Outside Lands brings Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter to SF

Outside Lands threw a sweet 16 to remember at Golden Gate Park last weekend.

The three-day festival had all the party essentials—good food, better company, and a stellar soundtrack. Sabrina Carpenter headlined her first festival. Post Malone went country. The Killers and The Postal Service celebrated major album anniversaries. Tens of thousands of people danced to Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” And in true San Francisco fashion, Karl the Fog crashed the scene.

But even with gray skies, Outside Lands offered an escape of sound and color. Tucked away from the city, the fest felt like an entire universe of its own. Each stage was a trek’s length apart and surrounded by lush greenery, with dozens of art installations and attractions in between. There was even a new wedding venue where couples could get married onsite. The dress code among festival goers ranged from onesies and rainbow colorways to light-up accessories that stood out in fog. And somehow, there were always bubbles in the air.

For its milestone year, the festival comes of age with a slightly new beat. Country music had a much bigger presence on the lineup compared to previous editions, and so did the pop girlie renaissance. But as always, Outside Lands delivered a little something for everyone. Check out the highlights we caught from the crowd at Golden Gate Park.

It’s a “Femininomenon”

Without a doubt, pop girls are having a moment and provided some of this weekend’s most-anticipated sets.

Chappell Roan took the Lands End stage on day three, wearing her blue sequined bodysuit from the “HOT TO GO!” music video in celebration of the song’s one-year anniversary. She drew a massive daytime crowd, turning the Polo Fields of Golden Gate Park into a dense sea of pink cowboy hats. While much of her setlist consisted of songs from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, she also performed viral hit “Good Luck, Babe!” and new song “The Subway,” to which most fans already knew the words.

Day two marked Sabrina Carpenter’s first headlining festival set, which called back to retro variety shows with its stage production. The Short n’ Sweet singer appeared onstage in a fringed sequin dress as a narrator with a Transatlantic accent introduced her as a silver screen starlet. She performed songs like “Fast Times,” “Feather,” and “Please Please Please.” Other highlights from her set included a surprise appearance from Kacey Musgraves to perform a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” and a Shakespearean-inspired outro for “Nonsense.”

Renée Rapp brought a packed crowd to the Twin Peaks stage on day one, her vocals fierce as she moved across all ends of the stage. She opened with the energetic “Talk Too Much” and followed with an edgy live arrangement of “Poison Poison.” In between songs, she engaged with the audience often, whether making quippy banter or giving backstories for songs, like how she pushed to release “In The Kitchen.”

Local roll call

As always, there was a lot of Bay Area (and surrounding regions) representation on the Outside Lands stages.

Flanked by a crew of dancers, Victoria Monét mixed sultry R&B with captivating choreography for her Twin Peaks set. She introduced herself as a Sacramento native and expressed her excitement to be playing the festival.

Underscores brought dark hyperpop to the Pandhandle stage, performing mostly songs off 2023’s Wallsocket. The San Francisco singer-songwriter, named April Harper Grey, paired her punchy sound with eerie visuals, including flickering Edison bulbs hanging above each band member.

French Cassettes also took the Panhandle stage, playing a vibrant set of power-pop tunes. The San Francisco quartet were smooth with their riffs and harmonies.

Grace Jones is unparalleled

Grace Jones stunned the Lands End audience with her set from start to finish. A black curtain dropped to reveal Jones elevated midair, wearing an approximately 20-foot long skirt. She stayed suspended for the entire opening number, a cover of Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing,” before she touched down and went on to don an outfit change with pretty much every song. Towards the end of her performance, she hopped on the shoulders of a security guard, who carried her to greet fans along the barricade.

The Postal Service delivers electro-pop perfection

Nearing the tail end of the Give Up 20th Anniversary Tour, The Postal Service headlined the Twin Peaks stage Saturday. The supergroup, consisting of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello, and Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis, performed the seminal album from front to back plus a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence.” Gibbard expressed his love for cold San Francisco summers and dedicated “Brand New Colony” to the Outside Lands audience.

Sunday’s southern sounds

Day three of Outside Lands was decidedly country-heavy at the Lands End stage.

Paul Cauthen kicked things off early in the day—bold, brazen, and a little cheeky as he sang songs like “Freak” and “Angels and Heathens.” The crowd cheered in solidarity for the former cut, in which Cauthen sings about being a “freak like me.”

In true Post Malone style, the singer kicked off his country era with a bang by playing a covers set complete with pyrotechnics. Some songs he performed included George Strait’s “Carrying Your Love With Me” and Tim McGraw’s “Just to See You Smile.” David Lee Murphy and Jimmy Olander also joined onstage to perform some of their songs together. Although Post Malone’s country album comes out soon, only one of his own songs made the setlist—”I Had Some Help,” the Morgan Wallen collaboration.

Sturgill Simpson played his first full show in three years. Fans at the barricade flew in from as far as Florida and Missouri to witness his return. His set included debuts of new Johnny Blue Skies songs “Right Kind of Dream” and “If the Sun Never Rises Again.” He also performed his popular cover of When In Rome’s “The Promise.” While his baritone vocals were melancholy and mesmerizing, the jam sessions from Simpson and company had the crowd fully rocking out.