Cover photo by Alive Coverage
I am pleased to be reporting back for another solid year at Outside Lands. Once again, my family and I made our way to Golden Gate Park for our annual 3-day tradition full of great music, delicious food, and so many people. This year’s lineup did not disappoint, accomplishing the goal every festival strives for: a completely stacked roster of talent and entertainment.
Day One: Friday, 8/7
Friday morning found us at Crepes on Cole, the breakfast place we frequent, just two blocks from the flat we occupy for the weekend. Shortly after, we hopped on MUNI and made our way to the first day in the park. My sister and I made a point to explore the grounds before the music began, stopping in McLaren Pass, a walkway with food and drink stands, a vintage shopping section, and a flower craft booth. We quickly each made a boutonnière before beelining to the Panhandle stage, where we began our day serenaded by Chezile.
I grabbed my first festival snack, the dependable spicy chicken momos I remembered from last year, then met up with my friend Elsa for Wet Leg at Lands End. We danced to the popular “Wet Dream,” then I caught up with her and her family on a picnic blanket before venturing back to Panhandle. Billie Marten, one of my most anticipated acts, graced the stage, greeting the crowd with her charming British accent. I’ve been revisiting her album Dog Eared often recently, so it was especially lovely to hear songs like “Feeling” in person.
Elsa and I had similar lineups for the day, so we made our way to my favorite stage, Sutro, for the band Geese. Surprisingly, there wasn’t as huge a crowd as I expected, but as the rock phenomenon began to play, more and more joined, and a small, excited mosh pit formed close to the barrier. The band played some of my favorites, including “Au Pays du Cocaine,” but one of the most memorable moments of the entire festival was watching Cameron Winter run the Glee version of “Don’t Stop Believin’” from his phone through his guitar pickup.
After their set, we headed back to the main stage, Lands End, for Labrinth, bringing back memories of when Euphoria first dropped. He also played two throwbacks, “Genius,” and “Thunderclouds,” from the joint EP LSD, co-written in 2019 with Sia and Diplo, both of whom were definitely on a playlist or two of mine in middle school.
Friday ended with a rush to secure a good spot for Charli xcx, not shockingly, the most-scheduled headliner, according to the Outside Lands app. The time moved by quickly as I caught up with friends and we watched as stagehands constructed her dramatic 4-tier stacked set. Charli put on one of the most impressive performances I’ve seen in a while. Filled with insane fire and lighting effects, outfit changes, and fierce backup dancers, she stole the night away and left the crowd in awe. She introduced herself with songs from her new album, Music, Fashion, Film, before diving into Wuthering Heights, showcasing her inspiring multi-hyphenate pursuits. Of course, she revisited the cultural movement of her own creation, BRAT, with bangers like “360” and “Von Dutch,” joined by the strutting dancers who also accompanied her for “Guess.” The night ended with David Cronenberg’s lengthy, moving speech off the track “No One Lasts Forever” with Charli powerfully standing center stage as she left us with a final message – “Oblivion is freedom.”
Day Two: Saturday, 8/8
Saturday, I shamefully ended up buying a cappuccino that put me $10 in the hole, a good reminder to get caffeine in before entering the park. My first set was RYMAN, an upcoming singer-songwriter who brought a beautiful, indie-folk start to my day before I departed for RIO KOSTA at Sutro. With a sound likened to Jungle, RIO KOSTA are ridiculously talented musicians whose performance only solidified that I will be continuing to tune in.
After a short 40 minutes, I ran back to Panhandle for the 7-piece band, Racing Mount Pleasant, who not so long ago joined Geese on tour. Each member checked more than one box instrumentally; they strategically switch around, fitting trumpet, saxophone, strings, vocals, guitar, piano, synth, bass, and drums intricately into their sound.
At around 3, I checked off another festival food stand, trying some jackfruit taquitos while listening to Wunderhorse, then trekked to Aubrey Hobert. Her set was upbeat and lively, with fans cheering and singing along to every song. Right after her, Lucy Dacus hopped up on the Lands End stage, singing some of her newer music before surprising the audience with a duet alongside her Boygenius bandmate and girlfriend, Julien Baker. Dacus concluded her set with the famous “Night Shift,” which the crowd passionately screamed along to at the top of their lungs per her request.
