Best Places To Watch Outside Lands For Free 2018
If cutting the wire fence isn’t cutting it for you anymore, there are still a few places where you can watch Outside Lands 2018 for free. Golden Gate Park and the Outside Lands festival (this Friday through Sunday) have a few easily exploitable quirks that can provide you with all the Florence + The Machine, The Weeknd, Janet Jackson, and the rest of the 2018 Outside Lands lineup you want to see without buying tickets off Craigslist (which is unnecessary, as Outside Lands tickets are totally still available).
It does not appear that Outside Lands be livestreaming for free this year, as their website has no such announcement. And the festival has gotten increasingly aggressive about expanding the fenced areas and discouraging any lookie-loos from catching the show for free. There are fewer good spots than ever to stand and watch Outside Lands for free in Golden Gate Park. But the Broke-Ass Investigative Gate-Crashing Unit has already assessed the perimeter of this year’s festival fence, and we can recommend a few spots.
Image: Shemp65
ALONG MARX MEADOW PATH
There is a view provided from a pathside vantage point along Marx Meadow Path. This is the Twin Peaks Stage where Beck and DJ Snake are playing. The sound quality is impeccable but the view will be marginal. The area has been made smaller in recent years by encroaching gate restrictions, but you can grab prime real estate if you’re here by Noon or shortly thereafter.
Image: MRFraley
SPRECKELS LAKE / BISON FIELDS
You will only see the top portion of the lighting show on the Lands’ End Stage from here, but the music of Janet Jackson, The Weeknd, Portugal the Man, and Florence + The Machine will be flawlessly audible. You can get even more elbow room, losing view of the light show but still hearing the concerts crystal-clear, by relocating to the fully-accessible Chain of Lakes Drive behind this stage.
THE TRAILS BETWEEN MIDDLE DR. WEST AND MLK DR.
There are some weird and awesome little trails between Metson Lake and Mallard Lake (or in plain English, between Middle Drive West and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive) that will place you in the trees seen above. You will be engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with security here if you try to get too close. You can’t see shit but you’ll hear the Twin Peaks Stage with great clarity, Is that worth it? Chase your diminishing (or outstanding!) returns and see what happens.
Know of any more great free Outside Lands viewing spots? Let’s hear ‘em in the comments!
