Featuring a who’s who of mainstream and indie tastemakers, Outside Lands 2025 drew nearly 225,000 attendees and generated over $70 million for San Francisco’s economy, blending star-studded night shows with steep ticket and vendor prices that echoed the city’s high cost of living.

Stream: “I Told You Things” – Gracie Abrams

Though Outside Lands – the annual August weekend that brings together music and art lovers in San Francisco – boasted an attendance of nearly 225,000 people this year, some of this past weekend’s most unexpected magic came alive in its night shows: The intimate, more personal after-hours performances by artists at the festival. This year’s after-hours lineup included artists like Floating Points, Thundercat, Still Woozy, Fujii Kaze, BLOND:ISH, Black Coffee, Hope Tala, and Luna Li.

Some honorable mentions include 25-year-old Gracie Abrams, a pop singer/songwriter who has been writing emotionally charged breakup ballads since 2019, arguably most well known for opening for select days of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. Australian indie duo Royel Otis were a somewhat unexpected fan favorite during their Saturday set, flooding out the Twin Peaks stage to capacity and guiding their fans in a heartfelt and nostalgic belting of “Linger” by The Cranberries – a cover that’s recently gained them some digital virality.

Over 110 artists performed across eight stages with more than 95 local food and drink vendors, and 85% of these vendors were women and people of color. © Alive Coverage

In April 2024, Ezra Koenig and Vampire Weekend released their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, kicking off the world tour on Koenig’s 40th birthday during a total solar eclipse. Known for spontaneity, Koenig even led the band in fan-requested covers mid-set, from Phish deep cuts to Billy Joel classics. © Alive Coverage

In early 2025, Jorja Smith released the shimmering, dance-floor-ready single “With You,” following the groove-heavy “The Way I Love You.” Her Outside Lands set mirrored her Glastonbury and Kalorama festival performances, weaving sultry R&B with UK garage and dancehall, while showcasing her commanding stage presence. © Alive Coverage

The Night Shows

Thundercat, who played a show near midnight at The Independent last Friday, recently announced a string of North American fall tour dates that includes October stops in Atlanta, Miami, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. This is the first time that Thundercat, also known as Stephen Bruner, has announced live tour dates in nearly two years. In his nearly four decades in the music industry, Bruner has become lovingly recognizable for his prodigal-level bass playing adeptness, lighthearted, relatable lyrics, and colorful, knit sweaters and caps that celebrate his longtime love of cats.

The renowned bassist found his first instrument at the age of four, picking up and practicing a black Harmony guitar, taking after his father, a drummer who played with legends like The Temptations, The Supremes, and Gladys Knight. Though it has been four years since Bruner’s last solo project – the 2020 Grammy-winning It Is What It Is – he’s been busy collaborating with everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Silk Sonic to Kaytranada, Smino, Big Sean, Channel Tres and Victoria Monet.

Luckily, Bay Area fans were able to get a taste of what a private concert from him would feel like, as he started his night show set off with five completely new, unheard tracks. The songs were psychedelic, cosmic, and abstract in their arrangement; almost reflecting what it’s like to listen to live, spontaneous jazz. He carried through the night playing some of his most popular classics; “Black Quails,” “Show You The Way,” and “Them Changes,” ending with an unexpected audience request: “Oh Sheit It’s X.” Older fans in the crowd recognized this song from nearly 12 years ago – released in 2013 – on his second studio album.

His stage name is derived from the 1980s animated series, Thundercats. The name reflects both Bruner’s childhood fandom for anime and cartoons and his vibrant, often fantastical approach to music.

