Sturgill Simpson Brought The Jam Band Vibes To Outside Lands Music Festival

Sturgill Simpson took the stage as a headlining act for the first time in three years, and it’s been a long time coming.

In 2021, fans were devastated when Sturgill Simpson announced he was stopping touring and making music indefinitely due to a vocal chord injury. While Sturgill had made a couple pop-up appearances on stage since the announcement of his hiatus, fans were hoping that one day, we’d be lucky enough to have Sturgill return to the stage for a set of his own.

Earlier this year, fans’ prayers were answered when Sturgill announced that he was back in the studio AND would be hitting the road again. The only caveat was that Sturgill Simpson would embrace a new persona: Johnny Blue Skies. Prior to the release of his latest project, Passage Du Desir, fans were concerned that this new persona was going to be a complete revamp of his sound, but once the record was released, fans were thrilled to hear the nostalgic sound of Simpson that captures fans’ hearts to begin with.

Granted, it’s not exactly the same sounds we heard on his first two records, but it’s not nearly the stark contrast that a record like Sound & Fury gave us. Some even deem the newest album as one of his best.

While we have been enjoying the album for weeks, Sturgill Simpson returned to the stage over the weekend for a headlining set at Outside Lands Music Festival.

Johnny Blue Skies and the band made their long-awaited appearance on the stage and did not disappoint. Simpson and the band sound like they have not missed a beat being under the big lights, revamping their show to highlight each member on stage. Simpson vocally blew it out of the water, confidently belting out the words of old and new tracks.

The set, though, unlike traditional sets, flowed from one song to the next, creating the ultimate jam band vibe. Fans of artists like Billy Strings, The Grateful Dead, and Phish are familiar with this performance style, but this is something new from Simpson. In the past, we have seen him break down songs to highlight long jam band bridges, but he has traditionally not intertwined songs or moved as fluidly from one to the next as he did on stage in California last night.

Simpson exceeded all expectations, gracing the stage at Outside Lands. Seeing bits of this performance has fired up anticipation for what is to come on the other stops of the Why Not? Tour.

Check it out.

“Turtles All The Way Down”

Stu also got ready for his festival performance with a set at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco on Friday: