Cover photo courtesy of Alive Coverage
Day One: Friday, 8/8
After attending the past three Outside Lands, coming back to the Bay this summer felt needed and timely. I have become accustomed to anticipating the lineup with my family months in advance, snatching up our Eager Beaver passes out of our hard-earned devotion to the festival. What keeps me coming back is not only the lineup of great artists and musicians, but the culture, the food, and the environment. For one of the first weekends in August, Golden Gate Park is transformed into a mecca for music, art, fashion, food, and an overall atmosphere of creativity and community.
Friday began with my family doing what we do best. We cut it close, walking up to our favorite stage, Sutro, just as the first set of the day began. With original songs like “still love you (todavía)” and their stripped-back cover of “No One Noticed” accompanied by an omichord, The Two Lips took me back to the time I saw The Marías at my first ever festival.
As we hadn’t gotten the chance yet, my dad and I decided to explore the grounds. We briefly attended a wedding at Outside Lands’ City Hall, a feature just added to the park last year, and saw the festival’s signature bushman getting ready to scare people as they walked through the shaded McLaren Pass, a crossroads for the multitude of stages.
Further on in the day, I watched NewDad, almost monday, and Vansire, grace the Sutro stage while I snacked on my first showstopping eat of the weekend — a BBQ mushroom arepa from Mezclá Eats. Leave it to Outside Lands to bring together the most creative food from around the Bay.
Unfortunately, with so much to see, I soon encountered my first obstacle: overlapping sets. I ran over to the festival’s main stage, Land’s End, to see the first half of Thundercat before rushing back to Sutro to catch one of my current favorites, Jessica Pratt. She performed “Life Is” and “World On A String,” with lovely, intricate melodies and rich percussion from the timpani.
Late Friday afternoon oversaw an influx of crowds, no doubt due to Doechii, who had 20,000 people planning to see her according to the Outside Lands app. Before her set came Still Woozy, an alternative indie artist from the Bay Area and a graduate from a high school near my hometown. A backdrop of tall flowers and fun visuals surrounded him while he hopped around the stage, even dancing in the sea of fans below before wrapping up with his highly streamed hit “Goodie Bag.”
I felt the anticipation building as I waited in line at Wooly Pig for my curry udon tofu bowl, watching hordes of people rush from other stages to Land’s End, populating where Doechii would soon take the stage. The show was unsurprisingly genius. She has proved herself to be more than a musician, evident in the way she structured her 45-minute set in different lessons from her “School of Hip-Hop” stage design, multiple costume changes, and iconic choreography. Surrounded by fierce dancers, Doechii performed “BOILED PEANUTS,” “NISSAN ALTIMA,” “CATFISH,” “BULLFROG,” “Alter Ego,” and “Anxiety.” DJ Miss Milan, of course, brought the energy as well, coming in for “DENIAL IS A RIVER” to conclude one of the best sets of the weekend.
The timing of Doechii prevented me from seeing most of Role Model, but I was glad to be just in time to enjoy “Sally,” during which he famously brings out a guest or celebrity — the “Sally” of the night — to dance with. I heard muffled cheers from the pit as I watched a hooded figure come out before the cameras panned to the face of Outside Lands’ Sally: Troye Sivan!
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Day Two: Saturday, 8/9
After my routine breakfast from Crepes on Cole, a local cafe around the corner from where we stay, I felt revived enough to face the stacked lineup the second day brought. We grabbed the 11:00 Muni and shortly arrived at Twin Peaks, where Vampire Weekend opened the stage that they would close later on in the night. I was relieved to see they were playing twice, as they were competing with the other headliner I was most anticipating: Tyler, the Creator. They also promised “no repeats,” curating unique back-to-back performances that made it hard to resist attending the second. Though I was sad to miss their later set, I still got to see one of my childhood favorites, “Oxford Comma,” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Jokerman.”
Following Vampire Weekend was the upcoming duo The Army, The Navy, who I feel confident in saying were one of the most vocally impressive acts of the weekend. Every riff was effortless, and their harmonies were captivating, especially on “Persimmon,” “Alexandra,” and their cover of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”
Now reflecting on the weekend, it’s hard to believe how many artists I crammed into Saturday. The Army, The Navy led into Good Neighbours, a British band who recently blew up for their catchy song “Home.” While I wish I could’ve seen more, the couple of songs I saw from flipturn were stellar, with the drummer going so hard that by the second song, he had to chase down his cymbal. Rushing over to Land’s End, I was grateful to hear Bakar’s “Hell N Back,” before just catching the tail end of Wasia Project.
