Portola 2025: Five Standout Moments from Sept. 20–21
Recap of Portola Music & Arts Festival — San Francisco, Sept. 20–21, 2025
Portola 2025 felt like an embarrassment of riches: a stacked lineup mixing icons, current must-see acts and a crop of exciting newcomers. The weather cooperated, with sunny skies and warm breezes off the Bay greeting roughly 40,000 fans each day.
Now in its fourth year, the festival largely stuck to the blueprint that has worked, leaving stages in familiar positions while modestly upgrading amenities—most notably an expanded ultra‑VIP platform at the main stage and beefed‑up lighting and sound inside the colossal warehouse, which, despite its industrial build, delivered impressively clear audio.
The Warehouse proved a particularly fertile ground for memorable sets, from sophisticated techno to inventive international performances. At the same time, the main stage hosted enormous crowds for marquee DJs, and intimate tents offered golden‑hour magic and eclectic surprises.
As Moby put it near the weekend’s close, there’s still a part of him that remains a “rave kid”—a sentiment that captured the communal joy of tens of thousands gathered to celebrate music together. With that spirit in mind, here are five of the weekend’s most unforgettable moments from Sept. 20–21, 2025.
Christina Aguilera Commands the Main Stage
Introduced by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, Christina Aguilera delivered a high‑voltage Saturday night set that leaned into nostalgia while asserting her enduring star power. Backed by pyro, dancers and a full band, Aguilera navigated a greatest‑hits sequence—the likes of “Fighter,” “Dirrty,” “Ain’t No Other Man,” “Genie in a Bottle,” “What a Girl Wants” and “Lady Marmalade”—with vocal ferocity and theatrical polish.
Her show felt like a definitive “diva” moment for Portola: a fully staged production with multiple costume changes that thrilled a crowd primed for Y2K and ’90s pop resurgence.
The Chemical Brothers Turn the Warehouse Into a Rave
On Saturday night the Warehouse became a lush, sweaty time capsule when The Chemical Brothers closed the space with an extended 90‑minute DJ session. Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands stitched together decades of their catalog with deep cuts and ecstatic edits, driving a communal surrender to the beat—phones stayed tucked away as the crowd simply danced.
Their set closed on a transcendent run that blended a classic acid‑house nod into the emotional sweep of their own anthems, creating one of the weekend’s most transportive moments.
LCD Soundsystem Delivers Catharsis and Reflection
LCD Soundsystem’s main‑stage set threaded dancefloor euphoria with bittersweet introspection. Dropping rarities and staples—including a stirring rendition of “North American Scum”—the band let listeners dance while also tapping into a deeper emotional register. The juxtaposition of elation and melancholy made their performance one of the festival’s most affecting.
James Murphy also paid tribute to the late Keith McIver of Optimo (Espacio), acknowledging the influence McIver had on his work and the broader dance community—an intimate moment amid a large, celebratory audience.
Ravyn Lenae’s Sunlit, Soulful Set
Ravyn Lenae’s Sunday afternoon performance felt perfectly timed: breezy, warm R&B that matched the afternoon sun. Performing selections from her 2024 LP Bird’s Eye, Lenae grew her audience as the set progressed, offering an elegantly crafted performance that balanced youthful poise and vocal finesse.
Her slot underscored Portola’s thoughtful curation—balancing legend and emerging talent, hard‑edged electronic acts and softer, soulful moments that allowed festivalgoers to pause and soak in the vibe.
Despacio: A Packed, Hypnotic Club in the Middle of the Fest
The Despacio tent—curated by James Murphy with Soulwax/2manyDJs—became a near‑mythic club within the festival. Lines snaked across the site, and once inside the fog and mirrored disco ball created an immersive, communal dancefloor where people clustered together or closed their eyes and lost themselves to the music.
This roving clubroom has appeared at other festivals, but at Portola it felt especially electric and packed, prompting excited conversations long after attendees left the grounds.
