Lana Del Rey has brought her own haze to Outside Lands

If Lana Del Rey had a season, it probably would be summer in San Francisco.

Fan favorite Saturday Night in the Outside Lands’ “Summertime Sadness” singer kicked off a set of lighthearted pop promos with a simple message: The words “God Bless You San Francisco” flashed in the bright lights of the stage, piercing a heavy blanket of haze.

Del Rey is surrounded by black-clad contemporary dancers who glide across the floor She was the center of attention, resplendent in a white tulle dress. Grainy footage, including some of the music video, played behind her, and pearly leaves exploded from four arched window frames, like billowing portals.

Del Rey, whose music rarely rises above a knowing smile in terms of positivity, was all smiles. Those who were expecting the mercurial star to embrace her shy side were pleasantly surprised by Lana’s delight. She expressed her gratitude to the crowd and friends in attendance, including her sponsor (Judah Smith, who appears on her latest album). She seemed very happy to be sharing her music with the city, which last welcomed her to the festival in 2016.

The theme of the night was a nostalgic Hollywood melodrama interpreted through the lens of 2023. Looking at the Foo Fighters counter-programming on the Lands End stage, the audience skewed heavily on Gen Z. And based solely on the amount of T-shirts on her face, she was definitely the biggest draw of the day, Especially for the guys who have grown up with it since the first time they watched the “Video Games” music video on YouTube.

Del Rey didn’t disappoint, delivering her complex treatises on modern love with the help of a trio of backup singers who were so strong they deserved a group of their own. Adoring fans sang every self-deprecating line, from the neo-romance of “Young and Beautiful” to the barbed lyrics from the “A&W” opener (“This is what it’s like to be an American whore”). In “Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me – But I Have,” it was literally passed through the air into the arms of several men, one piece of choreography that translated well on the big video screens thousands watched from a distance.

In “The Mariners Apartment Complex,” she brought her own haze, with industrial hazards enveloping the stage in the haze of an Ocean Beach day. The original cover of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” took listeners back to 1968. The only awkward moment was when Del Rey led a quiet chant of “San! Fran!”

The setlist has spanned her entire career, with several songs from her 2019 work “Norman F – king Rockwell,” including the title track, which Del Rey rapped while sprawling atop a golden piano. But fans seemed most excited about old Lana. The late set trio of “Ultraviolence”, “Summertime Sadness” and “Video Games” inspired the loudest cheers, before closing with “Did You Know That There Under Ocean Blvd” as a chorus of voices joined in a call-out and “forget-me-not” replies.

After a performance like this, San Francisco won’t forget Lana Del Rey anytime soon.