Boing Boing tv backstage at Outside Lands: (Xeni + Russell Porter)
Boing Boing tv is live and in full effect at the Outside Lands Music and Arts fest in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The gates haven't opened yet, but when they do, some 180,000 people are expected to pour in over three days to see bands like Radiohead, Beck, Wilco, Primus, Tom Petty, Manu Chao, Black Keys, Ben Harper, and dozens of others, plus some cool tech-art experiments we'll be digging into.
I'm here with our UK-based music correspondent Russell Porter, and the entire BBtv crew over the next 4 days. We're posting this episode from inside a giant rock star tour bus *very* generously loaned to us by friends of the blog
We ran around yesterday in a golf cart with the guy who created Outside Lands, Rick Farman of Superfly Productions. We spoke with him for this episode about the idea behind this festival, and what it takes to put together something this huge and complex. Events like this are a virtual world of sorts -- only with lots of real live breathing humans.
We're parked about 100 feet away from the main stage. It feels strange to be so close to something so big before the gates open. All night long, production vehicles and golf carts full of loading guys buzzed around; as I type this there's an eerie quiet before the opening chords explode. This is going to be fun.
Tech notes: the tall eucalyptus trees next to our bus (this is a gorgeous park, remember!) are blocking our satellite dish, so no WiFi in the bus right now -- instead, we're jacked into EVDO cards on MacBooks, on which BBtv editor Wes and segment producer Derek edited this piece last night. I'm pleasantly surprised at upload speeds on this card (it's a Verizon Rev-A). Stay tuned for more video from the BBtv bus at Outside Lands!
(special thanks to Wayne and Bre for use of their magic bus; air travel generously provided by Virgin America.)
Related Boing Boing tv episodes:
* Primus: Xeni interviews Les and Ler (music)
* Kaki King, guitar hero: performance, interview with Xeni (music)
* BB Gadgets' Joel at Outside Lands: Crowdfire deconstructed
* Carney at Outside Lands - a "Boing Boing tv Bus Session." (music)
* Steel Pulse founder David Hinds at Outside Lands (music)
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Cool! If I didn't have a trip planned to Washington DC that I can't get out of I would have been going to this.
Xeni: In your next to last paragraph I read "...loading guys buzzed around" as "loaded guys...". Shows where my heads at today.
Great coverage! Can't wait to see what you guys end up shooting at the event! And yay for Russell venturing across the pond to check out the festival!
I dig the fedora.
You so need a second mic!
May I ask what hardware you're using? It sound great!
Aha! I spotted your bus today! This was interesting, thanks. You guys better get the deets on these LED screens they have set up around. I've been trying to watch the show but keep getting distracted by the insane contrast ratio on these screens. I've never seen such a super bright, massive colorful screen.
Also, this crow fire business. The logo is a fitting sign of the times where people reach cameras into the air instead of lighters. But the whole "give your media to microsoft and our "professional video djs" will remix your video" thing is kind of wonky. Seeing people's photos on screens around the festival is cool though.
@THINGS
You make an excellent point with regards to "giving your media to professionals..." Sponsorship aside, it'll be interesting to see what becomes of the concept integrating user-shot footage into an online database. Youtube has really taken the user-generated footage concept by the reigns, but we were interested in the Crowdfire angle to see if the collective could be narrowed down to a single festival experience. It's def. cool to see you own footage and photos projected out to the public.
In regards to "giving your work to professionals," after recent talks with David Byrne, I'm willing to submit he would have a similar objection to the concept. It seems disingenuous to feature "your media" through the filter of "professional selection." But then again, perhaps these professionals can be thought of simply as a conduit to reaching larger audiences.
Thanks for watching,
Cheers,
Derek Bledsoe
Segment Producer, BBtv