REVIEW: Outside Lands Goes Big, Almost Too Big, for its 15th Anniversary
THE SAN FRANCISCO MUSIC FESTIVAL — Outside Lands wrapped up its biggest year this past weekend, showcasing headliners Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, and Odesza. The festival also celebrated its 15-year anniversary. Although there was a big cause for celebration, the festival almost seemed too big for its own good.
This year’s Outside Lands had a star-studded bill that included Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Megan Thee Stallion, Zedd, Fisher, and other indie, electronica, and hip-hop mainstays. Big names reel in even bigger audiences, which was more than obvious this year. Three- and single-day passes all sold out before opening day, despite the hundred-dollar hike-up from last year. Rather than numerous ticket-holders aiming to sell their tickets on the Outside Lands subreddit, almost everyone was looking for a way to get in.
There were countless draws to this year’s celebration: it was one of only two festivals that Kendrick Lamar played on the West Coast; Interpol performed their debut, Turn On The Bright Lights, in its entirety for its 20th anniversary; Foo Fighters debuted with drummer Josh Freese after the passing of Taylor Hawkins last year, and Lana Del Rey is, well, Lana Del Rey, and her fans will show up for her no matter what.
Therein lies one of the festival’s biggest drawbacks: overcrowding. Every year, Outside Lands takes place between the Polo Field and Hellman’s Hollow in Golden Gate Park, an area that stretches roughly one mile wide. With an expected 75,000 attendees on the grounds each day, it was simply too busy for comfort.
Crowds were notoriously overpowering this year, especially with the amount of superfans and the rising issue of concert etiquette. Security got involved in a fight happening in Lana Del Rey’s shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. Many attendees flocked to online forums to complain about the disrespectful crowd behavior happening throughout the weekend. City festivals are infamous for its younger crowd and the prevalence of party drugs, unfortunately adding to the etiquette problem.
The overcrowding spurred other issues, too. The flooring of the SOMA tent, an indoor stage inspired by underground nightclubs, broke down twice during the weekend, forcing organizers to rebuild it outdoors. What was usually a quick walk between stages took 15 minutes or more due to the amount of traffic, which in festival time feels like forever. Enough has already been reported about how difficult it is to leave festival grounds at the end of the night and the nightmare of getting home.
To be fair, you can’t expect big festivals to be perfect. Gathering people in one place for the purpose of music is the point of a festival. But when the density of a crowd starts to compromise the experience, that’s when things get tricky.
Looking past this, Outside Lands still delivered a wholesome and uniquely San Franciscan festival experience. They successfully hone in on community and local businesses to show its attendees just how much San Francisco has to offer.
The festival also introduced its Dolores stage for the first time, an open-air dance space hosted by Fake and Gay, Oasis, and Hard French, a tribute to San Francisco’s queer community and nightlife culture. Taste of the Bay returned with some of the city’s best restaurants tabling the festival. The Outside Lands Marketplace hosted small crafters and vendors selling anything from queer activist merch (The Peach Fuzz) to curated vintage pieces (Indigo Vintage).
The saving grace, and what everyone showed up for at the end of the day, was the stunning sets each day. It was refreshing to be surrounded by crowds with a pure love for the artist in front of them. Ethel Cain embraced the front row of her Sutro Stage crowd during her closer, “Crush,” the crowd’s voice singing even louder than Cain. The 1975 was on their best behavior Sunday night, following their legal fiasco with Future Sound Asia, the promoter for Malaysia’s Good Vibes festival. The Twin Peaks stage was surprisingly spacious and left plenty of room to dance off hits from Being Funny in a Foreign Language, such as “Happiness” and “Oh Caroline.” No Vacation slotted not one, but two sets during the festival (noon at the main stage and later at Toyota’s Music Den), and packed out each one.
Outside Lands plans to go even bigger next year. Its promoter, Another Planet Entertainment, discussed plans of adding on a second weekend to its festival. This second weekend would be “headliner-driven,” with only the main stage standing, and it would cap attendees at 65,000. This could encourage attendees to choose the second weekend and lighten weekend one’s load, but it’s unclear if this would mitigate its crowding issue.
Even with its 15th iteration, Outside Lands still feels like a new and exciting venture for those that flock to San Francisco each year. We would love to see it return bigger, and better, next year.
