Treasure Island Music Fest: A Preview
It's the music fest that all the hip kids and true indie and indie-ish music fans have been waiting all year for, and it's finally here. The two-day long Treasure Island Music Festival kicks off on Saturday, and the line-up is pretty swell -- with the likes of Passion Pit, The Streets, Girl Talk, Brazilian Girls and MGMT on Saturday; and Grizzly Bear, Beirut, The Decemberists, The Walkmen, Yo La Tengo, and The Flaming Lips on Sunday. ALSO, the 12-2pm slots both days are filled with fun local acts like Murs, The Limousines, Crown City Rockers, Sleepy Sun, and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, so show up early and represent.
The best part about this festival, in our eyes, is its size. Unlike at your Coachellas, and your Outside Lands, and your Hardly Strictly Bluegrasses, there's no having to choose between two acts you love or run around between stages. The Treasure Island stages are a mere few hundred feet apart, and the acts don't overlap. All you do is shift your attention left and right, and the laziest and most stoned can choose never to move their blankets at all and just camp out in between the two stages. Sure, the beer's still expensive and it's a bit of schlep to get out to the island, but there's a reason so many great acts have signed on this year -- it's a special little experience. (Tickets still available.)
Transportation options are as follows:
- Bauer's shuttle buses, which will be on constant loops leaving from Lot A behind AT&T Park all day long, both days starting at 11 a.m. There's no parking on the island unless you have a VIP two-day pass, so this really is your best bet.
- Complimentary bicycle valet will be available at Lot A, c/o of the SF Bicycle Coalition.
- Free parking for all ticket holders is available at Lot A.
- Muni 108 buses will leave on a slightly expanded schedule from the Transbay Terminal throughout the day, and the 108 lets off right near the festival grounds.
- Take a taxi or schedule a Bauer limo of your own for a group.
- Take a boat, but you'll have to anchor out a ways and dinghy in or rent a guest slip from the Treasure Island Yacht Club.
You can bring small bags and backpacks and 2 "factory sealed" water bottles, but no glass containers, no coolers, no professional cameras, and obviously, no weapons. There are no in-and-outs once you've crossed the threshold of the festival grounds.