The weekend kicked off with Friday’s stacked set of artists, featuring stand out performances like Sharon Van Etten’s emotional duet with Angel Olson. Under pressure to give fans a festival fix after a lengthy withdraw, Outside Lands delivered with a dynamic and diverse lineup that spanned staple headliners like The Strokes, Lizzo and Tame Impala, established Indie rock darlings Vampire Weekend and Angel Olson, dynamically ferocious rap sensations Tyler the Creator and Rico Nasty, and Alt-pop powerhouses Glass Animals and Caroline Polacheck. After its Covid-induced hiatus, San Francisco’s premier music festival welcomed back huddled masses eager to drink, dance, and delight in the best of the Bay Area for the first time in over two years – a micro-millenia for disciples of live music like myself, and the throngs of Guy Fieri’s around me. Scenes from the first night of this year’s Halloweekend edition of Outside Lands’ were emblematic of the overall feel of the festival’s rapturous return – dreamy, delectable, and borderline surreal.
The ground rattles on in fervent anticipation, feedback building, till it bursts and sonic waves erupt through the Golden Gate dreamscape. Blonde wigs, so many blonde wigs – the sheer volume of frosted tips is staggering as eager heards of college kids sporting flame print and visor sunglasses press towards the main stage to chug beers and secure a spot in the crowd. Walking amongst these cotton candy clouds, reality continues to skew to the Lynchian side as the ground begins to vibrate, and what seems like a boundless army of Guy Fieri’s apparates as though from thin air.
Neon beams of blue, orange and pink light scatter through the thick mist as it coalesces with the plumes of smoke emanating from the crowd, drenching Golden Gate Park in layers of candy colored film. The evening autumn air is sickly sweet with sweat and clouds of cherry flavored vape. In the land of laser lights, camel backpacks, and body glitter, time exists outside linear reality.
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