Outside Lands kicked off its 2026 party with an absolutely loaded lineup on Friday (Aug. 7), filled with so many good acts that there was really no way to catch everything worth seeing and hearing on Day 1 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Overall, it was one of the best single days of entertainment in Outside Lands history.
Charli xcx topped the bill, yet the first-rate headliner was only one of many attractions to perform across multiple stages for the 75,000 music fans who filled the festival grounds for the first of three days. Other Day 1 Outside Lands attractions included Wet Leg, Clipse, Turnstile, GloRilla, Modest Mouse, Geese, Tinashe, Sierra Ferrell and Griztronics.
I’d like to say that I caught every second of every one of those acts — as well as many others — but I didn’t. And the reason why is — well, just go back and re-read that first paragraph of this story. Yet, I sure did catch a lot and what I saw was mighty impressive, underscoring the numerous reasons why this year’s Outside Lands was a slam-dunk advance sellout and is set to collectively draw some 225,000 attendees over the course of three days.
Outside Lands continues through Sunday with such acts as Rüfüs Du Sol, Mariah the Scientist, Empire of the Sun, Baby Keem, Disco Lines, Kingfishr and Infinity Song still yet to appear.
Following early-in-the-day sets by such winning acts as Bad Nerves, Die Spitz and Dani Satin & Always Hallways, the Outside Lands party went to the next level once the mighty Wet Leg hit the biggie Lands End Stage at just before 4 p.m.
Wet Leg put on what was, for my money, the single best set of the day, rolling through just shy of an hour’s worth of stylish, rough-and-rowdy alt-rock tunes. The Grammy-winning English band, which is led by the truly formidable Rhian Teasdale on vocals and guitar, was pure fire from start to finish as it touched upon numbers from its two popular studio releases, 2022’s eponymous outing and last year’s “Moisturizer.”
From there, I quickly moved over to the Sutro Stage — which, fortunately, is not far from Lands End — to catch the last 30 minutes or so Sierra Farrell’s set. The West Virginia native draws from country, bluegrass, folk and gypsy jazz to form a wonderfully appealing Americana mix and is blessed with such a strong, clear and emotionally impactful voice. It’s no wonder why her star is very much on the rise.
As the last notes of Ferrell’s shapeshifting vocals fluttered up to the San Francisco sky, I was quickly on my way back to see GloRilla on the Lands End. I really dig this Memphis rapper, who grew up singing in church choirs and often imbues her brand of hip-hop with a gospel feel. I rated her full-length debut, “Glorious,” as one of the top 10 albums of 2024. And it was good to see that her winning ways extend to the live arena, as Big Glo commanded the big Outside Lands stage with confidence and purpose.
Well, at least she did for what I saw of her set, because — well before it had ended — I was back on my way to Sutro Stage to finally see what all the hot fuss is about with the ultimate critic’s-darling act, Geese. No doubt, this New York band is fascinating in they way it wildly and unpredictably sways through tempos and musical styles (mainly art-rock, post-punk and garage-rock) and my opinion varied nearly as broadly as I listened to the set.
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During some moments, I would start to form the judgement that the band was all-hype, no-substance — in a “the emperor has no clothes”-kind of way — only to reverse course and decide that what I was hearing was actually groundbreaking and brilliant. One day later, as I write this, I am still no closer to making a final call on the matter. And that’s OK, because it just means that more listening is required.
But not on Friday, because — with about 15 minutes left in Geese’s set — it was time to make my way to the other side of the festival grounds (a good 20-or-so-minute walk) to catch Clipse. The Virginia Beach duo, consisting of Malice and Pusha T, has fashioned one of the best comeback stories in recent years — with the long-awaited full-length “Let God Sort Em Out,” coming 16 years after the band’s prior studio outing. It also ranks as arguably the finest hip-hop album of 2025.
There was a time when a hip-hop artist — basically any hip-hop artist — would draw a huge crowd at Outside Lands. So, it was a bit disappointing that neither Clipse or GloRilla — two of the very best artists in the genre right now — really drew big numbers this year. But, again, there just so many options for fans’ attention on this packed Day 1.
Turnstile, however, had no problem drawing a massive crowd to its set back over on Sutro. The Baltimore emo/hard-rock/punk act, which comes across as the love child of Rage Against the Machine and Jimmy Eats World, simply couldn’t be much hotter right now. Turnstile’s connection with the crowd — which, in this case, featured possibly the biggest mosh pit in the history of Outside Lands — is simply off the charts. That said, the band has surprisingly few memorable songs. Once they accomplish that, however, they might be playing not just arenas but stadiums down the road.
As the circle pit quite circling, it was finally time to pick the nightcap — and, once again, people had some great options. For me, however, the choice was obvious (although still a bit painful) as I needed to skip seeing my beloved Modest Mouse for the umpteenth time to catch massively popular mainstage headliner Charli xcx. (Fortunately, I had seen Modest Mouse put on a fantastic show just the evening before at an Outside Lands Night Show at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.)
Although she didn’t include “Float On” in her setlist, Charli xcx otherwise managed to put on a very enjoyable set that ran some 75 minutes and included 23 songs. The focus was squarely on “Music, Fashion, Film,” touching on 10 tracks from the pop star’s compelling eighth studio album that just hit stores late last month.
Gyrating and writhing about alongside a gaggle of dancers, with the overall vibe coming across like some barely in-control party scene, Charli xcx sounded strong as she belted out such new offerings as “Card Declined,” “Camera” and “If You Take Away the Music Then What Has She Got?” as well such “Brat”-y favorites as “Guess” and “Von Dutch.”
(Note: Photographers were not allowed to shoot Charli xcx’s set, which is why you are not seeing any photos of the pop superstar in this article.)
Charli xcx Setlist:
1) “Rock Music”
2) “Yeah”
3) “Apple”
4) “Wink Wink”
5) “Card Declined”
6) “Track 10”
7) “Girl, So Confusing”
8) “Pink Diamond”
9) “House”
10) “Dying for You”
11) “Club Classics”
12) “365”
13) “360”
14) “Sympathy Is a Knife”
15) “Von Dutch”
16) “Guess”
17) “If You Take Away the Music Then What Has She Got?”
18) “2007”
19) “Camera”
20) “Party 4 U”
21) “Playboy Bunny”
22) “SS26”
23) “No One Lasts Forever”
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