton.

   Here’s to a safe and fun Outside Lands!

5. The comment section here is gonna be good!

   http://i.imgur.com/S6HAKVZ.gif

6. Oh cool! It’s that time of year again. When my neighbors and I have cars towed who block our driveways. Last year we tried so hard to boost the SF budget by having a dozen cars towed. Let’s see if we can do our civil duty and have a heap more cars towed. San Francisco needs all the help it can get!!

7. Any suggestions on drop-off locations for parents driving teens?

8. @Christine – main entrance is at 30th and Fulton. I’d recommend taking them out via Geary, turn left towards park at 30th and get as close as you can, drop them off. I’d avoid Fulton as much as possible.

9. Lafayette Elementary is offering parking for $50 on Saturday and Sunday. We will be $40 on Friday. Also, Presidio MS is closed this year for parking. Their yard is now bungalows due to construction. Thank you and please update this post. Thanks!

10. Thanks @Valerie, updated

11. Update for 2014/15 – Lawton School will be offering parking this year! $40 per car , per day. We are open from 10am-11pm. Enter on 30th between Lawton & Kirkham. Credit card payments or paypal accepted! All proceeds are 100% tax deductible and benefit Lawton’s PTA and awesome K-8 students and teachers!

12. Sorry – I meant 2015 update!! Lawton is on the Sunset side.

13. Hi there!
    Small correction. Presidio Middle School will not be offering parking this year due to construction 🙂
    Thanks!

14. Whoops! Guess you already corrected it! Noticed it is no longer listed.

15. Franz, how long on average last year did it take from calling 311 to having the cars removed? With only 2 trucks in the Richmond and towing downtown to the yard, we figure that they can only do about 20 cars total in a day. We all know that a lot more than 20 cars are blocking people’s driveway.

    One friend called about three years ago and the lady on the phone told him that in truth it could be 2 to 4 hours or more to get a car removed.

16. A “safe and fun” Outside Lands? Then please, tell the fencing contractor to clean up the sharp metal fasteners they have left behind every single year. Complaints were lodged last year, yet on a short stretch of MLK/Middle Drive two days ago, I collected a large pocketful of these objects. The contractor and the concert promoters clearly don’t give a rat’s ass about resident concerns. Kids, dogs, and bicyclists are especially at risk of injury, and sorry, three weeks is far too long to have access to a large section of a public park limited and ultimately closed for a private event. A few days? Fine. Three weeks plus? Unacceptable.

17. Sound checks have begun in earnest – Bowie’s China Doll – coming in (too) loud and clear over here on the southside of the park. 311 refused to take complaint and referred me to the hotline.
    For those on the north side from Eric Mar’s column in the Richmond Review:
    “My legislative aide, Nick Pagoulatos, will be monitoring calls and e-mails throughout the event. He can be reached at (415) 554-7412 or via e-mail at nickolas.pagoulatos@sfgov.org.”
    No contact info or mention or interest or concern for her constituents so far from Ms. Tang.

18. The hotline is only open during the festival. So much for community outreach given that this event has been in swing since 7/29 and posted signs say they will be impacting the park until 8/14 (and it is always longer than that). Totally unacceptable. It’s time to organize!

19. JD – they mention two dedicated per side, but during the day there are usually more. After 6pm, there is very little chance of them coming to tow. Usually the neighbors and I gang together and do a call tree through to the city hotline. After multiple calls every 20 or so minutes, the city sends someone.

20. Kay – good luck. The organizers have the city in their pocket. No chance of it going anywhere without being labelled a NIMBY. But I’m actually on your side.

