Photos by Grady Brannan, Video by Jason Jurgens

In a setting like Outside Lands, San Francisco bands have a lot to prove. It's counter-intuitive, but the hordes of attendees are here to see the big names and drink their weights in beer in between the acts they've read and heard about the most.

Oakland's tUnE-yArDs, although fairly new on the scene, is already blowing minds. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Merrill Garbus just performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week, drumming up insane amounts of anticpation for her early show. And the hype is completely warranted. Garbus does what most musicians wouldn't dare to do onstage for fear of screwing up: she bravely creates and loops all her drums and vocals on the spot, layering tribal beats and melodies underneath soaring, pitch-perfect singing that sounds like its coming from the throat of an African man.