Outside Lands celebrated its 10th anniversary last weekend, reaching a milestone that has become increasingly difficult to achieve as the festival landscape has gotten more and more crowded. San Francisco’s late-summer staple treated more than 200,000 people to three days of exceptional music, art, and food with a lineup more akin to its early offerings, leaning on rock, alternative, and hip-hop. It’s almost impossible to catch a bad set in the fog-filled confines of Golden Gate Park, but these were some of our favorite performances from the weekend.

Gorillaz

Gorillaz probably had the widest appeal of this year’s headliners and put on a monster of a performance on the Lands End stage to cap the first night. The song selection left little to be desired, spanning the entire catalog with dance numbers like “Dirty Harry,” oldies like “M1 A1,” and standouts from their latest release Humanz in the form of “Strobelite.” The English collective commanded the attention of the packed crowd, flashing their instrumentation on each track while captivating eyes with the iconic character visuals fans have grown familiar with over the years.

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes made a long-awaited return this year and were slotted as the warm-up to Friday night’s grueling decision between the Gorillaz and Alt-J. They graced the festival airwaves as the sunset briefly broke through over the steep hills behind the Sutro stage, delivering a truly mesmerizing performance. Of course, many of their older anthems made an appearance, but it was clear the band wanted the standouts pieces from their new album Crack-Up to develop a live persona, and the sprawling crowd welcomed that mission with open arms.

Real Estate

The intimacy and potential for genuine engagement makes the Sutro stage one of the favorites for Outside Lands artists and fans alike. Real Estate, like many of the artists that got to play there, found themselves humbled by its energy and embraced the opportunity to cut loose. At times, they unleashed their psychedelic side and jammed deeper into songs that usually have a sleepier personality in the studio. It was a well-placed set in the heart of Saturday afternoon and cooked up nothing but joy and elation for the fans who came for the magnetic melodies of their easy-going alternative.

Thundercat

As one of the most impressive bassists in the music world, Thundercat doesn’t try to appeal to a mass audience or soften his style for a festival crowd. He put on one of the funkiest sets of the weekend and let his unique song structure and unrelenting melodies take root at Twin Peaks on Saturday. “Them Changes” was easily the biggest throwdown of the set, but listeners with sharp enough ears had plenty to lend to all of his grooves. Thundercat made it clear that it truly is cool to be a cat.

Marco Benevento

Anyone that made it early enough on Sunday was treated to one of many gems waiting to be uncovered on the Panhandle stage with Marco Benevento burning the fog away with a heater of a set. He opened with “The Story of Fred Short,” a seven-track psych rock dance party that pulled in festivalgoers commuting between the larger stages. Benevento promised to bring out the sun and did just that, showing mastery of both the keys and the weather as he and his trio sent waves of unrelenting joy through everyone that stopped in for a listen.

Khruangbin

Another Panhandle gem Sunday came in the form of Khruangbin and their minimalist jazz and funk. Their music doesn’t seek approval but it was received tenfold as they flashed their tightness and instrumentation, playing most of the music on The Universe Smiles Upon You. The grooves were as subtle and seductive as bassist Laura Lee unhinged any stuck feet in the grass. The trio even teased A Tribe Called Quest, giving subtle nod to the hip-hop legends who were forced to cancel their Outside Lands performance.

The Who

The Sunday headliner slot at Outside Lands is always filled with musical icons, and this year the festival paid homage to one of the bands that was part of another San Francisco anniversary – the 50-year celebration of The Summer of Love – by bringing The Who back to the Bay Area. Granted, most of the crowd was full of millennials that likely only became wise to The Who if their parents put them on, but there was no way a collection of timeless ballads like theirs could fall flat. They worked through hits like “I Can’t Explain,” “The Seeker,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” and “Bargain” as thick fog draped every inch of Golden Gate Park. Familiar lyrics were met with echoes from the crowd and it was clear that fans that came to see The Who got exactly what they wanted. It was a raucous end to a weekend that will undoubtedly linger with all who attended.

You can also check out photos from Outside Lands this weekend below, courtesy of photographer Dave Vann.