Treasure Island Music Festival
Saturday, October 17th on Treasure Island

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day for a music festival. The sun shined brightly and the wind uncharacteristically abated long enough to give us San Franciscans the rare sense that summer is not yet over. Upon entering the festival grounds, even at the early-ish hour of 2pm, it was clear that more people were in attendance than in years past, the first day having sold out earlier in the week. Due to the sunny weather and nature of the music, the festival had a full-on party atmosphere. Even in the early afternoon, it was clear that this was a really fun crowd.

By the time I settled in at a chosen spot to take in the scene, Passion Pit was kicking into their set. I very much enjoyed the debut EP, a collection of sanguine synth-pop made by singer Michael Angelakos as a Valentine present for his girlfriend, which was then was passed around virally before FrenchKiss decided to officially release it. But the charming polish sealed on the record in the studio was, obviously, absent and the high-pitched synth of his sound made the live translation of his set a bit grating. Next up on the Tunnel Stage was Dan Deacon, who had a large ensemble with him to get the energy going. Apart from some issues with his sound getting all washed out on one side of the stage, his music was really fun in a live capacity. He builds on his compositions by adding elements such as dual xylophones to effectively make sound collages, and he fully integrates the audience—he started a human tunnel from the stage that snaked way through the festival grounds.

The Streets took the main stage by storm. The Birmingham-bred singer rapped over infectious garage rock that managed to stay disparate as it evolved into a versatile set that didn’t have people so much dancing as enticing our collective ear to tip in allegiance. DJ Krush followed, and his music has ventured into dubstep, a far cry from some of his more ambient, softly-psychedelic electronic offerings that I was most familiar with. He pulled it off though, and went into other directions by mixing music of various genres. Brazilian Girls were a ton of fun and a crowd favorite. Their sound is a collage of assorted influences, like bossa nova, house, and reggae, and they spit it back out under an umbrella of electronica. But the following act, MSTRKRFT, was the one I was most looking forward to. They rose from the ashes of Death From Above 1979, one of my favorite bands ever, who prematurely broke up after a few short years. MSTRKRFT is a duo that churns out infectious dance-punk and it was the first act of the day that really got me up on my feet to get down.

Up next was Girl Talk. A dude who plays live off his laptop, he has a widespread appeal, as everything he mixes is immediately identifiable—he mashes up samples from everyone from Michael Jackson to M.I.A., and as he always does for his live show, he brought a hundred sweaty kids to rock out on stage with him. MGMT closed down the first night of the festival, and before kicking into their set they announced that they were playing the entirety of the album that launched them into ubiquity, Oracular Spectacular, since they weren’t going to tour for a while. That was a nice surprise; I think that’s a very good album but I haven’t been digging any of their other stuff.

Well before they were finished, the exodus had already began, thousands of people streaming out of the gates to file into a mile-long line to get into the shuttles to escort us back to San Francisco. The night wasn’t quite over for me, as I attended the “official” afterparty and stayed out way too late, but I was so satisfied and satiated by all the good music that I forgave myself and happily rung out yet another year at one of best festivals around.  – Angela Zimmerman

Watch: MSTRKRFT, “Bounce” [at youtube]

Treasure Island Music Festival
Sunday, October 18th on Treasure Island

Not being the biggest festival goer myself, it must be said that, overall, Treasure Island Music Festival is the greatest thing going where outdoor festivals are concerned. Relatively hassle-free, it’s a day spent chatting with good friends and seeing great music… and not having to wait in ridiculously long lines for food, drink, or bathrooms. With two stages, it’s possible to catch every song of every band playing, even if you don’t ever move from a blanket placed somewhere between both stages. When one band finishes, the next is set up and ready to play on the other stage. Oh, and the ferris wheel… it’s obligatory to take a whirl through the air to experience panoramic sites of the Bay and the San Francisco skyline and also grab a bird’s eye view of the festival space and attendees.

