Coachella vs. SF Outside Lands

[I'mOleGreg]

Yo!!! I have been going to Coachella for 5 years and went to San Francisco Outside Lands for the first time last year. I'm not sure if it's because I'm from Southern California or not, but I have a much better time at Coachella. Don't get me wrong, Outside Lands was still a great time, but to me it didn't have the same vibe that Coachella brings every year. The distance between tents at outside lands also really killed my buzz, sucked going from one tent to another. It also ends like at 10:30 which is too early for me, they offer no camping and the park is hard to get to if you are not a local and try to get together last minute hotel arrangements; public transportation is a must and it sucks cuz it gets ridiculously crowded when the show gets out. That being said, I did however enjoy the lineups, the wine lands was awesome (everyone getting wasted off of wineries from Norther California) and it was cool to checkout a different festival and be in San Francisco. Coachella, however, is on another level. It has the better lineup, the better vibe, the better setup, better food, allows camping, is in Southern California, the list goes on and on.. Thinking about going back to Outside Lands next year and giving it another shot.. Anyone with experience on comparing both festivals post something... Thanks.

[icedKeg]

The crowd definitely skews older at Outside Lands, which I kinda dig because my musical tastes kinda skew older too. There is a decent amount of overlap between artists, but obviously there is more electronic music at Coachella, and more classic rock/hippie jam at OSL.

I don't camp at Coachella, so that doesn't bother me, but it's definitely not easy to get back to wherever you're staying after the festival in SF because the buses are loaded and it's impossible to catch a cab. So between walking back and forth to stages in the park all day, (the main stages are certainly far apart from each other) and walking approximately 5 miles after the show each night, it takes a toll and can kinda bug. But SF is such a great city and I don't mind walking through it at all. We usually end up getting a drink or a bite to eat somewhere on the walk back to the hotel which is nice cause you can enjoy the nightlife inside the city as well.

There is definitely a different vibe at each festival, but they're both unique in their own way.

[blitzerdog]

Never been to either but I live in SF, I might be going to both this year. I want to say coachella has a younger vibe because of the camping aspect. But I think I'd love just taking a bus home after OSL.

[Wonderbot]

Coachella is better/more fun/better organized.

SF Outside Lands has been kind of a cluster, and the noise bleed is pretty bad. That being said, it's still a decent fest, and I would go back.

Also San Franciscans are awful people that don't know how to enjoy a show. I went to see Amon Tobin's ISAM tour at the Warfield and people kept getting up and milling around like they were waiting for the show to start the ENTIRE TIME. No one ever sat in their seat and enjoyed the @*#^@ show.

[Goatchella]

Outside lands has beer everywhere and champagne and oysters.
the park and trees are great frygrounds.
The food over all is a plus. The wine and art is cool.

Coachella has better people, the buzz is harder in the sun, the acts are usually better lately.
ITs closer to where I live. They are both good in different ways. I love both in diff ways

[Neighborhood Creep]

I flew out for both. There's about 5 things I liked better about OSL but the overall aspect of Coachella dominates it.

[Foucault]

I live in the Bay Area and haven't been to Outside Lands. Why? Golden Gate Park in August is usually tits-ass-cold...

[Goatchella]

Yeah...I like frying nuts in a snowboard jacket.

[socalguy100]

I live in the Bay Area and haven't been to Outside Lands. Why? Golden Gate Park in August is usually tits-ass-cold...

I went in 2009 and it was blazing hot the first day. The second day it started that way, but by mid-afternoon it was chilly. The third day was just cold.

[citizenerased]

When it comes down to it they're both awesome. Coachella's just bigger and crazier. If you prefer chilling in the grass and going home at 10 then you might prefer OSL.

[KickerConspiracy]

OSL compares better to Austin City Limits. Nothing compares to Coachella.

[juloxx]

Why are u even comparing the 2, they are nothing alike. If ur gonna compare Coachella to another festival, it should be a world-class one like Glasto, Lolla, or Roo

[Wonderbot]

Why are u even comparing the 2, they are nothing alike. If ur gonna compare Coachella to another festival, it should be a world-class one like Glasto, Lolla, or Roo

Bonnaroo yes. Lolla sucks balls though. It's cool it's in Chicago but that's about it. If your two bands are on the main stages, you have to pick one. Takes damn near 20 minutes to cross from one end of the park to the other. More if there's bottlenecks of people migrating from stage to stage.

Coachella is really perfect the way it's laid out and size wise.

[Moonraker]

In terms of moving from stage to stage, Treasure Island Music Fest > Outside Lands

[daneskiiiz]

Bonnaroo yes. Lolla sucks balls though. It's cool it's in Chicago but that's about it. If your two bands are on the main stages, you have to pick one. Takes damn near 20 minutes to cross from one end of the park to the other. More if there's bottlenecks of people migrating from stage to stage.

Coachella is really perfect the way it's laid out and size wise.

I agree about the lay-out being kind of a bust because it's a really long walk from stage to stage, but I wouldn't say Lolla sucks. They always have a great line-up, and Grant Park is a great venue. + Tripping in the middle of the Chicago sky-line is fantaaaastic!

[jefferie]

Coachella's alcohol situation has always left something to be desired but I would be one happy camper if all they did was add a wine lands type section.

[Wonderbot]

In terms of moving from stage to stage, Treasure Island Music Fest > Outside Lands

Treasure Island has TWO stages. TWO....

[Wonderbot]

I agree about the lay-out being kind of a bust because it's a really long walk from stage to stage, but I wouldn't say Lolla sucks. They always have a great line-up, and Grant Park is a great venue. + Tripping in the middle of the Chicago sky-line is fantaaaastic!

But it's HOT AND HUMID AS FUCK.... Miserable weather...

[daneskiiiz]

But it's HOT AND HUMID AS FUCK.... Miserable weather...

Yeah, true.... but Coachella is hot as fuck too.

[sl4shd0t]

This will be my first year at Coachella, but we did Outside Lands last year. I can't compare them but what I *loved* about OSL was their night show option.

We got to see Arctic Monkeys really up close and personal at the Independent and it was AMAZING. What sucked however, is we almost didn't make it there. Transportation is a clusterfuck. We had to leave the Shins early to make it which fucking SUCKED. Buses were packed and not an option as everyone was trying to leave for their night shows. We ended up meeting two other groups that were trying to get there also and hailing an illegal "taxi". Just some guy driving a mini-van making $$ during the festival weekend driving people. That was great, I'm so glad people do that cus it's how we got rides each night of the festival.

Next year we'll get a hotel room close to the venue and if we wanna see a night show we'll get a rental car I think. Can't see any other way.

[Dumbfound]

This will be my first year at Coachella, but we did Outside Lands last year. I can't compare them but what I *loved* about OSL was their night show option.

We got to see Arctic Monkeys really up close and personal at the Independent and it was AMAZING. What sucked however, is we almost didn't make it there. Transportation is a clusterfuck. We had to leave the Shins early to make it which fucking SUCKED. Buses were packed and not an option as everyone was trying to leave for their night shows. We ended up meeting two other groups that were trying to get there also and hailing an illegal "taxi". Just some guy driving a mini-van making $$ during the festival weekend driving people. That was great, I'm so glad people do that cus it's how we got rides each night of the festival.

Next year we'll get a hotel room close to the venue and if we wanna see a night show we'll get a rental car I think. Can't see any other way.

I can sign my name to this post with only the following caveats:

- this won't be my first year at Coachella
- my "illegal cab" with other people wasn't a van, but a Town Car, as far as I recall
- the hotel I've already reserved is not close to the venue, but close to the Civic Center shuttle stop

[unit300021]

I've been to four Coachella's and three Outside Lands and they are completely different fest that you can't really compare. However In my opinion each have there advantages over the other which I'm going to list.

Venue: Outside Lands -The polo fields are nice but Golden Great Park is such a great place to hold a fest and San Francisco beats out Indio no problem.

Venue Layout: Coachella- It's a lot easier to set up and make the stages convenient to get to when they have an empty field to work with then having to do the natural areas of it being in a park. OSL did improve it this past year by adding the chocolands pass which helped ease things up. Prior to that the extreme bottleneck from the two main stages was awful.

Food/Alcohol: Outside Lands- You get a lot of local SF food places there which all have very great food. Winelands is awesome and being able to take your drinks anywhere is pretty cool to compared to being restricted to the beer gardens.

Festival End Time: Tie - Tie because both have there advantages. Coachella runs later which means more bands play at night time and gives you some aspect of night shows. Outside Lands ending at 10 is sort of a bummer due to noise restrictions, however it also gives you the opportunity to check out some of the night life in the city which is a plus if you are only up there for the weekend.

Art: Coachella- Coachella actually has an emphasis on art installations and a lot more cooler things. OSL does have some art but it's no where near as much or as cool as coachella.

Those are the only things I can think of that can actually be compared between the two festivals. If I think of any more I'll add it.

Edit: Set Times length- OSL. Average set length at Coachella is 50 mins while at OSL is 60 mins. This is most likely due to less bands at OSL but I've always been on the side of less bands and longer sets times for Coachella. While it is cool to have more bands playing realistically how many more are you really actually going to see. Also it looks like OSL is more willing to give a non headliner a longer set time then coachella is i.e. Ween having 2 hours (which they only played about 1:40) and MMJ have 90 mins.

[sl4shd0t]

I can sign my name to this post with only the following caveats:

- this won't be my first year at Coachella
- my "illegal cab" with other people wasn't a van, but a Town Car, as far as I recall
- the hotel I've already reserved is not close to the venue, but close to the Civic Center shuttle stop

So it's convenient to do the hotel/shuttle to the civic center thing then? We stayed with a friend in the mission district, but I think this year we'll stay closer to the fest. There must be good options for hotels near golden gate park to avoid having to do the transportation thing?

[Dumbfound]

I don't think there are too many hotels in that area, but if you can find one, that would definitely be a good thing. I was actually staying with friends near Berkeley, and they gave me ride back and forth, except on Sunday I took BART to Civic Center and took the shuttle in, which worked great, so I figured it would be a good way to go this year, although I haven't used the shuttle to leave, I can't vouch for how much of a clusterfuck it might be.

[artisticcreator]

Seriously? There's nothing in the USA as good as Coachella. Burning Man is the only thing on the same level, just slightly different.

[Cigaweed]

Been to both last year and i have to say coachella is better in all areas except for:

-Being in Golden Gate Park was incrediable..its like a forest around you and the stages. The lights on the trees surrounding the polo field was trippy/awesome and the walk from stage to stage was nice (loved the back trail from polo field to twin peaks stage). Bottom line the scenery was better.

Also I love the city of San Fran (i live in so cal) so it was nice to be there for the festival. And the weather wasn't hot.

But coachella is better cuz of the more variety of acts, ending later, camping party envrionment, and etc.

[Wonderbot]

Seriously? There's nothing in the USA as good as Coachella. Burning Man is the only thing on the same level, just slightly different.

Yeahno.... Coachella and Burning Man are like complete polar opposites. The US festival that closest resembles Burning Man is Bonnaroo. And even that is nowhere near what Burning Man actually is.

[SepaGroove]

This is somewhat irrelevant, but I went to Lollapalooza this past year and as much fun as I had it doesn't even come close to Coachella. Lollapalooza is a great festival with great acts, and great ambiance with skyscrapers surrounding you the whole time, but there is an energy at Coachella that no other festival that I've been to has. There's nothing like being at the Polo fields.

[Gregorio]

I've been to four Coachella's and three Outside Lands and they are completely different fest that you can't really compare. However In my opinion each have there advantages over the other which I'm going to list.

Venue: Outside Lands -The polo fields are nice but Golden Great Park is such a great place to hold a fest and San Francisco beats out Indio no problem.

Venue Layout: Coachella- It's a lot easier to set up and make the stages convenient to get to when they have an empty field to work with then having to do the natural areas of it being in a park. OSL did improve it this past year by adding the chocolands pass which helped ease things up. Prior to that the extreme bottleneck from the two main stages was awful.

Food/Alcohol: Outside Lands- You get a lot of local SF food places there which all have very great food. Winelands is awesome and being able to take your drinks anywhere is pretty cool to compared to being restricted to the beer gardens.

Festival End Time: Tie - Tie because both have there advantages. Coachella runs later which means more bands play at night time and gives you some aspect of night shows. Outside Lands ending at 10 is sort of a bummer due to noise restrictions, however it also gives you the opportunity to check out some of the night life in the city which is a plus if you are only up there for the weekend.

Art: Coachella- Coachella actually has an emphasis on art installations and a lot more cooler things. OSL does have some art but it's no where near as much or as cool as coachella.

Those are the only things I can think of that can actually be compared between the two festivals. If I think of any more I'll add it.

Wait, are you saying you can't take your beer with you at Coachella? You can only drink it in the designated areas?

Yes, this is my first post. And yes, apparently this is what I'm most concerned about.

[citizenerased]

Wait, are you saying you can't take your beer with you at Coachella? You can only drink it in the designated areas?

Yes, this is my first post. And yes, apparently this is what I'm most concerned about.

Yeah, beer gardens only.