Bay Area Concert Buzz: Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival 2017

Bay Area Concert Buzz: Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival 2017

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Since the summer of 2008, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has played host to the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival. Like other well-known outdoor festivals (like Coachella and Lollapalooza) Outside Lands takes place over the course of three days and boasts an abundance of high profile performers on multiple stages. Unlike other festivals, Outside Lands bills itself as a “celebration of Music, Food, Wine, Beer, Art, and Comedy,” meaning, there’s something there for everyone (even if that something is getting drunk off Napa Valley Merlots at the Wine Lands pavilion).

 

The festival will be taking place this weekend: Friday August 11th, Saturday August 12th, and Sunday August 13th. This year also marks the 10th anniversary for Outside Lands, and with an all-star lineup, it’s sure to be one big celebration.

 

The festival begins on Friday August 11th, with everyone’s favorite virtual group, Gorillaz, headlining. Their latest album, “HUMANZ” was released this past spring. Known for their creativity and unique performances, Gorillaz is the perfect group to kick off this year’s festivities. Also performing on Friday: legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest; summer music festival indie favorites Alt-J and Fleet Foxes; as well as celebrated pop group Belle and Sebastian.

 

The Saturday lineup brings rock and heavy metal to the festival, with rock and roll hall of famers, Metallica, headlining in the evening. Queens of the Stone Age, and Alt/electronic pioneers, Empire of the Sun, are also taking the stage earlier that day. But Solange – whose late 2016 album, “A Seat at the Table,” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and earned her extensive critical acclaim – is the artist I’m most looking forward to seeing on Saturday.

 

On Sunday, the final day of the festival (which is typically the most laid back of the three), Jack Antonoff’s indie-pop side project, Bleachers, will perform. In addition to releasing a new Bleachers album, “Gone Now,” in June, Antonoff has been hard at work producing and writing for other artists over the past few years, most notably – Sara Bareilles, Taylor Swift, and Lorde. Speaking of Lorde – the twenty year-old music sensation who just released her sophomore album, “Melodrama” – will be sub-headlining that day. Lorde is known for her dramatic, captivating live performances, and to say I’m excited to see her is quite an understatement. The final act of Outside Lands 2017 will be classic English rock band, The Who, taking fans on a journey through their iconic body of work, from “My Generation” to “Tommy” and “Who’s Next.”

For more information on the festival and to purchase single day tickets or 3-day general admission, visit the Outside Lands Website.

Music Review: Solange, “A Seat at the Table”

Music Review: Solange, “A Seat at the Table”

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The third studio album by singer/songwriter Solange Knowles is by far her most impressive to date. Receiving wide critical acclaim and landing Knowles her first number-one album on Billboard 100 (US), A Seat at the Table is a powerful statement on black womanhood. Knowles’ vocals soar, never distracting from the Album’s core meaning, only signifying its force. Among the R&B, Funk, and psychedelic-soul tracks that make up the album, Knowles peppers in spoken word Interludes, recordings of her parents, her family, and herself, discussing black culture and their experiences with systemic racism in America.

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