After bouncing between the Panhandle and Sutro stages, it was nice to relax and have a couple sets back to back at Lands End. In a full-circle moment, my third Lands End artist of the day was Ethel Cain, who I saw at one of my first Outside Lands. She performed on a grass-covered stage, dressed casually in an Adidas zip-up and ripped blue jeans. If her first feature at Outside Lands wasn’t confirmation enough, her vocal melodies this time around convinced me that I will need to reenter her world once more.
Due to the nature of festivals, lineup overlap is inevitable, especially with the sheer amount of talent present at this year’s Outside Lands. I soon made my way to one of my favorites, Dijon, joined on stage by six other musicians and a set full of gear. The standout from his set were his vocal harmonies, clearly intentionally dialed in. My friends and I jammed to “Talk Down,” “The Dress,” and “Big Mike’s” before I literally ran to get butter chicken on my way to catch the tail end of Djo. Thankfully, I was able to catch “End of Beginning” and chill with my sister before we locked in a spot for the last of the night: The Strokes.
I had to sadly miss The XX, another unfortunate overlap to note, but from the reports of my dad, they were incredible. In typical fashion, The Strokes came on late, but soon redeemed themselves by bringing out Charli xcx for her second appearance of the weekend. With the recent debut of her new rock album, it was perfect timing to see her sing alongside some classic rock stars. The band played “Last Nite” and “The Adults Are Talking” before my family and I made our way out of the park and back to our apartment for the night.
Day Three: Sunday, 8/9
By the third day, I always start to feel the repercussions of walking 11 miles a day, but I knew I had to make it out for some of the music I was most excited to see later in the night. My family and I first attended the SF Gay Men’s Chorus, who have returned to the festival the past couple of years and, this year, opened the Lands End stage for the last day.
Soon after, we made our way to Sutro for Death Cab for Cutie’s first set of the day. For the past couple years, Outside Lands has let one band have two sets; last year, Vampire Weekend filled this role. As I looked around, I took a glance at the crowd and noted it was the most packed I have ever seen Sutro, even for a headliner. The band played their album Plans from front to back, with fans singing along to songs such as “Soul Meets Body,” “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” and “Stable Song.”
My small break gave me a second to grab some delicious West African food from Jollof Kitchen for my journey back to Sutro for The Temper Trap. After some time away, they recently released their new album, Sungazer, about a month ago, giving them the perfect opportunity to debut some new tunes alongside more recognizable songs, like “Sweet Disposition.”
As it was the third day and I still had a couple of hours left, I fell for buying one more drink: a dirty matcha to power me through the end. As I stood in line, my phone buzzed with a notification from the Outside Lands app: “Announcing tonight’s special guest: Leon Bridges.” My mouth dropped. Honestly, all I had left on my schedule for Sunday was Not For Radio. I excitedly texted my friend Elsa, an equally devoted fan of Leon Bridges, and we made a plan to make our way over to the smallest stage, Duboce Triangle, in time to get a good spot.
María Zardoya first captivated me when she performed with The Marías at Outside Lands in 2022, but it was equally cool to see her growth as an artist with her new Not For Radio project this year. Melt is such a solid album, and I’m incredibly lucky I got to see some of these songs recreated live.
This was the first year that my highlight moment of the festival happened at its end, as Leon Bridges’ surprise appearance served as the perfect conclusion to a great weekend. He played so many of my favorites, such as “Bad Bad News,” and of course, “Texas Sun,” and “River.” Joined by three powerhouse backup vocalists, a trumpet player, and a saxophonist, Bridges’ band was wildly talented. The crowd was so happy, all dancing together, and it is safe to say I am ready for his new record, Happiness Anytime, produced by Jungle, to drop this September.
Another Outside Lands visit logged, and I am grateful to say last weekend marked my fifth visit to the festival. With how lovely this year was, I cannot wait to see what they have in store for the future. Till next August, Outside Lands.
