The 2nd annual Treasure Island Music Festival blew in on Saturday with high winds, high volumes, and high hopes. Day 1 of last year's inaugural festival brought in a slough of great acts from the legendary Thievery Corporation and DJ Shadow to new stars such as M.I.A. and Ghostland Observatory. So, there was much anticipation surrounding this year's event. Fortunately, it did not disappoint.
The betterPropaganda crew arrived early via the mass transportation kindly provided by the festival organizers and Bauer's. This is a perk, ladies and gentleman, making travel to and from the island a very smooth process. We hopped off of the bus and merged into a crowd of beer-guzzling fans, creepy pirates on stilts, and a group of dancing aliens - bizzarro world.
At high noon TI fans were blessed a set by Chester French, who were at the time playing their second festival gig EVER. The boys moved the crowd with their 60's pop inspired hip-pop tunes and then took a ride with us on the Ferris Wheel.
Right across the ferris wheel, the imeem tent was goin' off, bumping music in between sets while a flock of hipsters queued up for snapshots in the free IMEEM photo booth, which is the hipster form of scrapbooking.
The ferris wheel had a line as long the bathroom and beer lines combined, but it was a nice addition to the free-wheeling atmosphere that was spinning all day.
As for the music, Hot Chip put on a show!
They mixed old and new material, building each song into an explosion of electro-pop hysteria, causing the crowd to go wild; but, when they ended the set with a cover of "Nothing Compares 2 U," the crowd melted into '80s pop bliss.
Foals had some sound problems, but still rocked the place to the ground. We had a chance to catch up with Foals too...
TV on the Radio came out swinging with "Young Liars," then gave us a taste of some new material from their upcoming Dear, Science record.
CSS was a riot, as usual, and I hope Lovefoxx puts out a clothing line that includes the get-up she wore. Look at the pictures. It was amazing.
The headliner of Day 1 was JUSTICE. Now, in spite of all the madness surrounding this French duo, in spite of the fact that everyone at betterPropaganda loves these guys, I just can't get into them. I know, I know - it makes no sense, right? Well, I've given Cross many chances, but it just didn't impress me. However, their show was mesmerizing. With Marshall amps stacked to the rafters, soundboard lights flickering, a giant cross glowing, and a seizure-inducing light show, these guys rocked the island. The sound was more robust than any other set that day, the lighting was so intense now that the sun had fallen, and the fog (and smoke) added to the spectacle, which may have turned a hater into a member of the JUSTICE league. What a way to end Day 1.
