I mentioned ages ago that I was planning to attend Outside Lands in San Francisco the weekend of Aug 28-30. I’ve been jockeying for a job at the festival since January, and under the press of conflicting responsibilities that same week, I reluctantly asked to be withdrawn from consideration. (A decision I am still remarkably uncomfortable with and very tempted to take back, BTW.).

Part of why I decided to pull out of Outside Lands is that a friend wanted me to drive from Portland to Chicago with her that week, and that road trip sounded, and sounds, too good to pass up… but I did pass it up. So I could go on a business trip to New York. (And now I keep poking the road trip in my mind, trying to find a way for it to fit back into that week and allow enough time for shows in both cities.)

The day I gave up on the big festival, I discovered that Cordero, a band I’ve wanted to get to know better for ages, will be playing in Pasadena on the 29th, and that really took the sting out of deciding to to try to cram in the weekend in San Francisco. I had already bought Pearl Jam tickets for October, The Beastie Boys had pulled out of the concert because of MCA’s cancer, and the only other band I was really excited about was Band of Horses. I decided I’d just look for a local show of theirs and re-create the Outside Lands highlights in my own neighborhood.

Lo and behold, I was scanning this week’s OC Weekly today, and saw that Band of Horses is indeed playing a local show– on August 29th.

So now I have to decide:

1. beg for the Outside Lands gig again?
2. hit the road for hilarious adventures?
3. see Cordero in Pasadena?
4. or see Band of Horses at the Fox?

 

I see that Band of Horses is also playing the Street Scene in San Diego on the 28th, but that always seems too far away to go for anything. I’ve skipped an awesome festival with Dirty Sweet and Metric AND a Robot Chicken Roller Skating party because they were in San Diego. I don’t know if Band of Horses will disrupt that trend.

What would you do if you were me, fair readers? I will give you some video samples to help you advise me better:

outside lands promotional video

a introduction to portland

matador by cordero

band of horses “is there a ghost”

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