System of a Down to headline in Golden Gate Park
The promotion company behind the Outside Lands music festival has announced the initial lineup for a new annual concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
System of a Down, Deftones, the Mars Volta, Viagra Boys and Vowws are slated to perform Aug. 17, the weekend following this year’s Outside Lands, at the park’s Polo Field.
Tickets for the inaugural outdoor event, priced at $169 for general admission and $399 for VIP access, go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday, April 12, at www.goldengateparkconcerts.com. Artist presales will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 10, followed by Another Planet Entertainment presale at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 11.
The Berkeley-based company Another Planet Entertainment — which operates venues such as the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Fox Theater in Oakland and Greek Theatre in Berkeley — was granted exclusive rights to host ticketed concerts in Golden Gate Park by the city’s Board of Supervisors last September,
despite opposition from residents in nearby neighborhoods concerned about traffic congestion, noise and park closures.
The goal is to host similar concerts yearly after Outside Lands, allowing the production team to utilize the existing infrastructure built for the three-day festival more than just one weekend each summer.
The San Francisco date will be the only live appearance in 2024 for the Grammy-winning Armenian American rock act System of a Down, aside from its own sold-out festival in Las Vegas on April 27, and it will be the biggest Bay Area concert to date for Sacramento’s alternative metal band Deftones.
The single-day show will be distinct from Outside Lands in that it will feature one stage focusing on a headliner with multiple supporting acts. Attendance will be capped at 65,000 people, compared to Outside Lands’ 75,000 attendees per day. The concert producers will also sponsor free Muni transportation to and from the park.
Additionally, as part of its agreement with the city of San Francisco, Another Planet Entertainment will organize free shows at Civic Center Plaza, Union Square and Embarcadero Plaza, which are managed by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and already host various cultural events. The lineup for these events will be announced later.
Permit fees for the Polo Field concerts, amounting to $700,000 for a oneday event, will be used for maintaining park facilities and offering programming for residents. The funding is crucial as the city faces a $780 million budget deficit over the next two years, park officials said.
Another Planet Entertainment vowed to also increase its annual community benefit funding for programs in the Sunset and Richmond districts by $10,000 per neighborhood, in addition to its existing $25,000 contribution.
“We are expecting fans from not just the Bay Area but from across the U.S. and internationally to travel to the city injecting money into the local economy,” said Allen Scott, president of concerts and festivals at Another Planet Entertainment, in a statement. “From hotels to local restaurants and everything in between, this will be a great night of music and a great economic boost for the city.”