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Not surprisingly, other parties were interested, including Live Nation, Anshutz Entertainment Group, and C3 Presents, all large-scale operations that put on events internationally.
It was all, of course, a money game.
Rich Hillis, the acting deputing director for the Recreation and Park Department in 2008, said as much: "The commission wants to make sure it gets the maximum amount of revenue and selects the most qualified promoter."
What's more, the permit would be for the next three years, essentially cornering this specific market for the immediate future.
"It was disheartening that we came to the city with this proposal and had to go through this process," says Allen Scott, Another Planet's executive vice president.
Another Planet won out, and was given its festival back. But by the time it was given the go-ahead to put on Outside Lands again, it was already into 2009. A lineup had to be put together, and fast — particularly compared to the years of planning that had gone into 2008's lineup.
The 2009 lineup was announced in April of that year. Its headliners had some crying '90s-flashback: Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and the Beastie Boys. But Scott felt confident that the three would deliver, and was particularly pleased with locking down the Beasties, a surefire crowd favorite.
But an early morning phone call, just weeks before the festival, shook the festival outlook yet again. It was the Beastie Boys' agent, calling with the worst kind of news — Adam Yauch was sick, and the band was going to have to cancel. Scott's first thought was sadness and concern for Yauch, quickly followed by panic: They had just lost a headliner. What were they going to do?
They scrambled. Two weeks before the performance date, Another Planet announced that comic-rock duo Tenacious D would take the Beastie Boys' place.
It wasn't a bad solution. But that Sunday night felt like it closed with more of a whimper than a bang. After two days of unusual 90-degree weather in Golden Gate Park, the fog came in with a vengeance. People were flowing out of the park as Tenacious D fought to keep energy up for those who remained. For some, it was the low point of the festival's history.
Radiohead had led to a sellout day for the festival's first year. 2009 saw much lower attendance overall, 80,000 compared to 130,000. San Francisco's already-struggling economy was only getting worse. There would have to be some major changes in 2010 if Outside Lands hoped to survive.
There are only so many things that you can control when putting on an event of Outside Lands' scale. Radiohead's sound outage, sick headliners, and early friction with the city are the kinds of peculiar challenges that all promoters deal with to ensure a festival's survival.
When talking to Allen Scott and Bryan Duquette, Another Planet's director of business development, about these challenges, their approach quickly becomes clear: to take it in stride and stay focused on the long-term plan. The pair is sitting in Another Planet's Berkeley offices. Concert posters line the walls, highlighting shows at The Independent, the Greek Theater, the Fox, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium — APE's Bay Area venues. If you look closely, you'll spot bands making the progression from smaller venues like The Independent to the larger Bill Graham, often with Outside Lands in between.
Both Scott and Duquette love the music, but they're quick to speak to the details that make Outside Lands run, from the waste management to Scott's regular attendance at neighborhood association meetings. (Both originally hail from Virginia but are fully integrated into San Francisco; Scott, 40, moved to the Bay Area in 1997, and Duquette, 36, came in 2001.)
"Another Planet did not go into putting on Outside Lands lightly," notes Aidin Vaziri, longtime music critic at the San Francisco Chronicle. "They take it very seriously, and they're very good at what they do."
What's more, they're constantly looking for ways to improve every element of the festival.
A big part of this is dealing with the inevitable roadblocks, like a difficult city government, annoyed neighbors, and persistent fog. Not panicking is key. Another Planet set up a multilingual hotline to field neighborhood complaints — everything from a blocked driveway to stray trash. The merch booths sell blankets. And politics can be handled in a way that allows those in charge to put on a happy face, or at least stick to the party line.
Take the issue with the Recreation and Park Department in 2008. It clearly still irks the Another Planet team that it ran the risk of losing its own festival. But when discussing the festival's relationship with the city now, it's all love on both sides. Now, Rec and Park describes the festival as "a boon" to the city. Scott and Duquette are quick to echo a "we're all in this together" vibe.
But love doesn't come cheap. This warm and fuzzy positivity isn't just because everyone wants to get along: Another Planet gives a significant amount of money to Golden Gate Park. The first five years brought in $8.3 million for the park.
That may be the reason for all of this mutual appreciation, but Another Planet and the Recreation and Park Department do have something else in common — they share a real appreciation for the park itself. Another Planet endows a gardener, and sets the festival up incrementally so that as much of the park can remain open to the public in the days leading up to the festival for as long as possible. And, the sign that this is a true San Francisco event, when the fencing goes up, they make sure to feed the feral cats that are affected, and bring in an arborist to protect the trees as best they can.
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