It wasn't even 5:00 P.M. yet, but the field grass was already suffering from the hordes of people walking back and forth between stages. I noticed this mostly since I was caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic on my way to see Icelandic indie pop band Of Monsters and Men. Along the way, I heard the Sea Change portion of Beck's main stage performance, which included his relatively more mellow songs "Lost Cause" and "The Golden Age."
Of Monsters and Men was very excited to be performing, even tossing candy (Skittles, I believe) into the crowd. The band played an unreleased song "Beneath my Bed" that sounded incredible, and even solicited much audience participation in the form of handclaps and sing-alongs during "Slow and Steady" and "Mountain Song." The band even dedicated "Hold On" to their Icelandic friends in the audience. "Little Talks" brought the crowd to their feet before the band ended the set with "Yellow Light."
I managed to catch the tailend of Foo Fighters' performance, which included "Best of You" and "Everlong." Frontman Dave Grohl thanked all of the festival's headliners for being so awesome, and also proclaimed the crowd to be "the best f*cking audience" as they left the stage.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse was definitely the main attraction as the crowd that had just seen Foo Fighters basically refused to leave the main stage area, even for a few moments. The crowd roared when the band took the stage and offered song after song of their hits and with, you guessed it, extended instrumental solos and long jams. Young even spent a portion of the set playing solo tunes.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to visit as many tents as I wanted. There was the Toyota tent, the AT&T lounge (with a well-timed wine tasting), a fun Pacific Gas & Electric tent with a human-powered guinea pig wheel, and Wine Lands with more different wines. There's always tomorrow to visit the rest of the tents, including—for the first time ever—Beer Lands.
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