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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One of the best things about the Outside Lands festival- perhaps the single best thing, actually - is how strongly it draws from local acts. And I’m not talking about the usual suspects, acts like Neil Young, Carlos Santana and Phil Lesh (though, mind you, I wouldn’t mind seeing any of those at next year’s Outside Lands, especially Neil).

I’m talking about newer/less-established Bay acts like singer-songwriter Jackie Greene, college-crowd rockers ALO, hip-hopper Lyrics Born and Rupa & the April Fishes, who received rave reviews from their set on Saturday.

On Sunday’s bill, among many others, was Sila and the Afrofunk Experience. I caught a tiny bit of the San Francisco band’s mix and enjoyed what I heard. The group is often compared to Fela Kuti and its most recent Afrobeat offering, “Funkiest Man in Africa,” (a tribute to Kuti), received some strong reviews.
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The gigantic Outside Lands festival is right around the corner. The three-day music event, set for Aug. 22-24 at SF’s Golden Gate Park, will draw tens of thousands of people and is projected to be one of the biggest concert events EVER held in Northern California.

The lineups for all three days are solid. As you might expect, I’ll be there all three days, reviewing for the papers and posting regularly online. (And, yes, I do have the best job EVER!) But what if I could only attend one of the days? Which one would I pick?
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(Official press release:)

PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS TO HEADLINE SUNDAY, AUGUST 31
AT SLOW FOOD ROCKS MUSIC FESTIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO

ADDITIONAL CONFIRMED ARTISTS INCLUDE GNARLS BARKLEY, OZOMATLI, THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE AND OTHERS

San Francisco, CA - July 16, 2008 - Festival Network is proud to announce that the legendary Phil Lesh and Friends will headline Sunday, August 31, at the Slow Food Rocks music festival, which will be held during Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of American food in history, taking place in San Francisco over Labor Day Weekend.. In a rare hometown appearance Phil Lesh and Friends will play on an outdoor stage at The Great Meadow at Fort Mason overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, the second day of a two day music festival. Other artists include Grammy-winning Gnarls Barkley, who will headline the event on Saturday, August 30 with Ozomatli, The New Pornographers, and Medeski Martin & Wood. Joining Phil Lesh and Friends on Sunday, August 31, are G. Love & Special Sauce and the John Butler Trio.
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Phil Lesh & Friends
May 18, 2008
Warfield Theater
San Francisco, California

For the final night of the run, Phil and Friends broke from the established pattern (playing full-length albums during each set) and embarked on a night of just plain good ol’ songs. I got the setlist from music buddy Erik, who passed it along from philzone.org. Here’s what I hear that the played:

1st Set

Come Together
Dark Star
Loose Lucy
West L.A. Fadeaway
Wheel
Not Fade Away

On All-Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, John Molo
Joining during West. L.A.-Jeff Chimenti, Larry Campbell

Set Break

Mini Acoustic Set w/Larry Campbell & Jackie Green

Deep Elem Blues
?????
Good Night Irene

2nd Set
Phil Lesh, Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, Steve Molitz, John Molo
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Phil Lesh and Friends
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Warfield Theatre, San Francisco

The band’s epic run continued on a hot night in the City By the Bay. As blog followers know, Phil and pals have been performing entire Grateful Dead albums during their run in SF. They’ve played one album per set (two sets per night). They started out with the Dead’s first album and have been working chronologically ever since.

On Saturday night, the group performed the 1971 eponymous double live album. (Although it’s officially known as “Grateful Dead,” heads call it “Skull and Roses” and another name that I can’t mention in my blog.)

Here’s the songlist for the first set:
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Phil Lesh and Friends Friday, May 16, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco:

Well, based on the Tues/Wed shows, everyone was expecting that Friday would be the night. That Phil and Friends would play what everyone seems to agree are their two finest studio albums - “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty.”

And that’s what reportedly happened.

Since the band has been going in order with the records, kicking off the whole thing with a first set on Tuesday of the Dead’s first album, that meant that “Workingman’s” was to be played first. Both “Workingman’s” and “Beauty” came out in 1970, but the first was released in June, while the latter hit in November.

Thus, first set was:
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Phil Lesh and Friends Wednesday, May 14, 2008, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco:

OK, from reports, Phil continued along the same path he started on Tuesday. In the first set, the band played the entire Aoxomoxoa album (the Dead’s third studio album, from 1968). That means the first set looked like this:

“St. Stephen”
“Dupree’s Diamond Blues”
“Rosemary”
“Doin’ That Rag”
“Mountains of the Moon”
“China Cat Sunflower”
“What’s Become of the Baby”
“Cosmic Charlie”

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Warfield Theatre, Tuesday, May 12, 2008:

Wow, what a treat for Deadheads. If you missed the first night of Phil and Friends’ five-night stand at the Warfield, then you really missed something special. I highly recommend that you try to catch one of the four remaining shows. Visit www.livenation.com for more details.

OK, here’s the deal. The bassist’s band (featuring lead guitarist Larry Campbell, drummer John Molo, guitarist-vocalist-multi-instrumentalist Jackie Greene and keyboardist Steve Molitz - plus special guest, vocalist-guitarist Bob Weir) performed the Dead’s first album (1967’s “The Grateful Dead”), from start to finish, during the first set. Here’s the setlist for that set:

“The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”
“Beat It on Down the Line”
“Good Morning Little School Girl”
“Cold Rain and Snow”
“Sitting on Top of the World”
“Cream Puff War”
“(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew”
“New, New Minglewood Blues”
“Viola Lee Blues”

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(Official word from the festival folks:)

The daily line-ups and first artist additions are officially out of the bag for the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival taking place in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Earth, on August 22, 23 & 24, 2008.

The plot thickens when the following artists stir it up: Lupe Fiasco, The Black Keys, Stars, Jackie Greene, Kaki King, Liars, Nicole Atkins & The Sea and Culver City Dub Collective.

If one or two days’ lineup reaches out and grabs you, single day ticket sales go on sale this THURSDAY, MAY 1ST at 10AM PST.

For more details, check out http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/

Here is the daily lineup:

Friday, Aug. 22:
RADIOHEAD
BECK
MANU CHAO
THE BLACK KEYS
COLD WAR KIDS
STEEL PULSE
LYRICS BORN
BLACK MOUNTAIN
THE FELICE BROTHERS

Saturday, Aug. 23:
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS
PRIMUS
STEVE WINWOOD
CAFÉ TACVBA
LUPE FIASCO
REGINA SPEKTOR
GALACTIC’S CRESCENT CITY SOUL KREWE
M. WARD
DEVENDRA BANHART
MATT NATHANSON
TWO GALLANTS
DREDG
SIDESTEPPER
KAKI KING
THE COUP
LIARS
DONAVON FRANKENREITER
NELLIE MCKAY
GOAPELE
SEAN HAYES
RUPA & THE APRIL FISHES

Sunday, Aug. 24:
JACK JOHNSON
WILCO
WIDESPREAD PANIC
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
ANDREW BIRD
SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
STARS
ALO
JACKIE GREENE
THE COOL KIDS
GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS
LITTLE BROTHER
BON IVER
IVAN NEVILLE’S DUMPSTAPHUNK
THE MOTHER HIPS
NICOLE ATKINS & THE SEA
K’NAAN
BACK DOOR SLAM
CULVER CITY DUB COLLECTIVE

So, now I ask you, which of the three days looks the best? Let’s hear from the readers!