Strokes, Charli XCX, Geese, Turnstile

Charli XCX is going really hard for her Music, Fashion, Film tour, and Outside Lands got to experience the second-ever full show of the era, following her appearance at Lollapalooza. There was a little something for every one of Charli’s angels. Her hyperpop statements were there in the pandemic-era freak-out “Pink Diamond” and Pop 2 favorite “Track 10”; Brat’s most frenetic bangers were featured in a mid-show act; her baroque Wuthering Heights tracks provided something of a respite; and, flanked by a gaggle of backup dancers, she gave fans lots of quasi-choreography that recalled her Crash tour. The crowd head-banged and roared along to Music, Fashion, Film’s most fried-out vocals with ardor, even when the bass threatened to swallow up everything in its wake on the night’s standout, “Camera.” Charli ended her rock-heavy show by creating a living painting with her dancers (think a Renaissance mural, if it was blocked at CBGBs) as filmmaker David Cronenberg’s refrain that “no one lasts forever” echoed across the grounds. For those in the audience, the motto became Charli XCX forever.

Lucy Dacus delivered one of the coziest sets of the weekend. Dacus and her band strode in wearing matching “LD” letterman jackets and floated through the boygenius singer-songwriter’s most dreamy tracks on a hazy afternoon. Friends and lovers alike held hands and swayed along to swooners like “Best Guess” and “Hot & Heavy” before screaming along to her final song, “Night Shift.” As an added gift, Dacus brought out Julien Baker, her partner and self-proclaimed best friend, to sing “Bullseye” as they traded cheeky glances. In those few intimate minutes, it was as if Dacus and Baker forgot they were playing to tens of thousands of fans.

Death Cab for Cutie performed two radiant sets at Outside Lands spanning their discography, and their first, early in the afternoon on Sunday, paid tribute to a fan-favorite record. Playing their fifth record, Plans, from start to finish on the festival’s final afternoon gave the biggest Death Cab loyalists (including someone with a Transatlanticism crow puppet) a well-deserved reward after two stacked days. Even though he stated he could barely talk the morning before their first set, Ben Gibbard’s earnest voice was on point and he shouted out the onsite medical volunteers for getting him back into shape: “Thanks to Sabrina and Penny for giving me some steroids,” he said. “I feel like I want to fight 100 men right now. Let’s go!”

Dijon Duenas created an intimate vibe that felt as if you’d stumbled into one of his studio jam sessions. The singer-songwriter warped sound in inexplicable and entrancing ways, and his band (including jaw-dropping percussionist Henry Kwapis and multi-instrumentalist Mike Haldeman) bolstered Dijon’s passionate performance. He got the crowd grooving with the early-set song “Another Baby!” and slowed things down for fan favorite “The Dress” and the stunning “Yamaha.” He ended his performance with an impassioned iteration of Baby coda “Kindalove,” walking along the stage’s barricade as if caught in a reverie. It all felt hypnotic.

Geese enthusiasts know the Brooklyn band’s festival sets go a little something like this: They play their most reliable live songs with meditative fervor, make it known they are a New York band first (their opening montage featured Knicks forward OG Anunoby’s instantly iconic tip-in), and finally, pull a practical joke on the audience during “2122.” Frontman Cameron Winter pulled out his phone to play the Glee edition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” explaining that “We couldn’t license the original master, this is the Glee cast re-recording” before launching into the rest of the chaotic, dust-kicking track from Geese’s 2023 album 3D Country.  Some were stunned, others knew this was a regular Friday evening for the quartet, but either way, it delighted the crowd who went wild for Emily Green’s guitar playing on “Bow Down” and the anthemic “Taxes.”

Audrey Hobert first turned heads as the 27-year-old writing partner for Gracie Abrams, caught the music world’s attention with her quirky yet poignant solo music, and kept people coming back for more with her over-the-top festival stints, like when she was on a step ladder and wearing a trench coat for “I Like to Touch People” and on a mini trampoline for “Sue Me,” and delivered general theater-kid melodramatics during her Outside Lands set. Her reliable bag of tricks and confessional songs won plenty of hearts in the crowd with her endearing performance.

