By Samantha Hissong

I still have glitter in my hair, and I think it belongs to Wayne Coyne.

The rumors are true. Your resident #henchhipster did in fact leave the land of milk and honey (the San Fernando Valley) and headed north to San Francisco for the 2014 edition of Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park.

As I write this, the concaving feelings birthed from a combination of sleep deprivation, being locked in a stalled BART train on the way to the airport, running across SFO and crying as my head and blistered feet pounded and throbbed has already taken its toll, but it was worth it.

Personal highlights of the weekend included getting to see and shoot Reprise’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time ever. I nearly cried and pissed myself simultaneously as he walked towards my trembling camera.

Please keep in mind that I have the lyrics to "Wildflowers" tattooed on my ribs. Although the band failed to play the song of my skin, many other faves did echo through the wooded grounds as a part of their two-hour set, including "You Wreck Me," Refugee," "Free Fallin," "Mary Jane’s Last Dance," "I Won’t Back Down" and "Runnin’ Down A Dream."

Petty and band also performed four songs from their brand-new, #1 release (their first ever, shockingly). "U Get Me High" was top of my list. Covers included "So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star by The Byrds, which they opened with, "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" by the Traveling Wilburys and "Friend of the Devil" by the Grateful Dead.

I have to say that standing with the hot, weed-laced breath of a crowd of tens of thousands of hippies and hipsters alike makes me feel drunk, even without a belly full of free beer.

Even so, I could really have done without the hippies.

Anyway, other highlights included performances from Domino’s Arctic Monkeys, who played nine songs off of their 2013 AM (2x Platinum in the U.K.) along with classics "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" and "Fluorescent Adolescent," Loma Vista’s Spoon, who played the first single from this month’s delicious They Want My Soul, "Rent I Pay," but not the current "Do You," and Warner Bros.’ Jenny Lewis, who looked like a classy acid trip in her rainbow-detailed, white suit and really sounded phenomenal on her current single "Just One of the Guys" and Rilo Kiley musts "Silver Lining" and "The Moneymaker."

Now, courtesy of Twitter, a few of the event’s high-profile moments.

Naturally, Kanye West was the most-mentioned artist (though I didn’t see his set as it coincided with the aforementioned Arctic Monkeys), followed by The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Mercury Nashville’s Kacey Musgraves, who had her own set and participated in the unveiling of the new Janis Joplin postage stamp, and Tiesto.

The three most-tweeted moments were Patrick Stewart’s appearance, Kanye’s performance and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ set. The latter is understandable, as they invited Chris Mansfield (AKA Fences) on stage to perform their latest single, "Arrow," for the second time ever. They also lent out the spotlight, so that a woman named Jenny could propose to her girlfriend before "Same Love."

Notable up-and-comers included Cantora’s Bear Hands, who really got the crowd going with their heavy-hitters, "Agora" and "Giants" and ‘love songs to marijuana.’

Partisan’s Deer Tick played to an exuberant crowd. Frontman John McCauley, who donned a hat that read ‘I Sell Coke and I’m Proud of It" (in Coca-Cola’s font) and opened a beer bottle with his gold tooth, always knows how to get people going. Whether it’s the rowdy drinking anthem, "Let’s All Go to the Bar," the in-your-face "The Bump," "Clownin’ Around," "Thyme," or even a cover of Lou Reed’s "Hanging ‘Round," you’re sure to fall madly in love. Well, I know I did.

Their 2013 full-length, Negativity is absolutely wonderful, but check out 2009’s War Elephant and 2011’s Divine Providence for a full understanding of their multi-faceted rockabilly sound. No one’s going to listen to me, but I get all warm ‘n’ fuzzy talking about their discography.

Merge’s Mikal Cronin gave my bones a good and necessary rattle. I particularly appreciated when he shouted, ‘Do more mosh pits! Wall of death! Bring the wall of death!’ He also decided that the band’s name should be changed to Snakes! (the exclamation point being mandatory).

Speaking of appreciation, I’d like to give a shout-out to the mysterious streaker who ran past me on my way to Arctic Monkeys: Your cheeks looked great. Keep up the good work and feel free to email me the name of your yoga instructor.

My award for Best Stage Presence goes to Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, who made 2pm feel like 2am and drew in a massive crowd with his enthusiasm.

My favorite newcomers were definitely FADER Label’s The Bots. Brothers Mikaiah and Anaiah Lei provide precise, punchy rock vibes with a psychedelic overtone. "All I Really Want," "5:17" and "Northern Lights" are sweet enough to lure you in and salty enough to make you jump back.

The award for Most Likely to Have the Most Fans Rolling on Molly goes to The Flaming Lips. Wayne Coyne certainly hasn’t lost his flair for extravagant presentation. With giant mushrooms, a smiling sun, an animated two-person rainbow costume, lots of streamers, glitter and more, along with songs like "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt.1" and a cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," there was no holding back.

Btw, look for a version of their "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," featuring Coyne’s bestie Miley Cyrus and Moby on the band’s upcoming Beatles tribute album, to be released in October via WB.

Coyne also ran around in a plastic bubble and played with a toy baby-doll throughout the set.

By the time I left, the bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos waiting in my hotel room was all that consumed my thoughts. Soon enough it would be time to fly home and plunge into deadline. But for now I could savor a ton of musical memories—and figure out just how much of me was covered in glitter.