Outside Lands 2024 lasted from Aug. 9 through Aug. 11 and was filled with dream-come-true moments that will last festival attendees a lifetime. Highlighted clips from incredible performances by the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and The Killers painted everyone’s social media feeds; however, just like social media, there wasn’t much going on outside of these sparse moments of excitement. While the weekend’s highs were certainly energetic, just like scrolling through Instagram, the moments in-between were rot with middling lows.
Day one started out pretty well. Performances from The Lemon Twigs, Virginia Grace and Rocco provided entertaining opening acts that were nothing to scoff at. These sets all happened around noon, and it wasn’t until after 3:30 p.m. that the bigger hitters came. Shaboozey gave fans a wild party with the cowboy, and Young the Giant gave a beyond-incredible performance that truly put mind over matter. Then, an hour later, Renee Rapp sang her hard-hitting angsty lyrics for a massive crowd at the Twin Peaks stage. Another hour later, people flooded the Lands End stage to hear The Killers play “Mr. Brightside.”
Day two began in a much similar way, but the opening bands’ limited discographies led to shorter sets and more down time. Artists K.Flay and FLETCHER displayed strong stage presences to respectably sized crowds. It wasn’t until much later, when ScHoolboy Q dropped bars at Lands End, that the festival’s second day gained momentum.
ScHoolboy Q hyped up fans with his gangster rap-infused club hits that had everyone jumping. After the audience got taken to school by the rapper, they all stuck around the main stage for Sabrina Carpenter, who perform for nearly two hours later. Stuck in the in-between, Carpenter fans stood around for one of the most confusing performances at Outside Lands 2024.
Nothing against the incredibly talented Grace Jones, but her performance fell on deaf ears from the moment she descended upon the stage. While her costume changes were entertaining, no one knew her songs. There was no singing along, hardly any grooving and little to no audience participation whatsoever, as Jones performed to an unenthused crowd. But after a decently long wait, the fans got who they all came to Outside Lands day two to see.
Sabrina Carpenter delivered one of the best performances out of the festival’s three days. The fun vintage graphics, talented background dancers and unbelievable talent from the singer was an exhilarating visual and auditory spectacle. Audiences didn’t miss a word when chanting, and everyone was having the best time of their lives, experiencing the perfect cap to the festival’s second day.
Hundreds upon hundreds of fans pack Sutro stage as Shaboozey performs on day 1. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
Festivalgoers pose for a picture with Ranger Dave, the mascot of Outside Lands. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
When it came to the third day, this feeling of waiting around was visually amplified. Chappell Roan was the day’s most anticipated performance, and people were stocking up the Lands End stage for four hours. Roan’s fanbase sat through three sets from artists they may have never heard of and missed out on great performances by artists like R&B singer Ogi at Twin Peaks stage, all to get closer to their idol. This constant waiting around became incredibly obvious when the dad-rock county artist, Paul Cauthen, played for a gaggle of girls in pink cowboy hats.
While it was just an unfortunate coincidence that Cauthen happened to perform right before Roan, he wasn’t able to give his best show possible, since the audience present wasn’t there for him, and his fans couldn’t get close enough to enjoy his performance. After Roan sang her fiery set of hits after hit, the crowd instantly dispersed, leaving the festival feeling empty. Even though Post Malone would later perform his first-ever all country set and Victoria Monet wowed audiences at Twin Peaks, it felt as if there wasn’t much keeping festival goers around after Roan left the building.
These awkward stretches were in part caused by placing divergent genres together, leading to performances that audiences were clearly not entertained by, since it wasn’t their kind of music. However, this issue was mainly due to the fact that there was nothing pulling crowds away from the headliners. Yes, there was Grass Lands, and yes, people could get married at the festival’s city hall, but there were no all-inclusive shows for people to go watch in-between the big artists or keep them around afterward.
Festivalgoers wait in line at one of three merchandise booth, eager to get one of the many exclusive "Outside Lands" items for sale. Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife.
Since guests were, on average, specifically going to Outside Lands 2024 for two to three artists per day, who likely didn’t perform until early evening, there was a distinctive lack of entertainment in the long hours between anticipated sets.
Even though Outside Lands’ highs were unforgettable memories that went beyond Instagram-worthy, the moments in-between them were like doom-scrolling through social media: just waiting for that next hit of adrenaline.
—
Featured Image Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife
