There’s no doubt about it – Radiohead is the finest band in existance right now. The band’s show last night at Outside Lands (barring two inexcusable sound failures) was amazing. There were far too many people and several annoyances with the festival (which may stem from me not liking festivals), but as Thom Yorke said after the second time the sound cut out: “In the end, it’s all about the music, right?”

Yep.

The music was sublime – played to perfection and nearly flawless. The band tore through an amazing set, starting with “15 Steps” then blasting through “Reckoner,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” “The National Anthem,” “Paranoid Android” and the set-closing “Everything In Its Right Place” among others. Here’s a setlist, courtesy of 58hours. The lighting was also spectacular, especially during “Everything In Its Right Place.” It was, regretably, my first time seeing Radiohead and I can’t wait to see them in a more friendly, personal venue, but for a good taste of what a real show would be like, Friday was hard to beat.

Here’s the third and final installment of our Outside Lands Festival preview. Today, we bring you songs by all of the artists appearing on Sunday of Outside Lands.

You can find the two previous installments here: Friday & Saturday

With our fancy new media player, you can even hit the little play button next to any song and listen to it as a mix without downloading anything.

Sunday:

See also:

• Friday lineup & playlist
• Saturday lineup & playlist

Here’s the second installment of three for our Outside Lands Festival preview. Today, we bring you songs by all of the artists appearing on Saturday of Outside Lands. You can find yesterday’s installments here: Friday lineup

With our fancy new media player, you can even hit the little play button next to any song and listen to it as a mix even without downloading anything.

Saturday:

See also:

Friday lineup & playlist
Sunday lineup & playlist

So, exciting times around these parts. Not only are 5 bajillion cool bands playing at Outside Lands a mere nine days from now, but we’re also breaking out of our little shell and throwing a party to celebrate the release of Cousin Chris‘ debut album Moon Paper. We’re inviting all our readers and fellow bloggers to join us next Thursday, Aug. 21 at House of Shields downtown (New Montgomery b/w Market and Mission) between 6PM and 10PM to celebrate the release of a great album and prime the pump for a great weekend ahead.

For those who don’t know, Chris Schreiber, aka, Cousin Chris, is a local boy who wrote, sang and played every instrument on Moon Paper. Rooted heavily in a blues (but not at all derivative), bathed in slide guitar and accented with his unique voice, Moon Paper carves out an original sound that, while minimalist, is still compelling and – most importantly – interesting. The album was recorded at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone studios where bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Nada Surf and Mike Watt have all recorded. Cousin Chris sat down with me for a chat, which you’ll find – along with a sample of his music – after the jump.

And don’t forget to come out to House of Shields next Thursday and support a local musician (and bloggers!).

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We all love live music, but live comedy is really one of the most underrated ways to spend an evening. Yeah, the shows are short, but like the late, great Mitch Hedberg said, “As a headliner, I gotta do 45 minutes of comedy. That’s a long time – that’s a sitcom and a half.”

If you’ve never seen a good comic live, there’s two great chances to pop that cherry in September. Both Lewis Black (of “The Daily Show” and “The Root Of All Evil”) and Sarah Silverman (”The Sarah Silverman Show”) are going to perform in the Bay Area: Black at Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley on Sept. 20 and Silverman at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on Sept. 7. (Yes, I just linked to Ticketmaster twice – pretty sure I’m now going to hell.)

Both have different styles, but are equally effective. Black is in-your-face political humor (”Sept. 11 was a national tragedy – unless you’re a deaf and blind pig, you know this. But, as soon as it happened, everyone – everyone – had that one little moment where they went, ‘Oh. Well that really fucks up my plans.’”), while Silverman hides seriously blue humor beneath a thin good-girl act (”I was raped by a doctor. … Which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl.”). Check out both after the jump, and check them out when they’re in town.

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