Whether it has to do with it being on a Sunday or the line-up featuring indie rock, day two of this festival is a much mellower affair than its Saturday counterpart. Also, this day was much colder. Attendees that checked the weather report knew to come bundled up. After a nice car nap (Me = old) in the parking lot before heading over to the island itself, I got there just in time to hear the final two songs from Vetiver playing on the side stage (otherwise known as the Tunnel Stage). Their sunshiny, California-inspired folk music didn’t necessarily translate to approximate the outdoor elements as it so often can here in San Francisco, but they’re always in fine form and were on this day. Next up was Grizzly Bear on the main stage (otherwise known as the Bridge Stage). As a stiff wind blew across the island, they played a set that showcased their beautifully strong vocals that carry their intricate and layered music, which ranges from experimental pop to psychedelic folk. Towards the end of their set, the sun started to peek through the fog, a backdrop which vibed perfectly with their music. Definitely one of the best sets of the day.

Back over at the Tunnel Stage, the almighty Bob Mould started ripping through a fist-pumping set list that contained mostly Sugar tunes from the 1992 album Copper Blue (original Sugar bassist David Barbe was filling in for the day!) and Hüsker Dü songs such as “I Apologize”, “Something I Learned Today”, and set closer “New Day Rising.” God, that song has so much raw power for only having three words. Mould’s voice sounds just as good today as it ever has. This was by far the most fast-paced rock set of the day, and likely the best one too, injecting some much-needed energy into the brisk afternoon. If there’s any qualm about the Sunday “rock” line-up, it’s that they could stand to have more straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll like this. My husband and I both agreed, we wish Bob Mould was our uncle.

Beirut was up next on the main stage, and I took it as my cue to walk around the festival grounds and see what the various interactive booths had to offer and find the bathrooms, while giving the New Mexico band a passive listen. I certainly like their records, but it’s pretty hard to follow up
the punk-rock energy of Bob Mould with the much more metered sounds of Eastern European folk-pop music. And while the Walkmen took to the side stage, a few friends and I took to the ferris wheel. Frontman Hamilton Leithauser’s desperate croon was in fine form as we checked the band out from high above. These guys have been at it a long time, and it’s hard to imagine how his voice can hold up that well under the vocal strains he puts it through day after day… nonetheless, it’s that which lends their otherwise straightforward indie rock a distinct, tragic edge, setting them apart from all the rest of the bands playing the same kind of music they do.

Man, the Decemberists sure do sound different these days. Seems like a lot of songs they played were from this year’s proggy release, The Hazards of Love. I can’t say I’m a fan of all the extended jamming going on here, but perhaps I should spend more time with the recorded material? I dunno, I probably won’t because it’s just not my cup of tea. You know who else was into extended jamming on this day? Yo La Tengo. I think the last song they played went on for 12 minutes, maybe more. Does this type of thing really work at outdoor festivals? I have to say it doesn’t. At one point toward the beginning of their set, a shrieking noise came from the stage and, I mean, maybe it was supposed to sound like that… you know, “challenging”… but I honestly think it was something wrong with the amps or whatever. People applauded for the static-filled shriek anyway. Again, I dunno. That being said, drummer Georgia Hubley always inspires me to want to play the drums.

I’ve never seen the Flaming Lips before. I was not disappointed. The stage started lighting up in all these flashy rainbow colors as the band broke into the song “Race for the Prize”, while a video played of a naked woman dancing around somewhat seductively. Full frontal, all the way, dude… all the way into her glowing, psychedelic vag (yeah, you read that right), which started lighting up and getting closer up until it filled the whole screen. Then, from a mechanism on stage, the band members individually rose out of it, kind of like newborn babies. That was without a doubt the best entrance I’ve ever seen. Wayne Coyne immediately got into the man bubble, playing hamster to the crowd, and following that was a series of confetti bursts into the night sky. What a celebration. In between songs, a psychedelic screen effect showed Coyne’s face up close and personal as he talked to the crowd… which was really trippy, but also so cool that he goes to such great lengths to connect with the audience and make it a real spectacle for them. With him, you get the sense that he gives so much of himself and his creative genius to us, and that in turn, we should keep giving our love and attention back to his band. – Jocelyn Hoppa

Watch: The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize??” [at youtube.com]

The Pogues at the Regency Ballroom, San Francisco

Yonder Mountain String Band at the 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop of Travis at the Swedish American Hall, San Francisco