After a one year absence, Outside Lands returned to San Francisco with a celebratory and raucous first day – though it was closed out with an at times strange performance by "The Strokes."
The popular indie-rock band headlined Friday's festivities with a performance that lead singer Julian Casablancas interrupted multiple times to complain about the speaker system and the city’s COVID-19 protocols.
The band front man opened the set – which started 20 minutes late at 8:30 p.m – by telling the crowd: "You guys may have been here for seven hours, but we just got here so we’re just going to f------ dive the f--- in."
Three songs into the act, a seemingly annoyed Casablancas paused the concert to remark that their volume was too soft.
"Am I deaf? Is it crazy low, or is it just low?" he asked, which prompted the crowd to cheer loudly in agreement.
"Is the P.A. on?" he continued, leading the crowd to loudly chant "turn it up!"
"Is the P.A. working?" he asked again, while pointing off-stage to someone.
After briefly continuing the performance with the band’s 2001 hit "Someday," Casablancas launched into another rant, this one aimed at San Francisco’s COVID-19 rules.
"I didn’t get let into a restaurant today," Casablancas said. "I have a vaccine card and they were like, 'You need both,' I guess, I don’t know. San Francisco, love it."
The band then performed the song "You Only Live Once," during which Casablancas sung a portion of the lyrics by meowing like a cat.
The band finished their set just after 9:30 p.m., playing approximately one hour when they were scheduled to be on stage for 90 minutes.
The beloved music festival continues Saturday and Sunday in Golden Gate Park, headlined by performances from Lizzo, Vampire Weekend, J Balvin and Kehlani.
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