Outside Lands 2014, the yearly celebration amidst the beauty of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco came to a close Sunday with organizers hailing it as the “best one yet,” despite the disappointment of some who had purchased counterfeit tickets.
According to SFgate.com San Francisco police said they seized hundreds of the expertly forged passes to the giant three-day music festival, many from groups of scalpers who worked the perimeter of the park, charging up to $1,000 for the fakes.
Officers detained around 35 scalpers over the weekend, said Officer Gordon Shyy. Police are continuing to investigate the ticket scam and did not say if the scalpers were charged.
Up to 200,000 genuine ticketholders witnessed headliners Kanye West, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and the Killers put on barnstorming performances. Stand out was veteran rocker Tom Petty performing favorites “Won’t Back Down” and “Free Fallin’”.
LGBT favorites, Tegan & Sara performed Friday to a rapturous crowd playing songs from their latest album Heartthrob. Sarah Hide from San Diego told LGBTweekly.com. “This was the most amazing weekend; the lineup of artists was awesome. Tegan & Sara were awesome.”
In addition to the music there were more than seven food, drink and art zones to keep the crowds entertained — everything from chocolate to beer.
There was even an on-site barbershop with Esquire Network, the NBC-Universal owned entertainment and lifestyle network, debuting its first-ever “Sip and Shave” station located near the main stage. The station offered festival attendees complimentary shave sessions, specialty cocktails and exclusive access to meet Esquire Network’s Jay Larson and Sean Patton from Best Bars In America, and chefs Naomi Pomeroy and Kris Morningstar from Knife Fight.
Finally, some stats from Twitter: Outside Lands’ top-tweeted moments and noteworthy trends were:
The top 5 Most-mentioned artists
Kanye West
The Killers
Arctic Monkeys
Kacey Musgraves
Tiësto
Top 3 most-tweeted moments and performances
@SirPatrickStew appearance / Twitter announcement
Kanye West performance
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performance
Top Hashtags & Trends
#OutsideLands/ #OL2014/ @sfOutsidelands