With a top line of Doja Cat, Hozier and Tyler, The Creator — sitting just above such acclaimed acts as John Summit, Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals and Glass Animals — Outside Lands certainly has plenty of big-time acts on the bill for 2025.
That’s a good thing, given that nothing sells festival tickets quite like a batch of hot headliners and top support acts.
Still, those well-known names represent just a relatively small portion of the lineup.
Overall, the three-day festival — set for Aug. 8-10 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco — will feature well over 120 artists.
With that many acts, working multiple stages at conflicting times, it can be really hard to figure out where you should be — and, most importantly, who you should be watching — during this jam-packed event.
That’s where we come in — with recommendations for which acts you definitely should try to catch during your time in the park.
You probably don’t need our help with the headliners — given that they are most likely the reasons why you bought your passes in the first place. Instead, we’ll stick with the lesser-known gems on the bill.
For a complete schedule and more information, visit sfoutsidelands.com.
Here are 14 artists you should know about — and catch at the 2025 Outside Lands:
Day 1, Aug. 8
Destroy Boys: Arguably the best rock act to come out of Sacramento since Cake in the early ‘90s, Destroy Boys got its start in 2015 — while vocalist Alexia Roditis and guitarist Violet Mayugba were still in high school. One year later, the troupe released the debut full-length “Sorry, Mom” — featuring the underground classic “I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation” — and the rest has pretty much been history. Destroy Boys has toured with Blink-182, Alkaline Trio, Taking Back Sunday, Pierce the Veil and other well-known pop-rock/alt-rock acts; released three more full-lengths (the most recent being last year’s “Funeral Soundtrack No. 4”); and gained recognition as one of NorCal’s finest punk bands.
When & where: 1:35 p.m., Lands End stage
Listen to: “I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation”
INJI: The native of Turkey has an extensive background in classical and jazz, having studied music theory and piano at the Istanbul University State Conservatory in 2008. She then spent years taking part in piano competitions across Europe. She’d later move to the U.S. and form a jazz band. Ironically, the Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter ended up making her biggest splash in the pop realm — thanks to a pair of her groovy dance tunes, “Gaslight” and “Madeline,” going viral on TikTok in 2022. INJI has only gotten better since then, with her latest single — the industrial/electronic pop gem “U Won’t!” — possibly being her strongest offering to date.
When & where: 2:15 p.m., Twin Peaks stage; 5 p.m. Duboce Triangle (DJ set)
Listen to: “U Won’t!”
Alemeda: This rising star, who split her time growing up between Ethiopia and Arizona, is blessed with a versatile voice that seems equally at home no matter the specific style — or mood — of the music it inhabits. Alemeda is absolutely best known for 2021’s “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows,” her debut single which has now drawn more than 14 million streams on Spotify alone. That was a groovy drum-and-bass number, with Alemeda adopting a breathy SZA-esque approach to her vocals. Yet the tunes that followed have been more straightforward soul-pop offerings. And — while definitely not pulling “Eyebrows”-style numbers online — these newer cuts are every bit as worthy of your time as that first viral hit.
When & where: 12:20 p.m., Lands End stage
Listen to: “Chameleon”
Role Model: In 2017, Tucker Pillsbury made two important decisions. One was to change his stage name from simply Tucker to Role Model. The other was to move from rapping to singing. Both of those choices would pay off handsomely on the EP “Arizona in the Summer,” which showed enough promise to land the Cape Elizabeth, Maine, native a deal with mighty Interscope Records. He’d prove worthy of Interscope’s confidence (and money) over the course of two well-received indie-pop albums — 2022’s “Rx” and last year’s “Kansas Anymore.” His film career is also flourishing; he stars in Lena Dunham’s upcoming romantic comedy “Good Sex” with Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo and Meg Ryan.
When & where: 7:15 p.m., Sutro stage
Listen to: “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”
Day 2, Aug. 9
LaRussell: You just can’t knock the work ethic of this Vallejo rapper, who has reportedly released a staggering 40 (!) albums in just seven years. That’s what can happen when you are blessed with the uncanny ability of being able to write a song in roughly the same time it takes many of us to make a sandwich. “The universe really gives it to me,” LaRussell said in an interview with Billboard, pointing out that it’s never taken him longer than 15 minutes to pen a tune. The over-the-top productivity has paid off for LaRussell, who has steadily built a fan base and now ranks as one of the hottest artists on the Bay Area hip-hop scene.
When & where: 3 p.m., Lands End stage
Listen to: “Again”
The Army, The Navy: The best harmonies to be found on any stage — on any day — may well come courtesy of this Mill Valley folk-pop duo. Listen to the group’s dual EPs from 2024 — “Fruit for Flies” and “Sugar for Bugs” — and what you will hear are two voices that fit together so naturally and effortlessly that it’s almost like they were always meant to be together. And, indeed, maybe they were. That would certainly explain the amazing connection between Maia Ciambriello and Sasha Goldberg, who shared the same vocal coach growing up and then went on to study music together at Loyola University in New Orleans.
