Day 2 started off well-balanced: on one hand, I nabbed a great parking spot in less than ten minutes of arriving in the neighborhood. On the other, it was quite chilly all day. Thankfully, I’d dressed comfortably and had a hoodie with me, so it wasn’t the end of the world. Besides, it threatened rain but never made good on it, and I enjoy grey skies, so I don’t have much to complain about…
Before I made my way to the Panhandle stage, I stopped by 4505 Meats for what they were touting as the “Best Damn Cheeseburger” with special sauce, gruyere, lettuce, tomato, and onion. While picking red onions off anything takes away a few “best damn” points for me, the burger was medium rare and damn good otherwise. Best? I’m not sure. But basically, you had me at gruyere & didn’t disappoint.
Vance Joy
Though it’s only been recently that Australian singer/songwriter Vance Joy has come onto my radar, it was a perfect chilly afternoon choice for sitting in the grass and enjoying some lovely, mellow tunes. In addition to the acoustic set, complemented occasionally with the ukelele, Joy told a fantastic story of his journey through the festival to a radio event on a “golf buggy.” He detailed having seen a young man jump a “floppy fence,” flopping on the fence as a guard tried to grab him, and then retreat back “into the forest.” Moments later, however, the same guy somehow managed his way, sprinting in front of Joy’s ride with wild abandon. I must agree with Joy’s sentiment, that for all the effort, I hope he made it in and enjoyed himself. “I hope he’s watching this set,” Joy admitted. “I’d recognize him. I don’t want to blow his cover, but he was wearing a flannel shirt… that’s pretty normal, but the back of it was completely torn off! He’s an example of what we’d call a ‘deadset legend’ in Australia.” Suffice it to say that Vance Joy was entertaining in more ways than one, and new song “Mess is Mine” was, for me, as much a highlight as was the crowd-pleasing song for which he’s best known, “Riptide.”
Setlist:
Emmylou
From Afar
Mess is Mine
Red Eye
Georgia
Wasted Time
Play with Fire
Riptide
Capitial Cities
Capital Cities’ Ryan Merchant. Thanks to photog Carl Pocket for this pic!
Capital Cities wasted no time getting the crowd with “Kangaroo Court,” whose lyrics create an instant earworm with “shut up, shut up, shut up.” If you don’t know it, you’ll just have to trust me. “What’s up, San Francisco? We’re Capital Cities and we wanna dance with you! You guys wanna dance with us? We’re gonna teach you a dance called the Capital Cities Shuffle…” frontman Ryan Merchant announced. For Merchant, at least, the festival was a bit of a homecoming; though the band is based out of L.A., Merchant is a homegrown San Franciscan who was excited to play for such a crowd. After a fun cover of the BeeGees’ “Stayin’ Alive” (with a little bit of Weezer’s “Come Undone (the Sweater Song)” thrown in for good measure) came “I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo,” fantastic new song “One Minute More,” and finally, megahit “Safe & Sound.” During the latter, the crowd was asked to take part in a Capital Cities tradition: to take off any scarf, sweater, or similarly removable item of clothing and wave it around while dancing. It was quite a sight to behold as tens of thousands of people jumped, danced, and waved things in the air to end a great set.
(This video = terrible quality. But at least you get a visual!)
Before the headliner, I chose a chocolate brownie hot fudge sundae from nearby Leslie’s Dessert Werks. The fudge was amazing, I’m a sucker for whipped cream out of a can (no sarcasm intended), and the chocolate ice cream was dreamy. The brownie, however, left something to be desired and as such, went largely wasted. Oh well. It still satisfied me all the same, hitting the sweet tooth right where it counts.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Tonight was another night that offered a choice: American rock & roll legend Tom Petty, or current hitmaker Macklemore. Sadly, it was the second festival I’ve opted to skip Macklemore, though neither time was because I didn’t want to see him. Ultimately, I decided that I’d have many more chances to see him, whereas Tom Petty could choose to retire at any time and I’d never have the chance again. Happily, though, he made it completely worth my while! He played a fair number of tunes I didn’t know, but the set was peppered with megahits like “Last Dance with Mary Jane,” “Into the Great Wide Open,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’,” “Learning to Fly,” “Refugee,” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” In good taste, Petty acknowledged the anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death with an excellent cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.” The set also included some new tunes, including the band’s current single, “U Get Me High.”
While the music was energetic and full of brilliant nostalgia, it was Petty’s seemingly genuine sense of humility and appreciation for the wonderful crowd that struck me again and again. Great bands may be a dime a dozen, but for me this is one of those missing pieces that really makes me love one band more than the next: sincerity is clutch. “Whoa, baby, thank you so much!” Petty gushed near the end of the set. “We’re runnin’ outta time, we gotta play you one more!” The band’s final set was, he said, one they’d first played “so long ago at this place called the Keystone in Palo Alto, reaching all the way back to nineteen seventy-siiiiiiiix…” The song was “American Girl,” and of course the crowd devoured it, singing along at the top of its lungs. It was an iconic moment with an iconic band, and while I’m sad I had to skip Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to see it, I know I made the right choice. As Petty & the Heartbreakers bowed, blowing kisses and waving to the crowd, Tom himself bade a final goodbye to the audience, saying, “thank you so much, have a great weekend. God bless you, good night!” A class act, that Petty.
(Parts of this review originally published by Spinning Platters – thanks for sharing!)
