Outside Lands Kicks Off 15th Anniversary Celebrations With Kendrick Lamar, Janelle Monae, Cuco, JID (Festival Recap/Photos)
Outside Lands’ inaugural edition took place in 2008, so the San Francisco festival officially started its 15th-anniversary celebrations this weekend. Gray skies and misty rain didn’t dampen the mood at Golden Gate Park. Fans arrived in force, packing in for early evening performances from the likes of JID and DJ Diesel. The hype continued to grow through the night, culminating in a massive audience taking in Kendrick Lamar’s set on the Lands End Stage. Here are four sets that stood out from Day 1:
Cuco
Cuco showed off his sonic evolution into psych rock, with a set that leaned heavily into reverb-drenched guitar riffs, echoey vocals, and trippy visuals. On “Sunnyside,” the singer held a powerful sustained note, with his voice transformed to a warble. Cuco saved the best for last, though, with a rousing rendition of his smash hit “Lo Que Siento.” On this closing track, the vocalist beckoned the crowd to sing along to the groovy beat, while also impressing by taking up the trumpet at the song’s coda.
JID
As his set time drew near, a chant of “J-I-D” ripped through the crowd. “Happy birthday hip-hop – 50 years!” exclaimed JID’s DJ as he took the stage. The Atlanta rapper proudly staked his claim in carrying the torch forward for the genre, igniting the crowd early on in his set with “NEVER” and “Off da Zoinkys.” (The renditions were also propelled by the thump of live drums.) And at the start of “Dance Now,” he got the crowd to vocalize the track’s opening sound before showcasing his impressive flow on the track.
Janelle Monae
“We’re bringing you vacation vibes,” Janelle Monae said midway through her set. The powerhouse vocalist’s set featured one of the most fun themes of the first day, complete with Monae and her backup dancers rocking swimwear, her robust backing band dressed as lifeguards, and the band sending out massive beach balls to bounce through the crowd. Monae showed off her impressive flow to the bouncing horns of opener “Float” and held powerful sustained notes to cap off the likes of “Yoga” and “Lipstick Lover.”
“To be Black, to be queer, to be non-binary – to have a family like you is a blessing,” Monae said to the crowd before “Make Me Feel,” earning a hearty cheer from the crowd, before she delivered some raucous riffs on guitar. Monae closed out the set by bringing her performance directly to the crowd, leaping off stage to lead the call and response to the rollicking “Come Alive (The War of the Roses).”
Kendrick Lamar
If JID’s set kicked off the 50th anniversary of hip-hop celebrations on the Lands End Stage for Outside Lands’ first day, then Kendrick Lamar was the perfect headliner to close out the main stage. The Compton rapper eschewed fancy visuals and set pieces for a more pared down approach, relying on some static tapestries and a small crew of dancers. Instead, the hyped crowd focused almost entirely on Lamar’s indomitable flow. The tour-de-force set touched on all the emcee’s records, and a short snippet of Section.80’s “A.D.H.D.” threw the crowd into a frenzy, showing there were plenty of longtime fans in the audience. Lamar proved his mastery of his vocals, showcasing his flow on cuts like “Nosestalgia” and “Count Me Out.”
Many of the tracks, like “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “Money Trees” were also fortified with hefty guitar riffs and big drum hits. These songs, along with other big hitters from Lamar’s iconic good kid, m.A.A.d city and DAMN., tended to get the biggest responses from the crowd.
“San Fran, can we take it back to day one,” Lamar asked the crowd. “I said, can we take it back to the good kid, m.A.A.d city shit?” As he jumped into “Money Trees,” the crowd bounced along and gave the call-and-response for the chorus. The rapper memorably kicked off “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” with no instrumental backing, simply trading off on the opening bars with the crowd, which roared the words back to Lamar.