Summer of Queens (Part Deux)

The magic continues!

Aug 14, 2024

Grace Jones at Outside Lands 2024: the best photo I’ve ever taken y/y?

Last month, I wrote about the semi-unplanned Summer of Queens I’ve been having, with the opportunity to write about live performances by Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Monie Love and more.

I attended and covered my 15th of 16 Outside Lands festivals in Golden Gate Park this past weekend, and I already miss it. The event is just a 15 minute walk from my house, and I can hear the main Lands End stage fire up from my room every year. It has been known to get crazy out here, and I’m one of the people in the surrounding neighborhoods who loves it the most. There’s nothing better than sub-bass rumbling through my Avenues. It all goes by too quickly for me.

Some years, I’m running across the park with strength I don’t have in order to catch acts at far-apart stages to write performance recaps or reviews. This year, the music coverage I thought I’d be assigned failed to materialize, which was disappointing. Luckily, I was still able to cover the incredible festival food and now can use my newsletter to give flowers to three generations of Queens who I loved and was lucky to see at Outside Lands: Grace Jones, Chappell Roan and Crystal Waters!

I saw Grace for the first time at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022, so I had some idea of what her setlist might be like on Saturday. But nothing prepared me for her stunning entrance. The band started playing, the curtain dropped and there she was, towering stories above her musicians while wearing a flowing version of the Keith Haring “I’m Not Perfect But I’m Perfect For You” skirt and singing “Nightclubbing.”

The breath definitely left my body then, and it departed again when she later defied the stage managers to hop on a security dude’s shoulders and high-five her way through the center aisle with tears of joy and gratitude streaming down her face. She cried while singing about the maternal side of her family in “Williams’ Blood,” too.

As she hula hooped her way through her band introduction and “Slave to the Rhythm,” I wished for a protective hula hoop of fire to be placed around this international treasure. Grace Jones Forever! Summer of Queens Forever!

The young person next to me who asked for my lighter during the performance said they didn’t know that Grace had songs, they just knew she was once a theme on RuPaul’s Drag Race. I similarly met someone at a party last month who only thought she was a model.

Loved that the screens were in black and white for Grace

She wasn’t billed as a headliner, which was a travesty, but this was a year where some of the actual headliners didn’t get headline-sized crowds, and afternoon artists on smaller stages that became global hitmakers after they were booked got the biggest crowds, as it was for Shaboozey, Tyla and Chappell Roan.

Bohemian Creamery’s Girl Dinner, eaten during Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan drew a headlining crowd at 4pm (and headliner Sturgill Simpson got tumbleweeds later that night)

It was only recently that I started watching Chappell Roan’s videos to see what all the recent fuss is about, and I now understand and enjoy it all: her music, her videos, the ardent fan base and even the Roan-ified service dogs spotted in the crowd with pink hats, ruffles and other drag. No performer had more high-kicking energy all weekend, with the crowd to match, and I can’t get “Pink Pony Club” out of my head days after her set.

I’d imagine that she will return to Outside Lands one year soon as a properly billed headliner. Vastly unpopular opinion, but Sabrina Carpenter wasn’t really ready for her Friday headlining spot that she was placed in after Tyler, The Creator canceled.

Crystal Waters was 100% Pure Fun in the LGBTQI collective-powered Dolores tent, which has been a wonderful addition to Outside Lands over the past two years

Another late addition to the lineup was Crystal Waters, the Nineties house Queen behind the hits “100% Pure Love” and “Gypsy Woman.” I didn’t make it to see any DJs in the Soma area of the festival this year, and her set gave me the dance break I needed. The welcoming in of this stage powered by LGBTQI club collectives has made Outside Lands much better.

I won’t spoil it now, but if all goes according to plan, I’ll have one more incredible installment to add to this memorable Summer of Queens series before the fall. I couldn’t have planned it better.