To borrow some terminology from the Carters, this year’s Outside Lands “was a fucking zoo.” Childish Gambino’s headlining show Saturday saw a record-breaking attendance of 90,000. On-site weed vendors at the verdant “GrassLands” made the event the largest in the country to allow the legal sale and consumption of cannabis. It was even a bit frightening — three shootings in the United States preceding the festival meant extra safety precautions had to be taken, including the appointment of armed SWAT teams on the ground. 

But Outside Lands was also, as any major musical festival should be, exhilaratingly surreal. The revelry of a single curated live performance from a favorite musician is an experience to be cherished. To stack many such performances back to back for three days is something else altogether. During this year’s festival, artists didn’t hesitate to pull out all their showy stops — setting cars on fire, swimming into the crowd on glittering platforms, unexpectedly inviting legendary rock icons to perform alongside them. Read on for The Daily Californian’s coverage of — and superlatives for — some of the most noteworthy acts from the weekend.  

— Ryan Tuozzolo