21. Am I the only one bummed to not be attending? I rather enjoyed the sound check of Bowie’s Chinadoll from the North side of the park. Took a good walk around with my pooch earlier. I will be busing to work in the outer richmond and tuning in to the live cast over the weekend but am pretty sure I can hear from the Twin Peaks stage clearly. One long weekend a year seems like nothing to endure compared to those that live near Dolores Park. I mean that’s why we live out here right? We are rarely impacted for more than a day by city events. I mean Elton John is the headliner. If his core audience isn’t people in the avenues than what is? If I don’t want to hear any music then I can just put the fan in the window or ear buds with music or book on tape. Easy. We live in the most beautiful city in the world and sometimes we have to put up with some stuff we don’t like. I choose to live here and will only live in the Richmond as I love it. #mic_drop

22. Crossing my fingers for a quiet event like last years, though I feel for the residents along Fulton in the high 20’s and 30th-40th Avenues. Incidentally, Treasure Island is getting their own 2-day APE event in mid-Oct. Residents there probably aren’t too happy about getting inundated, but there is more parking there and easier access from downtown San Fran. I hope it becomes such a great renowned event that it starts to syphon the talent from OSLMF and makes TIMF THE APE venue of choice for many musicians. The plus side: TI is a whole lot warmer in Oct probably than most August nights at the bone chilling Polo Grounds.

23. The promoters, greedy Texas bastards that they are, have added yet another stage between 25th & 30th this year, so many of us will be able to enjoy the blending of three bands playing at the same time. Oh, and no more music cutoff at 7 p.m. on Sunday in the mid-Richmond; music plays til 9:35 p.m. (LOL–9:35, not 9:30. ) As people have said before, this event belongs at the Cow Palace.

    The hotline is useless. I was told last year that noise complaints go no where. The people who supposedly monitor the decibel levels don’t waste time adjusting sound during sets and there isn’t time to do it between bands. What you hear is what you get. The sound checks midweek are pointless if the weather/air currents change by the weekend (which often happens).

24. Agree with various comments as to being unable to enjoy the section of the park closest to where I live. What makes it worse is the increase in traffic in the Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset. Goers looking for free parking circle around like hungry vultures looking for an empty spot and lot’s of them do not even bother to read the parking regulations that pertain to SF. Therefore victims to their ignorance, they get ticketed or even worse ticketed and towed! I also heard the soundcheck clearly yesterday and I live in the hill near G Washington High School.

25. It is not one weekend a year. It IS a few weeks. This year it is posted as 7/27 to 8/14 but they are never out of there on time. Last year, I got yelled at by a security guard for walking near the anglers’ lodge a week after the concert. OSL does not belong in a park. Free concerts like HSB that do not limit access to/close off large sections of the park for three weeks? Fine. But cyclone fencing with dangerous metal objects littering the paths for months to come and is only there to keep people out of a public park? Unacceptable. Anyone remember the legendary Bill Graham’s “Day on the Green” series? Yep, an outdoor concert featuring many bands that was held in an appropriate venue — the Oakland Coliseum. They eventually named the Civic Auditorium after Bill Graham, so obviously, he was doing something right. OSL and the City of San Francisco should take a lesson, but in the name of profits, they won’t.

26. Franz, thank you and sadly, I agree with you. The only hope is for residents to band together to get this thing reined in! As I said, a few days are fine. A few weeks is outrageous.

27. Thought you all would appreciate the link of sfist.

28. Here is the link.

    http://sfist.com/2015/08/05/housing_crisis_solution_build_a_cro.php

29. AML you are not the only one bummed to not be attending. I went two years ago and had a blast. It was the cleanest I’ve ever actually seen that part of the park, actually…people were generally using the trash containers and there was not much on the ground. The different stages were amazing, although I am more into electronica, and there’s not much for those of us who love that music at this event. Mostly indie bands, but it was a lot of fun.

30. There’s lots of residents nearby who are very happy this event is taking place. I live near the park, and thankfully there’s a ton of residents likewise who live nearby who enjoy the event. Every year it’s the same thing…some people want the event to be moved to the Cow Palace, a horrible, horrible venue on the outskirts of the city. That place is a cesspool, and unsuitable for all of the great bands who come in to play. It’s also a security nightmare; I’ve actually been there twice when it was shut down due to crowd sizes. You don’t have to worry about that in a park. I’m very happy they haven’t moved it.

    One of the things I most enjoy about this event are the people from all over the country and all over the world who come in specifically for OL. It’s great to be able to show off the park and these amazing bands to all the tourists who come in. This is one of the great events that make this city so amazing. I’ve already run into people from New York, Germany, and Iowa, for example, who have come in to see this thing.

