Outside Lands Festival

This year was my first time ever attending Outside Lands, and I couldn't have been more stoked! Outside Lands is a three-day music festival that occurs every August. This year was its tenth year, which was exciting! The line up this year included some of my favorite artists, plus it's based in San Francisco, which I've been wanting to visit for awhile now. You can read my San Francisco Travel Diary here. Thank you so much to Superfly for the tickets to the festival!

Friday - Day One

Day one started off on a high note with one of my favorite singers, Sasha Sloan, performing. Her new EP, Sad Girl, is fire, and we were able to eat and relax during her set. I grabbed my $12 pizza slice and Hillary got her $15 fries, and we enjoyed the music and the carbs. 

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Later in the media tent, we were able to meet Sasha and get a photo. She was very nice. The media tent was a special perk to anyone with a media pass. It provided free drinks, chairs and tables, and stations to charge any electronics and edit photos. Multiple acts came in for interviews; we didn't bug them for a photo or anything, but it was cool to watch. 

 

After Sasha, we saw LAUV, Billie Eilish, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Odesza perform, before calling it a day. We were tired and cold, so we bailed before the Weeknd took the stage. He's amazing, but we wanted to have energy for the next two days. Carly Rae Jepsen was one of our favorite sets of the whole festival. She was so lively, upbeat, and fun! Her voice is great and the songs had the crowd moving and grooving. 

Saturday - Day Two

After spending the afternoon in Chinatown, we started Saturday by looking around at the art and food options that were scattered throughout the festival grounds. Every junk food (and some healthy food) you could think of was there. Luckily, we ate in Chinatown and were able to make a beeline to the stage to see the first band on our list for the day.

 

 

The crowd Saturday seemed to have increased since Friday. It was a bit tough to get close to the stage, but we managed by master maneuvering. The first set we saw on day two was Chvrches. I've loved their music for years, so I was stoked! Kinda bummed I missed Pale Waves, but it's all good. Lauren Mayberry, the main singer of Chvrches, was incredible live! The whole band was amazing. 

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Following Chvrches performance on the main stage, we decided to stay there until Florence; we wanted to be as close as possible and not lose our spots. While we waited and crept closer and closer to the stage, Bon Iver played. I know two of their songs (Skinny Love and Blindsided), and neither were played; so Bon Iver and I officially have beef. (Just kidding, but honestly I'm a little bit bitter about it.) How can you skip Skinny Love!? I was bummed, but their playlist seemed to please their die-hard fans.

 

After standing in a growing-rowdy crowd for over 3 hours, it was time for Florence + the Machine. She was well worth the wait. She's been my favorite artist since high school. YEARS (I will feel old if I actually do the math.) I have seen Florence once before in Phoenix, and she was just as amazing the second time. The crowd (including myself) belted out every word and danced along with her as she moved across the stage. 

 

Her voice is phenomenal and the experience was breathtaking. She's a literal angel; at one point she was floating. Proof below. My one regret: not bringing earplugs because the speaker volume killed my ears. Yolo. RIP eardrums.

 

Sunday - Day Three

Day three was surprisingly my favorite. It was the least crowded, and we finally found the VIP/Media entrance, a solid upgrade from general admission entrance (where you stand nose to back for a quarter of a mile.) We started the day off by seeing Durand Jones and the Indications. 

 

The second performer we saw on Sunday was Børns. Garrett Borns is a singer/songwriter who I have been listening to since his first single 10,000 Emerald Pools came out in 2014. He was sultry and cool to see live! I tried to see him in LA when he put on a free concert at the Santa Monica Pier a few years back, but a million people showed up, so suffice to say, I did not get close to the stage. So, seeing him at Outside Lands was a dream come true! We were center stage near the front, and it was a blast. 

Next up was LP. I love her sound and vibe. She has such a unique voice. I really liked the stage she played at; it had two hills surrounding it, so the crowd was able to sit and chill while she performed. After her set, we headed to the media room and ran into her. She had scheduled interviews that kept her occupied, so I didn't want to interrupt. I would have loved a photo and an introduction though. Maybe next time :)

 

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The last performer we saw was Janet Jackson, and she killed it! I always knew she was talented, but she puts on such a lively, entertaining show. The woman can sing and dance like no one else. We stayed farther back to have room to dance and spread out while she performed. It's such a fun memory breaking it down with hundreds of strangers to Janet's greatest hits. It was the perfect finale to the festival. 

 

Overall, I thought Outside Lands was a great festival. The lineup was solid, the food options were endless, and I loved the cloudy weather vs. other festivals where you roast in the sun. I definitely recommend packing a reusable water bottle to fill up at their free water stations, hand wipes or hand sanitizer (because the port-a-potty situation is pure madness), and wearing layers. It gets warm in the middle of the day (especially if you're dancing and in the crowd) and freezing at night. I dug the weather though. It got me in the mood for fall. This is the first year the festival implemented a clear-bag policy; I couldn't find a clear plastic backpack in time, but they allowed my mesh bag through. Like all festivals, there are inebriated or stoned people everywhere. Be careful. I only drink water, I don't do drugs, and I still felt rough at the end of each night. I saw numerous people faint or convulse and get taken away by the paramedics. The festival management had excellent emergency responders and medics--from the media lounge we had a direct view of the medical station. Most people had a great, safe time though. Getting to and from the festival was simple with Uber and Lyft. I would absolutely go again in the future. Xoxo, Shelly

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