Story and photos by Jerome Parmer
San Francisco’s annual foggy summer musical celebration Outside Lands was a jam-packed sellout with crowds of over 75.000 enthusiastic fans mobbing the multi-stage festival in Golden Gate Park. Classic mid-60s overcast San Francisco weather was no impediment to the fun and festivities as crowds streamed in steadily starting at noon each day.
This year’s queer-centric Dolores Stage located at the eastern end of the polo field was a destination for many and a stopover for most everyone. Friday’s Hot Goth GF, Oasis, and Polyglamorous put together a weekend of DJ sets, dancers, and performers who had the dance floor packed and the crowd energized. Standouts included Kori King, DJ Beverly Chills, Hostess Nicki Jizz, Tito Soto, and DJ Vrok. “Reparations” was the theme on Saturday, intended to highlight and honor queer Black performers.
Our festival coverage focused on the outstanding talent and performances gifted to the audience by several LGBTQ+ performers. Having to choose from so many options at this multiple stage venue is both a blessing and a curse, but it’s a nice problem to have.
One of the most talked about performances of the festival was delivered by Ethel Cain on the main Lands End stage. Her songwriting and singing are simply amazing, and she’s just 28 years old. Many in the audience, including myself, were moved to tears by the end of her set. The raw emotion and intensity carried through in her delivery was so incredibly powerful. Standout songs included “Thoroughfare,” “Crush,” and “American Teenager” as the closer.
Another highlight was also emotionally compelling, multiple Grammy Award (with band Boygenius) winner Lucy Dacus’s solo set that had the crowd swaying and singing along. Midway through, she was joined for a duet onstage with Boygenius bandmate Julien Baker. Highlights were “Bullseye”with Julien, “True Blue,” and “Night Shift.” Relaxed and at ease onstage, she played at least seven or eight different guitars for her ten-song set.
Ally Evenson brought her unique indie rock and wonderful voice to the Panhandle Stage on Saturday afternoon. On the schedule early in the day, she deserved a larger audience, but those who were wise enough to seek her out were appreciative of her talent.
Durand Bernarr is an artist whom I was not familiar with prior to this past weekend. My mistake! He just flat out owned the stage and the audience during the middle of Friday afternoon on the Lands End stage. A singer-songwriter, producer, and DJ, he mixed soul, R&B and rap influences that reflect his experience traveling with his sound engineer father (working for Earth, Wind & Fire). He has listed Erykah Badu, Little Richard, and Rick James as influences.
Circling back to the Dolores stage, I heard repeatedly from many attendees how much they enjoyed their time at the hot pink LGBTQ+ oasis. It was easy to work off the chill on the dance floor there with the awesome beats the DJs dished out for the entire weekend! This was my first time at Outside Lands, and basking in the warm pink glow was clearly a key part of the experience for so many, myself included!
Jerome Parmer is an Oakland-based photographer who has photographed political, LGBTQ+, music, and other events in the Bay Area. Follow his current work on Instagram @drj_oakland and visit his website at https://www.fotospeak.com/
Arts & Entertainment
Published on August 13, 2026
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