    Additionally, the neighborhood along Geary fills up later in the evening with a lot of visitors, and it’s fantastic to know that a lot of the businesses there (and presumably on the other side of the park) get a TON more business on the days and evenings this event occurs. I;m doing SF Bike Party tonight, which will be biking through the park at the same time the event is going on with a few hundred cyclists. Can’t wait!

31. “… the Cow Palace, a horrible, horrible venue on the outskirts of the city,,, unsuitable for all of the great bands who come in to play.”

    Hmmmm… as I recall, The Beatles played The Cow Palace! Guess they just weren’t a great enough band?

    It doesn’t have to be The Cow Palace. That was one suggestion by one poster. The point is that the park is not designed to be a venue for this type of event. A few days of set up, music, and tear down? Fine. Three weeks? Unacceptable. It’s a public park. If they want to have a concert in the park, it should have minimal impact, and it should be free — at least to the residents whose taxes support it.

    The concert promoters, the contractors and the city should be ashamed of the way the park looks to all of the people who arrive here in the weeks before and after this event, never mind the residents who use it on a regular basis.

32. I always go out of town to see my folks in San Rafael, and warn them I’m coming just as soon at the dates for OSL are announced. Living on Fulton Street and enjoying the Park frequently, this event is just intolerable, every year.

33. Lawton School is providing OSL parking at 30th and Kirkham. Just 3 blocks away from Lincoln….closest parking lot from South Gate entrance at 34th. Enjoy festival and be safe !!!

34. Pingback: Outside Lands in GG Park Aug 7-8-9 traffic delays - FlyerTalk Forums

35. The Outside Lands should provide porta-pottys out side of the fenced area . People walking to the event through the neighborhoods are using doorways, garages, trees and bushes as porta-pottys. The event organizers and City departments should of had the foresight from past shows that this was happening and correct the problem. Mar and his staff should be there making sure the neighborhoods don’t take such a unnecessary punishment each year. Mar where are you?

36. NOOOOO not another year of this shit – literally. Last year someone took a dump in our entry way on Funston Ave. Every other week of the year we love being park adjacent. Why is it that Hardly Strictly Bluegrass can hold an event in the same space and I cannot hear it – it does not disrupt our lives but OL cannot manage to turn down the volume so that concert goers can still hear but our windows don’t rattle from bass? It’s not that difficult to respect the neighborhood – hate this concert every year – hate it. And the complaint hotline? It’s a bunch of teenagers that just say feel good things like “so sorry” and they do nothing to solve the noise, shit, trash or parked in driveway problems – the hotline is just a PR stunt it is useless.

37. I am sick of the people using the front of my house as a toilet. So I just stood out there from 9:30 to 11:00 making sure no one relived themselves. It wasn’t how I wanted to spend a Friday night, but better than cleaning it up in Saturday morning.

38. Last night was very very loud. People also use our house as a toilet as we live on Fulton. Due to the drought, we can’t even hose off the area the following morning.

39. LB – drought rules allow you to hose human waste.

40. I think outside lands has become out of control . The noise , trash , and inconveniences of being unable to live in my house for 3 plus days is becoming ridiculous . We pay large property taxes and also have rights .
    Bluegrass is not this loud nor nearly as intrusive .
    The community needs to do something about this event , and two days is more than enough revenue for the city .

41. This festival has become unmanageable , it’s become much louder , more trash , and it’s not possible to live in your house for 3+ days .
    Bluegrass is never this intrusive

    I pay large property taxes and have lost patience on this festival . SF had plenty of money , I don’t buy any of this corporate nor budget BS

42. This is ridiculously loud. Kids’ bedtime is impacted and we are east of Park Presidio/north of Geary. This festival is a nuisance. No night sessions. Show a little respect for the neighbors. What can we do to at least keep this a day-only festival?

43. This event does not belong in a park. GGP isn’t a fair grounds, it’s a PARK.
    The fools who organized this event don’t care about the damage they are doing to the park as they only care about the $$$ and don’t even live here!

    Nearly everyone attending are not SF residents and are just using the city’s park as a circus to get drunk and high.
    Let’s get this put on the local ballot measure to end this now! I guarantee this would be the last year.
    After this is shut down it’s time to take GGP away from Rec & Park dept. and put it in a trust like the Presidio to ensure greedy pigs at city hall can’t pull another stunt like this in the future.

44. https://www.change.org/p/edwin-lee-prohibit-large-scale-events-from-taking-place-in-golden-gate-park

    Follow link and sign if you want to end these oversized events that keep the local taxpayers locked out of their park.

45. Last night, Saturday, was LOUD! With windows shut, earplugs, and pillow over my head, I was still able to hear the music and the noisey concert attendees perfectly. Yes, perhaps I went to bed early, but when suffering from jet lag there’s not much of a choice. Not looking forward to tonight. Eric Mar, please consider those of us who have to be up before 5 am on Monday and end Sunday night’s performance by 7 PM. Or better yet, find a new venue for this mess.

46. The core root cause issue with Outside Lands is the problem of the “Economic Free Rider”.

    In essence the concert is the same as a company that makes a spoon. They have inputs into production and out puts.

    Over the last 100 years in America we as a society decided that dumping the pollution down the river while making a spoon and polluting the neighbors water was not going to be tolerated and therefore we have regulation internalizing that spoon makers cost of production. Meaning that he cannot take something from his neighbor and make money off of it.

    Outside Lands is doing the exact same thing. They are displacing the total cost of their event onto the citizens of the San Francisco. Specifically, the residents of the Richmond and Sunset Districts.

    Every time a home owner or renter is having to clean up human waste, pick up trash, be late for work, not get their kids to sleep on time, not to mention not using a large part of the park for a week or more, they are displacing their costs onto someone else.

    If the Outside Lands factory has to capture and internalize all these costs, I doubt they would do it for it would eat up all their profits.

    Since the Outside Lands factory has successfully engaged in regulatory capture, basically owning the parks department and city hall…nothing will change unless the residents take it directly to the ballot.

    Now all that said, I do not have problem with the concert. I just think that the Outside Lands factory should have to pay 100% of their costs. I suspect that if one did a serious analysis of the cost of the square footage they use, and for how long, one would find that a $1M fee is way too cheep.

47. I think this petition is a good idea, but we don’t find Bluegrass nearly as offensive in noise , trash , and general community demise . Moreover , most of the park is never closed to the general public

    I think we need a position targeted at outside lands corporate interested . Moreover , who believe they own the park for 9-10 days , while clearly exceeding noise and capacity .

48. We would sign a position focused on outside lands . Clearly this festival is out of control , the noise , trash , and masses across 3 full days is overbearing for local residents , especially those of us on Fulton etc

    Bluegrass is a free and non profit event

49. we can’t life in our house for 72 hours for this obscenely loud and overcrowded event .

    Outside Lands must go or be consolidated 1-2 days MAX

50. Bedtime for kids ruined? Blah. My 4 year old and I enjoyed listening to the Black Keys last nite. I love these events. It’s only the weeekend. I love that people come in droves to visit our hood. I love the excitement, energy that surrounds things like this. Looking forward to Hardly Strictly in October!

51. I don’t think well thought out events in the Park should be banned, but the Outsidelands has way out grown this park venue. Please put out a petition to move the Outside lands event to another venue that can hold such a large crowd coming and going. Put the word out I will go around my neighborhood and get signatures. I wonder if Eric Mar and his staff will even listen!!

52. Golden Gate Park is PUBLIC LANDS. It belongs to the people of San Francisco, who pay the taxes that maintain it. Each year, it is STOLEN from the taxpayers of San Francisco so that Another Planet Entertainment can make a fortune on confiscated public property. O.L. is NOT a “fundraiser” or “benefit” for Rec & Park (though they do their best to lead everyone to believe this.) A SMALL percentage goes to Rec & Park — and neighbors have asked repeatedly for an accounting of how much that is — and oddly, never go it. A special exception is made for this concert that allowed vendors to sell alcohol, too. And a percentage of their sales are supposed to go to the City of SF…yet at least 3 years ago, when I know this was requested, Rec & Park told us that NO accounting had ever been made. This is a feeding frenzy whereby the SFPD make a ton of money (it’s a cop party…) and so do the companies that put up the fencing, build the stages…and provide “security” (I watched 2 years ago as some guys with wire cutters cut the fence and the security guy said “hey, I’m being paid minimum wage…think I’m going to risk getting beat up…?” Journalists now refuse to tell anything but the story APE and Rec & Park want told — because as soon as they do, they get backstage passes thrown at them in order to shut up. Three years ago, at a community meeting after O.L. neighbors asked why the promised support to tow cars out of driveways never materialized (big empty promises are made each year, never delivered on…) and they were told BY THE SFPD that the SFPD had learned that the meter maids (who were being probably being paid double-time to work on the weekend) weren’t doing their job because they were….BACKSTAGE! Gospel truth!

