As the the weather gets cold outside (ok, I'm in SF so it doesn't really get cold, lets call it chilly) I think it's time to look back on the past few months. August through October is probably the best time of the year here in San Francisco. The weather is usually wonderful and the weekends are jam packed full of things to do. Here's a quick recap.
We had a new entrant in outdoor festivities this year with the addition of the
Outside Lands festival. Outside Lands is what they used to call the portion of San Francisco that is now primarily Golden Gate Park. This was also marked the first time a band was allowed to play in the park after sunset. I was initially skeptical about the concert since they blocked off a sizable portion of the park with chain link fencing that was up for two weeks or more. With some minor hassles getting in and getting out and minor sound glitches, the event went off pretty well. My favorite part was watching Steve Winwod crank out some old traffic tunes. The man still sounds great. If they put on the event next year, they should take some notes from the Dave Matthew's Band's sound guys, DMB sounded much better in the polo fields.
Following Outside Lands, I made a last minute trip up to
Burning Man and couldn't have been happier that I did. Thanks to a ticket from my roommate I was able to drive up on Thursday and enjoy a few days of roasting/freezing in the desert with 45,000 of my closest friends. I'm beyond trying to describe the event since it really defies description. If you have hearty spirit and enjoy a good time, it's something you should put on your calendar.
I only made it out to the
Power to the Peaceful concert for a few hours but thoroughly enjoyed the music and seeing old friends. Next year, hopefully I'll remember to show up prepared with something to drink... anything will do. I'm actually curious if they'll end up doing it in the same place (Speedway Meadows) considering the size of this year's crowd.
Treasure Island Music Festival popped up again at the end of September with what appeared to be a limited budget. I think they shot their wad on putting Outside Lands together so they couldn't draw the kind of acts they did last year. Still, Treasure Island is a great place to see a show and it was an excellent opportunity to connect with friends and watch the sun set over the beautiful San Francisco skyline.
This was the first year I've actually made it to
LoveFest and whoa... talk about a party. Nothing like a few tens of thousands of people partying out in front of City Hall. We missed most of the parade down market street but stuck around until they shut it down at 8 PM. The party moved on to multiple locations and I finally got home around 5 AM. As much as I would have liked to have gone to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in the park the next day, I was content to sleep on my couch.
Are you exhausted yet?
Next we have
FleetWeek and
Decompression jam packed into a single weekend. Watching mega-million dollar aircraft zoom around San Francisco is really quite entertaining. Especially hearing the die hard hippies bitch about it. I don't know how many Blue Angels shows I've seen now but it just doesn't get old. The things they do and the speeds at which they do them are just phenomenal.
For those of you that aren't aware, Decompression is a post-Burning Man local party intended to let you group up with your friends and people you've met on the Playa. They have them all over the world now but I imagine the San Francisco party is one of the biggest. The Space Cowboys and Deep End crews were out there playing some great music, there was fantastic art including a few things from the always amazing
Flaming Lotus Girls. This is a party that is really hard to top.
The following weekend, we had a new one for me, the Red Bull Soapbox Derby. On a beautiful sunny day we saw some insane folks cruise down the streets of San Francisco near Dolores Park. Absolutely hilarious. I'm already planning my craft for next year!
And finally, we come to the crowing moment of the San Francisco party season, Halloween! It tried to rain on our parade but failed! On Halloween night we went to the
Spider Ball at the Bentley Reserve (an old bank) in the Financial District. An excellent venu with great music all night. The next night found us back on Treasure Island for what I hope is only the first of many editions of the
Ghostship party put on by the Space Cowboys. They managed to secure a huge hangar for a night of frolicking to great music with great friends.
Phew... so what's next? Some quality time on the East Coast around Thanksgiving, who knows where for Christmas but I've already bought my ticket for the Sea of Dreams New Year's Eve party featuring Thievery Corporation. That should be a fantastic party!
Oh and where are all the pictures? They're around....
