OUTSIDE LANDS FESTIVAL ENDS WITH CHANCE THE RAPPER & MAJOR LAZER

If attendees thought Friday and Saturday were crowded, Sunday was a madhouse. The grounds were packed early with festival-goers who wanted to feast and watch acts Grensta, Heron Oblivion, Kamasi Washington, Frances and Natalia Lafourcade. Oh Wonder and Cloves followed the openers.

OSL Crew

Cloves gained an increased following after the release of her debut album, XIII, and song “Don’t Forget About Me,” which was featured in the film, Me Before You. The Australian singer/songwriter’s tracks and set were vocal driven and the lyrics emphasized her storytelling prowess. Cloves moved from Melbourne to London to pursue her solo career and has been introducing music lovers to her slow-burn sound at festivals like Coachella, Latitude Festival and Lollapalooza. After her set on the Panhandle Stage, Cloves played a pop-up set on the StubHub Stage.

Cloves

OSL Crew

Outsider Art

The Muppets’ Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem played their first and only live set at Outside Lands on Sunday. The group who became a band on Haight Street and have been called “rock & roll legends,” “hipster icons” and “those painfully loud next door neighbors” covered five songs including The Mowgli’s “San Francisco” and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ “Home.” Dr. Teeth belted out the lyrics, while Animal destroyed his drums with a few solos.

Dr. Teeth

Dr. teeth crowd

The ‘90s rock band, Third Eye Blind, held the mid-afternoon slot on the Lands End Stage. Though hailing from San Francisco (the guys rode their bikes to the park), this was the first time that the band played Outside Lands. The five-piece led by Stephan Jenkins performed “Graduate,” “Jumper,” my personal favorite, “Motorcycle Drive By,” and closed with “Semi-Charmed Life.” During the set they invited a 30-person choir and 12-person orchestra on the stage to perform a David Bowie medley, complete with “Heroes” and “Ziggy Stardust.”

Third Eye Blind

OSL Girls

Watching a sound check has never been so entertaining. The New York, shoegaze-indie outfit, DIIV cracked jokes and performed tongue-in-cheek covers (mostly at Third Eye Blind’s expense- calling Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” a 3EB cover) before beginning their set. The band opened with “(Druun Pt. II)” and played songs off their recent album Is the Is Are. It was the perfect set for lounging on the grass with some Humphry Slocombe ice cream in front of the Panhandle Stage.

DIIV

crowd

Hailed by many as their favorite set of the weekend, Chance the Rapper solidified his spot amongst fellow OSL performer, J. Cole, Drake and Kendrick Lamar as an amazing live, rap performer. A trumpet player, keyboardist and drummer backed the 23-year-old Chicago native as he delivered a poetic sermon on life. His energy could not be contained. One moment he was jumping on top of amplifiers and the next he was dousing the front rows with water. Chance performed all of the hits off of his 2013 mixtape, Acid Rap.

Chance

Chance fans

Chance

Andrew Bailey of DIIV Hanging

The crowd had complete sensory overload during the Major Lazer set that followed on the Lands End Stage. The American electronic group consisting of Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire, used back up dancers, CO2 canons, fire and inflatable hamster balls to add to the insanity of their set. Listeners were “dipping it low for Diplo” and raging to the party that Major Lazer was throwing. Lionel Richie and Lana Del Rey closed out the festival. Both delivered relaxing, sunset sets that paid homage to the California mentality.