Twenty One Pilots lay drums on hyped Outside Lands

The premiere windmills holding up a sign reading ‘Outside Lands’ stood tall in the middle of the Golden Gate Park Polo Fields and Karl the Fog was nowhere in sight.

San Francisco’s annual outdoor music festival, Outside Lands, started with a memorable first night, hits and misses alike.

First day Friday is only a mere taste of what music fans should expect throughout this weekend.

SFBay covered the festival grounds, experiencing certain attractions and artists that would leave an impression.

This year, the artists bring more of a variety than past years. But some crowds suggest ‘more’ may not work to its favor.

Grass Lands

Coming back from last year’s less than par debut, marijuana appreciators rejoice now that Grass Lands, a 21 and over area to learn about the benefits of the green nug, allows consumption and distribution right in that designated space.

This year, Grass Lands fills up with foot traffic.

Bystanders toke up left and right, whether it’s a classic joint or a dab from a futuristic dab rig.

Last year’s sad excuse for Grass Lands needed this year’s giggles and the earthy smoke to liven up the party.

SFBay stepped into the Cresco Cannibus green house where the flowered and chill ambience focus on their three main benefits: ‘Rise’ for sativa-dominant strains, ‘refresh’ for hybrid and ‘rest’ for indica.

Grass Lands lands in the same wooded location as last year, a seemingly perfect camping spot perfect for friends and loved ones to enjoy a nice bowl while listening to Bay Area hyphy rapper P-Lo at the main stage Lands End, just a staircase away.

The Neighbourhood

SFBay decided to cover the main stage acts at Lands End, starting with The Neighbourhood performing their signatures “Sweater Weather,” “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” “Cry Baby.”

Solid and safe alternative rock didn’t sway this crowd.

A clunky schedule didn’t help the band either, wedged in between hip-hop acts P Lo and Lil Wayne.

Although their album “#000000 & #FFFFFF” showed a potential to interact with hip-hop and rap, The Neighbourhood drew in a part of the wrong crowd.

Still, lead singer Jesse Rutherford’s ominous and silky voice laying out the words “‘Cause it’s too cold for you here, And now, so let me hold, Both your hands in the holes of my sweater” is a bop no matter what anyone thinks.

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne and blink-182 have set off on a tour that has garnered mixed reviews, especially with the rapper’s antics on leaving sets early and a possible step off the tour.

Although he has announced that he’ll stay on tour and perform to whatever kind of crowd shows up, Wayne’s childish behavior isn’t lost.

Wayne, scheduled to play at 4:55 p.m., didn’t show up on stage until 5:16 p.m., having his DJ and bandmates play for a non-existing hip-hop entity.

However, he apologized and did what he could to pump up his already confused fans.

And just like Wayne does, he whispered a loud “thank you” at the end of various songs.

“I’m nothing without you,” he said pointing to audience members holding their hands out.

Wayne has dedication to the fans he’s got now, but his eyebrow-raising choices of mixing rap and rock, as well as touring with pop punk bands blink-182 and Neck Deep, might not end well.

blink-182

“All The Small Things,” “I Miss You,” “The Rock Show” and “Reckless Abandon” are all songs ex-blink member Tom DeLonge helped pen; all are songs that blink-182 are now playing with replacement Matt Skiba.

Founded in 1992, blink-182 has gone through its fair share of changes, both good and bad.

Don’t let their history fool you, though. Bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker and guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba are still a dominant force in the rock world.

Still goofy and silly, the blink dads haven’t lost their pop punk touch.

Hoppus said:

“This is a sad song. Wipe those smiles off your face. It’s about killing myself.”

He then proceeded to play “Adam’s Song.”

He said, finishing up:

“Thank you. You can all be happy now.”

A nasally Tom DeLonge is definitely missing, but you make due with what you have.

Highlight: “Family Reunion,” a 36-second song which spews comedian George Carlin’s seven dirty words; “shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.”

Twenty One Pilots

Finally, SFBay went forward the mosh pits to catch a legendary performance by alternative hip hop and rock duo Twenty One Pilots.

Fans in the crowd dropped their jaws.

Not only did drummer Josh Dun play a simple drum kit on a large wood plank carried by the crowd but lead vocalist Tyler Joseph climbed and stood atop a tall metal tower.

Twenty One Pilots have put on fantastic shows before, and their Outside Lands performance is no different.

Karl the Fog rolled in for a visit at the beginning of their set, but rock and roll wouldn’t have it.

Joseph and Dun put their all in with a set that included a burning car and quick wardrobe changes that fit certain album looks, like ski masks matching ‘Vessel’ and yellow and gray jackets matching ‘Trench.’

Explaining how the two formed this popular group, Joseph said, “Josh, with your back-flip skills and my fashion, we can make it.”

Lo and behold, they got back flips and sick fashion trends that have influenced their fans immensely, shown by the many wonderful, smiling faces singing along to “Holding On To You.”

Joseph even caught the crowd by surprise, gasping, dedicating songs to people we didn’t see coming:

“This song is dedicated to everyone but Tom DeLonge.”

And:

“This song goes out to Lil Wayne’s band who played 30 minutes without him on stage.”

Is there beef somewhere?

Whatever the case is, Twenty One Pilots killed.

Night one, down. Two more to look forward to.