When & where: 1:35 p.m.; Panhandle stage
Listen to: “Vienna (In Memoriam)”
Flipturn: The Fernandina Beach, Florida, outfit is one of our favorite indie-pop bands of the last five years, thanks to a pair of full-length albums — the 2022 debut “Shadowglow” and the 2025 follow-up “Burnout Days” — which just keep sounding better with each spin. And we’re certainly not the only ones on the Flipturn bandwagon, which gets more crowded each time the group plays a high-profile gig at someplace like Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Bonnaroo and South by Southwest. Expect that trend to continue when Flipturn gets its turn at Outside Lands.
When & where: 3:50 p.m., Twin Peaks stage
Listen to: “August”
Wunderhorse: Having gotten its start as a solo project for singer-songwriter Jacob Slater early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wunderhorse quickly transformed into a full band and drew rave reviews with the release of the 2022 debut “Cub.” The U.K. indie-rock act garnered even more attention as it scored prime support slots on tours by Fontaines D.C., the Pixies and Foals. Wunderhorse released its much-anticipated sophomore album, “Midas,” in mid-2024 and it charged right into the Top 10 on the U.K. album charts.
When & where: 2:20 p.m., Twin Peaks stage
Listen to: “Teal”
Day 3, Aug. 10
TxC: The South African DJ/record production duo, consisting of Tarryn Reid and Clairise Hefke, first came to fame via social media and then built upon that start with performances at a number of high-profile events, such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup. TxC specializes in the genre known as Amapiano, which draws from various South African-rooted electronic music styles (most notably kwaito and gqom) as well as jazz, soul, deep house and lounge music. The group won the trophy for Best New International Act at the 2025 BET Awards.
When & where: 1:35 p.m., SOMA stage
Listen to: “Turn Off the Lights”
Neal Francis: The Chicago-based singer-songwriter-pianist has always been intrigued by music that straddles the line between rock and funk. “In the past I’ve asked myself things like, ‘What would it sound like if Thin Lizzy cut a disco record?’” Francis is quoted as saying on the Outside Lands website. “It’s something I’ve been fascinated with for a very long time, so I finally decided to really go for it.” The result is “Return to Zero,” Francis’ funky fabulous latest album of cool indie-rock and dance grooves. One suspects that these tunes will translate marvelously on the concert stage.
When & where: 7:50 p.m., Panhandle stage
Listen to: “Can’t Stop the Rain”
Julie: This Orange County trio is one of the best shoegaze outfits to come along in a really long time. Some people, however, would prefer to label the troupe as “nu gaze” (a descendent of shoegaze). Whatever. We just know we love to crank up all the cool fuzzy distorted tunes from the group’s wonderful 2024 full-length debut, “My Anti-Aircraft Friend.” Recommended for fans of My Bloody Valentine who claim they just can’t find anything new worth listening to these days.
When & where: 6:05 p.m., Panhandle stage
Listen to: “Flutter”
Rebecca Black: Another awesome Orange County product, Black was just 13 when she went viral — to the tune of some 150 million views on YouTube — with the catchy pop tune “Friday” in 2011. (Yes, we know that some people love to bash “Friday,” but we take it for what it is and really enjoy it.) Two years later, this former musical theater kid cranked up the dance groove on the appropriately titled companion-piece hit, “Saturday” (with Dave Days). While both of those numbers wouldn’t sound out of place on an early Carly Rae Jepsen outing, Black has adopted a much edgier alt-electro-pop sound for her two full-length albums — 2023’s “Let Her Burn” and this year’s “Salvation.”
When & where: 5:30 p.m., Sutro stage; 7:25 p.m., Dolores’ dance club
Listen to: “Trust!”
Orla Gartland: The 30-year-old singer-songwriter is already a star in her native Ireland, where her debut studio album — “Woman on the Internet” — reached No. 3 on the album charts (as well No. 10 on the U.K. album chart). Sold-out tours and appearances at Glastonbury and other festivals, plus streaming numbers in the hundreds of millions, have solidified Gartland’s position as one of the most promising indie-folk-pop artists on the scene today. Her latest effort, “Everybody Needs a Hero,” was another top 10 hit in Ireland and received positive reviews from a number of critics.
When & where: 2:55 p.m., Panhandle stage
Listen to: “Why Am I Like This?”
BigXthaPlug: This Dallas native has caught our attention with a combination of clever rhymes, catchy hooks and a Southern-fried, country-infused hip-hop style that somehow manages to sound both refreshingly new and comfortably familiar. BigXthaPlug has built his name with some real bangers — including “Texas” and “Mmhmm” — but both of his full-length studio efforts are pretty much worth listening to from start to finish. And both of those outings — 2023’s “Amar” and last year’s “Take Care” — have been certified gold.
When & where: 5:15 p.m., Twin Peaks stage
Listen to: “All the Way”