timf-gfymydw « thefmly – those who were strangers have turned into friends

It’s like this:

Every Photo by – Jesse Fulton

Vampire Weekend – The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance – Miike Snow rmx

The cold Aleutian wind travels a great distance to lick through the Bay. It funnels through mountains of cement, over treed soils and through the unimpeded inlet to kiss the rippled surface of a tamed inner-bay, folding around Alcatraz until finally it hits the man made island supporting the Bay Bridge. This weekend, the migratory air caught a healthy dose of bass as it passed the island on Saturday, and collected the tired and wayward souls of those still alive Sunday to a drizzly paradise.

October 16th and 17th turned this little man made island from a tourist trap to a mecca. Where else can you see a Deadmau5 open for Miike Snow? Another Planet and the rest of the crew who put this Treasured Island Paradise Festival knew their demographic… Saturday: Dance. Sunday: Relax (minus Monotonix).

As stated before, Saturday was all about movement. This was apparent when I saw a group of tweens wide eyed for Die Antwoord… they played at 3 in the afternoon. Don’t these people understand, to sustain a high for that long is fucking terrible for your synapses?

Phantogram easily took the cake for daytime shows. I implore you to see them. Especially in a club. I’m sure it’d make the sound even more visceral. I don’t know why we didn’t get any photos of the set. Blame the Silent Disco- one of the better innovations this year- running into a small DJ set wielding a pair of headphones while the only sound around you is either coming from the headphones or the giddy couple resting on a day-glo pillow repetitively slurring, ‘I never knew Vicks could feel so gooooooooood!!’

I once said that if I could have a band familiar, it’d be !!!. I still hold to that. I love a full band doing their part to pull disco and funk from the back of everyone’s mind into that frontal lobe. (on a side note… Nic where the fuck are the short shorts? Monotonix didn’t care about the cold)

Sunset saw Four Tet take the stage, while I took a seat. Kieran Hebden’s got more talent in his pinky toe than the entire state of Nevada has in its art institutes. I needed the little break that he offered- epic sunset to boot.

Saturday also saw the invasion of the Swedes. God love that country. It’s gotta be the water or something. Little Dragons did their part to get the crowd moving after a interesting set from K&D- not my slice of cheese cake if you catch my curve ball.

Deadmau5?! More like DeadMEH!!! AHAH! Bet you never heard that shit before… Strobe always gives me the tinglies though. Half way through his set someone made a snarky little comment along the lines of: ‘Safe to say that cube ain’t making it down to San Bernadino for the Smoke Out Festival.’ Poor Kandy Kids around the Inland Empire.

Here’s where I put my emphasis. Miike Snow highlighted the entire weekend- if only for their aesthetic. It’s one thing watching a DJ spin some music, but to see six veiled figures tweaking sound to produce the music from a CD I had listened to countless times was amazing. Maybe it was the slow intro to Cult Logic starting off the set, or In Search Of sounding much heavier live, or The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance closing it, or maybe it was just their aura… man.

You can see a set from someone as fresh as Miike Snow and catch every single one of the songs you wanted to hear… because they have one CD. LCD Soundsystem was another monster entirely. The festival stage is blue balls to an act like LCD. I need a two hour set from them DAMNIT! Highlight was definitely watching the crowd shatter for the Dance Yrself Clean breakdown opener… I’m pretty sure we made that island sink an inch or two on that one- good work team.

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Here’s my Sunday recap- The Sea and Cake didn’t play Lamont’s Lament. She and Him were right before Monotonix (weird right?), who took the show (see attached pictures/video). Broken Social Scene was good, besides some sound guys slacking off and forgetting to turn on certain mics. I left after BSS. Had a long drive ahead of me. Rogue Wave would have been good right? Anyone catch them?

The Sea and Cake