TREASURE ISLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL Part 1
TIMF stands for TOO MUCH FUN. or something like that.
With such an excellent line up and some of my favorite people coming into town, I was extremely excited about this past weekend. TIMF is annually one of my favorite weekends of the year, as this is my fifth year in a row. Little Nephew and Melissa and Mauricio came in for the festival this year. Things got off to a great start after an amazing dinner at Lolinda to celebrate the impending weekend.
We took a lyft to the island and arrived at the end of Adult,'s set. They were finishing up as we walked in with grins ear to ear. TIMF did a better job this year than ever with the food, drink, and trinket purveyors. Dano's friend was selling jewelry, which was pretty awesome. There were more local restaurants represented than ever before, and the beer tent had more options than I've come to expect, including hard cider. We had VIP tickets so we popped in and checked out the scene. The bathrooms were the nicest I've ever seen at a music festival, all brightly lit and wood paneled. I ran into my champagne dealer, Mark, and finalized a deal to furnish my Daft Brunch party with 20 cases of his cheapest bubbly. We grabbed cocktails at the bar and met up with everyone else for Robert DeLong.
We caught Robert DeLong at Coachella earlier this year, so we were prepared for what his set. He makes electronic dance music, but what makes him unique is that he quite literally MAKES it in front of you, as opposed to other EDM producers. I love when he jumps on his drum set for the breaks, and he uses game controllers to manipulate the sound. His song Global Concepts will get me dancing every time. Seemed like the festival was packed from the moment we arrive, which was around 1:45.
What followed was one of my most anticipated sets of the day: Danny Brown. I love Danny Brown. Check out his Pitchfork interview, your heart will melt. Watch him go to the Gather of the Juggalos, you'll think he's hilarious. His set was tight, right from the beginning. Energy, a sense of humor, a great selection of songs. I can't get enough of Black Brad Pitt, Dope Song, Molly Ringwald, etc etc. This guy rules. His isn't your typical rap set full of pompous bullshit and posturing thuggery. Mostly he just wants you to know how much he loves molly and eating pussy.
We grabbed some more beers and checked out Poolside. I love Poolside, their live set at the Independent was one of the better discoveries of the year for me. Perfect mid afternoon chill out music, too. We hung back and grooved along with their daytime disco jams.
Coachella 2013 ended with one of the most amazing sets of the year, Disclosure & special guests. Disclosure was also up next on the main stage, and you could tell almost everyone at the festival at that point was excited for them. We left Poolside early to get there and we were all the way out by the trees behind the soundstage. Didn't matter, I wanted room to dance. We all lost our minds, which was good cuz our faces melted off as well. This teenaged kid standing next to us tapped me on my shoulder and said, "Hey man, no disrespect, but you dance just like Thom Yorke." I turned to Melissa and Dano and we all cracked up. Little did the kid know that we have a game we play where someone says, "Who's Thom Yorke," and then whomever feels weirdest gives their best Thom Yorke dance/seizure move. It was decided right then that I would be Sexy Thom Yorke for Halloween this year. Watch the Atoms For Peace Ingenue music video and you'll get my costume this year.
After a good workout dancing to Disclosure's eclective UK Garage, we took it hella easy. We grabbed more drinks and chilled in the distance while DJ Falcon djed the side stage. I don't know why we didn't check it out, it sounded good from a distance. We just needed to chill. Major Lazer was next on the main stage and he came out and did what I expect from him. I just don't really like Major Lazer live. Diplo is such a douche bag. They never managed to play ever a minute of any of their songs, it was just a frenzied mess of song snippets, like a TRL edition medley of their most fun songs. Must have been fun to be up in the front when Diplo got in that big balloon ball and rolled around the crowd.
Another one of the heavy weights of the night, Holy Ghost! was up next. We resumed our positions near the handicapped viewing area and boogied down. Holy Ghost! sounds like a greatest hits of early 80s club music, veering close to New Order every so often. I've been seeing them live for years now, and they have gotten so so good. They are now a disco dance machine. Highlight was definitely Dumb Disco Ideas. That song rules and could be my favorite of the year.
After this, basically, I was saving my energy for Atoms For Peace. Not that I don't like Little Dragon or Phantogram, they rule and are heavy hitters in the eclectic electric soulful dance scene. We just took it easy and hung back for their sets. I had a great time chatting with Mauricio, Fetter, Dan, Angelina, Tim, Kelly, etc. The festival rules because you have so much space. It never feels like you're crushed, and everyone is so chill. Unless you're cold, you've got a smile on your face.
I enjoyed hearing the hits from Little Dragon & Phantogram, especially Phantogram's song Don't Move. Atoms For Peace came on and basically made me the happiest boy on the face of the planet. The highlight, for me, was Ingenue. He complained early and often about how cold it was, and you could see the wind whipping fog across the stage all night. I could agree. I was woefully prepared for the cold that night, because it was so nice that day. It must have went from 80 to 50. The wait for the bus was brutal, my lips were purple, but I couldn't feel the cold. I was just so happy about what I'd witnessed. We went back home, got lost in a youtube music video hole that led us to German Neu Wave videos, and finally passed out, ready to try it all again the next day.
