Review: Tyler, the Creator turns up the heat at Outside Lands festival

Tyler, the Creator had apparently forgotten what it was like to perform at Outside Lands.

“It’s cold as (expletive) in this (expletive),” the famed Los Angeles rapper announced after taking the stage for his headlining set on Saturday (Aug. 9) at chilly, foggy Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. “But we’re going to turn the heat up on this next one.”

In other words, problem solved — as Tyler, the Creator proceeded to turn the heat up not just on “the next one” but for pretty much his entire hour-plus set on Day 2 of the three-day festival. (Unfortunately, the artist was not allowing photographers to shoot his set, which is why you won’t see photos of him in this story.)

It was an all-around nice showing for the hip-hop icon, who had previously performed at Outside Lands in 2021. Of course, Tyler, the Creator was supposed to headline the festival last year but ended up cancelling. (The loss on the 2024 bill was greatly softened by his replacement — Sabrina Carpenter — doing such a great job in her festival headliner debut.)

Yet, it’s not like Northern California fans have had a shortage of opportunities to see Tyler, the Creator since the last Outside Lands. Indeed, the rapper played a trio of huge arena shows — at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Chase Center in San Francisco and Oakland Arena — just a few months back.

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To say it’s unusual for an artist to play multiple arena dates in an area and then so quickly return to that same region to headline a festival would be a vast understatement. Yet, Tyler, the Creator’s popularity is so gigantic — and the public’s thirst for his live performances so seemingly unquenchable — that his appearance at Outside Lands still made perfect sense.

The 20-song set was the latest stop on Tyler, the Creator’s blockbuster Chromakopia: The World Tour, which began earlier this year in support the artist’s eighth studio album of the same name. The road show is now, however, pulling double duty as it also highlights tracks from Tyler, the Creator’s recently released ninth offering, “Don’t Tap the Glass,” which reached stores in late July and immediately skyrocketed to No. 1 on the charts.

The rapper hit the crowd with four tracks from the new album — “Big Poe,” “I’ll Take Care of You,” “Sucka Free” and “Sugar on My Tongue” — all of which registered quite strongly with the crowd. Other highlights from the set included “Like Him” and “New Magic Wand.”

Prior to Tyler, the Creator’s headlining set, the 70,000-plus fans in attendance were treated to well-received offerings from Atlanta hip-hop legend Ludacris, L.A. alt-rock act Wallows, Florida indie-rockers Flipturn, Vallejo rapper LaRussell and Mountain View’s own alt-pop talent Sarah Kinsley earlier in the day on Saturday.

Ludacris performs on the Lands End stage during Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 9, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

One of Day 2’s most hotly anticipated sets came courtesy of Gracie Abrams, the rising pop star — and daughter of director J.J. Abrams — who has served as opening act for both Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. The singer-songwriter made good on the advance hype as she delivered a gorgeous 14-song set that drew strongly from her second studio album, last year’s “The Secret of Us.” (Abrams was also not allowing photographers to shoot her set.)

It was a wholly impressive and assured Outside Lands debut for Abrams, underscoring her position as one of the most promising young voices in all of pop.

The 2025 Outside Lands festival opened for business on Friday, which was highlighted by a really strong set from rising hip-hop star Doechii as well as performances from Doja Cat, Beck, John Summit and others. The three-day event was scheduled to close on Sunday with a headlining set from Hozier, following outings from Bleachers, Julie, Glass Animals and dozens more.

Dillon Basse performs with flipturn on the Twin Peaks stage at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 9, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

Tyler, the Creator Setlist
(Based on our notes and information from Setlist.fm)
1. “Big Poe”
2. “Sugar on My Tongue”
3. “St. Chroma”
4. “Rah Tah Tah”
5. “Noid”
6. “Darling, I”
7. “Sticky”
8. “She”
9. “IFHY”
10. “EARFQUAKE”
11. “LUMBERJACK”
12. “WUSYANAME”
13. “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?”
14. “DOGTOOTH”
15. “Who Dat Boy”
16. “Like Him”
17. “Sucka Free”
18. “I’ll Take Care of You”
19. “NEW MAGIC WAND”
20. “See You Again”