Outside Lands

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a free and available ticket to the final day of the Outside Lands Music Festival held in Golden Gate Park. This was the first year for the music festival--boasting over 130,000 attendees and 65 bands including names such as Radiohead, Ben Harper, and Manu Chao.


Sunday's lineup wasn't as enticing as the previous days, but there were still many performances to see. Vienna Teng was among them. She plays with a quartet consisting of violin, cello, percussion, and herself on piano. With the full backing of the quartet, the sound was full and rich, but throughout the short set (the music festival only allowed for 45 minutes) Teng performed alone on the piano or simply acapella. For me, the true sign of a great musician and performer is commanding an entire stage and audience with only your voice and your instrument. This is, in part, why I fell in love with Patty Griffin and why (don't judge) I respect Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas who can move an entire audience when he sends the rest of the band offstage and sits down behind the piano.

Teng is a talented pianist, but also possesses a great vocal and stylistic range. She performed some of my wistful favorites like country-inspired "City Hall" (a sweet song centering around the brief legalization of gay marriage in San Francisco two years ago) and "Harbor." They also played the eclectic, beat-driven "1br/1ba" as well as a new song from the album she's working on about what happens when you listen (or not, in her case) to the advice of your elders in forging your own path. The synthesis of jazz piano, country twang, and complex beats creates an unmistakable depth in the music and a sound that you haven't heard before.

The two friends I dragged to the performance were converts by the end of the set. We even stood in line to meet Teng and ask her to sign the albums we purchased. So, go. Listen to a song on Rhapsody. Plug her into Pandora. Buy an album!