Outside Lands: Listen, Eat and Dress Your Way To a Flawless Weekend

Beyoncé and Jay-Z wrapped up their tour last night and now its time to get back to focusing on one of San Francisco’s biggest music festivals, Outside Lands. You’re probably already in the process of picking your daily concert line-up, figuring out how you will get to/from Golden Gate Park and what you plan to wear.

For 75% of those reading, this isn’t your first time at Outside Lands, but tips reminding us what to do or not to do never hurt. For the other 25% of Outside Lands virgins or those too drunk to remember the last one, these lessons will save you.

Top 6 Lessons I’ve Learned From Past Shows

There’s an App For Everything: Download the official Outside Lands app right now, if you haven’t already. This is one of the best festival apps as it can pinpoint your location on the festival map and you can browse through the food vendors and add items you want to try to your personalized menu. You can also sign up for updates on surprise information, like when Jack White had an impromptu concert in the woods. I also love that you can share your schedule and location with your Facebook friends.
Transportation is a B*****: There really is no other way to describe trying to get home from Outside Lands. If Uber, Lyft and the like are you’re game plan, please be prepared with a back-up plan. Last year drivers were listed as busy and if they weren’t busy, the surcharges were ridiculous. If you have a friend who lives in the Sunset, ask to park at their house. If not, I recommend paying for the shuttle buses. If you’re broke from buying your 3-day pass, there’s always Muni, but please note that it will be hard to get on and it will be packed. The upside of it being packed, is that they won’t be checking who paid (whopping $2 savings). If you do attempt to take public transportation, walk to stops further out or hop on Muni going in the opposite direction and switch back to your appropriate line to ensure you can get on. I waited one year for about 45 minutes to get on Muni and finally walked home. That year sucked.
Layering is Not a Way of Life, It’s Survival: Of course you want to look cute, but you will pay for it if you don’t layer up. It’s always sad seeing girls in their Coachella outfits when the sun goes down and it feels like another ~~summer~~ winter night. Please be smart when it comes to your attire. This is not the time to bust out your new stiletto boots or booty shorts. You will freeze and may even die. Ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you will miss the concert because your teeth are chattering so loud or you were taken away for hypothermia. Also when you think you have enough layers, add one more in a bag just in case. If you listen to nothing else, I could drop the mic with this advice.
Beware of the Dust: If you like your shoes, don’t wear them. If you have asthma, you’ve been warned! The dust is real and will get on your shoe, pants, and in your lungs, so be prepared.
It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint: I stopped counting last year how many people I saw having medical emergencies because they were too drunk or strung out. Even though the weather never calls for it, unless it is one of those rare hot days in the Sunset, hydration is super important.
VIP Portables Are Fancy: If you were balling enough to buy the VIP passes, don’t waste your time or offend your nose by using the general public portables. The ones in the VIP section are like a mini trailer park of port-o-potties with running water and usually a clean seat. It’s the little things that make a difference and this is one of them.

Music Highlights

You know about the headliners so there is no need to tell you that you need to see Elton John or D’Angelo and the Vanguard. Here are the lesser known artists that you should make time to see:

St. Vincent
Toro y Moi
Tame Impala
Mac DeMarco
The Sam Chase
Fantastic Negrito
Amon Tobin

Foodies Guide to Outside Lands

Of course the main reason to attend Outside Lands is for the music (duh), but food is just as important to a San Franciscan. Clearly the organizers felt the same as they created a new area called GastroMagic. According to the Outside Lands website, this is the home of “all things startling and unexpected in food, drink, music, magic and more.” What does that mean? Think of it like the Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory of music festivals. There will be magicians, beignets, mixologist, Top Chefs (really, from the show), and DJ collaborating with culinary masters. Oh, and did I mention the first ten fans for select programs get to taste the creations? That’s another drop the mic moment.

My Top Food Picks:

Coffee: Drip Coffee [Blue Bottle] – I had to stay true to my brand, which if you know me personally, I love me some Blue Bottle
Fries: Chimichurri fries [4505 Meats] and Pastrami cheese fries [Wise Sons Deli] – I couldn’t choose as both are great
Hungover Food: Mac and Cheese [Homeroom] – You can’t go wrong with pasta, well unless it’s the gilroy garlic and you’re out of breath mints (you never know when you could meet your soulmate and fresh breath does matter)
Just Because You Can: Dried Porcini Doughnuts [Rich Table] – Getting a reservation at Rich Table is difficult, so take advantage of them being at the festival
Asian: Bao with Pork Belly [The Chairman Truck] – Anything you get here is a solid choice
Old School Meals: Pastrami #19 sandwich [Wise Sons Deli’s] – Try it and you’ll understand why it’s recommended
Bacon: BaconLand [GastroMagic] – I normally would say run to the Bacon Bacon truck, but this year there is a lovely section called BaconLand with a flight of some of the best bacon in the U.S. I considered this the run, don’t walk portion of the guide