Outside Lands Bicycle Report
Wow - there were so many bicycles at the festival, I could hardly believe it. See some of the pics, below:
I hung around the official bike parking for a couple of minutes to take a couple of pics, and listen to what folks where saying. As people walked by or rode up they were floored. Typical comments:
- Holy sh*t.
- Wow.
- Oh my g*d.
Slightly more enthusiastic fans would lace those types of phrases with plenty of expletives, as did I when I first saw the number of bikes - first, the unnofficial bike parking, and then the SFBC-run valet bike parking. It was clear that people were overwhelmed at the spectacle of seeing so many bikes in one place.
I made particular note of one fellow who, while walking by with his girl, said, “That is so cool.”
When the show closed, and tens of thousands of us poured out of the festival, we headed for our bikes, and as most of us suspected, there was a wait. But it was only 10 or 15 minutes, and we were still happy to be waiting on our bikes instead of stuck driving somewhere. Mad props to the SFBC volunteer valet bike parkers who were literally running to pick up bikes and deliver them to us. That was pretty incredible.
Some of us thought that maybe a new system could be in order for such a massive event when everyone gets out at the same time - a semi-secure bike parking area that would have a few ‘bike monitors’ or police officers. That way, everyone could park and lock their bikes, but feel relatively sure that their bikes would not be messed with.
I would have liked it if the bike parking people could have been inside the show. I hope they at least get to see one night for free.
On the driving note, I overheard at least one exasperated attendee remark to her friends when they were leaving the show, “But who’s gonna drive?!”
I’d gather at least a quarter of the folks at the concert were stoned or drunk or otherwise intoxicated - DUI city. It’s a massive public safety hazard. The more people we put on bikes, and offer good pedestrian and mass transit access, the better off everyone will be.
On the way to and back from the show, so many people would tell their friends, “We should have rode our bikes!” It was a pretty long walk to the concert, which was planted in the middle areas of Golden Gate Park. It was a decent day for a walk, but I imagine it just took a long time. On a bike, as soon as we could escape the throngs of pedestrian traffic, we were gone. Pouring down Fell St. Oak St. back into the city was a joy.
I just stopped by Hard Knox Cafe in the Dogpatch and overheard one guy complaining about the walk home, how nobody could do anything but walk, etc. Again, I thought, ‘you ever heard of a bike, dude?’
Let’s get some fan reaction: (setlist is at left on that page)
An OK show by Radiohead, but no comparison to the Greek Theatre shows. The set list was also just OK. Radiohead still are the best band out there, and their live show still makes everyone else seem to be fakirs. If you’ve never seen them before, this show would have blown your mind. Welcome to Radiohead live! Just consider: it can be much, much better… The crowd-control issues at the venue were pretty lousy, as per Another Planet. Just like at the Treasure Island Fest, getting out of the place was a nightmare, with no buses, taxis or other modes of transport available except for a lucky 10% of the crowd. The rest spread out through the surrounding neighborhoods. Also, there were insane lines inside the venue for whatever it is you would want. And if there is a bigger ‘nightmare scenario’ for a promoter then the sound cutting out (twice) on your headliner (and Radiohead at that), then it only involves death and riots. Finally, for such a large venue, there needed to be another set of video monitors, besides those on the stage, and another set of main speakers. for the 25k+ folks not packd like sardines in a crushed tin box up front, the sound was fuzzy and the video screens distant.
I guess bikes don’t exist to this person. But s/he had everything else pretty spot on, from what I, a first-time Radiohead-goer, could tell. On the whole, though, I’d lean more towards this comment:
Tonight’s show live up to my expectations, first time seeing Radiohead and they made me lose where I was and almost missed my train… Great show, suck the audio cut out but Thom said “sorry about the audio”
This rings true:
Agreed, amazing show. Considering the size of the crowd (60,000? more?), and the fact that we were a mile from the stage, Radiohead was incredible. I was just as fired up to see Beck and they made him look small time. Looking forward to Wilco on Sunday.
As does this:
Great Show. Idioteque, Talk Show Host, Android, Gloaming and Plastic Trees were amazing. The light show really was stunning. –A few drawbacks (to be honest), the sound (I mean, the entire sound) went completely out twice. Also, festival crowd was very chatty….killed the atmosphere on quieter songs like Exit Music. However, Plastic Trees was so show-stopping-breathtaking that the place really seemed to go silent. –Fun concert, cool atmosphere in the fog, though I’d take Greek Theater or Coachella anyday.
And I can’t get Everything (lyrics) out of my head:
The sound cutting out during “All I Need” was brutal. But “Everything…” was brilliant,
The light show was definitely incredible.
A more sober view - one that I would agree with: “Radiohead kills it”.
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