The last weekend in August, 68 bands converged on San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for the second annual Outside Lands Music and Art Festival. Over the course of the three-day event, the main stage entertainment included Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Tenacious D, M.I.A., Incubus, Built to Spill, and Modest Mouse. Meanwhile, bands like Akron/Family, The Dead Weather, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, West Indian Girl, The Mars Volta, Ween, Band of Horses, and The Morning Benders rocked the other four stages scattered among the site's gorgeous trees and idyllic meadows. The eclectic line-up mixed performers with mass appeal and rising indie bands, so there was plenty for everyone to enjoy. The music was stellar and the backdrop was beautiful. For us southern Californians accustomed to braving the Indio desert's suffocating heat to get our festival fix, Outside Lands was a monumentally refreshing experience.

While the headlining acts produced thrills like Pearl Jam covering Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" and disappointments like M.I.A.'s lackluster rendition of "Paper Planes," some of the rising bands' shows turned out to be the most noteworthy. LA2DAY talked to three of our favorite performers of the weekend.

West Indian Girl, playing the Twin Peaks stage's opening slot on Friday, was an early highlight of the festival. Their sound combines a solid guitar-and-synth-driven rock backbone with earnest male crooning and intoxicating female vocals. The band recently lost singer Mariqueen Maandig, so bassist Francis Ten had recruited Miranda Lee Richards just a couple weeks prior fill the role of frontwoman for the time being. Despite the last-minute replacement, the performance was strikingly graceful and fluid. Richards has a natural stage presence and delivered passionate vocals on songs like the hit "Sofia." Guitarist/singer Robert James says "she's been awesome, very professional, we love her, such a sweetheart, and so fun to be around."

Maandig parted to be with her fiance, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. "We never saw her because she was on the road with him through all of this last tour," says James, "she got swept off her feet by Trent and... if he fell in love with me, I'd probably get swept off my feet too." He says the band harbors no bitterness about the split, but admits the timing has thrown a wrench in their agenda. "We were planning on showcasing a bunch of new material, we had eight new songs with her that we were working on," says James.

West Indian Girl has been in their LA studio putting together a new album, but Maandig "bailed out right before [the vocals] stage of the recording process," so progress is on hold while the band auditions for a permanent new female singer. Nonetheless, they weren't letting the setback bring down their mood. James says that besides a house party or the Hollywood Bowl, a festivals is their next favorite venue. The strength of their set at Outside Lands is testament to their staying power.

Perhaps our favorite performance of the weekend was Akron/Family's set on Friday in Lindley Meadow. The boys clearly enjoy playing shows and the outdoor atmosphere seemed to add to the fun. "It's got a good vibe to it, this park is pretty awesome," said drummer/singer Dana Janssen, "outdoors the sound travels in so many different ways, it's harder to control, it takes some practice." Their set at the festival proved they've mastered it.

The band is big on audience participation and Janssen says the concert attendees help guide their performances. "Every night's gonna be a different vibe, a different crowd. If you just tap into the energy of the room or the space, just recognize what's going on, that helps us to create the different dynamic from night to night." Though the group's early afternoon timeslot kept their show an intimate gathering, fans sang and clapped along to "Ed Is a Portal" (from 2007's heartstring-tuggingly sincere Love Is Simple) and "Woody Guthrie's America."

They also treated the crowd to "River," off their newest album Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free, which has a more consistently rock feel than previous releases. "The last record we did with producer Andrew Weiss, he really brought out a lot of like really awesome characteristics of our playing, so we just sort of embraced it," said Janssen, "inevitably it's shown through as being a bit more rock, I mean that's kind of what we are is a rock band."

The members all sing (sometimes simultaneously) and don't always stick to their instruments, on stage nor in the writing process. Janssen, who is primarily the band's drummer but has also been playing bass since he was ten years old, says "'Creatures' [on Set 'Em Wild], for example, I wrote that with just like a bunch of different bass harmonies and when we arranged it we split it up on a bunch of different instruments." This way of operating enables them to experiment while keeping a strong identity.

Janssen says he and guitarist Seth Olinsky are moving to Los Angeles soon, which means we can expect more of the intimate and engaging shows they've become known for in Brooklyn!

A third standout performance came from Berkeley-based group The Morning Benders on Sunday afternoon, where the young band's brand of hip indie pop charmed its audience. "It's really nice to play outdoors, it's more chill, more laid back, especially like this where people are picnicking on the grass," said frontman Chris Chu.

The well-dressed trio met at UC Berkeley and has only been playing together a couple of years, but they're already making big waves both here and abroad. They just got back from playing some festivals in Europe and are about finished with their new record Big Echo, on which they've been working with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. "We recorded at this one studio with all these old pianos and organs and pump organs and xylophones and we put all that on it," says Chu, "and at the same time I've been messing around with some programming stuff on computers, so we used some of that, and a lot of effects, and just kind of trying to expand our palette, you know, as much as possible." Can't wait to hear it!

Besides the music, the festival also featured countless tents with novelties like Intel's oxygen bar, Heineken's subzero beer offerings, wine tasting from a host of California vineyards, outdoor art installations (though, admittedly, none that rival Coachella's), and a circus tent. But for us, the best compliment to the music was the park itself -- it was a treat to see a show in such a pretty setting. We'll definitely be heading up north again next year.

Story by Chrissy Humphreys.