Sound Summit 2022: a guide to the Bay Areas highest music festival – SF Chronicle Datebook

Scenes from Sound Summit music festival on Mount Tamalpais in Marin. Photo: Bob Minkin / Sound Summit

Sound Summitis a daylong music festival at the natural amphitheater atop Mount Tamalpais some 2,500 feet above the San Francisco Bay for an audience with an adventurous spirit.

This years concert, the second since an unplanned two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22, featuring performances by the War on Drugs, Faye Webster and Fruit Bats.

We try to keep it eclectic, said Michael Nash, executive director ofRoots & Branches Conservancy, the nonprofit that started hosting the annual outdoor concert in 2015 to raise money and awareness for the beloved state park in Marin County. We want to create an experience that is unique to the Bay Area.

Past performers at the festival have included Bob Weir & Phil Lesh, Herbie Hancock, Wilco, Los Lobos, Tedeschi Trucks Band,Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Father John Misty and the Allah-Las, amongmany others.

But the musicians arent always the main attraction.

There is a core of our demographic who come regardless of whos playing, Nash said. The venue is the star in many ways.

The lineup for Sound Summit 2022 includes the Americana act the War On Drugs, singer-songwriter Faye Webster, indie folk outfit Fruit Bats, and local ensemble Wreckless Strangers.

We wanted to have the War on Drugs for years, but the timing never worked out, Nash said. The stars aligned this time.

The band plan tomark its final tour date with its appearance at Sound Summit, following a year that saw the War on Drugs open for the Rolling Stones in Londons Hyde Park, headline Madison Square Garden in New York, and sell out Red Rocks in Colorado.

Theyre an incredible live band, Nash said. Theyre big, anthemic and poignant. I was blown away the first time I saw them.

The event is also expected to be hosted again by Bay Area radio personalities Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey, known as Murph & Mac, along with KPFAs Dead to the World radio host Tim Lynch.

Andy Cabic, the frontman of Richmond folk-rock band Vetiver, is slated toDJ between sets.

Sound Summit takes place at the panoramic 4,000-seat stone Mountain Theater, also known as Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater, located on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, above Mill Valley to the east and Stinson Beach to the west.

Its for an audience with an adventurous spirit, Nash said. You have to hike or bike or jump on a bus to go up to the mountain roads. Its for people who want a day away from whats easily more accessible.

We joke its the highest festival in the bay. Its a place of spiritual nourishment and enlightenment and the views are stellar.

The site best known for hosting the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival in 1967 with a program that included Jefferson Airplane, Captain Beefheart, the Byrds, Hugh Masekela, the 5th Dimension and the Doors. Held the weekend before the Monterey International Pop Festival, it is widely considered the first major rock festival.

Its also the venue where Mountain Play has presented open-air theater for more than a century.

Organizers suggest arriving by bus, car, hiking or biking.

There are shuttle buses available for an additional $25 fee for roundtrip service. They leave from thePohono Street Park & Ride Lotin Mill Valley, just off the Stinson Beach exit on Highway101. Look for the yellow First Student School buses and follow the signs.

Buses begin departing the lot at 8:45 a.m. and run on a continuous loop up the mountain until 3:30 p.m. They begin to depart the Mountain Theater entrance immediately following the show at 6:30 p.m.

We like to say come early and stay late, Nash said.

Street parking on Mount Tam is extremely limited. Paid parking for the festival is available for $50 at the Summit Lot, on East Ridgecrest Boulevard, past the venue entrance for about a mile. The lot opens at 9 a.m. and holds 250 vehicles. Shuttle buses will run from the lot to the venue and back throughout the day.

If you plan on using a rideshare service such as Uber or Lyft, be aware that the venue has no numerical address just East Ridgecrest Boulevard.Drop-offs are not allowed at the venue entrance. Direct your driver instead to the Rock Spring Parking Lot.

Theres atrail map available for hikers. (Organizers note that the sun is scheduled to set at 6:23 p.m. on the day of the festival.)

Free bicycle parking is available outside the venue on the right side of the Rock Spring Parking Lot, courtesy of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

Tickets cost $120 for adults and $65 for children ages 12 and younger. Children age 2 and younger are admitted free.

Seating is general admission and organizers have a first come, first served policy, so arrive early if you want to be close to the action.

The money raised by Sound Summit more than $250,000 so far goes toward a host of improvements for Mount Tamalpais State Park, including fire prevention, water conservation, trail repairs, visitor services and more.

We keep enough to keep the lights on, but were more about giving than getting, Nash said.

Organizers suggest arriving with a printed, physical ticket as cell phone reception on the mountain is spotty and it may be difficult to show an electronic ticket.

Marin County casual.

But with the breathtaking views come the natural elements. Organizers suggest bringing hats and sunscreen. Layers are also a good idea.

The weather is ever-changing on the mountain and it can get quite hot at the Mountain Theater, as most of the venue is in full sun, Nash said, adding that it tends to cool off later in the day.

Its not a down-on-the-ground affair, Nash said. Its a special place. When I go up there, this calm and centeredness come over me. Its a very conscientious crowd.

Stadium cushions, blankets and soft-backed trail chairs are encouragedto make the experience of sitting on uneven stone surfaces a little more comfortable. Just note that folding chairs are not not permitted.

While you can pack your food and beverages (no alcohol) in a small cooler, cashless alcohol and merchandise sales will be available on-site. Sealed or empty water bottles may be brought for the event.

Smoking of any kind is strictly prohibited.

We cannot possibly stress this rule and request enough, organizers said. We ask that you please respect it and remind your neighbors to do the same. If you dont, you are potentially endangering and jeopardizing your fellow concertgoers, the future of this event, and, more important above all, the safety of Mount Tam.

Sound Summit: 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. $120 for adults and $65 for ages 12 and younger; children age 2 and younger are admitted free. Mountain Theater, off East Ridgecrest Boulevard in Mount Tamalpais State Park. SoundSummit.net

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Sound Summit 2022: a guide to the Bay Areas highest music festival - SF Chronicle Datebook