Doechii lights up Outside Lands

A bold, energetic set from Doechii and a surprise Troye Sivan cameo mark a festival moment that blends sensuality, Black artistry, and theatrical staging.

Doechii Dominates Outside Lands With High-Energy Boom Box Show

Doechii headlined the Twin Peaks Stage at Outside Lands in a 7 p.m. performance built around a School of Hip Hop concept. The rapper and vocalist delivered a high-energy show with a troupe of 10 plus dancers and a set designed to resemble a giant vintage boom box. She performed hits including Nissan Altima and Anxiety, dropped a Beyoncé cover America Has a Problem, and echoed Daft Punk influences during Persuasive. The act drew praise for choreography, stagecraft, and its striking visual style, with critics likening the intensity to the best moments of Janet Jackson, Donald Glover, and early Britney Spears. The crowd reacted with enthusiasm, suggesting Doechii could be a breakout star of the festival.

At the Sutro Stage, Role Model opened with Writing's on the Wall from Kansas Anymore and later covered the 1975's Somebody Else. The centerpiece of his set arrived near the end during Sally When the Wine Runs Out, when he invited Troye Sivan to appear as Sally. The moment adds to a pattern of high profile guests for Role Model and reflects a broader trend of cross-artist collaborations that keep festival audiences buzzing.

Doechii’s Outside Lands set signals a shift in how festival performances can feel: immersive, theatrically staged and unapologetically Black. The classroom concept and the large dance ensemble turn a concert into a spectacle that prioritizes craft and presence over simple song delivery. That approach resonates with a growing appetite for shows that fuse music with fashion, dance, and storytelling, creating a sense of event as opposed to just a playlist.

The Role Model moment reinforces a broader pattern in contemporary pop culture where guest appearances become expected, almost scripted, festival theater. Troye Sivan’s Sally role adds to a roster of surprise collaborators that includes Natalie Portman and Bowen Yang, underlining how awards season style meets club energy. While this can boost visibility and cultural conversation, it also invites scrutiny of who gets invited, who is represented, and the balance between spectacle and substance.

Highlights

The festival scene keeps testing limits and inviting new kinds of stagecraft.