Treasure Island Music Festival Is Back! New Location, Equally Impressive Music and Views

Photo Cred: Brooke Duthie 2013 (Treasure Island Facebook Page)

Written by: Ann Hodge

Treasure Island is back from its one-year hiatus! While it’s no longer actually on Treasure Island due to redevelopment projects, it has found a new home at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland on October 13-14th.

Don’t worry, there’s still killer views of San Francisco. And the festival is keeping its mellow, easygoing vibes with only two stages and no overlapping set times. Which means, you won’t face the heartbreaking reality of most music festivals, where you have to choose between two acts you love.


Photo Cred: Treasure Island Music Festival/Facebook 

Tame Impala and A$AP Rocky are headlining, with other acts including Silk City (Diplo and Mark Ronson’s new project), Lord Huron, Santigold, Courtney Barnett, Jungle, Hiatus Kaiyote, and more. While luckily you won’t be forced to choose between acts, you won’t want to miss these four non-headlining acts.  

Silk City [Diplo + Mark Ronson]

In August 2017, Diplo mentioned to GQ that he and Ronson were working on a collab album with disco music. Then in January this year, Diplo and Ronson officially announced Silk City. They’ll make their musical debut at Governor’s Ball in New York in June, so Treasure Island attendees will have time to familiarize themselves with their music in preparation for some serious grooving.  

Ronson is a superstar DJ and producer, best-known for his collaboration with Bruno Mars: Uptown Funk, writing and producing music for Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album, and his soul- and funk-influenced musical style. Check out some of his other tracks with Lily Allen and Santigold (who will also be performing at Treasure Island).

Diplo, one of the biggest musician/DJ/producers in the world, is also known for his award-winning collaborations, notably, Major Lazer, and most recently for winning a 2016 Grammy for Where Are Ü Now, with Skrillex and Justin Bieber. Diplo has also collaborated with Santigold recently — perhaps we’ll see a guest performance?

Jungle

For more soulful and funky vibes, don’t miss Jungle. Jungle is a group from London, founded by Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland (or J and T as they like to be known), who have been friends since they were nine years old. To perform live, they expanded to become a seven-piece band because they wanted to create an organic experience vs. simply reproducing their music from laptops. Jungle intermixes their 70’s funk sound with wildlife noises, tropical flair, and their own twist. To get a feel for their jams, check out the below songs:

Hiatus Kaiyote

Hiatus Kaiyote, a four-piece band from Melbourne, has blown-up in recent years for its unique “future soul” sound. Though the band only formed in 2011, in 2013, their song Nakamarra was nominated for a Grammy in the category “Best R&B Performance.” In 2015, Hiatus Kaiyote was nominated again for “Best R&B Performance” for Breathing Underwater. You can listen to both songs below.

They’ve garnered attention from the likes of Drake, who sampled them on his More Life record, and Willow Smith who’s said it’s her dream to work with Hiatus Kaiyote. Catch them before they become the headliner!

Courtney Barnett

Another Melbourne-based musician, Courtney Barnett, is a singer/songwriter known for her deadpan delivery and garage rock, folk-pop style. A talented songwriter, recognized for writing about her everyday life in an apathetic yet humorous, and introspective way, you’ll want to pay attention to her lyrics.

Barnett just released her third album Tell Me How You Really Feel,” which has been described by the New York Times as “growing punkier, more psychedelic, dronier and noisier as the songs demand. Ms. Barnett, 30, is stubbornly grounded in hand-played, not overly processed rock that traces a throughline from 1960s folk rock and garage rock to 1970s punk to 1980s indie rock to 1990s grunge.”

Check her out if you were hoping to rock out at Treasure Island! Here are some of my favorite songs:

Get ready to enjoy the gorgeous Bay Area sunshine, while listening to world-class music and grooving to views of the San Francisco city skyline!

Tickets go on sale Friday, May 18th at 12PM  PT. You can buy tickets here. There are a limited number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 tickets for $165, and $175 respectively. So grab them before the price goes up! As an added bonus, Treasure Island is providing free shuttles this year, so you won’t need to worry about how to get there!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *