REVIEW: Outside Lands 2021 Reminded Us Just How Special Festivals Are

Nov 1

☆ BY Sophie Gragg ☆

FEW THINGS CAN DESCRIBE THE ENERGY OF A FESTIVAL AFTER OVER A YEAR HIATUS - but the first words that come to mind when describing this year’s Outside Lands are: unifying, carefree and lively. In the spirit of Halloween, attendees and performers alike dawned a mixture of colorful festival clothing and fun, but cozy, Halloween costumes. Some hit costumes that caught our eyes include lobsters, granny’s, Sims characters, a cucumber, cows, Scooby Co and LOTS of men in colorful wigs. The unifying energy throughout the festival was apparent each and every set. Leaving attendees feeling rejuvenated and thankful for the return of live music, Outside Lands 2021 provided for a special, well-needed escape for attendees.

The San Franciso festival accompanied their stellar musical lineup with a plethora of additional entertainment for attendees including visual art with Outsider Art, magic at Gastromagic and of course delicious food and drink from over 85 vendors at Beer Lands, Wine Lands, Cheese Lands and more spots throughout the festival grounds. Given their range of food and drink options, each day attendees were able to explore a new flavor profile, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options being rapidly present as well.

Grasslands, a curated cannabis experience, returned for the third year to provide attendees the opportunity to browse and consume all things cannabis from a variety of vendors including Pax, Lowell Farms and Garcia Hand Picked. Despite the year off in 2020, vendors were just as eager to get back to Outside Lands and share new products, including Garcia Hand Picked’s new kief infused joint, Jerry’s Solo. Rachel Genderson, Senior Director of Brand Marketing, at Holistic Industries shares, “We’re excited to bring Garcia Hand Picked (GHP) to Grasslands, a plan we originally had in 2020, but ended up delaying due to COVID. GHP honors Jerry’s legacy in a fun and authentic way connecting cannabis and music together, which is perfect for an outdoor festival setting. Bertha, our custom airstream, will also be at the event with a never-before-seen Halloween theme.”

*Digital Photos Provided By Outside Lands*

Friday kicked off the weekend with high spirits thanks to an afternoon of sun and a stacked lineup to settle into the weekend. Those that were willing to arrive to the festival a bit early were rewarded with incredible performances by Sofia Valdez, 070 Shake, Remi Wolf, Yung Bae and more. Artists were more than stoked to run into one another and get back to connecting with their audience. Funk producer Yung Bae shares, “Seeing everybody I know has been great. It’s been so seldom the past year and I missed the touring circuit where I would see my buddies every week…The crowds are wild now - I forgot we’ve been locked up for two years.”

These afternoon sets drew in quite the crowds, as fans were more than eager to get to the festival and catch these rising artists. By 5 pm the crowds picked up and the San Francisco fog rolled in, signaling a switch into the evening ambiance. Texas rockers Khruangbin took the audience on a groovy journey with their trippy camera and visual effects while Glass Animals reminded us just how good their expansive discography is. SG Lewis kept the energy high at the Sutro stage throughout the whole set, serving as a warm up of sets for Kaytranada, who closed the Sutro stage Friday evening. Meanwhile, JPEG Mafia brought the heat as always over at Pandhandle and attendees begin to make their pilgrimage back and forth from The Stroke’s over at Land’s End to Tyler, The Creator’s set at Twin Peaks. Wrapping up their set 20 minutes early, The Strokes left fans slightly unsettled, but just as excited they had the opportunity to see the group.

Spirits remained high and more Halloween costumes were sported on Saturday. Though the grounds were a bit muddy, Outside Lands managed to keep clean and accessible facilitates the whole weekend. Saturday afternoon highlights included Post Animal, Dijon and Rico Nasty, each of whom made sure the fans that came out early were rewarded with a performance of their life. Saturday evening’s lineup allows fans to split up even more so than Friday thanks to a diverse lineup including Vampire Weekend, Lizzo, Lord Huron and Zhu.

Sunday allowed for a smoother day and reflected the energy of the winding down weekend. The day kicked off with Chicago’s Neal Francis, who had the opportunity to play tunes from his upcoming LP, In Plain Sight. “It feels so good to be playing all the new cuts live! For a while, we only had one record to work with, so having twice the material keeps the sets feeling fresh. We’ve been working up this material all year so now it feels like things are really locking in musically.” Francis shares, “I was struck with gratitude walking around Outside Lands and seeing all the people together enjoying music. We’ve missed that for so long.”

Bedroom pop star Claud got the crowd in their feels while the ever so groovy duo Neil Frances allowed listeners to cut loose. Jordan Feller of the duo shares, “It's a really well put together festival and even though it's huge it still has somewhat of an intimate feel.” Marc Gilfry adds, “I love the park. The trees and the feeling of being in nature.”

Other afternoon highlights include Evann McIntosh, Goth Babe, Yves Tumor, Troyboi, Boy Pablo and Scarypoolparty before the crowd grew larger than ever before for Rufus Du Sol and of course, Tame Impala. Experiencing a Tame Impala set at a festival remains one of the most incredible, some may argue spiritual, experiences that we hope all music lovers get to experience at some point.

Outside Lands will return in 2022 back to their regularly scheduled date of August 5-7. A truly unique festival thanks to the range of entertainment it provides, Outside Lands continues to be one of our favorite festivals, and truly has something for everyone.

Listen

INSTAGRAM

bennytheghost brings a warm & upbeat energy for your friday with his new track “Say Something” ☀️ His genuine enthusiasm for music shines through the single & allows him to express a lively, emotional & self-deprecating introduction into his upcoming EP. 🎶Exploring a non traditional instrumental & lyrical style with the new single, bennytheghost continues to establish his spot in the indie pop scene. Read our full interview with the rising artist on the site now - link in bio ✨

Meet our latest Luna Sweetheart, Yulissa Benitez 💓 Pulled towards the revivalistic phenomenon of 90’s counterculture & music, Yulissa captures a spectrum of human nature: a self that is unhinged; held back by nothing. Her photography embodies a frenetic rawness, in which color & lighting are both aesthetic & meaningful, & a fleeting movement & expression are held still in time 🎞 💫Check out more of her work on our story now + our full feature on the site - link in bio ✨

“I know it sounds cheesy, but music makes me feel so whole & gives me such a genuine & unfiltered joy. When you do something you love, the internal pressure of “having to make it” lessens because success becomes redefined. Success is getting up in the morning and knowing I get to make music today.” - kristiane 💓 🎶Her latest EP ‘I Miss Myself’ serves as an incredible insight into the growing artist’s talents & passion. Read the full feature on our site now featuring photos by our fav Carina Allen ⭐️