Photos and review of Saturday at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival 2012 in Golden Gate Park. Also check out our Friday and Sunday coverage, Phrases Heard at Outside Lands and full photo album from the festival.

Tame Impala: Aussie psyche band Tame Impala was one of the biggest Outside Lands draws for me, personally. Kevin Parker & crew have been somewhat quiet since they finished up touring for 2010’s Innerspeak to work on their new record Lonerism. That album is complete and will be out . Tame Impala’s early afternoon main stage set featured a decent dose of new Lonerism tracks including “Apocalypse Dreams” and “Elephant“, plus a healthy dose of older staples like “Lucidity” which seemed to be the crowd favorite of the set. As Kevin Parked noted “it feels like we’re playing in a vortex of trees with a giant fog machine”, Tame Impala’s massive, psychedelic guitar riffs and unraveling waves of sunshine rock felt right at home in Golden Gate Park.

Portugal. The Man (by Alan Densmore): Saturday at Outside Lands saw us out on the Polo field for most of the day with the constant presence of stage lights going through cold rolling fog that poured in all day. All and all, a perfect day for a concert from some cool Alaskans we all know and love: Portugal. The Man. They have been touring after the loss of keyboardist Ryan Neighbors, but the band still doesn’t miss a beat. Fill-in Kyle O’Quin seemed to fit right into the band’s strong stage presence. Since I last saw them, their album In the Mountain in the Cloud was released. It was their first album not produced independently by the band and, admittedly, was not my favorite of their work. But hearing tracks like “So American” wafting along the moist sky of San Francisco I could not help but smile and think back on misty days in the northwest winter drinking coffee, listening to PTM and thinking to myself, “hey, at least it’s not Alaska”. During their hour set they managed to absolutely rip through classics like “People Say” and “Mornings” much to the pleasure of the horde of bundled Outside Landers. John Gourley’s vocals and driving catchy riffs that have made me love PTM since I first saw them at Sasquatch in 2010 are still alive and well despite a lot of change for the band in these last couple years.

Explosions in the Sky (by Alan Densmore): I believe this was the sixth time Explosions and I have met in a field somewhere and they never seem to disappoint. “We are Explosions in the Sky from Austin Texas,” says ‪Munaf Rayani‬ just as he has every time but the show was anything but ordinary. The power of an Explosions in the sky show is palpable, the energy, enthusiasm and angelic sound combine into an experience I have to see any time I am in proximity to a tour stop. I’m just going to say there aren’t words for describing the electrifying, purifying energy of an Explosions show. It sets the tone for a weekend festival such as Outside Lands and helps me restore faith in music and humanity, so just go… really.

Alabama Shakes: After seeing Alabama Shakes at SXSW and a few other festivals earlier this spring, it was apparent that the buzz-machine was doin’ work for the feel-good, southern rockers. That hype reached new levels as their afternoon set at Sutro featured one of the stage’s most packed audiences of the weekend. Case in point: no one could even get past the dirt walkway leading down to the stage. This guy could only glimpse a view from the chain link fence a few hundred yards from the side of the stage offered, catching peaks at a wildly packed crowd as the Shakes delivered their increasingly tight set. Pic below.

Father John Misty: Watching ex-Fleet Fox drummer Josh Tillman reinvent himself over the course of his new moniker and direction of Father John Misty has been a delight. It seems bizarre to look back at my interview with him in his tour van in San Diego in 2009. A quiet, reserved, pleasant, introspective Tillman of 2009 continues to morph into an eccentric, more outspoken, confident character just as his more down-tempo Pacific Northwest music evolves into upbeat, country/american related, danceable grooves. On stage at Outside Lands, Tillman more than dominated his “frontman” roles. Taking a page out of Jim Morrison’s book, Tillman wrestled the mic stand, twirled the cable, writhed on the ground, danced without abandon and demonstrated the birth of a new musical identity is well underway. Cheers to Tillman to finding a new route and, seemingly, having a fuckin’ blast while doing it.

Thee Oh Sees: Oh, Thee Oh Sees. As I’ve made mention of multiple times, the San Francisco band is responsible for some of most raucous, lively and entertaining shows I’ve seen in the last year. So I was bubbling with excitement to catch them at a festival in their hometown–a fact they noted right from the get go. Unfortunately, they were without their second drummer. I had not realized how infectious, driving and pulsing of a difference that second rhythm manufacturer had on the group.

Dr Dog (by Alan Densmore): In the midst of our misty adventures through Golden Gate Park, we swung by the Panhandle Stage after we checked to see if Passion Pit was still around (they are) and saw Dr. Dog bringing their Philly sound to the Bay Area. Playing a solid mix off Shame, Shame and Be the Void, the song of the show for me was an eerie version of “Shadow People” as the sun was setting on Saturday the fog rolled in and the multicolored lights came on, bathing us all in a shroud of mystery. The oddball harmonies and catchy swing-rock sound had us leaving the show warmed up for the last cold show of the night, unless you were at Metallica of course.

Metallica: Metallica, man. METALLICA. While I can probably only name about five Metallica songs by ear and I’m not a huge metal guy, I was revved up to catch the legends. Watching their million person crowd, 1991 Red Square performance of “Enter Sandman” in the heart of ole’ Communism only furthered this excitement. And the San Fran rockers did not disappoint. From dual layer stages to mics placed around the full width of the stage to pyrotechnics that would rival the Terminator set, Metallica brought the rock. It was amazing how many Metallica fans bought Outside Lands simply to see their favorite band. Hats off to them for being the most loyal fans of the festival. James Hetfield recognized this as well, commenting “let’s show the Bay Area that Metallica and the Metallica family are alive and well” before descending into an extended version closer of “Seek & Destroy”. Metallica demonstrated just why they’re the biggest metal band in history.

Sigur Ros: You couldn’t find a more opposite counter act to Metallica than Sigur Ros. That was a testament to the variety of the Outside Lands lineup, but almost presented a strange transition into the Icelandic soundscape symphony’s set. With how rarely Sigur Ros hits the West Coast, it was certainly a treat to catch their amazingly tranquil and sonically serene music. However, as Metallica raged on in the background, the sound bleed from their explosions, double bass kicks and utter shreddage undoubtedly had an effect upon the Sigur Ros set. This of course was not Sigur Ros’ fault, but it’s difficult to settle into Sigur state with the biggest metal band ever delivering themselves just a short walk away. That being said, the descending, low-hanging fog shrouding their stage mixed with a magnificent light show created an incredible atmosphere to watch their music. Ultimately, Jonsi and Sigur’s music quelled, calmed and put at peace the crowd before heading back to the Muni and the trek home.