Childish Gambino Draws the Largest Crowd in Outside Lands History
Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, began his performance by exclaiming in an almost-giddy tone that the audience had set a record: it was the largest crowd in all of Outside Lands (OSL) history. He personalized his performance by praising the Bay Area: “The Bay makes you understand how close and how separated we all are, how you can just go over a bridge and everything changes, and we’re all just people.” It was clear he had put in massive amounts of thought and effort into making his performance enjoyable, and it paid off. The crowd was dancing, singing along, and living in the moment. Glover danced so hard to his song “Riot” that he fell down onstage. His performance was fun, energetic and nostalgic, as this performance is set to be his second to last before he transitions entirely to acting.
Kacey Musgraves Puts On an Ethereal Performance of “Golden Hour” During Golden Hour
You might know Kacey Musgraves for her Grammy award-winning album “Golden Hour,” her ethereal presence, or how she’s revolutionizing country music by drawing in many listeners who otherwise would not listen to the genre (largely by making it more inclusive to the LGBTQ community and other minority groups). She began her OSL set with the heart-wrenching “Slow Burn” and followed with songs from “Golden Hour,” a few songs from “Pageant Material,” and a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
Musgraves put on a performance that seemed to send a wave of happiness through the crowd. She told the crowd to “forget about anything remotely negative that might be happening in your life right now and just have fun.” She also told audience members to turn to people nearby and high-five each other, as though everyone was just a gigantic group of friends bound together by our love for our yeehaw queen.
Musgraves put on a performance that seemed to send a wave of happiness through the crowd.
Paul Simon Emerges From Retirement, Donates Profits to Charity
Fans were surprised to see that Paul Simon, one half of Simon and Garfunkel, was headlining at OSL this year after announcing his retirement in 2018. However, the 77-year-old seemed to have no trouble performing for the first time in almost a year — he was energetic, fun, and engaging. Simon performed three songs from his time in the band Simon and Garfunkel (“Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Boxer,” and “The Sound of Silence”). He donated all of his profits to the San Francisco Parks Alliance and Friends of the Urban Forest, stating that he appreciates how eco-conscious both the city of San Francisco and Outside Lands Festival are and wanted to contribute to that.
