Review: San Jose native has triumphant homecoming at Outside Lands
Growing up in the Bay Area, Dan Griffith would attend Outside Lands — as a fan — and dream about someday headlining the music festival’s big Twin Peaks stage.
On Friday, he lived out the dream.
The San Jose native — who is far better known these day by his stage name Gryffin — drew tens of thousands of fans to see him close down that marquee stage on Day One of the three-day event, which continues through Sunday in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
“Tonight is a big one for me,” Griffith told fans during one of the breaks in the pulsating, laser-rich action. “This is my hometown festival.”
It was nothing short of a triumphant homecoming for the 36-year-old DJ/producer/musician, who now ranks among the biggest stars in all of electronic dance music.
Gryffin’s set was a distinct highlight of Day 1’s roughly 10 hours of music, which drew some 70,000 fans to see dozens of acts appearing across multiple stages. Other notable performers included headliners The Killers, “Mean Girls” star Renee Rapp, Tyla, The Last Dinner Party and The Japanese House.
The festival continues through Sunday with such acts as Sturgill Simpson, Corinne Bailey Rae, Teddy Swims, Post Malone, Slowdive, TV Girl and — the artist that is drawing more buzz than any other on the bill — Chappell Roan.
Gryffin came to Outside Lands in support of his heralded new album “Pulse,” which features contributions from such talents as John Newman, Rita Ora, MAX, Elderbrook, Calle Lehmann and the legendary DJ-producer Armin van Buuren. It’s his third full-length platter to date and his first since 2022’s “Alive.”
He performed to what appeared to be about an equal mix of already converted fans, who were singing along to the lyrical portion of the production, and newbies who simply wanted to check out this rising Bay Area talent. And everybody in attendance seemed to enjoy the performance, bouncing along to the ample grooves and pumping their fists to the big beats.
Gryffin certainly has a lot to offer onstage, mixing up the regular DJ/producer bit with moments in which he showcases his guitar playing and piano work. Throw in a boatload of special effects, including vibrant video segments shown on the big screens as well as a laser show, pyrotechnics and plenty of billowing smoke, and you really had a memorable production.
While Gryffin was dropping the beats on Twin Peaks, The Killers were rip-roaring their way through their own headlining set on the festival’s largest stage — Lands End. They appeared before fans in their regular unassuming fashion right around 8:30 p.m.
“We are The Killers,” lead vocalist Brandon Flowers told the audience as the band got ready to play. “And we are a great rock ‘n’ roll band.
“Here — let me show you.”
He’d proceed to do just that as the band kicked off the set with a feverish version of “Somebody Told Me” and then continued on through a set that drew tens of thousands of spectators.
One of the other highly anticipated sets of the day came from “Mean Girls” star Renee Rapp, the 24-year-old North Carolina native who is famous for superbly playing the role of Regina George in both the Broadway musical and the topnotch film adaptation from earlier this year. She’s not nearly as well known — at least not yet — for her pop music recording career, which has so far produced the 2022 EP “Everything to Everyone” and the 2023 full-length “Snow Angel.” But that is changing.
Being careful not to wear pink — since it wasn’t a Wednesday — a big crowd turned out to see Rapp’s set, which took place immediately prior to Gryffin’s headlining gig on the Twin Peaks stage. They mostly seemed to enjoy Rapp’s moderately engaging alt-pop songs, which fall somewhere in the Billie Eilish realm and really don’t make good use of her big Broadway vocal ability. Yet, she’d showcase her towering voice late in the set, impressing everyone in the crowd with her soaring take on the power ballad “In the Kitchen.”
What would have really wowed the audience, however, was if Rapp would have decided to unleash a “Mean Girls” cut like “Meet the Plastics” or “World Burn.” Unfortunately, that never happened. I get it — she wants people like me to stop referring to her as “‘Mean Girls’ star Renee Rapp” and highlight her pop music career instead.
So, I won’t go so far as to say that it was mean that Rapp and her band didn’t play any of those Broadway musical numbers at Outside Lands.
Or else they might tell me I can’t sit with them at lunch.