Due to being friends with mostly jobless young people, and only a fraction of those friends sharing a similar level of interest for these artists, I had no luck getting anyone to go with me. This officially marked the first time I went to a show by myself. Because I don't drive, I had to get there (to Treasure Island in San Francisco from my house in San Jose, about an hour drive without traffic) via public transit. And of course despite my efforts to get there on time without any trouble - taking an earlier train, bringing really specific walking directions and back-up train times - I had to run into some trouble getting there. First I missed the train I was trying to make, which delayed me about an hour. Then I guess some construction was being done on the tracks or something, so I had to get off the train at an earlier stop and transfer to another transit system, ultimately arriving in SF about an hour and a half later than I expected to. And because this transit dropped me off in a different part of SF than the other train would have, I had no idea how to get to Treasure Island. So I literally ran to some Walgreens, got directions, then ran all the way to the shuttle that goes to the island, about a 20 minute run with a backpack (I really wanted to see Shabazz Palaces!) I ended up making it in time for about half of Shabazz Palaces' set, so I was satisfied.
So that was the first act I saw. The cool thing was that the first song I saw them play was "Are You… Can You… Were You? (Felt)", which is easily one of my favorite Shabazz Palaces songs. "Chuch" and "Free Press and Curl" were among other highlights. They played a great set overall, really. In an age where bringing solely pre-recorded beats is often considered sufficient accompaniment for an MC, it's really interesting to see just how much these guys are able to pull off live. Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler is up there simultaneously rapping, controlling effects on his vocals, and triggering samples, all while percussionist Tendai Maraire supplies mostly acoustic percussion and background vocals. I definitely recommend trying to see them if you have any interest in their music.
Next was YACHT, I wasn't particularly interested in their set so I mostly just walked around and explored a bit. Bought a Flying Lotus shirt too. The cool thing about Treasure Island is that the two stages are within reasonable distance of each other, and only one act plays at a time, so no matter where I was in the park I was able to hear, and in most places even see, each act. There's also no having to choose between acts.
After YACHT was The Naked and Famous, playing a brand of indie synth pop that wasn't leaving much of an impression on me to be honest. So instead of watching them I secured my spot up front on the other stage for the next act, Battles.
Battles played pretty much exactly how and what I expected them to, but fortunately I'd say my expectations were pretty high. They opened with "Africastle", then I think "Sweetie and Shag" was next. After that it was the super epic post-Tyondai version of "Atlas", complete with the pre-recorded children choir vocal substitute, which was as great as ever. I don't really remember the order after that but I remember them playing "Wall Street", "Futura", "My Machines", "Ice Cream", and possibly one more but I don't know. They teased part of "Tonto" at some point in there too. Really great performance, playing was really tight, energy was up even without Tyondai, and Ian Williams has easily some of the best on-stage dance moves (and mustache) I've ever seen in my life. Cool little side note: I could see the dudes from Shabazz Palaces watching from the side of the stage throughout the set, and they were clearly digging it.
Dizzee Rascal was next. He's the kind of artist I don't think I'd ever listen to in a non-live setting, but I can't deny that he puts on a fun live show. Really danceable, bass-heavy beats paired up with Dizzee's signature eccentric UK rapping style. In terms of his setlist the more dance-oriented stuff took prominence over the more grimey stuff of his earlier days, which was a little unfortunate I felt, but it was still a fun show.
At this point it was getting harder to put off the fact that getting home was gonna be a huge pain due to the fact that the train I was going to take would probably still not be ready by the time I needed to leave. But like a freaking miracle I ended up running into a friend who had driven up and had space in his car, so that completely took care of all my problems getting home. The next act was this group called Buraka Som Sistema, playing some style of Portugese dance music I had never heard before called Kuduro. It was once again something I wouldn't really listen to on my own, but it was still really interesting to see live.
Next up was Chromeo, but I didn't really have an interest in them and I wanted to be in the best possible place for Flying Lotus anyway, so I just waited up front at the other stage.
And then there was Flying Lotus. I think the fact that I've been trying to see him for so long made this feel all the more epic, because honestly it was just about the most rewarding experience I could imagine. One of the cool things about Flying Lotus's sets is that for the most part he doesn't play songs in their full, but instead segues parts of them into each other, sometimes even mashing parts of them up (pairing at one point, for example, the vocal part from "RobertaFlack" up with "Melt!"), and with almost no breaks, so it feels sort of like one long mix. Anyway, he played a bunch of my favorites ("Massage Situation", "Camel", "Nose Art", "Zodiac Shit", "Do the Astral Plane", "Kill Your Co-Workers", "Jurassic Notion", to name just a few haha). He also asked the crowd to yell out suggestions, that's how we got "Massage Situation" played. He even dropped "Yonkers", as well as that Africa Hitech song "Out in the Streets" (both which I do dig, even though I'm not the biggest Tyler fan). At the end he actually offered to play a free 2-hour set in the city if someone could find him a place to play; I don't think it ended up happening but still I thought it was pretty cool. To top all that off, remember that Flying Lotus shirt I said I bought earlier? Well, when he came down right in front of the stage to talk to the people in the front row, I got him to sign it! *Ultimate fanboy moment*.
After all that, Cut Copy had already played a fair amount of their set. I'm not really a big Cut Copy fan anyway (just a style I haven't gotten much into), so that was a good time for a sitting break.
Then it was Death From Above 1979. I admittedly don't listen to them on my own, but I was still pretty interested in seeing their live set due to what I'd heard (and seen on Youtube) about their live set. And I wasn't disappointed. Even though I didn't have the connection to their music that the fans there clearly did, the energy, and just general volume/noisiness, was really great. Definitely a good live band, and something that I would have been totally in love with if I was a fan of their music.
Finally was Empire of the Sun. I'm actually really not a fan at all, so I was expecting to hate this, but I actually didn't dislike it nearly as much as I expected to. I mean, it didn't convert me into a fan or anything, but I do have to give it to them for putting on a pretty ambitious production. And when I say ambitious, I mean a half dozen or so dancers, costumes, visuals, stage lights, etc. Yeah, I still thought it was all cheesy, but I wouldn't deny that they succeeded in making it feel huge. And some of their songs are pretty catchy, even if they're not really my thing.
And there you have it, my Treasure Island Festival experience. You may have noticed I made no mention of the festival's second day. That would be because I didn't go. Don't get me wrong, there were some artists on the lineup I would have loved to see (particularly St. Vincent, also The Antlers to a lesser but still notable degree), but not enough for me to justify shelling out the extra money. And besides, I really couldn't have asked for much more fulfillment out of the experience.
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