Skimming down the Outside Lands 2014 lineup for the first time, I found myself scowling. Most of the artists on the list were either completely foreign or I had already seen them live (ugh, poor me). However, I decided I would muster up the money to go anyway (thanks Mom and Dad!) and hope to be entertained. By the end of the festival, not only was I entertained, but I was also surprised at the performing ability of many of the acts. Outside Lands 2014 was a surprise smash and I am quite pleased I went. That said, in order to see good acts, you’ve got to see some bad ones. To sum things up, here is a list of the best and worst shows I saw.

The Best Acts:

1. Kanye West
In very controversial show, Kanye ended half his songs mid way through their performance. He also ended 15 minutes early, and he didn’t play “Gold Digger.” But at the end of the day, Yeezus’s show offered anything one could ever want. First, he performed almost all of his hits, ranging from “Jesus Walks” and “All Falls Down,” to “Bound 2” and “Black Skinhead.” Secondly, the audience was fully involved. At several points in the performance, Mr. West ordered the crowd to open up some big circles in order to mosh and get wild. Of course, the audience obliged and sang along at every moment they weren’t being ordered to rage. Lastly, Kanye made the show unique with a bit of improv. He went on rants about Kim and haters, but he also improvised musically. During his hit “Runaway,” Kanye spontaneously blasted through a six minute catchy R&B verse about a friend of his asking him why he uses autotune. Epic. So despite not having the longest show with all of his hits, Kanye absolutely killed it.

2. The John Butler Trio
If you have any admiration for musicianship with an emphasis on guitar, then look these guys up and catch them next time they are in town. The band crosses over many genres, but I would call them an acoustic mix of folk-blues-rock with a sprinkle of pop added in. They stood out because of John Butler’s astonishing guitar playing. The highlight of the show was when Butler took the stage solo and played his 12-minute acoustic ballad instrumental “Ocean.” Never in my life would I have expected to see so many people screaming at the top of their lungs for a guy alone on stage just playing the guitar. The moment was magical.

3. Watsky

The local University High School graduate is not your typical rapper. Watsky took to the stage with a full band. The performance consisted of passionate lyric spitting in his spoken word poetry style, melodic wailing by an accompanying female vocalist, and rock n’ roll shredding from the band. On top of that, Watsky hyped up the audience with his praise for the Bay Area so much that in order to release the excitement, mosh pits began to break out across the lawn at Golden Gate Park like a case of poison oak.

Honorable Mentions:

Flume: Crowd surfing, shoulder sitting, good vibes, and a happy audience.

Macklemore: Not a fan of his music, but he is one hell of a showman.

Arctic Monkeys: One of the bands I was blessed to have already seen, so I didn’t attend. However, I heard from many that they rocked it.

The Worst Act:

1. Disclosure
I do not hate Disclosure’s music. I do not think they are bad musicians. However, I do think they have no idea how to perform in a live show. During their hour-long performance, they only looked at the audience a handful of times. At any given point I could look to my left or to my right and see at least 50 people looking down at their phones and 50 more people talking to their friend about how epic the song“Latch” will be. The two men who make up Disclosure did seem hard at work on stage, but in a very un-entertaining way. One clicked through sample sounds on his Macbook looking completely unaware that he was standing in front of people, while the other played an electric drum kit that only kind of matched the tone of the songs they were playing.