FYM ON THE LIST: OUTSIDE LANDS 2012 • DAY 1

You can't ask for a better setting than San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to showcase such an expansive offering of art°music°culture. Day one of Outside Lands 2012 played host to a bevy sonic opulence old and new.

Two Gallants started off our first day at Outside Lands 2012 on a positive note. FYM continues to be impressed with the passionate vocal power of frontman Adam Stephens. This duo based out of San Francisco, played cuts off their 2007 Saddle Creek self-titled gem, and debuted stellar tracks from their long overdue new record The Bloom and the Blight (ATO Records) due out in September.

Oakland California's Eric Ricky Reed Frederick has had an explosive level of success this year with his music project Wallpaper. The unabashed Bay Area party rocker proved his live show night-timing prowess works on a massive scale (even during the day). Rick Reed's on-stage connection with vocalist/hype woman Novena is an incredible treat to see live!

YACHT followed Wallpaper. on the Twin Peeks stage yesterday afternoon. Claire L. Evans is such a charismatic performer. Her sonic partnership with Jona Bechtolt and their tech-savvy mixture of cult°discothèque energy makes for an engaging show. What continually impresses FYM about YACHT is their sincere joy they bring to audiences live (truly looking like they LOVE what they do).

Up next we caught Reggie Watts surrounded by beer, wine, and food vendors being interviewed in the Outside Lands press tent. His comedic blend of soul and hip-hop is a true original.

Beck brought out the whole crew (including Smokey Hormel and Justin Meldal-Johnsen) for Outside Lands 2012. After growing up with his music for so many years, seeing Beck live for the first time was a true pleasure. Beck played popular selections from his 20+ year career, and dedicated Lost Cause off 2002's Sea Change to the memory of Adam Yauch.

It's been a while since FYM last saw the Foo Fighters live, we are so happy Pat Smear is back in the band, playing beside Dave Grohl. The Foo Fighters jacked-up radio hits, work perfectly in a large festival setting. You can't deny the history of this group, and the all-out performance Grohl gives every time he sets foot on stage.

We have never been rocked so hard in our lives... Neil Young may be in his mid-60's now, but he still can kick your ass playing guitar. His two hour set with Crazy Horse was on their terms, and they didn't play a full setlist of classic hits, as we are sure most would have liked to have seen.

Instead Young and company made a pack to show all the performers of the day what playing rock n' roll truly means. From the start Neil Young & Crazy Horse opened with a blistering 20-minute version of Love And Only Love. This lengthy theme of building up, and tearing down songs, continued throughout the set. One can only hope, Day two at Outside Lands will be as good this one. Cheers, FYM.