Puppet Masters: Inside Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem’s Muppet-Tastic Live Debut

In the deluge of summer festivals offering slight variations on the same alt-leaning lineup, Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival presented something wholly original, personalized and crowd-pleasing on Sunday: a main stage performance by six puppets.

Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, the house band for the Muppets, drew one of the biggest early afternoon crowds of the three-day fest, making their “live debut” with a five-song set that could not have been executed more efficiently or joyfully. By the end of the performance, beach balls were being batted around, Electric Mayhem tees were being fired out of T-shirt cannons, smoke was billowing from fog machines, and the Oakland Tabernacle Choir was singing its guts out as iconic pieces of felt took bows to “With a Little Help from My Friends.” The applause was wild; the concept was wilder. Did a puppet show really just open for Third Eye Blind at Outside Lands, and succinctly blow them off the stage?