Rising pop stars and country tastemakers collided over the weekend for the 2024 Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco. Taking over Golden Gate Park for three days, the long-running festival brought in a wide-ranging lineup topped by The Killers, Sabrina Carpenter, and the return of Sturgill Simpson.
By and large, Outside Lands 2024 attendees fell into one of two camps: Chappell Roan or Sturgill Simpson, and parties of both persuasions walked away happy. Both acts performed at the festival’s Sunday finale, with the 26-year-old rising queer icon in the making taking the stage at 4 p.m. to an overwhelming crowd dotted with pink cowboy hats. Despite her mid-day set time, Roan’s performance had all the trappings of a headlining performance, with outlets dubbing her the festival’s true top artist.
Sunday marked one year since the release of Roan’s breakthrough single “Hot to Go!”, a social media soundtrack to the summer. In honor of the track that first plugged her into the almighty algorithm, Roan wore the same sparkling blue leotard with gold Captain Crunch-esque epaulets from the music video which has over 13 million views on YouTube. Roan’s set was a spectacle filled with a parade of drag queens, a full brass section, and a golf cart procession to start the show—all soundtracked by viral hits “Feminomenon”, “Pink Pony Club”, “Karma is my Kink”, and more. Clips from the singer’s set even scattered across social media in real time after she publicly scolded the VIP section for being too cool to dance.
LOL at Chappell Roan calling out the Outside Lands VIP crowd at the front of the stage for being too cool to dance.
Spoiler alert: nobody is too cool to dance.
pic.twitter.com/xMZU5Ith7v— Festive Owl (@TheFestiveOwl) August 12, 2024
Another emerging pop star crossed a major milestone on Saturday when Sabrina Carpenter headlined the second day of Outside Lands. The “Espresso” singer stepped in as a substitute headliner after Tyler, The Creator canceled top sets at Outside Lands and Lollapalooza. At one point, the former Disney Channel child actor gushed that it was her first time headlining a festival, though luckily she had some assistance from former Outside Lands headliner Kacey Musgraves who joined Carpenter on a surprise duet of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”.
Sabrina Carpenter, Kacey Musgraves — “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” (Lee Hazlewood) — 8/10/24
[Video: DorkyCabello]
Just hours after Carpenter’s queer club fantasy, Sturgill Simpson gave his first (announced) solo performance in three years. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was sidelined by a tour-ending vocal cord injury in 2021 and in the past year began creeping back into public light with appearances at Farm Aid and with members of the Grateful Dead. Outside Lands was due to be the first Sturgill Simpson concert since 2021, but on Friday Sturgill staged a surprise concert at the intimate Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco to dust off any cobwebs.
Though certainly still a bit out of place, Simpson’s Sunday headlining slot was supported by a slight—but noticeable—twangy tilt to the 2024 festival lineup. Earlier that day, Post Malone staged a country set in line with his new artistic rebrand and upcoming album F-1 Trillion, though the disparity among fans of his previous chart-topping work and his new direction was evident when he asked the crowd, “Y’all like George Strait?” and was met with a muted response. Contemporary singer-songwriters Paul Cauthen and Charley Crockett also helped foster the country undercurrent, though all of the acts except Crockett were allocated to Sunday.
For his second show in three years, Simpson trotted out material from his new album Passage du Desir, released under the nom de plume Johnny Blue Skies. After delivering the live debut of album standout “Right Kind of Dream” on Friday, he added “If the Sun Never Rises Again” to his live arsenal onstage at Outside Lands. He also gave a nod to hometown heroes the Grateful Dead with a tease of “China Cat Sunflower” during the original “Brace for Impact (Live a Little)” early in the show.
In much the same way that Outside Lands was a coming-out party for young talent like Roan to make her case as a top act, the festival gave the same opportunity to Simpson to show that he is back in the game. And luckily, audiences got to keep their cowboy hats on for both sets.
Check out a gallery of images from Outside Lands 2024 courtesy of photographer Kit Tincher along with some videos.
Sturgill Simpson — Outside Lands Music Festival — San Francisco, CA — 8/11/24 — Full Video
[Video: Jeff Jaworski]
The post Outside Lands Festival 2024: The Weekend In Photos [Gallery] appeared first on L4LM.
