Portola 202409.28.24 - 09.29.24
San Francisco, CA
A whirlwind of a weekend in San Francisco!
When I saw the lineup reveal earlier this year, I was intrigued at how eclectic it was — while dominated by electronic acts, there was a sprinkling of hip-hop and pop artists. Really, a ton of superbly talented artists that consistently put out great projects. There really seemed to be a focus on musicianship and craftsmanship with the lineup.
Procrastination ultimately led me to missing out on getting a GA pass, so when the announced GA passes had sold out, I locked in on a VIP ticket. I had never gone VIP for a music festival before, so I figured it was at least worth a shot. Cheap flights and a hostel booking later and I was all set for a quick weekend getaway in San Francisco — not much planning needed!
Many airlines fly direct from YVR to SFO, so there's lots of options available for flights. I went with a Friday evening flight with United Airlines and a Monday morning flight with Flair — it helped that Monday was a holiday in Canada to give myself time to travel home.
The venue for the festival, Pier 80, is not super central, without many hotel or hostel options nearby, so I went with a rehash of my booking to see the Blue Jays play the Giants at Oracle Park earlier this year in July — the Green Tortoise Hostel. It's located near SF's Chinatown — the BART train can take you to within walking distance of the hostel with a stop at Montgomery Station, and the Muni metro line can get you to Pier 80 via its Chinatown station.
The plan for day one was to get there early to secure a poster — the organizers released merch via their official app prior to the festival, so attendees could opt to ship their selections to home instead of carrying it to the festival. The poster, however, was limited to 200 copies and was available onsite only. Getting there at 1pm when doors opened was ample time to secure a poster. I got myself a nice blue crewneck adorned with the festival logo as well. I had ordered a 2 day VIP large locker, so I stashed the poster and sweater in there for safekeeping. I knew the sweater would come in handy later when the sun sets and/or the wind picks up.
I wandered around for a bit to get a feel for the venue before ultimately posting up at the Pier Stage for an early timeslot with Empress Of. She was decent! The crowd was a bit thin given how early it was in the day, but she still brought a good energy. Maybe not as techno or house heavy as the sounds that would dominate the rest of the weekend, but still fun regardless.
I didn't really have much of a reason to budge from Pier Stage, given that my upcoming selections were all taking place there. Franc Moody was next, though I wasn't familiar with them, they had a very chill disco infused set.
I took a quick snack (dinner?) break for some chicken tenders and fries — the booth literally was just labeled chicken tenders and fries, and as a tendie aficionado, I could not pass that up. They were just alright though — I guess $19 USD doesn't get you very far!
Jessie Ware was next, and when I talk about the pop or hip-hop artists that made the lineup card so unique, she's definitely one of them. This was round 2 with Jessie for me — I had already seen her in Toronto for the That! Feels Good! tour last October. Very similar setlist this time but such a warm, positive, and welcoming vibe yet again. She went into the crowd for a walkabout, as she had done in Toronto, but this time she walked literally right in front of me at one point — I won't lie, my heart skipped a couple beats as that happened! The live rendition of "Spotlight" is phenomenal — I love the additional guitar on the buildup to the chorus.
Sticking with Pier Stage, up next was Jamie xx. I was amped for this one, as his new album In Waves is quite solid and definitely lives up to the hype after the long holdover from In Colour. But honestly, the first part of his set was just whelming for me. My take on live DJing is quite amateur, probably not well informed, and swayed by my affinity for indie and pop as my genres of choice, but I do really appreciate recognizability on the tracks, which I was not getting early on in the set. Once he got into some of the great cuts from In Waves, like "Life" and "Baddy On The Floor", things started rolling, and he closed out with an all timer in Good Times.
That was all at Pier Stage for me! Off to Crane Stage for Soulwax. They don't have a huge catalogue, but I had heard great things about their live shows, so I wanted to give them a chance. One word can describe these guys — drums.
Time for more food! I got Korean fried chicken this time. The portion was HUGE — much better value than the tendies.
And back to Crane Stage for my final set of the night, and my most anticipated of the weekend — the dark prince, Gesaffelstein. His set was absolutely killer — I love the brooding and sinister vibe and all it gives up in danceability to commit to the bit.
