Everything about the inaugural Outside Lands festival was big.

The site itself, which spread across three connecting fields in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, was enormous. The three-day bill was epic, consisting of more than 60 acts, including monster headliners Jack Johnson, Radiohead and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The turnout was tremendous, as turnstiles spun an estimated 180,000 times for single-day-ticket holders and those holding full-weekend passes. (Final attendance numbers were not available at press time.)

And, most importantly, it was big fun.

Although there were some minor problems with the event _ such as transportation headaches and crowd control issues _ Outside Lands must still be considered a ringing success. Organizers managed to pull off what is arguably the biggest and most ambitious ticketed concert in Northern California history. Indeed, the Bay Area now has a festival that can stand up proudly to such mammoth music events as Southern California’s Coachella or Tennessee’s Bonnaroo.
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It’s still early, but I’d be surprised if I see anything at Outside Lands that impresses me more the Coup’s set. It’s always the same deal with this East Bay troupe, led by genius rapper Boots Riley. Whether they are playing Coachella or Rock the Bells or, now, Outside, they always seem to outshine the competition.

The band’s niche, one which seems so hard for others to master, is to create music that is equally powerful to your booty and your brain. You dance to the grooves, but the lyrics stick in your head and provide food for thought. Boots is a great front man, who reminds of me of Sly or Prince (and, yes, I realize that those comparisons are quite hefty).
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Going into the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Monday night, it looked as if radio station Wild 94.9’s Boo Bomb concert might serve as the funeral march for hyphy.

The hip-hop subgenre, which got its start in the “Yay Area,” certainly had its moment in the sun. It was all the rage for the better part of 2006, drawing coverage from seemingly every major news outlet, and entered the mainstream in a big way.

Whereas it was once an underground sensation, hyphy grew to something that soccer moms where playing in their minivans. It had become commercialized, to the point where hyphy even had its own energy drink. The forecast was that the cool kids would soon be looking for something else to call their own.

Well, don’t play “Taps” for hyphy quite yet.

The movement appeared very healthy during Wild’s annual fall party. In fact, despite some notable competition from other corners of the hip-hop/R&B galaxy, the biggest hits of Boo Bomb were the two local hyphy heroes _ Mistah F.A.B. and E-40.
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