AN OUTSIDE LANDS PRIMER
Where to go, who to see.
Your mission for the 2018 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, should you choose to accept it, is to make every moment matter. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Trying to navigate this massive event, which features more than 80 music acts — including headliners The Weeknd, Janet Jackson and Florence and the Machine — as well as comedians and other entertainment options and all that great food and drink to sample can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t have a proper plan.
So here’s our hour-by-hour guide to Outside Lands, detailing exactly where you should be at each moment of the festival. For more information, go to www.sfoutsidelands.com.
DAY 1, FRIDAY Noon-2 p.m.
Kick off Outside Lands with Mikky Ekko, the indiepop artist who opens the festival’s main stage — Lands End — at noon. You might know Ekko as the guy who duets with Rihanna on the hit “Stay.” Give Ekko about 25-30 minutes of your time, before heading all the way across the festival grounds to see Shannon and the Clams,
which takes over the Twin Peaks stage from 12:40 to 1:20 p.m. The Oakland outfit conjures up a charming retro vibe with a sound that combines elements of ’60s R&B, doo-wop, surf, garage and other styles.
Getting hungry yet? Then let’s do lunch — and no Outside Lands is truly complete for us without a stop at 4505 Meats for a “best damn cheeseburger.” Plan to munch while you catch promising electropop vocalist Sasha Sloan on the Panhandle stage, 1:20-2 p.m.
2-4 p.m.
Stay on that side of the festival grounds for a bit longer, devoting about 15 to 20 minutes to the Mountain Goats, the indie-pop act that takes the Twin Peaks stage at 2:05 p.m. But leave in plenty of time to catch the full set of Margo Price, who is definitely one of our top picks for this year’s festival. The singer-songwriter, who ranks among the best country artists in the game today, performs 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. on the Sutro Stage.
Enjoy every note of Price then quickly move back to Lands End for Billie Eilish, who was terrific during her sold-out show at the Great American Music Hall in March. The 16-yearold electropop artist, who many have dubbed “the next big thing,” performs 3:35 to 4:25 p.m.
4-6 p.m.
OK, now it’s time to really get moving. Following Eilish, it’s time to race over to Sutro to catch about 15 minutes of Rex Orange County, the young English singer-songwriter who seems destined for superstardom. Then back to Lands End at 4:55 p.m. for hip-hop act N.E.R.D, featuring Chad Hugo, Shay Haley and Pharrell Williams.
As much as we’d like to watch all of the N.E.R.D set, we just can’t miss the chance to witness tens of thousands sing along to “Call Me Maybe” (aka one of the top 5 pop songs of the decade). So, give Pharrell and company about 10 minutes and then make the lengthy trek back up to Twin Peaks for Carly Rae Jepsen, who performs 5:15 to 6:05 p.m.
6-8 p.m.
At this point, we’re definitely in the mood for some comedy, so it’s time to move over to the Barbary to try to catch Chelsea Peretti. The “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star’s showcase — which also features comedians James Acaster and Sam Jay — doesn’t start until 7 p.m. but you’ll probably need to get there early if you want a shot at getting in. (The best bet for comedy fans is stop by the Barbary earlier in the day and try to reserve a spot.)
If you’d rather groove than giggle, head over to witness San Francisco DJ-producer Viceroy work his magic at the House by Heineken tent, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Work up an appetite and then satiate it with some short rib flautas or spinach and goat cheese flautas from The Little Chihuahua.
8 p.m.-close
Breeze by the Sutro stage for a song or two from Mac DeMarco, who starts at 8 p.m., and then bounce over to see The Weeknd, who performs 8:25 to 9:55 p.m. on Lands End. The Weeknd, of course, might just be the hottest R&B-soul artist on the planet. But we also dig Beck, the alt-rock troubadour who performs 8:40-9:55 p.m. at Twin Peaks. So, let’s split our time, staying with The Weeknd until about 9 p.m. then ending Day One of Outside Lands with Beck.
DAY 2, SATURDAY Noon-2 p.m.
Feeling a bit tired after one full day of the festival? Well, you can rest on Monday,
so let’s just keep right on rolling. Start off day two with Japan’s Kikagaku Moyo, a fascinating psychedelic-folk-rock act that performs noon-12:40 p.m. on the Sutro stage. Then it’s lunchtime — we’re thinking fish tacos at Tacolicious — followed by England indiepop outfit Pale Waves, 1-1:50
p.m. at Lands End.
2-4 p.m.
Sure, we just ate, but something sweet still sounds good. So, let’s split a brownie hot fudge sundae from Charles Chocolates before turning our attention to Lizzo, the talented hiphop/soul artist who plays
Lands End 2:20-3:05 p.m. Still full from the sundae, we’ll stay put, kicking it on the lawn, probably taking selfies, and fully ready to enjoy Broken Social Scene on Lands End at 3:35 p.m.
4-6 p.m.
At the end of Broken Social Scene, and with our sundae nicely settled, we’re off to catch the jazzy piano trio GoGo Penguin on the Panhandle stage at 4:35 p.m. Let’s give the Penguin 30 minutes of our attention, before we go-go back to Lands End for Chvrches, the Scottish act that is better at synth-pop than spelling.
6-8 p.m.
We’ll jump over to Sutro to see the Bay Area’s own ambient-music sensation Tycho at 6:15 p.m., then jet back to Lands End around 7 p.m. to catch the last half of Bon Iver’s set. As Bon Iver’s performance comes to a close, around 7:40 p.m., move back to Sutro for 30 or so minutes of Jamie xx, the electronic-music champ who came to fame as a member of The xx.
8 p.m.-close
We’re really torn here. Florence and the Machine, which headlines Lands End at 8:25 p.m., is one of the best live bands in the business. But we’d also like to spend some time with Future, the blazing-hot hiphop star who takes the Twin Peaks stage at 8:40 p.m. So, again, let’s split our time here and start with Florence and end with Future. And — oh, no! — we forgot to eat dinner. Good thing that sundae was filling.
DAY 3, SUNDAY Noon-2 p.m.
We know, we know — it gets tougher to arrive early as the weekend progresses, but Oakland indie-rock troubadour Dick Stusso is