SF Outside Lands-Day 2

Yesterday was Day 2 of Outside Lands. It went much better than Day 1. I'm talkin' night and day. After picking up some food, so we could avoid wasting time in the lines, we made our way to the park. The lines on the way in were quick and we made our way to the Sutro Stage, which as a nice hill that gives a decent view of the stage. We set up shop on a blanket and settled in for Devendra Banhart. He's pretty eclectic and I dig his music for the most part. He did a great set, including a cover of Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime". Next up was M. Ward. He rocked and threw in a couple of mellower tunes. Surprisingly, he had two drummers, and the sound was tight. I really dug his show. Rather than moving stage to stage we just stayed at the Sutro stage for a few shows. Next up was Regina Spektor. She plays all her own stuff and mostly performs with just her voice and a grand piano. There were a few times when her sound got drowned out by the blowback from the other stages, but she powered through. By this time our group of 4 had become a group of 8 or 10 as friends arrived. The party was groovin'. While waiting in a bathroom line, I also got a treat of being able to hear nearly all of "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" from Steve Winwood's set from one of other stages. No "Back in the High Life" or "Valerie." Sadly.

After Spektor, we made our way to the Lands End stage for Ben Harper. After some crowd wrangling we found some friends at a nice spot and created our own little ghetto. The rest of the crew trickled in. Harper did what he always does--rocked. He makes you think too. But in a good way. We held our ghetto in preparation of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who were closing Saturday's show. I've never seen Petty (I don't think), but he's the kind of person whose songs you know. He wins the prize for yesterday. I was far more impressed than I thought I'd be. At one point they took a break to fix something on the piano and they came out with Steve Winwood. That was a treat.

Time is running short, so I'll finish this later.