Kata Rokkar — Kata Rokkar – A Bay Area based blog about music, life and stuff by Shawn Robbins.

Day Two of Treasure Island Music Festival is always my favorite. The crowd is calmer, less drugged up, and slightly older than the previous day. Plus the music is more akin to my tastes as this is the more “rock oriented” showcase of bands. Again I did not have my DSLR, so make due with my new iPhone 4S pictures and Instagram filters.

Best WAKE THE FUCK UP Band – Thee Oh Sees

San Francisco’s own John Dwyer and crew belted out their own brand of psychedelic-punk-post-avant-garde tunes to a wide eyed and sporadic crowd. Some people tried sleeping on the lawn (the jumbo-tron on the stage quickly pointed those people out) but it’s pretty hard when you have one of the hardest rocking garage rock bands blasting sweet awesomeness into your ears.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thee Oh Sees – I Need Seed from Castlemania (2011)

Best Music To Attribute to the Foggy Weather – Weekend

Noise-shoegaze act Weekend provided the perfect backdrop for the murky and gray morning that enveloped Treasure Island. While a fan of their 2010 distortion and reverb heavy Sports, it was the new tunes from this year’s Red EP that I enjoyed the most. Particularly with Hazel, I found the crowd taking a liking from this sprawling and gloriously loud band.

Best Band To Hear New Material From – The Antlers

Let’s face it, 2009’s Hospice was a downer record. You kind of had to be in the right state of mind to listen to a debilitating record about someone dying in a hospital. However, these new songs from this year’s Burst Apart offered an ideal milieu for the sun peaking out of the morning fog. Tunes like Every Night My Teeth Are Failing Out, Parentheses, and Rolled Together paired with vocalist and guitarist Peter Silberman’s crippling falsetto completely floored the more “rock music” oriented Treasure Island Music Festival audience.

Hottest Group of Ladies That Played Treasure Island – Warpaint

Yeah, they were hot but they also play some fairly menacing and weighty psych-rock. If that didn’t sell for the heavily plaid crowd that day, the vocals and harmonies coming from the girls certainly stopped a few people in their tracks.

Band That Drew The Largest Female Crowd – Wild Beasts

Well it’s understandable once you listen to even one track from their 3rd album, Smother. Plus if you read our Kuestionnaire with guitarist Ben Little, you’ll realize the charm and professional nature they bring and that essence emanated from the stage that sunny afternoon on Treasure Island. Hayden Thorpe’s brazen strident voice made that zombified female-heavy audience swoon in celebrated unison.

Best Band I Knew The Least About But Still Enjoyed – Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Pavement, Silver Jews, The Jicks; you name a quintessential 90s band and this guy’s been apart of it. But I admittedly had never heard any of his material outside of the obvious Pavement albums, so while I planned on having a $9 beer and a slice of Spicy Pie, I instead ended up glued to this guy’s infectious rock-pop sway and hilarious stage banter. Okay Malkmus fans, I get it now, thank you.

Best Band To Make Me Possibly Turn Into a Groupie – St. Vincent

It’s impossible not to stand in awe of the utter rockability of the one Anne Clark of St. Vincent. The combination of her wild vocals and the sheer carnage that comes from her guitar shredding conquered the unsuspecting crowd that day. If you’re a fan of her latest effort, Strange Mercy, you will be happy to know that those songs translate well live. In fact, they sound better and way more emotional than their recorded counterparts. Add a killer and memorable cover The Pop Group’s She is Beyond Good and Evil and you’ve got one of the best sets of the festival.

Least Pretentious or Cynical Band – The Head and The Heart

I caught these guys at this year’s SXSW and was a bit perturbed about their polished community folk sound that seemed to becoming more and more popular with bands like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes and Mumford & Sons. But it’s pretty hard to be a skeptical music critic when you almost tear up to Lost in My Mind because it reminds you of your mom and brothers (just me?). Anyway, all sappiness aside, The Head and The Heart may be another generic folk group added to the latest radio-friendly crew, they still put on a great show that got the entire crowd jumping around and exclaiming how splendid they were. Okay okay, I agree.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Head and The Heart – The Lost In My Mind from The Head and The Heart (2010)

Best Band To Play Out The Sunset – Beach House

I think the most qualified band to play out the sunset may be Explosions in the Sky but that spot was instead given to the best dream-pop duo around. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the entire Treasure Island crowd just sat down on the lawn during their wistful and flickering set. Playing mostly from last year’s brilliant Teen Dream, they did not stray away from older tunes, much to the dedicated crowd’s delight. I made sure to take this opportunity to ride the Ferris Wheel at this point too, which was a wise decision on my part.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Beach House – Norway from Teen Dream (2010)

Best Stage Presence of the Night – Friendly Fires

Admittedly I did not watch the entire set of Friendly Fires. I had to get food at some point and hang out with a few of my friends, but from what I witnessed and heard, the band had no trouble winning the audience over that night. In addition, I was able to observe Friendly Fires lead Ed Macfarlane dance his little English ass off to the band’s art-funk explosion. Pretty entertaining to watch from any distance.

Best Time To Create an Epic Moment – Explosions in the Sky

As a huge Explosions fan, this was nothing short of a grand set from this massive instrumental band. Postcard From 1952 and Let Me Back In, two of the new songs from Take Care, Take Care, Take Care converted well as expected in the live setting. The company of The Birth and Death of the Day and Catastrophe and the Cure from All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone was welcomed to much applause and exhilaration. However it was the The Only Moment We Were Alone from The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place that closed the seemingly short set with a momentous conclusion.

Best Band To Grab a Beer To – The Hold Steady

I raised my $9 Heineken in the air as the cock-rock group belted out a near perfect version of Constructive Summer to the Treasure Island night crowd. I stuck around long enough to catch Stay Positive and Chips Ahoy!, which was enough for me at this point. You can only take in so much at music festivals before your mental clock starts to check out and everything starts to blur. Or maybe I was drunk…I can’t tell sometimes.

Most Nostalgic Band of the Night – Death Cab For Cutie

Well at least it was for me. Hearing The New Year from Transatlanticism and Why You’d Want to Live Here from the Photo Album (did not see this one coming) was enough for me to remember I actually liked this band once. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, I also enjoyed hearing Soul Meets Body, I Will Possess Your Heart (which is what they opened with), Crooked Teeth, and new songs like Doors Unlocked and Open. I had to leave early though as some of us work early on Mondays. I did hear that they played Transatlanticism last though…kind of upset I missed that.

I know I’ve said it before but Treasure Island Music Festival is a great place to experience all the music you want without the worry of compromise. Everything is at arms length; bathrooms, (good) food, water, merch, and the stages aren’t that far apart. The bands that play are always of the highest caliber and the surrounding entertainment is worth looking into (Silent Disco anyone?). Most importantly, the San Francisco backdrop is the perfect setting for this very special local festival. I feel like Treasure Island is reserved for us Bay Area folk and not enough people are aware of how fantastic it is.

Let’s keep it that way.