53. I’m on 34th leading to a main entrance. People come by in droves this year, sit on our flowers, congregating in wait for Uber or Lyft, and urinate in our driveway and litter around our trees. They should move the venue to Treasure Island, the Colliseum or Cow Palace where the impact on neighborhoods from careless and heedless crowds and loud sounds and traffic jams is minimal. Parking in my neighborhood is impossible and it is not just for the 3 days. Also my friend fell and hurt himself on one of those sharp metal fence pins left behind on the ground by the hundreds afterwards. Golden Gate Park cannot withstand so much abuse. In the 80s you could be fined for treading off the main path; GGP will turn to sand if it is overrun as the drought roars on.

54. Toggymommy-so happy for you that you and your 4 yo enjoy the music. You are a newbie transplant to this area and so of course you have little to no context except your own narrow one. If you love it so much, buy a ticket and GO THERE. What is the matter with you and other people who think that their “right” to enjoy music that other people either find obnoxious or JUST DONT WANT TO LISTEN TO IN THEIR HOUSE OR APT FOR THREE 12 hr DAYS must be forced to listen to it or leave? I have to work at home today because getting to the south side of the park is a long day’s journey into hell. So OK, I work from home. Except I can’t because of the noise chaos. I get that you only and “j” who posts every year about the fabulousness of this for the entire district couldn’t care less about other people. Pay attention, mommy. This is not “just” a 3-day event. It disrupts the area residents for more like 3 weeks. As posters have said, HSB mostly does not BLAST the Richmond & Sunset districts, plus parts of areas throughout the city. And the insulting nonsense the hotline people throw out (“We do have people who are out there monitoring the decibel levels.” Really? With what, an iPhone?

55. A friend of mine who is a single man spent one weekend in absolute hell in his apt. at 30th and Fulton the day after he had surgery to remove lung cancer. If you go online, there are (or were 2 years ago) legal levels for the amount of sound that was legal, almost on a block-by-block basis. This, just like the “night sky ordinance” that our neighborhood fought for for years , which prohibits the 60-ft stadium lights that are going in at the soccer fields as we speak — is absolutely IGNORED. At Abu Gharaib, etc., the US military TORTURED people they deemed to be dangerous enemies by blasting rock music non-stop 24/7. I do not believe for a minute that these sound levels are legal or acceptable…yet protests for years have been utter and completely ignored. I called SFPD 3 years back and the officer HUNG UP on me (I had not used any foul language or yelled, etc.) I called back, said “you hung up on me.” He said “no, I didn’t.” I said, “I would like your badge number, please” and he hung up on me. As far as I know, this is also ILLEGAL?

56. Where was everyone 3 years ago when a group of residents worked so hard to get people to sign a petition against “Outside Lands” — and also begged people to come to a neighborhood meeting at the Richmond police station? Get together and DO IT. The SFPD and APE and Rec & Park spent the first 45 minutes of that meeting in a love-fest, singing each others’ praises, and refused to let any residents talk at all. It was so digusting that half of the people who showed up left, it was so clear the b.s. that was being pulled. Some people who had raised hands to comment were told by the Capt. (in a very angry and hostile way) to “BE QUIET!” When finally a woman — very calmly and it was clear that she understood city laws, etc. — said that she would like to request an accounting of how much money Outside Lands generated and how much went to Rec & Park, David Heller stood up and shouted her down, yelling “you have NO right to this information! What are you gonna do with it?” The Captain said not one work to bring him to order, just let him roll. The public, of course, has EVER right to ask for an accounting of any event held on public lands and any financial details involving a city agency. The SFPD, Rec & Park, Eric Mar, Mayor Lee, etc. are employed by – – and paid by — me and you. They work for us, the residents and taxpayers of San Francisco, not the other way around.

