Alternative rock singers Ethel Cain and Djo each drew thousands of people for their raw performances at Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday.
The singers kicked off the evening at the annual music festival’s Lands End stage in Golden Gate Park. The fog thickened above the crowd, which grew with more attendees in anticipation leading up to Cain’s and Djo’s appearances.
Cain entered the stage with a performance that vacillated between soft and gritty sounds and displayed her vocal range. She began with several songs from her latest album, “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,” a nod to the album reaching its first anniversary.
“Today is the one-year anniversary of this record,” she said to the crowd. “So thank you guys so much for showing up and singing with us. It means a lot.”
Cain and her band flowed into the eight-minute track “Nettles,” with audience members singing along to each verse. The strong guitar on “Dust Bowl” pierced through the crowd, leading to a transition into the darker themes of songs like “Punish” and “Ptolemaea.”
She then closed out her set with hit songs “American Teenager” and “Crush,” ending the performance on an upbeat note that had the crowd jumping up and down.
“Thank you so much, Outside Lands!” Cain said before heading off stage. “You guys are amazing as always. We’ll see you all next time!”
Crowds in front of the Lands End stage quickly shuffled around, with some leaving to catch other musical artists across the sprawling venue and others pouring in to get as close to the front for Djo’s Outside Lands debut.
Djo, whose real name is Joe Keery, is also an actor who rose to fame from starring in the television series “Stranger Things.”
He built on the momentum of the crowd with a high-energy performance in his Outside Lands debut. The crowd roared as he walked on stage before kicking off his set with the dramatic rock song “Awake.”
The singer yelled into the microphone during and in between songs, amping up the crowd, who danced to tracks that were mostly from his latest album, “The Crux.”
“The beautiful people of San Francisco, let’s go!” Djo said. “Let me see your hands all the way in the back, let’s go!”
The singer hopped and danced across the whole stage throughout the performance, an energy that rubbed off on the crowd. He and his band played songs like “Basic Being Basic” and “Delete Ya.”
During the song “Charlie’s Garden,” Djo played a voicemail recording from pop singer Charli XCX, who headlined Outside Lands Friday night.
Toward the end of the show, Djo sprinted up and down the walkway that split down the middle of the packed crowd during the song. He concluded the performance with a guitar-heavy version of his hit song “End of Beginning.”
“You guys are too kind, thank you so much for showing up, man!” Djo said.
