K. Flay is a Stanford alum turned alternative pop artist. Her style is an expression of many different genres, taking influences from hip-hop, rap and lo-fi, to name a few. K. Flay has appeared at the tops of charts and the Grammy Awards, and now takes her talent to the Lands End stage at Outside Lands 2024.
K. Flay mounted the edge of the enormous Lands End stage like a boxer looking for a fight. The artist’s aggressive opener was “Are You Serious,” a heart pounding EDM-rock song with some well placed hits about expensive medical care. K. Flay kept the energy up with her second song “Raw Raw.” The song is an alternative hit whose explosive chorus had the crowd shouting “Raw Raw” along with the performer. After a thrilling guitar solo, the song ended and made way for an exhilarating mix of rock and rap.
During this third song, the performer was obviously getting lost in her performance with the wild nature of her arm swings. The fourth song continued the artist’s fits of passion as she strutted across the edge of the stage, throwing punches at the air around her. After the fourth song of the set ended, K. Flay picked up her guitar and made a quick address to the crowded audience. She thanked the crowd for their energy and said the next song was for anyone who felt that they didn’t fit in. The artist then reminded everyone that what makes them different is what makes them powerful as the lead in to her song “Weirdo.”
The fifth song was incredibly inline with 90s grunge while also melding to the artist’s alternative background. During the performance of “Weirdo,” K.Flay took her guitar and started running around the stage to have individual jamming moments with her guitarist and drummer. Once the jamming concluded, K. Flay put down the guitar and approached the edge of the stage to start off her next song, “Carsick.” The performer moved around with the intensity of a fight while her lyrics flowed like a rapper.
At the midpoint of her set, K. Flay did a “repeat after me” with the audience to check if they were locked in, which of course, they were. With the wavelength reestablished, the artist launched into “Giver.” The crowd loved the rap verses and hard hitting alternative choruses.
For her next song, K. Flay took back out the guitars and re-approached the standing mic. She said how much it meant to her to perform at Outside Lands since San Francisco was her musical hometown. The eighth song of the afternoon quickly became a rallying cry for the audience who joined in singing the chorus’ angsty lyric, “I need blood in the cut.” The pure rock hit concluded with a guitar solo from K. Flay and thunderous applause from the crowd.
Building on the emotion in the air, the artist asked the crowd if they had ever been their worst enemy. Met with a resounding roar, she dedicated her next song to them. “Punisher” kicked off hard and heavy as K. Flay began to swing her arms around wildly, letting it all out. She then blew a kiss to someone familiar in the audience and “Punisher” ended.
More rocking out and jumping around soon followed in the second to last song of the set, “TGIF.” Filled with a wild guitar solo and K. Flay leading the audience in throwing their middle fingers in the air, “TGIF” became a cathartic moment of getting rid of aggression. Before her final song, K. Flay told the audience that whether it was community or catharsis, she hoped festival goers found what were are looking for at Outside Lands 2024.
As the final song was just getting started, the crowd instantly recognized the closer. Everyone sang the chorus and the slow section became an anthem that carried over the festival grounds. All hands were up for the last verses while K. Flay ran around the stage in a whirlwind of pure energy.
K. Flay’s energized performance brought some much needed edge to the easily going 2024 Outside Lands lineup.
