Outside Lands Hypecheck: Leon Bridges is Overrated

August 8, 2015

I was dismayed to discover through Leon Bridges’ set at the Sutro stage that the man is a packaged brand, all fashion, image and first-impression glide. His performance was surprisingly underwhelming as the kickoff to our Outside Lands 2015 experience. There was no stage presence, no passion, barely any connective energy to the moment. I had high hopes after the breathless industry hand-wringing, but the golden-era throwback gimmicks had no meat behind them.

Check out a full gallery of the performance below.

Outside Lands 2015: Leon Bridges

Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud
Leon Bridges at Outside Lands 2015

by Johnny Firecloud

Senior Writer

A senior writer at CraveOnline since 2006, Johnny has reported on music culture around the world for over a decade while setting a higher standard of reviews, editorials, photography and interviews with the industry's biggest names. Johnny has conceptualized and produced a wide range of original Crave features such as the long-running Band of The Month series, the CraveOnstage performance feature, the Music History video series and the Passport travel colum, among others. His Crave coverage spectrum has included Lifestyle, Travel, Film & TV, Politics, Sports, Fashion and Food writing.

A jack of all journalistic trades & master of several, you can also find his work on Antiquiet, Filter, Food Republic, Media Roots, The Owl Mag and beyond. His music photos can be seen on Instagram. Keep up with Johnny on Twitter at @JohnnyFirecloud, and on Facebook.