Lizzo wows the crowd at Outside Lands fest
SAN FRANCISCO >> Lizzo absolutely owned Day 2 of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco.
The 33-year-old R&B singer — who made her Outside Lands debut in 2018 — delivered a performance on Saturday that fans won’t soon forget. Indeed, it seems destined to be held up among the best headliner sets in the festival’s 13-year history.
The show began in dramatic fashion, as Lizzo’s band and dance troupe took the stage first and further ratcheted up the anticipation for what was to come. Then the star of the evening appeared from the back of the stage, walking between the huge letters spelling out L-I-Z-Z-O and showcasing her powerful voice on the new single “Rumors.”
The tune is top-tier Lizzo — greatly benefitting from Cardi B’s presence on the recording as well — and it certainly should have fans excited about the prospects of a new album, which would be the follow-up to the vocalist’s 2019 breakthrough effort, “Cuz I Love You.”
“What up, Outside Lands?” she asked. “We are so honored to be asked to come back and headline this (expletive) beautiful festival”
From there, Lizzo moved on to another winner — one a bit more familiar to the crowd — grooving her way through the platinum-certified single “Tempo.”
Her voice was nothing short of spectacular — bold, captivating and full of equal amounts of passion and power — commanding the attention of the crowd in a fashion that was awe-inspiring to behold. Lizzo was in total control, with fans cheering on her every note, movement and word.
“I’m going to make you do some weird (expletive) tonight,” she said. “But first I am going to make you feel something.”
And that something certainly felt good, judging by all the big smiles that could be seen in the crowd as Lizzo continued through the joyous multiplatinum smash “Good as Hell” and the self-love anthem “Soulmate.”
The vocalist was in great spirits during the show, full of positive energy and uplifting comments for the crowd. At one point, she’d lead tens of thousands in a self-love mantra, asking fans to repeat these words to themselves: “I love you, you’re beautiful and you can do anything.”
Lizzo also showcased her sense of humor, especially when she and her fellow dancers dressed up like characters from Netflix’s popular “Squid Game” series and did the famous dance routine for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
The concert ended with a colorful (and quite lengthy) fireworks show above the festival’s big Lands End stage.
Vampire Weekend performed on Lands End prior to Lizzo. It was the New York City art-pop outfit’s only show of 2021 and the band certainly made the occasion count as it charmed fans with such favorites as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “APunk,” “Oxford Comma” and, best of all, “Walcott.