Let’s be real: The fear of missing out is powerful, but so is the smell of very used porta potties and standing in long lines for basically anything. I’ve had some good times at Outside Lands with friends and lovers, but never did I expect my favorite viewing would be as a crowd-hating shut-in.
OSL began streaming about a decade ago, but it was in 2021 that the option became a pandemic-induced necessity. This year we had Amazon Music and Twitch providing live broadcasts of performances and behind-the-scenes content. I needed to be home to process stories coming in from The Bold Italic’s team onsite — yes of course we were there — but this also meant I could catch concerts that our reporters missed while attending other stages.
What you get for paying literally nothing
Honestly the production quality here is outstanding — and no one at OSL paid me to say that. This is like MTV teamed up with the Super Bowl, with cameras at every angle right up next to the artists and in the crowds. My only refrain is why isn’t this recorded? I belatedly spotted uploads on YouTube: Just Google the artist name and “Outside Lands.”
No notes except maybe add a channel or two. A single stream kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PST daily and runs like a TV network presentation of the show, giving us some performances direct from the stage and broadcasting others hours after they happen. I get it if they need to do some post-production, but if not, make it all live.
The pros and cons of Twitch chats
Honestly I love a good forum-trolling moment nowadays, but Twitch put a hard lock that, with mods aggressively deleting anything remotely sus from discussing drugs to criticizing artists. Forget about abject profanity, mild words like butt, crap, balls, thicc, or anything even remotely vulgar was auto-flagged and never made it to the chat.
Do it four times? Welcome to a 10-minute time-out, you immature 4th grader. I loathed parts of the Channel Tres show, and wondered in chat why they danced Beyoncé choreo while in socks from Target, denim shorts and tank tops. Time out for me:
The upside to this were both playful workarounds and chatters who were genuine stans of artists. At a DJ set by Chris Lake, for example, it was so obvious the number of attendees rolling molly onsite at Outside Lands. But since we couldn’t say that in chat, we started calling it “percolating,” which became a catch-all for any drugs. I asked if anyone was percolated and my favorite reply was, “OH I’M BAKED LIKE A PIE RIGHT NOW.” 😂
The concerts — Sabrina Carpenter
I tuned in for Sabrina Carpenter because she performed during The Postal Service show, which my writer was busy reviewing. Carpenter replaced Tyler Creator who said in June he “made a commitment I can no longer keep.” OSL was her first headline show, and that felt obvious; While she was billed as “one of the hottest rising stars in pop music,” I just wasn’t fully buying it.
Don’t hate me OSL for saying it: Carpenter has a lovely voice and looks incredible in leggy sparkle dresses. I just don’t think she has an identity yet. The Girl Meets World alum swerved very hard into 1950s bubblegum Hairspray; I half expected Queen Latifah to show up with a rendition of “Big, Blonde, and Beautiful.” Instead we got Kacey Musgraves singing “These Boots Were Made For Walkin’” — and how do I put this? It was fine.
It all gave too much Hillary Duff or Sabrina Bryan. It felt like we collectively moved on from the pop princess but here we are. I did enjoy the show but felt a solid decade too old to really invest.
Chris Lake
I knew nothing about Chris Lake, just that I wasn’t ready for bed on Saturday. The bass drops and repeated thumping immediately made me regret not getting a pair of “Beats by Dre” headphones, but I did strap on my Bose Quiet Comforts.
This was one of those shows that only worked for me from home — I would never squish myself between those gooned out, bopping Zoomers. But watching them on the screen gave me endless amusement and joy. This was one of those where everyone, um, percolated in the chat and expressed lots of adoration. I’ve never done molly, LSD or other drugs that feel required to enjoy this environment. But it was fun listening at home.
Lake is a British electronic music producer and DJ, known for his contributions to the house music genre. Since breaking onto the scene with his 2006 hit “Changes,” Lake has delivered tracks that resonate with both underground listeners and mainstream audiences. His collaborations with heavyweights like Deadmau5 and Green Velvet have grown his reputation as a key player in the electronic music landscape.
The Postal Service
Gawd, this one I should have seen live. No one I know especially remembers The Postal Service — including me — but the music instantly felt familiar. What made it so extraordinary though was just the sound. This is something that felt straight out of Woodstock, from Jenny Lewis’ simple yet ethereal white dress and guitar, to Ben Gibbard and company delivering track after track with the kind of precision that only comes from years of playing together.
It isn’t necessarily the sound that speaks to me when I’m at home on Spotify, but it’s what I want from a music festival. The Postal Service delivered just amazing vocal phrasing and sound, and obviously connected with the audience in a way that brought many to tears — or so I heard.
They delivered a captivating and emotionally charged rendition of their 2003 album Give Up, a collaboration between Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and musician Jimmy Tamborello. The album was famously pieced together by exchanging CD-Rs through the mail, a process that’s almost quaint in today’s digital age.
Is this the future?
There is no Outside Lands without its in-person attendees. So don’t skip it on my account, but it’s a great alternative if you weren’t going anyway or could not afford it. OSL isn’t alone in the online game; Coachella, Glastonbury, and others have been streaming for years, offering the best of both worlds.
And while nothing replaces the thrill of a live crowd, there’s something deeply satisfying about enjoying a festival without the hassle. So while Outside Lands rocked Golden Gate Park, I had my own private concert — minus the mud, the lines, and the lingering scent of weed. And honestly? I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Saul Sugarman is editor in chief of The Bold Italic.
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