Wallows was up next, with their dedicated fanbase shouting every lyric as Dylan Minette ran along the squashed barricade, while I peacefully watched from my perch on the hill, enjoying the air around me. Between artists at Twin Peaks, I made my way over to Panhandle, the smaller stage not too far away, to see Kate Bollinger perform “Pictures of You” with her beautifully delicate voice, while Karl, the infamous San Francisco fog, fittingly rolled in.
Not long after, I made my way back for Royel Otis. Throughout their set, sarcastic messaging was comedically projected behind them: “(show has now started),” “(show your crooked teeth),” and even “(a song we didn’t write)” while they covered “Murder on the Dancefloor.” They also included their popular rendition of “Linger” by the Cranberries, which all the festival attendees joined in for before they closed out with the iconic “Oysters in My Pocket.”
I had seen a lot in the past few hours, which only really registered as I sat down with a delicious tofu stir fry bowl from Austronesia, waiting for my sister and friends to see the last artist of the night: Tyler, the Creator. Funnily enough, Tyler was actually planned for last year’s Outside Lands, but unfortunately had to cancel. My personal opinion? I think it worked out for the best. Following both the 2024 release of CHROMAKOPIA and 2025’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS, I had even more music to be excited for as I drove up from LA three days earlier, jamming to songs like “Ring Ring Ring.” The crowd buzzed with energy as they waited for him, to the point where staff even had to ask everyone to step back for the show to proceed. Dressed in an all-yellow denim outfit, Tyler came out rapping one of his newest tracks, “Big Poe,” before revisiting CHROMAKOPIA with “St. Chroma,” “Rah Tah Tah,” and “Noid.” Classics like “Wusyaname,” “Are We Still Friends,” and “New Magic Wand” were also eagerly received by the audience. To avoid the massive rush, my sister and I slowly walked out of the crowd to the beat of one of my favorite samples of all time, the marching band chants that slowly transition into the introduction of “See You Again,” as Tyler waved goodbye.
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Day Three: Sunday, 8/10
On Sunday, I woke up wondering if I could do it again. As much as I love it, the mornings remind me how much of a toll the festival takes on me — especially after the nonstop journey that was Saturday. In the early afternoon, I stopped by to see the newly formed indie band Arcy Drive and caught a couple songs from Cassandra Coleman. Returning food vendor Bini’s Kitchen provided my lunch: deliciously spicy vegan momo dumplings that quickly disappeared on my way to relax to dreamy melodies from bLAck pARty.
Luna Li was perfect to listen to while enjoying the last couple of hours of sun at the festival on the grass with my friends. She impressed me greatly; the band was incredibly in tune with each other, and though I was familiar with the song “Afterglow,” since seeing her, I have been excited to delve deeper into her artistry. About 30 minutes later, we wandered over to Orla Gartland, another artist I had been introduced to through Heartstopper. As she sang, I turned to my friend, remarking that her energy reminded me of Chappell Roan. I guess I was spot on; midway through, she covered a song she said she wished she wrote — “Red Wine Supernova” — which had me reminiscing on Chappell’s performance from last year.
I feel lucky to say that the last two sets I attended became highlights of the whole weekend. I experienced one of the most authentic and intimate performances at the new, smaller stage, Duboce Triangle, tucked away between the redwoods, from Nourished by Time. As he stated himself, just two years ago, he was making beats in his basement. In that short window, he was able to carve his path by not being afraid to try new things and being completely himself, as proven by his witty engagement with the audience, which only grew as he presented song after song.
I may have been exhausted, but there was no way I was missing Hozier, who truly delivered banger after banger in his engrossing 1 hour and 40 minute performance. Accompanied by a vast array of instrumentation, such as a violin, cello, and a triangle, as well as musicians from around the world, he sang “Jackie and Wilson,” “Would That I,” “Francesca,” and “Like Real People Do” to a crowd echoing every word back to him. About halfway in, he reminded us of the power of simplicity, walking out into the middle of the audience to perform the intricately beautiful songs “Cherry Wine” and “Unknown / Nth” alone with his guitar. He also used his time on stage to discuss the importance of empathy and compassion, especially now, and encouraged the audience to appreciate our rights while calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Following his inspiring speech, he sang as the names of a multitude of outspoken artists, such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Sinead O’Connor, Marvin Gaye, Macklemore, and Lady Gaga, flashed across the screen. It may have been the longest set I have experienced at a festival, but it was still over sooner than I was ready for. With a good chunk of the audience in tears, Hozier sang us a goodbye ballad with “Take Me to Church,” ending with fireworks as he tied an LGBTQ+ flag to his mic stand, and left me reflecting on much more than the music he played.
With my fourth Outside Lands experience complete and my bracelet meticulously shimmied off my wrist to be put away for safekeeping, I am already missing the music and looking forward to my next summer visit to Golden Gate Park.
