Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever

Outside Lands 2021: A return to hallowed ground

November 8, 2021 by Molly Kish 2 Comments

Photos by Sarah Felker & Marc Fong // Written by Molly Kish //

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
October 29th-31st, 2021 //

After postponing its 13th edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and experiencing disappointing lineup cancellations in the months leading up to it, Outside Lands had quite a lot to make up for going into its 2021 relaunch for Halloween. Asserting themselves as hosts of the first “mega event” in Golden Gate Park during the pandemic, Bay Area concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment braved an entirely new entertainment landscape, time of year and crowd dynamic.

Following statewide safety protocols, attendees had to wear a mask and show proof of vaccination or a negative test result at all entrances before scanning their way inside the gates. Clear backpacks were enforced and costume guidelines were added to the laundry list of rules and regulations for all ticket holders. But even with the adjusted security measures and slight changes to the event’s production, concertgoers came out in record numbers. Averaging crowds of approximately 70,000 people per day, OSL 2021 wasn’t short of attendees willing to happily follow the new guidelines in order to return to the beloved three-day festival.

While at times the interactive experiences in 2021 seemed lacking with the obvious downplay of live art activations, comedy and representation of the Bay Area’s creative culture, OSL still provided a larger platform for community-based initiatives. This year the fest added a brand-new stage in the SOMA Tent, which focused on burgeoning talent across the local electronic scene, and also dedicated attention and space for both local and national non-profits with an extended Eco Lands footprint.

Relaunching OSL over Halloween weekend was one of the smartest pivots Another Planet could have made. The energy surrounding the holiday was palpable, providing a dialed-in event and location with an additional reason for both local and visiting attendees to celebrate. Costumed crowds filled the fields all three days and created an increasingly whimsical buildup to what felt like a triumphant return to the city’s historical Halloween legacy. With many hoping the holiday tradition would continue for years to come, OSL successfully stoked the sold-out crowd’s excitement for its return in August 2022.

Moses Sumney

OUTSIDE LANDS 2021 AWARDS:

Headliner of the Weekend: Tyler, the Creator

Breakthrough Performance: The HU

Favorite First-Timer: Brijean

Best OSL Addition: SOMA Tent

Favorite Festival Food: Pork Lumpia from Abacá

Most Magical Cocktail: Silver Girl’s “St. Olaf’s Fizz”

Most Entertaining Activation: The Aperol Spritz Piazza

Best Wine Lands Pour: Brut Rose by Angels & Cowboys

Favorite OSL Night Show: Drama at Bimbo’s 360 Club

Most Popular Costume: Skeleton

Largest Crowd: RÜFÜS DU SOL

Biggest Dance Party: Khruangbin

Best Stage Production: Tame Impala

Funniest Band Interaction: The Neil Frances vs. Neal Francis beef

Local Standout: Kehlani

Most Impressive Pipes: Brittany Howard

Biggest Lasting Impression: Moses Sumney

Best Improvement: Open-air layout at The House by Heineken

Outside Lands 2021 - Yves Tumor and Its Band

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Festival Reviews, Festivals Tagged With: 070 Shake, 24kGoldn, A R I Z O N A, Abacá, Amy Allen, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Angel Olsen, Angels & Cowboys, Angels and Cowboys, Badshah, Bakar, Bartees Strange, Beach House, Big Thief, Bonobo, boy pablo, Boy Scouts, Brijean, Brittany Howard, Burna Boy, Buscabulla, Cam, Cannons, Caroline Polachek, Claud, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Pandemic, Covid 19, COVID-19 Pandemic, Crooked Colours, Dijon, Dr. Dog, DRAMA, EarthGang, Ed O'Brien, EOB, Evann McIntosh, Flo Milli, Glass Animals, Goth Babe, Hinds, J Balvin, J. Phlip, JESSIA, JPEGMAFIA, Julia Jacklin, Kaytranada, Kehlani, Khruangbin, Lizzo, Lord Huron, Madeline Kenney, Mahalia, Marc E. Bassy, Marc Rebillet, Melanie Martinez, Moses Sumney, mxmtoon, Nap Eyes, Neal Francis, NEIL FRANCES, Nelly, Nicola Cruz, Noga Erez, ODIE, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2020, Outside Lands 2021, Outside Lands Music Festival, Outside Lands Music Festival 2020, Outside Lands Music Festival 2021, Parcels, Polo & Pan, Post Animal, Q, Radiohead, Remi Wolf, Resistance Revival Chorus, Rexx Life Raj, Rico Nasty, Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Scarypoolparty, SG Lewis, Sharon Van Etten, Shiba San, Shilan, Silver Girl, Sofía Valdés, Sofi Tukker, SOMA Tent, Tame Impala, The 1975, The Beths, The HU, The Midnight, The Soul Rebels, The Strokes, Tones and I, Trevor Daniel, TroyBoi, Tyler the Creator, Vampire Weekend, Young Thug, Yung Bae, Yves Tumor, zhu

