Thanks to $10 all-day parking and a complimentary shuttle service, the journey to Treasure Island Music Festival (TMF) was relatively painless for photographers, critics and festival-goers alike.
While his trademark laid-back beats and blissed-out vibe kept the crowd engaged, encouraging dancing and a high-energy atmosphere, Cashmere Cat struggled to maintain rhythm long enough for the audience to really get into any one song.
Next on the list was Hudson Mohawke, a DJ who first rose to prominence after collaborating with Kanye West and who now produces for record label GOOD music. The festival atmosphere, featuring a stunning sunset and a mellow crowd, enhanced the low and weighty pulse of “Chimes,” resulting in a better live sound than his recordings.
On a day filled with electronica, beats and few vocals, FKA Twigs provided a beautiful contrast with her airy, compelling voice and darker, more powerful stage presence. Between Twig’s intimately choreographed dance with another member of her crew and the dramatic lighting and swirling fog, her audience couldn’t look away. After Twigs finished, using every minute of her time, the crowd slowly migrated to the other stage to see the first public performance of Big Grams. The beauty of TMF is that it features no overlapping sets, allowing festival goers to wander between two stages without missing any performances or hearing more than one artist at a time.
In what seems like an unlikely collaboration, Big Boi and Phantogram teamed up to create Big Grams, dedicated to exploring “psyched-out hip hop.” From the start, Big Boi and vocalist Sarah Bartel immediately established a high-energy and exciting stage presence, while Phantogram’s other half, Josh Carter, took care of the production. Big Grams treated the crowd to all of the tracks on its newly released EP, as well as inviting Run the Jewels onstage and performing a mashup of Big Boi’s “Ms. Jackson” and Phantgorams “Mouthful of Diamonds.” The crowd loved it, responding with enthusiastic cheers each time Big Grams took a moment to check in.
Finally, it was time for deadmau5, one of the most highly-anticipated performers at TMF. He began his hour and a half set fully encased within “the dome,” a visually captivating structure reminiscent of a school jungle gym. Fifteen minutes into his performance, the dome split in half, finally revealing deadmau5 to an eager crowd. The next hour was filled with popular favorites like “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff,” but also featured new releases like “Avarita.” In a moment typical of San Francisco’s casual vibe, deadmau5 invited up three costumed festival-goers (a hotdog, an Alactraz escapee, and Left Shark) onstage to sit and enjoy a beer while his music continued in the background. Whether deadmau5 was illustrating just how much work is needed to perform electronic music, or simply enjoying himself onstage, the crowd took his antics in stride, laughing as the artist attempted the can-can kick with his costumed fans. His playful persona only contributed to an already memorable night, setting the scene for another day of high-quality music. Stay tuned for a review of Day 2.
Contact Serena Wong at serenaw ‘at’ stanford.edu.