57. Tru dat about the Richmond Station meeting in 2012. Extremely discouraging for the neighborhood as it was SO obvious that City Hall, the BoS and SFPD were in it with Park & Wreck and Another Planet Entertainment. It’s a cash cow for certain city departments and outside vendors of all kinds, so what a “few” neighbors were inconvenienced? Seemed like the sound level was lower in ’13 & ’14 but for the Black Keys yesterday I could hear it so clearly & I’m almost 3 miles away at 4th & Clement. Loudest it’s been in 7 or 8 years. Mar ain’t going to do anything about it, he’s termed out. The APE contract is through next year or 2017, hopefully someone will figure it out although there’s money to line their pockets with, they take the high road and realize the event is now not good for the park nor the residents that live near the park. It’s never been like Central Park in NYC, ever.

58. Renee. I am not some newbie. I’ve lived here over a decade. Just because you’re ancient and lived here longer doesn’t mean anything. You know what you are…. A grumpy troll who needs to leave. Can’t stand it? Then you can always move somewhere else. 😀

59. I think this blog should be used for constructive focuses . What is in the past , is in the past

    Let’s document the facts focused on exclusively outside lands destruction to the community :

    1. It’s gotten much louder
    2. Too many people
    3. Closing the park to the public for two weeks
    4. Trash nightmare
    5. traffic and parking chaos
    6. Property destruction ( haven’t seen anything extensive )

60. Remember this weekend for those who have endured parking issues, people deficating on their property and the extremely loud noise during the next election. The wheels were set in motion when you all voted that clown Mar in. Pick a candidate whose focus will be District 1 and not their own deep pockets. Anyone endorsed by the same tools who gave us this mess, should be avoided.

61. Personally I really enjoyed The Black Keys performance of Next Girlfriend. My car is still in one piece on Fulton. No extra trash on my extensive dog walk. I mean the park service did nothing for a month about the camp with fecal trash and bloody paper towels on the dog path that most impacts me.

62. Personally I would consider the Meow Mix song mixed with crying babies torture. Even I’m Still Standing by Elton John is way too much of a blast to the past. Here is an article http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/19/usa.guantanamo which lists songs used as torture

    ANDY WILLIAMS
    METALLICA
    QUEEN (WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS)
    NANCY SINATRA
    BARNEY THEME SONG
    RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
    BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
    DAVID GRAY

    And this perfect quote
    “I think they just show up at work with whatever they’re listening to at the time. There’s no shortage of metal-heads in the army, that’s for sure. These guys who are going into battle, they’re not listening to Elton John beforehand.”

    Then again Americans think “American Woman” is a pro USA song.

63. I’m not sure if folks want to be forced to live in hell for 3 days while paying insanely high taxes /ren to live here
    The crowds are bigger , noise is much louder , and we , the community , cannot live a normal life during this private event . If they want to pay for all of us to relocate for the weekend , otherwise no city offers this type of 3 day 100,000 people event craziness

    I hope people organize to end this madness .

64. After tonight wraps up, and the hoards leave the people living in SF should stop by tomorrow and see the carnage left behind by OL. The park is trashed and looks like a cheap fair grounds in Texas. We need to keep the pressure on after this ends and get a measure on the ballot to RELOCATE this. We can’t end OL but we can relocate them.

    For the past few years graffiti covers the polo field tunnels. Wger are the cops then? This has simply gone too far. With every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year they added another stage, expanded the perimeter fencing, closed JFK Drive to PEDESTRIANS for the first time, have security guards patrolling/guarding fence telling people to scram! This is a public park! GGP is NOT for sale!
    What happens when let’s say a company like twitter says “we’re going to rent the entire park for a week for a company party”, or worse GGP gets outfitted with permanent speakers/generators/antennas because these events happen more regularly and are larger. We could end up with a glorified fair grounds not a park.
    Now is the time to take action and send a message to the greedy pigs at city hall that this public park is not for sale. Only people who live here get screwed, for everyone else coming in it’s like 72 hours to do what ever the F they want.
    GGP needs to be taken away from Park & Rec and put in a trust like the Presidio so crazy crap like this is impossible.
    This event only shows how vulnerable GGP is to urban encroachment.