Outside Lands 2021 moves to Halloween weekend as Glass Animals, Kaytranada & more join the party

March 18, 2021 by Josh Herwitt 4 Comments

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
October 29th-31st, 2021 //

The past 12 months have been a tense and agonizing time for musicians and live music fans everywhere. With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the concert and festival circuits for months on end, many of us around the world have had to resort to livestreams and drive-in performances to help get us through the chaos until normalcy resumes.

But those days could be coming to an end soon in the U.S. as vaccinations continue to rise and for those who are looking to celebrate Halloween this year in style with both friends and strangers (if you can believe it), look no further than Golden Gate Park when Outside Lands makes its long-awaited return to SF.

While the three-day music festival made the decision in June to cancel any plans for 2020 and instead target August 2021 for its 13th installment, organizers have given us a spooky surprise by shifting the event back more than two months.

ranger dave hopes you're ready for the ultimate halloween weekend – outside lands is moving to october 29 – 31, 2021! 3-day tickets are on sale now. https://t.co/wMSL1BSTYU pic.twitter.com/9BVA7QSH8M

— Outside Lands (@sfoutsidelands) March 18, 2021

Because whether you’re a kid or an adult, who doesn’t love the spirit of Halloween? The new dates scheduled for October will mark the first time that OSL won’t occur during its usual month of August, though those aren’t the only changes that were announced with this latest postponement news.

The fest, in fact, is also giving its 2021 lineup a slight makeover with the additions of Glass Animals, Kaytranada, Lord Huron, SG Lewis, Flo Milli, 24kGoldn, Cannons, Buscabulla, JESSIA, Claud and several others while previously confirmed acts such as Beach House, Bonobo, Polo & Pan, Big Thief, Tones and I, EOB, Parcels, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and The Beths have unfortunately been removed from the poster. And for those hoping to see Tame Impala, Lizzo and/or The Strokes on the Lands End stage, don’t you worry — all three are still set to make their headlining debuts once day turns to night. See the poster above for the rest of the lineup.

Itching to get back out there and ready to don your best festival costume? Three-day GA and VIP passes to OSL 2021 are on sale now with payment plans available for both so don’t forget to purchase your tickets here and check out our coverage over the years here.

UPDATE (March 23rd): Wow! And just like that, three-day GA and VIP passes are sold out. If you’re looking for single-day tickets, stay tuned for more details soon.

UPDATE (April 27th): Outside Lands has released its daily lineups for 2021, with The Strokes headlining Friday, Lizzo performing Saturday and Tame Impala on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. Take a look at the daily schedules above before single-day tickets go on sale here for $165 (GA) and $375 (VIP) plus fees starting this Thursday, April 29th at 10 a.m. PT.

ranger dave welcomes nicolá cruz, salami rose joe louis, and @bscoutsband to the #outsidelands 2021 lineup! pic.twitter.com/bdlFlhUczG

— Outside Lands (@sfoutsidelands) September 30, 2021

UPDATE (September 30th): With less than a month to go before the festivities begin, organizers have revealed that Nicola Cruz, Salami Rose Joe Louis and Boy Scouts have each been added to the lineup.