Grace Ives rocked out at her concise and reliable performance early in the afternoon at Outside Lands. The Brooklyn-based artist’s cotton-candy-pink mane flowed in the wind as she flitted across the stage and played songs from her brilliant third record, Girlfriend, which arrived this spring. That album’s single “Stupid Bitches” had the crowd twirling and jumping even under the overcast skies at Golden Gate Park. Ives nabbed herself some new fans at the Bay Area festival ahead of a massive 2027, where she’ll be opening for Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams on select dates for their respective tours.

From her disco floor-filler “Fantasy” to the anthemic send-off “FUFN,” Jade Thirlwall delivered a festival set chock full of enough bangers to make her seem like someone who’s been a major solo artist for years. The British star sang her heart out to tracks from what is actually her debut solo album, That’s Showbiz Baby!, but also performed a medley of Little Mix tunes to pay tribute to the girl group that jumpstarted her career. She said she was grateful to the crowd who packed in to see her, before launching into her finale, “Angel of My Dreams,” a love/hate letter to the industry that transformed her from a North England teenager to an icon.

A Strokes concert in the 2020s typically includes the New York band’s greatest hits, plus plenty of Julian Casablancas’ onstage antics, and their performance at Outside Lands was no exception. Like at previous recent shows, the Strokes frontman embellished their appearance with spoken interludes containing the type of fare you might hear during an intermittently humorous and rambling comedy routine at the local pub. It’s increasingly difficult to discern when he’s being serious, so when he called Charli XCX to the stage to perform “Take It or Leave It,” it was a shock when she actually appeared, looking like the sixth member of the band. The band rocked through highlights “Someday” and “What Ever Happened?” as a thick fog settled over Golden Gate Park, before closing out with their First Impressions of the Earth hit “You Only Live Once.”

When Tinashe strutted onto the Twin Peaks stage in a baby T-shirt that said she was “69% horny” and pulled out her microphone out of an ostentatious ballet pink purse, the Outside Lands crowd knew they were in for a treat. The ever-transforming artist made a major splash when she made her Outside Lands debut, performing tracks from her upcoming album Pop Star, including the crunk-inspired “Crash Out,” and her 2024 viral hits “Nasty” and “No Broke Boys.” The latter had the crowd shouting along to its colorful and anthemic lyrics. The high point of her set came when she sang and danced to “Needs,” her BB/Ang3l highlight.

Because of its setting in a mini-valley and its compact setup, the Sutro stage is Outside Lands’ crown jewel for weekend-best sets, and Turnstile left attendees in awe with their debut set at the San Francisco festival. The colossal turnout at the Sutro recalled their legendary hometown show at Baltimore’s Wyman Dell Park even with security parameters in place, and moshing and crowd surfing continued nonstop across their hour-long set. Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker made a backstage cameo during a cheeky bit during Never Enough banger “Dull,” and the Baltimore club-inspired outro to “Look Out for Me” was a poignant tribute to their roots. Even the most bashful and unsure few dwelling in the crowd let their hair down and rocked out for the triple finale of “Mystery,” “Blackout,” and “Birds.”

Though the members of the xx (Jamie xx, Romy, and Oliver Sim) have kept busy over the near-decade since their last record together, fans have been desperate for the trio to reunite. Their Outside Lands performance was a reminder of their quiet brilliance. After their stellar opener, “Crystallised,” Romy said she was overcome with reverence at the massive crowd that piled onto the narrow strip at the Twin Peaks stage and the colossal eucalyptus trees towering through the landscape. The British trio played their most recognizable songs (“VCR,” “Islands,” a special remix of “Shelter”) and also peppered their set with each other’s solo work (a surprise appearance from Jamie xx’s “I’ll Take Care of You” remix especially thrilled the crowd, who likely recognized the song as the roots of Drake’s “Take Care”). They expertly transitioned “Night Time” into “Sunset” creating a trance-like effect, and left the crowd in awe.

María Zardoya’s Not for Radio performance was one of the weekend’s most bewitching. Zardoya slinked onstage to sing songs from her solo project like “Kitten” and “Puddles” while standing on a bed of moss, letting her delicate cooing awe the crowd. During the first half of her stage time, she donned a Björk-like white feather and lace ensemble, but later swapped into a black number that made her look like an elegant swan. She sang two unreleased songs, including “Comet” where she head-banged in the most glamorous way possible. Zardoya’s Outside Lands showing was straight out of a fairytale, with her playing the role of a trance-inducing siren, and her mini-chamber group of musicians bolstering her.