The outdoor festival returned to its roots Friday night (8/22), with San Francisco's Outside Lands [ tickets ] Fest bringing rock music back to Golden Gate Park after more than 40 years of absence.

Howling Rain [ tickets ], Carney [ tickets ] and Steel Pulse [ tickets ] hit three of the event's six stages at approximately the same time, launching three days of music from more than 60 bands.

A young and giddy crowd jammed the long and narrow runways between the park's three performance areas, rushing past a staggering array of porta-potties and booths selling everything from Heineken beer to art made out of recycled candy wrappers, and practically stumbling over itself to get to the music.

LA's Carney accommodated, charging up a small but appreciative crowd at Lindsey Meadow's Presidio Stage with a few lengthy tunes, including a hard-hitting cover of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."

"They only gave us 25 minutes, and most of our songs are really long," the band's lead singer sheepishly explained.

Elsewhere Canadian sludge rockers Black Mountain [ tickets ] brought the '60s back in full force, entertaining a rapidly massing crowd at Speedway Metal with several songs that sounded like Black Sabbath covering Sunny Day Real Estate,

"Is this really entertaining?" asked one club kid, rapidly heading the other direction in search of better vibes.

Hells yes! Canadians making serious-like with the whammy bar are always good G-rated fun, I say. And with Beck and Radiohead on the way, Outside Lands got off to a clean start.

Additional Outside Lands coverage:
Blogging Outside Lands, Day 1: Radiohead, Beck

Outside Lands coverage from L.A. rockers Carney:
Video Blog: Carney at Outside Lands in San Francisco (No. 1)
Blogging Outside Lands: Carney arrives
Video Blog: Carney at Outside Lands in San Francisco (No. 2)