When M.I.A. took the main stage at Outside Lands on Sunday, she didn't have a podium like she did at Coachella but that didn't stop her from preaching the spirit of live entertainment. As a tribute to Michael Jackson, she had all the males in her troupe wear shirts bearing his name. "We're going to keep the party going," she said, running through hits from her first two albums such as 'Bucky Done Gun' and 'Boyz.'

"A lot has changed since I've last been here," she told the San Francisco audience. "I got engaged. I believe I got pregnant. I'm now scared of this town for some reason." If that's true, she sure didn't act intimidated. When the crowd failed to go nuts after she played a brand new song called, 'Born Free,' she said wryly and confidently, "Don't worry -- you'll get to know it later."

M.I.A. had expressed via Twitter that she was disappointed that the Beastie Boys had to pull out of the headlining slot. Given the reason -- Adam Yauch's health -- nobody blames them, but M.I.A. was upset that they were replaced by Tenacious D, effectively making her their opener. And although she never directly addressed that latter point during her set, she alluded to it with the comment, "It's been a long time since I've played in the daylight."

More to the point, she told the crowd that she would "like to take a special moment to say what's up to the Beastie Boys. We miss them." And with that, she launched into a medley of sampled Beasties tunes 'Intergalactic' and 'Sabotage,' rapping over the grooves while her troupe rocked it out on Guitar Hero instruments.

Predictably, M.I.A. closed her set with her biggest hit, 'Paper Planes.' It wasn't the first time that song was played at Outside Lands this weekend though -- Street Sweeper Social Club beat her to it Saturday.