Filed Under: Featured, Festivals Tagged With: 070 Shake, 24kGoldn, A R I Z O N A, Amy Allen, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Angel Olsen, Badshah, Bakar, Bartees Strange, Beach House, Big Thief, Bonobo, boy pablo, Boy Scouts, Brijean, Brittany Howard, Burna Boy, Buscabulla, Cam, Cannons, Caroline Polachek, Claud, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Pandemic, Covid 19, COVID-19 Pandemic, Crooked Colours, Dijon, Dr. Dog, DRAMA, EarthGang, Ed O'Brien, EOB, Evann McIntosh, Flo Milli, Glass Animals, Goth Babe, Hinds, J Balvin, J. Phlip, JESSIA, JPEGMAFIA, Julia Jacklin, Kaytranada, Kehlani, Khruangbin, Lizzo, Lord Huron, Madeline Kenney, Mahalia, Marc E. Bassy, Marc Rebillet, Melanie Martinez, Moses Sumney, mxmtoon, Nap Eyes, Neal Francis, NEIL FRANCES, Nelly, Nicola Cruz, Noga Erez, ODIE, Outside Lands, Outside Lands 2020, Outside Lands 2021, Outside Lands Music Festival, Outside Lands Music Festival 2021, Parcels, Polo & Pan, Post Animal, Q, Radiohead, Remi Wolf, Resistance Revival Chorus, Rexx Life Raj, Rico Nasty, Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Scarypoolparty, SG Lewis, Sharon Van Etten, Shiba San, Shilan, Sofía Valdés, Sofi Tukker, Tame Impala, The 1975, The Beths, The HU, The Midnight, The Soul Rebels, The Strokes, Tones and I, Trevor Daniel, TroyBoi, Tyler the Creator, Vampire Weekend, Young Thug, Yung Bae, Yves Tumor, zhu

Outside Lands cancels 2020 edition, reveals lineup for 2021 with Tame Impala, Lizzo & The Strokes

June 24, 2020 by Josh Herwitt 2 Comments

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival //
Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
August 6th-8th, 2021 //

As most of us know by now, 2020 has been a really rough year for the music industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely wiped out the concert and festival circuits, with free live streams and drive-in performances serving as our indefinite replacement during these strange and unpredictable days, weeks and months.

So when multiple major events like South by Southwest, Ultra Music Festival and Coachella canceled their 2020 editions and the entire U.S. shut down in March, it seemed unlikely that Outside Lands would actually transpire this summer.

Now that forecast has been officially confirmed, with the three-day music festival announcing that it will not take over Golden Gate Park during the weekend of August 7th-9th this year. It’s sad news for many in the Bay Area community and beyond, but OSL organizers did their very best to lift fans’ spirits by not only releasing the fest’s 2021 dates but also unveiling its lineup.

We are looking to the future & filled with excitement to announce NEXT year’s festival, returning August 6-8, 2021. Tickets on sale TOMORROW.

We believe it is in the best interest of everyone’s health & safety that we not return in 2020. Read more: https://t.co/vWi9B2Rtsi pic.twitter.com/iRac9IoXfX

— Outside Lands (@sfoutsidelands) June 24, 2020

The 13th installment, in fact, will see Tame Impala, Lizzo and The Strokes each make their OSL headlining debuts with a solid undercard behind them that’s led by Tyler, the Creator, Vampire Weekend, J Balvin, Kehlani, The 1975, ZHU and Young Thug. The undercard might even be better, though (if you can believe that).

Other notable names on next year’s roster include Khruangbin, Beach House, Bonobo, Nelly, Brittany Howard, Burna Boy, Melanie Martinez, Polo & Pan, Big Thief, Troyboi, Angel Olsen, SOFI TUKKER, EARTHGANG, Tones and I, EOB, Sharon Van Etten, Marc Rebillet, A R I Z O N A, JPEGMAFIA, Dr. Dog, Shiba San, Boy Pablo, Rico Nasty and more. Check out the poster above for the rest of the lineup.

UPDATE (Jan. 12th): As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country, The 1975 have made the difficult decision to cancel all of their tour dates scheduled for 2021, including Outside Lands in August. The good news is that they’ll be replaced by RÜFÜS DU SOL, who made their OSL debut in 2016 and have swiftly climbed the festival ranks since issuing 2018’s Solace. “We have fond memories of playing the Panhandle stage at Outside Lands five years ago and we are excited to be back this year,” the Australian alt-dance trio says in a statement.

the 1975 have made the decision to cancel all scheduled touring for 2021, including their appearance at #outsidelands. ranger dave will miss @the1975 this year, but is stoked to announce that @rufusdusol has now been added to the 2021 lineup! pic.twitter.com/2wDbBaotrJ

— Outside Lands (@sfoutsidelands) January 12, 2021

Outside Lands 2021 might feel like a long way away at this point, but it will be here before you know it so don’t forget to purchase your tickets when they go on sale here this Thursday, June 25th at 10 a.m. PT — Eager Beaver passes that were bought in 2020 will also be honored while those who choose to roll over their admission to the following year by July 24th will also have the opportunity to win exclusive upgrades and other prizes — and make sure to check out our coverage from 2019 here.