From the disco era charisma of Grace Jones to the girlie-pop twinkle of Chappell Roan, there's a bumper crop of music from queer artists and icons to harvest at this year's Outside Lands festival, from Friday, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 11.
While the Dolores dance floor will cater to the LGBTQ+ crowd from start to finish, here's a day-by-day guide to queer highlights on the festival's other stages.
Friday, Aug. 9
The Last Dinner Party (2:35pm, Land's End)
One of the year's biggest UK breakouts, this grandiose queer quintet sounds like the Kate Bush crossed with Florence + The Machine and looks like a gleeful raid on a well-stocked thrift shop. Gowns, corsets, suit jackets, and Harajuku mini-skirts provide the visual garnish on dramatically unfurling anthems like "The Feminine Urge" and "Nothing Matters" (Expect a sing-along to the repeated lyric: "I will fuck you like nothing matters.") Outside Lands marks the band's second San Francisco appearance, following a sold-out debut at Bimbo's in April.
The Japanese House (3:55pm, Land's End)
If we're lucky enough to get sunshine on Outside Lands' opening afternoon, the gauzy pizzicato pop of Amber Bain will provide the perfect soundtrack for an afternoon sprawl on the grass to inhale and recharge. The non-binary Brit's delicately arranged layers of electronics and vocals are a soothing, dreamy delight.
Renée Rapp (6:55pm, Twin Peaks)
Like Ben Platt of "Dear Evan Hansen" fame, Rapp has turned a Broadway star turn into unlikely pop success. As a North Carolina theater kid, Rapp won the prestigious national Jimmy Award for best female high school musical performer in 2018. Within a year, she was cast as Regina George in the Broadway version of "Mean Girls" and later played the same role in the film version. For the past two years, Rapp has focused on her music career, scoring her biggest hit with "Not My Fault" which features Megan Thee Stallion.
Kevin Abstract (7:20pm, Sutro)
If you're still disgruntled by the replacement of Tyler the Creator with Sabrina Carpenter (She says "Me Espresso," I say Flat White) as Saturday night's headliner, Abstract may provide some solace. Playing a similar role to Tyler's in OddFuture, Abstract was the queer creative force behind the late, great Brockhampton collective and his collage-like experimental hip-hop shares both the oblique sincerity and occasional prankishness of Tyler's work.
Daniel Caesar (8:40pm, Sutro)
You may only know Daniel Caesar as a guest vocalist on Justin Bieber's "Peaches" or his kerfuffle with Dave Chapelle after the comedian pejoratively described him as "very gay" on John Mayer's podcast. In either case you owe yourself a dip into his excellent solo work. And you're familiar with the Canadian-born crooner only from his pleasingly woozy recordings, evocative of classic romantic R&B, you're in for a surprise when you see him live. A fierce instrumentalist, he jolts his smooth vocals into new dimensions with jazz-inflected keyboard solos and serious shredding on guitar. Hail Caesar.
Saturday, Aug. 10
Darumas (12:15pm, Sutro)
Kick off your festival day with the cheerful blast of this all-female trio; Haitian-Chilean vocalist Vedala Vilmond, Argentinian bassist Aldana Aguirre, and queer singer-guitarist Ceci Leon, a Cuban-American from Miami. The band's ingratiating, upbeat sound blends funk, disco and Latin pop. Their lyrics are Spanish; their groove is universal.
Ryan Beatty (2:35pm, Twin Peaks)
This gay Northern California native's March show at Bimbo's was a stunner. The audience stood in rapt silence as Beatty and a six-piece acoustic band played elegant, immersive versions of his contemporary folk compositions, accented with pedal steel guitar. At this point in his career, Beatty may be best known for co-writing three of the most beautiful songs on Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter" album ("Bodyguard," "II Hands II Heaven," "Protector"), but his solo work is not to be missed.
K. Flay (2:45pm, Lands End)
A Stanford graduate who dual majored in psychology and sociology, Illinois-born Kristine Flaherty has a reputation for ferocious live performances, blending hip-hop and headbanging vibes against a background of power pop guitar. Five albums in to a career build on streaming and touring, her latest, "Mono," finds Flaherty grappling with the 2022 hearing loss that has left her deaf in one ear.
Fletcher (4pm, Lands End)
Winner of the 2023 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist, the New Jersey-born Cari Elise Fletcher has come a long way since first entering public consciousness as a contestant on television talent show "The X Factor" a dozen years earlier. An outspoken advocate of the #MeToo movement, she released the single "I Believe You" as a show of support in 2018, and has been an active supporter of It Gets Better and The Trevor Project. Her March release, "In Search of the Antidote" debuted at number 3 on the Billboard album sales chart.
Romy (4:10pm, Sutro)
Best known as a member of the xx, Romy Madley Croft has written for queer pop luminaries King Princess and Halsey. Her solo album "Mid-Air," influenced by Peaches, Robyn, and Tracy Thorn of Everything but the Girl, was released to critical acclaim last year.
STRFKR (5:30pm, Sutro)
Perhaps best known for their electropop cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," this Portland-based quartet has seen its original dance tunes widely licensed for TV, film, and commercials. They made their San Francisco debut 16 years ago at the Eagle bar.
Medium Build (5:00pm, Panhandle)
Queer singer-songwriter Nick Carpenter built a substantial fanbase in his native Alaska before a recent move to Nashville. His intimate, lo-fi sound and plainspoken lyrics create a strong connection with listeners, reminiscent of the "Juno"-era ascent of Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches.
Grace Jones (6:55pm, Lands End)
At 76 years old, the iconic Jones has been reaching a fifth generation of fans in recent years with concerts and festival appearances that find her distilling her vocal power and statuesque stage presence into a sort of ambient, percussion-driven mass hypnosis; not to be missed.
Sunday, Aug. 11
Chappell Roan (4:00pm, Lands End)
The Polo Field will become a Pink Pony Club (and hopefully not a stampede) as the ascendant pop superstar takes the stage for a mid-afternoon gig booked months before she blew up to her current Cusp of Gaga magnitude. Roan may well draw the largest crowd of the festival weekend.
Victoria Monet (7:00pm, Twin Peaks )
Winner of the 2024 Best New Artist Grammy and a nominee for Best R&B album and Record of the Year, now openly bisexual Monet has spoken out against industry pressures to play it straight, pointing to the adverse effects of the closet on artists, including Whitney Houston. Her single "On My Mama" made Barack Obama's list of favorite songs of 2023.
Crystal Waters (7:40pm, Dolores)
In the first half of the 1990s, it was virtually impossible to spend time at a queer dance club without hearing Waters' two smash hits, "Gypsy Woman" and "100% Pure Love." The former, a house music portrait of a homeless person, probably couldn't get recorded today, but its "la-da-dee, la-da-da" chorus is an indelible earworm for a generation of gay men.
Kaytranada (8:40pm, Twin Peaks)
The first Black producer and openly queer artist to win a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album (for "Bubba," in 2021), the Haitian-Canadian DJ and performer will provide a grand finale for Outside Lands' queerest year ever.
Outside Lands, Aug. 9-11. Single day tickets from $226. 3-day tickets from $528. Golden Gate Park. www.sfoutsidelands.com
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