At Outside Lands 2025, Thundercat lit up the Lands End stage with a sun-drenched set full of feel-good grooves. Clad in all black and sporting long, ombre locks, he rolled through hits like “Them Changes” (2017) and “Dragonball Durag” (2022), dropped one brand-new song, and teased that more tracks are on the way. © Alive Coverage

Outside Lands 2025 marked Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner’s return to San Francisco after nearly four years, and he came armed with virtuosic bass solos, anime references, and his trademark cosmic humor (“This one’s for the cats… literally”). Midway through the set, he slipped into “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)” complete with playful meows, before closing with a ferocious, extended version of “Them Changes.” © Alive Coverage

Thundercat performed on Friday, August 8 at Outside Lands, playing a nearly hour-long set of songs from It Is What It Is and Drunk. The name Thundercat is a reference to the cartoon he's loved since childhood and an extension of his vibrant approach to his craft. © Alive Coverage — Thundercat performed on Friday, August 8 at Outside Lands, playing a nearly hour-long set of songs from It Is What It Is and Drunk. The name Thundercat is a reference to the cartoon he’s loved since childhood and an extension of his vibrant approach to his craft. © Alive Coverage

Later on in the weekend, Sunday night closed out with a late-night DJ set from South African DJ Black Coffee at 1015 Folsom, known by Bay Area natives as one of the best venues for dance, house, and electronic music. Born Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, Black Coffee was born in eThekwini, South Africa, majored in jazz studies, and later worked as a local backup singer before getting his big break through the Red Bull Music Academy in 2003.

Across his nearly three-decade long career, Black Coffee has been known for his 2021 Grammy-winning dance album Subconsciously, co-writing and co-producing three songs on Drake’s 2022 album Honestly, Nevermind, and becoming the first South African artist to sell out New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden.

The Prices

While Outside Lands captures so many qualities that make San Francisco unique – the signature fog enveloping attendees as they navigate the grassy hills of Golden Gate Park, stages named after the city’s most iconic neighborhoods – it has also come to mirror the Bay Area’s crushing cost of living.

Ticket prices tell the story starkly. A three-day General Admission pass cost $409 in 2023, but desperate fans paid over $1,250 on the resale market. By 2025, that same GA pass jumped to $539, while a single day of VIP access costs $569. These prices consistently rank Outside Lands among the most expensive music festivals in the country, often exceeding even Coachella, where single-day tickets start around $220.

Having attended the festival for nearly eight consecutive years, I’ve watched these economic pressures extend far beyond admission. During the festival’s grueling 12-hour days, I typically need to refuel at food stalls at least twice – usually three times. Even seeking out what seemed like reasonable options, I paid $25 for pulled pork mac and cheese from Smokin Woods BBQ (ironically, a restaurant in my own Oakland neighborhood of Temescal). A midday Jamaican curry chicken patty cost $12.

These prices nearly double what the same vendors charge at their brick-and-mortar locations. The festival justifies this markup by emphasizing their commitment to local businesses, but with virtually no alternatives for sustenance, attendees become a captive market. Beer averages $10, cocktails reach $20 with tip, and I witnessed one vendor hawking a $30 octopus hot dog – a price that would be absurd anywhere but somehow feels inevitable here.

Across three packed days, Outside Lands 2025 turned Golden Gate Park into a living soundtrack—where Bay Area locals and travelers alike wove between stages, food stalls, and art installations, catching everything from sunrise guitar riffs to fog-soaked midnight DJ sets. © Alive Coverage

While we lined up for what felt like the fifth time on Saturday to use the barely-serviced port-a-potties, one of my friends remarked that Lollapalooza – Chicago’s iconic four-day music festival that always falls on the weekend before Outside Lands – started at $385 for four days of General Admission, and four-day GA+ starts at $715, and had flushable restrooms for all attendees to use. Comparably, Outside Lands, which is a day shorter, had its three-day GA+ tickets listed starting at $759. The higher price point felt especially unjustified when half a dozen times throughout the weekend, there was no water or soap in any of the hand-washing stations. It felt like the smallest luxury that should be afforded with the cost of a ticket: the ability to properly wash our hands.

Outside Lands has become more than a music festival; it’s become an economic microcosm of San Francisco itself, where even cultural experiences carry the weight of the city’s relentless financial pressures.

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