Arturo Hilario
El Observador
Another summer ends, and another Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival has come and gone as well. In its sixteenth year, the festival continues to attract hundreds of thousands of people into the sometimes sunny, and sometimes misty realm of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
This year had a noticeable chill over the weekend, especially the night of Sunday August 11, as closers Sturgill Simpson and Kaytranada put the finishing touches on another successful weekend of music and melodies.
Artists this year included pop rock staple The Killers, up and coming pop singers Sabrina Carpenter, Reneé Rapp and Chappell Roan, Post Malone (with a special set of country covers), indie-electro pop legends The Postal Service, and iconic model, singer, actress and activist Grace Jones. For the first time, the festival also emphasized country music and its diverse sub-genres with plenty of acts that had the western music feel.
“HOT TO GO”
Despite the high caliber of the headliners there was one artist whose presence at 4pm on Sunday captivated not only most of festival attendees, but thousands watching live on the Amazon livestream of the festival: Chappell Roan.
The red headed singer wore dynamic drag makeup and a circus-inspired leotard as she stood in front of the largest audience of the weekend in order to teach the class a set of arm movements reminiscent of those used for the Village People’s “YMCA”.
“Hot to Go!”, by far one of the most viral of the singer’s discography, has a chant of “H-O-T-T-O-G-O”, and you can YouTube it and see the moves for yourself to see why there is an unmistakable joy and energy throughout the audience when she performs that song.
Roan’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last year, with other festivals needing to push her set to later times and moving it to larger stages, such as at Chicago’s Lollapalooza the weekend of August 1-4, where Roan’s set was believed to be the largest audience for an artist in the history of that festival.
In San Francisco, the crowd was also enormous, sporting all kinds of pink clothing, especially a sea of pink cowboy hats – a signature fan accessory popularized by another of her songs, “Pink Pony Club”.
If there was a “you had to be there” moment this weekend, this was the top of the list. Her popularity will most likely take her from a 4pm Sunday slot to being a closing act very much sooner than later.
A Country Celebration
Country music came in strong this year with the most representation in the festival’s history. The festival’s diverse musical genres were extended with the addition of country musicians who brought southern charm to the festival in their own unique ways.
Anchored by the immensely talented Sturgill Simpson and his bluegrass/psychedelic/rock closing set on Sunday night, Post Malone also came into his country era performing a special set of country covers, from classics of the genre like Hank Williams Jr.’s “A Country Boy Can Survive” to newer hits like Luke Combs’ “When It Rains It Pours”.
Shaboozey, a country meets hip-hop act, brought his inventive style and Tik-Tok viral song, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” to the crowds of Golden Gate Park to massive cheers.
Other acts that brought the country wave to the festival were newcomer Dan Spencer, who can best be described as a mix of country metal, and was working at a pizza shop last year before he was discovered and thrust into the music business. Katie Pruitt, a pop-country singer-songwriter, has a more indie sound but still has the twang and confessional lyrics of the country genre.
Weddings in the Woods
One other highlight this year was the new wedding venue City Hall, which is in McLaren Pass amongst the thicker area of trees at Outside Lands.
Among the trees attendees were able to actually get married, and the package came with an officiant, photographer, reserved time slot, wedding lounge for pre-ceremony prep, locker for the day, seating for guests and two drink tokens to get the celebrations started.
City Hall commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Winter of Love, which marked the historic milestone of the first same-sex marriage ceremonies in the U.S. at San Francisco’s City Hall during February 12 – March 12, 2004, under then mayor Gavin Newsom.
A portion of proceeds from City Hall at Outside Lands was donated to Lambda Legal, a legal and education fund dedicated to LGBTQ+ civil rights.
Outside Lands returns to park August 8 – 10, 2025.
