The final day of Outside Lands 2023 ended the weekend on a calm note. While the first two days featured many artists with a more upbeat and louder style, the third day allowed fans to sit back and unwind with a down-to-earth feel.
The day started out in a style befitting the history of music in Golden Gate Park, with an acoustic set in the woods. Relatively new to the Outside Lands tradition, the Honda Music Den facilitated this homage masterfully, as a lower stage was erected amongst the trees in the center of the festival grounds, allowing artists to perform in a more intimate setting. Indie Rock artist Soccer Mommy was the first to perform in this arena that Sunday, as hundreds of fans crowded around the cozy setting to watch the artist give an acoustic and solo set. Taking the stage with nothing but a guitar and a smile, the artist took center stage and began her performance with “Circle the Drain.” By virtue of the size of the venue, the set became more interactive than a typical show at a major festival. Fans began to yell requests out in between songs, prompting the artist to admit “I keep hearing shoutouts for songs that I don’t remember how to play” which if nothing else, highlighted the dedication and admiration that the fans had for her music throughout her career. The setlist felt fulfilling with a full range of songs, including “Shotgun,” “Still Clean,” and “Scorpio Rising.” The artist chose to end her set with a throwback, stating “This last one is fairly old” and ended her performance with her 2017 ballad “Allison.”
Not much later on the Twin Peaks stage, another young indie artist kept the party going with her style of soft hits as Holly Humberstone played in San Francisco for the first time in her young career. She started off with some of her newer music as she delighted the crowd with her upbeat 2022 single “The Walls Are Way Too Thin.” Her set continued in a lively fashion as she played upbeat hits including “Overkill,” “Vanilla,” and “Falling Asleep at the Wheel.” As she began to introduce “Deep End,” she told the story of how it was inspired by her relationship with her sister’s mental health, however midway through this monologue, her band reminded her that they had one song on the setlist before that particular song. She then played “Antichrist” before reintroducing and playing “Deep End.” She continued on and eventually finished her set strong and sent audiences off with her final song “Scarlett.”
As the day began to wind down, Cigarettes After Sex took the stage for an hour of smooth listening. As the band began to take the stage, they walked up to an orchestral interlude as the display camera showed a black and white video of the crowd in real time. The ambiance was similar to the feel of an independent foreign film. As the band members finished filing in, they picked up their instruments and began their set with “Nothings Gonna Hurt You Baby.” The band’s heavy use of a fog machine coupled with the thick natural fog already present in the park felt like a hat on a hat, but redundant or not, it proved to set the mood for the act very well. At times, it almost felt like one could set their metronome to the beat of the setlist, with songs like “You’re All I Want,” “Sweet,” and “Sunsetz” all feeling similar in their pacing. The band sent the crowd off in a similar fashion and ended their performance with their 2017 single “Apocalypse.”
As the weekend drew to a close, one final act took the stage to close out the festivities for the year. American electronic duo ODESZA took the stage just as the sun set and sent the fans off with a set to remember. From the first note of their opening song “This Version of You,” it was clear that the artists had invested in their aesthetic and production value for this tour. The music was punctuated by an incredible light display that accentuated the dramatic flare of the music. After a few songs, a drum line appeared onstage, creating an orchestra of percussion, and remained onstage on and off for the remainder of the show, their movements feeling at times like a choreographed dance. Their collaborations did not end there, as Izzy Bizu joined the group onstage to perform the vocals to “Forgive Me.” The setlist was full of the duo’s music from all across their career, featuring songs including “A Moment Apart,” “Higher Ground,” and “Better Now.” As the night drew to a close, the band chose to end with the titular song of their tour and most recent album and finished with “The Last Goodbye.” The dramatics of the finale were somewhat soured by circumstance, however, as the fog rolled in just before the final fireworks display set off above the mainstage, the loud explosions able to be heard but not seen above the crowd. With that, the final day of Outside Lands 2023 drew to a close. With 15 years of the festival behind fans, one can only hope that they have many more than that ahead of them.
Check out more photos of Outside Lands 2023.
