Outside Lands: 6 cool acts you should definitely see at the 2024 festival

Tens of thousands of music lovers are gearing up to spend three days – Aug. 9-11 – at the 2024 Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

The attractions are bountiful, ranging from plenty of tantalizing food and drink options to the natural beauty of the park itself.

And, of course, you’ve got the all those amazing acts who are set to perform across multiple stages during this world-class festival.

As per usual, this year’s Outside Lands bill is diversely appealing and should please fans of multiple genres. The offerings include some of the industry’s heavyweights – such as headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Sturgill Simpson and The Killers – as well as numerous rising stars and other attractions.

Here is a look at six acts that fans should definitely check out at this year’s festival.

For more information, visit sfoutsidelands.com.

Grace Jones

This was the name that seemed to cause more excitement than any other on the bill, to the point where you could almost feel a wave of anticipation rushing across the Outside Lands community the moment the lineup was announced.

And why wouldn’t people be thrilled? We are, after all, talking about the one-and-only Grace Jones, who has been wowing fans with her avant-garde mix of pop, disco, new wave, industrial and other sounds since the ‘70s. And, according to our own research, it appears this will be her first performance in the city of San Francisco in nearly a quarter of a century.

Listen to: “I Need a Man,” “Slave to the Rhythm,” “Love on Top of Love,” “Pull Up to the Bumper,” “Love Is the Drug”

Performs: 6:55 p.m. Aug. 10, Lands End Stage

Renee Rapp

Her name isn’t really Regina George. But she’s still a massive deal.

And she’s also a massive talent.

Sure, the 24-year-old North Carolina native remains, by far, best known for playing the role of Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls” — as well as in the fine film adaptation from earlier this year.

Yet, Rapp is also a pop star on the rise, with an EP and a full-length album — 2022’s “Everything to Everyone” and 2023’s “Snow Angel,” respectively — to her credit.

The crowd will dig hearing her solo pop stuff, but fans will really make some noise if/when Rapp delivers the “Mean Girls” anthem “Meet the Plastics.”

Listen to: “Meet the Plastics,” “Too Well,” “Pretty Girls,” “World Burn,” “Talk too Much,” “Someone Gets Hurt”

Performs: 6:55 p.m. Aug. 9, Twin Peaks Stage

Corinne Bailey Rae

Everyone knows this soulful singer-songwriter for “Put Your Records On,” to the point where — just from reading that title – the song will now likely be stuck in many of your heads all day long. That 2006 smash is one of the most memorable singles of the 21st century, one that earned a 2007 Grammy song of the year nomination and pushed its parent album — “Corinne Bailey Rae” — to multiplatinum heights.

Although she’s never come close to reaching that kind of commercial success again, Rae has continued to release intriguing album over the years. Her most recent is last year’s “Black Rainbows,” which garnered good reviews from both critics and fans.

Listen to: “Put Your Records On” (of course), “Like a Star,” “Trouble Sleeping,” “Closer,” “The Skies Will Break,” “Peach Velvet Sky”

Performs: 4:30 p.m. Aug. 11, Sutro

K.Flay

After graduating high school, the Illinois native traveled across the country to further her studies at Stanford University, where she ended up earning degrees in both psychology and sociology. Around the same time, however, she started making music, with her debut mixtape — “Suburban Rap Queen” — hitting shelves in 2005.

Since then, the rapper born Kristine Flaherty has risen to become a major force in alternative hip-hop and rock thanks to such popular outings as 2014’s “Life as a Dog,” 2017’s “Every Where Is Some Where, 2022’s “Inside Voices / Outside Voices” and last year’s “Mono.”

Listen to: “Blood in the Cut,” “Raw Raw,” “Zen,” “High Enough,” “Doctor Don’t Know”

Performs: 2:45 p.m. Aug. 10, Lands End

Slowdive

With the possible exception of Grace Jones, there’s no act on the bill that we are looking forward to seeing more than this wonderful shoegaze outfit from Reading, England.

Slowdive has released five full-length studio albums during the course of its career — and all of them are well worth owning. That certainly includes the shimmering beauty that is “Everything Is Alive,” the group’s most recent outing and arguably the single finest chill-out record of 2023. Here’s hoping the fog rolls in right as the band begins to play.

Listen to: “When the Sun Hits,” “Alison,” “Sugar for the Pill,” “Skin in the Game,” “No Longer Making Time,” “Kisses”

Performs: 8:30 p.m. Aug. 11, Sutro

Charley Crockett

You just can’t knock the work ethic of this Texas troubadour, who has managed to release more than a dozen full-length albums in a little over nine years.

His latest offering is the newly released “Visions of Dallas,” which nicely showcases Crockett’s old-school-country-meets-soul sound over the course of 12 songs.

This is country-soul for people who grew up listening to both Merle Haggard and Marvin Gaye. And whether or not that describes any of the people who will turn out to see the singer in San Francisco, we fully expect Crocket to mint thousands of new fans with his sublime musical mix at Outside Lands.

Listen to: “Hard Luck & Circumstances,” $10 Cowboy,” “Welcome to Hard Times,” “I Can Help,” “I Am Not Afraid”

Performs: 5:40 p.m. Aug. 10, Twin Peaks