Outside Lands: Doechii tops Doja Cat, others as main attraction on Day 1

Doechii ruled Day 1 of Outside Lands.

Sure, there were more than 40 acts on Friday’s bill, yet the one that the majority of the 70,000-plus fans in attendance seemed to be buzzing about — both before and after her set — was this rising-star rapper out of Tampa.

Doechii delivered what was not only the top moment on Day 1, but also what sure felt like it will be remembered as the signature performance of the entire 2025 Outside Lands.

Yes, she was that impressive, spinning memorable lines over rock-solid beats while thoroughly commanding the attention of what may well have been the largest crowd ever assembled in front of one single stage at Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

It was a fairly short set, lasting some 45 minutes, but it was enough to convince the tens of thousands in attendance that Doechii could have a long and prosperous career ahead of her in the music world.

The performance also served as a great way to get people pumped up for her Live from the Swamp Tour, which includes a return trip to San Francisco on Nov. 7 for a show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Those Doechii tickets go on sale to the general public on Aug. 11, apeconcerts.com.

Doechii shone the brightest on a Day 1 bill that also included Doja Cat, Beck with Symphony, John Summit and Still Woozy. The three-day festival is slated to continue through Sunday, Aug. 12, with Hozier, Glass Animals, Jamie xx, Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals, Julie, and Jorja Smith among the acts set to take the multiple stages.

Doechii took the stage right around 7 p.m., just as the fog was rolling in and the once-wonderfully-warm weather was swiftly cooling off, and proceeded to heat things up with such tunes as “Bullfrog” and “Boiled Peanuts.”

The rapper, who first made her name on TikTok before inking deals with Top Dawg Entertainment and Capitol Records in 2022, sounded quite strong on the microphone as she stuck mainly to her platinum-selling second mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” which won the Grammy for best rap album earlier this year.

The crowd was in her corner from the get-go, clearly understanding that they were watching something special as they bounced about the Polo Field and waved their hands in the air. Doechii, meanwhile, continued through “Nissan Altima,” “Alter Ego” and her incredible “America’s Got a Problem” freestyle.

Doechii closed her 15-song set with a double shot from “Alligator” — “Denial Is a River” and “Boom Bap” — also taking time to also promote her upcoming headlining tour before she left the stage. Given the strength of this performance, I expect many of these Outside Lands attendees will also try to catch Doechii’s November show at the Bill Graham Civic.

Doechii was the second to last act to take to the festival’s big Lands End stage on Friday. Next up was Doja Cat, who would close down the Day 1 proceedings with a lengthy set full of crowd favorites. So, in a way, Doechii was reprising her role as the opening act on Doja’s “The Scarlet Tour,” which kicked off on Halloween night 2023 at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Yet, Day 1 of the festival peaked so dramatically with Doechii’s set that it made Doja Cat’s headlining show feel anticlimactic, which is crazy to say but true. Just ask the thousands of hip-hop fans who left the field after Doechi’s performance– either to enjoy the ample music at the other stages or to make for an early exit — resulting in a noticeably thinned-out crowd for the headliner.

That didn’t stop Doja from putting on a relatively enjoyable set, as the Los Angeles hip-hop artist showcased her strong vocals while drawing from all four of her studio albums — 2018’s “Amala,” 2019’s “Hot Pink,” 2021’s “Planet Her” and 2023’s “Scarlet.” It was the latter that ate up the lion’s share of the setlist, contributing eight songs to the mix.

I cut away from Doja Cat’s set for a while to also catch some of Beck’s performance with an orchestra on the Sutro Stage (my favorite of the festival’s many stages). I stuck around for only four songs or so — “The New Pollution,” “Ramona,” “Paper Tiger” and a tremendous take on Scott Walker’s “Montague Terrace (in Blue)” — but what I heard was good enough to make me wish I could’ve devoted the time to enjoy the entire set.

Earlier in the day, fans enjoyed performances by Moraga’s own indie-pop act Still Woozy (better known to his former classmates at Campolindo High School as Sven Gamsky), electropop vocalist Marina (now taking the mononymous route after previously making music as Marina and the Diamonds), tremendous Sacramento punk act Destroy Boys and dozens of other attractions.

Yet, the one festival act that people will still be talking about today — and likely for many moons to come — is Doechii. Day 1 of Outside Lands belonged to her.

Doechii setlist
1. “Stanka Pooh”
2. “Bullfrog”
3. “Boiled Peanuts”
4. “Nissan Altima”
5. “America Has a Problem”
6. “Alter Ego”
7. “Persuasive”
8. “Spookie Coochie”
9. “Nosebleeds”
10. “Crazy”
11. “Anxiety”
12. “GTFO”
13. “Catfish”
14. “Denial Is a River”
15. “Boom Bap”