Getting out of the festival was madness. I ended up walking all the way back downtown, as Muni was filled to the brink, and even if I wanted to pay surge pricing for a rideshare, I had no service for a couple kilometres.
Day two was admittedly a lot lighter for me. None of the early sets really struck my interest, so I used the time to hit up Amoeba Records for some movie shopping — I had visited back in July and found some great bargains in their discount section. No different this time and I came away with a stack of 10! Mostly popcorn American flicks from the 2000s/2010s as you would expect from a discount bluray section. All were blind buys though! Their prices for 4K discs are a bit steep, considering the USD to CAD conversion, but I did come away with one — Brian De Palma's Body Double. I'm not aware of Sony doing a Canadian release for this one, so this was a good opportunity to pick it up without paying the upcharge on import from a Canadian retailer. I love De Palma's exercises in Hitchcock imitation (Rear Window on this one), no matter how much he may deny the influence. Also of note, it's a major influence on The Weeknd's music video for "Is There Someone Else?", one of his finest music videos to date.
Back to Portola! The first set I had circled for the day was Busy P back to pack with Alan Braxe. This was at the ship tent, so I chilled there for a bit and caught Raf Sappera's set. I had never heard of him before, but it was unique take on hip hop infused with Punjabi influences. Busy P and Alan Braxe brought an energetic French touch heavy set. Elements of Justice ("Neverender"), Stardust ("Music Sounds Better With You"), Daft Punk ("One More Time") just to name a few. And of course their own classics! The crowd showed them a ton of love, and I got a kick out of how prolonged their exit was!
I then immediately headed over to the Crane Stage for DJ Pee Wee, aka Anderson .Paak, who had already started. He was just getting into a live rendition of Am I Wrong, which was phenomenal — one of my favourite tracks off of Malibu. Unfortunately it was really the only track of his he performed himself, but if he had to pick one, I'm glad it was that one! His DJ set was a mix of 80s classics — think The Human League ("Don't You Want Me"), Whitney Houston ("I Wanna Dance With Somebody"), a-ha ("Take On Me") mixed with some 2000s throwback tunes like Outkast's "BOB" and Fergie's "Fergalicious".
Took a quick food break next — I'm ashamed to say the chicken tenders and fries brought me back for more. I guess I didn't feel like experimenting!
I stayed long enough to catch Disclosure's set at Pier Stage — good mix of euphoric anthems and dance tracks. Was a treat to watch the sunset as they played into the night.
Justice were up next for Pier Stage — I'm a big fan of them and their new album, and they were certainly one of the major draws for me getting a pass — but since I purchased the pass, they announced a solo show at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. Rather than getting stuck in the chaos of leaving the festival, I opted to leave early, knowing I have a better chance to see them at their own headlining show. If it wasn't so hard logistically to leave the festival, I would have absolutely stayed. But my legs did appreciate a calm Muni ride back downtown.
And that's that! Ultimately, I had a decent time, and the sets I did catch were quite memorable. I liked how no frills the whole festival and setup was — it really did feel like the focus was on the music with hardly any other distractions. The venue probably plays a role in that, as it's really just a giant slab of asphalt. Not the kindest on the feet! The cranes and ships provided cool backdrops for sure. The 21+ age restriction really changes things too — the target demographic may be a bit older anyways, and I was in VIP which I assume skews older, but I did feel young and just on the cusp of the slews of festivals and shows all the other attendees I imagine have seen.
I do think the setlist conflicts drained some of the value out of what I perceived I was getting. That's always going to be a risk with festivals, and I understand they can only do so much, but it did feel cramped with it being only a 2 day festival. And as I mentioned earlier, the Saturday lineup was insane, but I missed out on some sets I would have loved to check out.
And ultimately, I can't forget that I'm primarily a pop and indie guy, and that's not the focus here. I can't lie, there were moments across a few sets where I was just on autopilot bobbing my head without a good feel for where the music was going. I'm unsure whether I'll be back, as I think it would be wise for me to target festivals that primarily feature my main genres (Osheaga 2019 is still undefeated for me). Living on the West Coast gives me some interesting options now — Coachella 2025 anyone?
