There aren’t too many times someone can say they went to a music festival on an island in the ocean. Sure, Ibiza counts, but when do you get the chance to enjoy good music on your home turf, in a chill and fun setting, without breaking the bank? Treasure Island Music Festival this past weekend was one of the most fun I’ve had at a music festival, period. Apart from the amazing location on Treasure Island, a small little island (islet, if you will) next to the skyline of the City by the Bay, the music, atmosphere, and people all combined to make a wonderful and memorable experience.
Day 1: Fun Festivities and Music
Did I mention that the weather was absolutely phenomenal, at least when the sun was out? We were walking over from the shuttle drop-off point and immediately felt the warm rays of the sun tinged with the cool ocean breeze. My friend (and co-worker) Chris and I arrived on Saturday early to check out the entire festival and catch some of the afternoon performances before the evening crowd would pack the place. The atmosphere was very chill as we walked around the festival grounds, taking in the multiple sights and sounds of boutique shops, food booths, art installations, and the performance stages.
Cool Set Up
I loved the set up of Treasure Island. Since it’s a smaller festival, there are only two stages with no simultaneous performances. That is a music festival goer’s dream setup – no simultaneous performances means no compromises on who to pick in the event of a time conflict and no rushing into half-finished sets. A cool bonus for the truly lazy (and/or music-loving) is picnicking in the grassy area between the two stages – that area affords a view of both stages, so people can catch every single performance without having to move a bit! Apart from the awesome performance setup, Treasure Island had some interesting things to do around the festival grounds. I definitely got a firsthand taste of that as we were exploring the entire area.
Random Festival Attractions
From stacking legos onto a Jeep to getting pinched on the cheek by a person dressed up as an old grandma to winning a $10 gift certificate from the Guitar Center booth, I got to experience the best (and strangest) attractions at the music festival. There was even an old-school bus that was decorated like an old wooden ship where people could climb to the roof deck and catch the view of the entire festival. And who could forget the Silent Frisco installation – a sectioned-off grassy area where attendees could borrow a pair of headphones playing the same dance music and dance to their heart’s content in complete silence?
Day 1 Performances
After getting our fill of the attractions, we were ready for some music! Day 1’s lineup leaned more towards electronica, but that didn’t keep it from including a good variety of music. Right off the bat, we caught a trifecta of performances from electronic punk band ADULT., house producer Robert DeLong, and Southern rapper Danny Brown. After catching part of disco chillwave band Poolside, we finally arrived at one of my most anticipated sets of the day, the UK-based garage/electronic duo Disclosure.
Disclosure’s set, to put it simply, was sublime. It was that good. The visuals included an animated face on a giant cube with lights, lots of them and in lots of colors. It was so much fun watching the two brothers create the music on the stage (especially hitting the drum machines with drumsticks and playing the basslines on an electric bass guitar). The bass was absolutely pounding, the kind the goes right to the bones. The crowd was dancing the entire time as the duo played hit after hit from their new album, including favorites like “When a Fire Starts to Burn” and “Confess to Me.”
The next performance we caught was the Major Lazer performance, which consisted of such stunts like a guy in a hamster ball walking on top of the crowd and a Pitbull-like emcee/producer shouting actions at the crowd similar to what a TV workout instructor would do (“jump! jump!”), all set to dubstep/dancehall music. All that jumping made us pretty hungry, so we grabbed a quick dinner before snagging a nice spot near the front for the Little Dragon performance. Definitely wanted a good view, since there aren’t many bands fronted by a half-Japanese female vocalist and a Viking-doppelganger keyboardist, especially Swedish bands singing in English and playing some catchy electronic/indie music.
And finally, it was time for Saturday’s headlining act, with musicians from two of my favorite bands coming together in the super group Atoms for Peace. With Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich from Radiohead and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Atoms for Peace was bound to play a memorable set. And it most definitely was. From Flea’s usual wacky stage antics (walking around, bobbing his head and jamming with all the musicians) to Thom Yorke’s piano skills and British-uncle complaining to the crowd, it was a night to remember. At one point I noticed cool fog effects floating across the stage, and it soon dawned on me that the fog wasn’t from a machine – it was actual fog, and the stage must have been freezing. Thom confirmed my thoughts when he commented that this was the first time he ever felt like he was performing out at sea. And with that, Day 1 was over, but there was still another day of performances to come!
Day 2: Chilly but Still Amazing
We decided to arrive a bit later for Day 2, since we wanted to explore more of the city and try out some breakfast/brunch places. We still made it in time for the tail-end of the afternoon performances, and even though the weather was definitely chillier, I had a blast and saw some bands that I’d been waiting to see for months.
Day 2 Performances
Sunday had more of an indie rock focus, but again, what makes Treasure Island so awesome is the sheer variety of music. We caught the performance of the three-sister rock-pop band Haim, nodding our heads to the rock riffs the sisters were blasting out while bantering in true sister fashion about the most random things in between songs. After catching a crazy performance by electronica band Strfkr that included guys wrestling each other in sumo costumes on stage, we enjoyed indie rock band Real Estate from the front row. The lead singer was a spitting image of 1995 Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, if he’d dressed like a hipster. The music was soothing and I loved the progressive elements, plus the bassist was absolutely in love with San Francisco and kept on sharing that fact with the crowd.
The next five hours was an intense one, as we caught five performances in a row, including James Blake, Japandroids, Animal Collective, Sleigh Bells, and Beck, to finish off an epic weekend.
I’d been looking forward to the Japandroids’ set for months, and the rock duo didn’t disappoint as they played their hearts out, despite the freezing cold which required Brian the guitarist to blow on his hands and re-tune his guitar after every song. In truly hardcore fashion, he played in a t-shirt, and along with drummer David, they gave an awe-inspiring set, projecting energy at the crowd as Brian ran around the stage and at one point jumped into the crowd while playing his guitar. I was especially impressed with the huge sound from the two-member band – this, folks, is rock and roll in its purest form, just two guys playing their hearts out and having a ton of fun doing it.
The noise pop group Sleigh Bells was a surprise hit, spurring the entire crowd to dance to some very-catchy tracks. So what exactly is noise pop? At least for Sleigh Bells’ sound, think of a stadium rock band from the 80s, except instead of a male lead singer with leather pants and huge hair, there’s a younger tattooed lady with a beautiful pop voice singing and shouting, all set to a hip hop drum machine beat. In the middle of the performance a bunch of jellyfish appeared – some people were holding up giant lit-up jellyfish, and they were mesmerizing as they danced in the night sky along with the crowd for the rest of the performance.
Beck was the perfect ending performance for Treasure Island. A legend in the music world, he was the epitome of the underdog hero who wasn’t afraid to experiment with new sounds in a traditional genre. As expected, funk-inspired, bluesy songs were perfect to dance to in the cold night, and the band played a nice selection of some of their biggest hits as well as new songs. At one point Beck even invited Alexis, the lead singer of Sleigh Bells, for a beautiful power ballad duet. Another highlight was when he covered “Billie Jean” and attempted the moonwalk while getting the crowd pumped up to sing along.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, Treasure Island Music Festival 2013 was one of the best music festivals I’ve been to. Everything about it was perfect for festival goers, from the free shuttles from the city to the island and back to the laid-back atmosphere to the option of seeing all acts without any conflicts. I loved the smaller crowds and never had to sardine-pack myself to see some amazing live performances. And of course the music itself was as enjoyable to watch as it was to listen to and experience live. There’s just no other way around it – I’ve found a new favorite music festival and I’ll definitely be going back in future years!
Music is life at www.RandomTidbitsofThought.com.
