CLOCKWISE, ABOVE FROM LEFT. PHOTO: COURTESY OF Modular Recordings; Def Jam; Future Classic; EMI.San Francisco's Outside Lands is one of those music festivals that's leaves the flashy gimmicks for the other guys. This is S.F., man! Ain't nobody got time for larger-than-life astronauts and strings-on-strings of balloons. Outside Lands is all about putting the music first; the scene comes second.
And, yes, the lineup this year is a tad bit all over the place, but no one's complaining. It's what makes Outside Lands the cool-girl festival to the mass market one. Go from Imelda May to Arctic Monkeys to Tiësto; Death Cab to Flume to Kanye. Hell, your iTunes library and Spotify history has never been more eclectic than this.