65. Absolutely fantastic weekend. Friday night was great; out on Irving there were tons of people enjoying the evening after the show and pretty much all the open establishments from 25th to 19th were packed with people.

    We biked through the park on Friday while the event was going on. The crowds were quite orderly and respectful of the neighborhood, from what I saw. The area of the park blocked off was quite small; if you entered the park from the panhandle you would have no idea that the event was even taking place. Plenty of space for people to enjoy normal park activities.

    Every year its the same…selfish neighbors who enjoy the park year round, but for three days a small park of the park is blocked off for people to enjoy some of the best music the world has to offer. Outside Lands is one of the things that make this city great. Foggymommy up above is right. If it’s too noisy for people, move to a city with less noise. Cities are noisy places. It’s part and parcel of living in a city. Thank god Mar and the Parks and Rec department ignore the complaints and put this event on.

    Looking forward to the event next year!

66. J
    Glad you had fun partying in our community , but we don’t live here to pay the highest taxes and rents , forced to listen to noise fir 72 hours , for your partying pleasure

    No city hosts these types of events without a proper facility, GG park is a park , not an amphitheater

    Go to bottle rocket or sonewhere else because this one will end

67. Its amazingly odd some of the trash comments here…
    8:30 am this morning there was no trash to be found, club posters removed from poles, and actually done every morning since last week. Oddly enough it’s cleaner than from an average weekend.

    One incident I witnessed while walking our dogs , a homeowner screaming and verbally abusing a volunteer picking up trash. Some yokel on 800 block 30th Ave, screaming at the poor soul trying to pickup bottles and debris. As if it was the young mans fault, “why you a…hole trash out street”.

    Makes no sense to make scream at people trying help and make issues of public foolishness? Shame on that homeowner 🙁

68. RG, I live here, pay rent, and I pay taxes, and I vote. Your right to live free of noise 100% of the time is no more important than my right to “party in our community.” Fortunately the city agrees. If you want a quiet, noise free community, move elsewhere. There are plenty of quiet, bedroom communities where noise is always frowned upon.

    By the way, GG park is a park *and* an amphitheater and always has been. For crying out loud, it even HAS an amphitheater. Parts of the park were MEANT to have noisy events on occasion from the beginning. What do you think the Music Concourse is?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Concourse

    There’s even an actual real amphitheater there, the Spreckles Temple of Music.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Concourse#/media/File:MusicConcouse_B.jpg

    “Originally excavated for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, it underwent a significant redesign after the fair in order to be repurposed as a venue for public gatherings centered around music performances.

    The focal point of the plaza, Spreckels Temple of Music, also called the “Bandshell”, was built in 1899 in advance of the Music Concourse’s completion in 1900. It was severely damaged in the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, has repeatedly undergone extensive renovation, and has served as a stage for numerous performers over the years including Luciano Pavarotti and the Grateful Dead. It has for decades been the venue for annual celebrations of the anniversary of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791.”

    Now that’s just one place in the park meant to be used for music; there’s no reason other parts of the park can’t be used as well. This event is huge, successful, and brings a lot of joy to the tens of thousands of people who go each year. Here’s to another successful one next year!

69. Actually, most cities host these festivals in urban parks. Chicago had Lollapalooza in Grant Park in July. Every year since 2002, Austin has hosted ACL in Zilker Park. For the past 3 years, it is two weekends. We live in a major city, festival and events are going to happen in Golden Gate Park.

70. Uh oh. I’m one of the dreaded “newbies” in the Richmond, living (and paying exorbitant taxes) just a stones throw from the 30th Ave entrance to Outside Lands. For the last 30 years I lived in a rural area east of the Mississippi where, if I had my windows opened, I could literally hear a pin drop. You know what? I loved the OL weekend, and I am impressed by the organizers efforts to manage and clean up after this major event, and I look forward to next year. But I also understand that this event affected everyone living here differently. As seen from the comments here, emotions range from unconditional love to abject hatred. Seems to me this is to be expected. But hey, I’m just an old back woods yokel from the east coast, what do I know about city life?

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