Justice, Hot Chip, Spiritualized, Raconteurs at Treasure Island

It’s official: The Treasure Island Music Festival (Sept. 20-21) is the most exciting local music event this year. Check out the lineup, just announced this morning: On Saturday, Sept. 20 you can see Justice, TV on the Radio, Goldfrapp, Hop Chip, CSS, Antibalas, Aesop Rock, Amon Tobin, Foals, Mike Relm, and Nortec: Bostich + Fussible. Then on Sunday it’s the Raconteurs, Tegan & Sara, Vampire Weekend, Spiritualized, Okkervil River, Tokyo Police Club, The Kills, Dr. Dog, John Vanderslice, the Dodos, and Fleet Foxes.

Now that lineup’s just insane. The festival already ranked high on my list last year – when right out the gate they hosted great music (M.I.A., Spoon, DJ Shadow) in a space straight out of a movie set (the San Francisco skyline looming in Treasure Island’s background). But now they’ve upped the par on the music here, getting the top tier of the indie rock and electronic worlds. Add to that the carpooling busses made getting there and back a breeze, and the fact that there’s nothing like hearing a band play while being lifted into the air by a Ferris wheel, and, well, I’m very excited about this one. Noise Pop and Another Planet have worked hard to give the city a one-of-a-kind destination festival, and putting these bands on Treasure Island for year two of the big event makes good on that claim. Plus, the tickets are very reasonable for all that music: Single day passes are $65; two-day tickets are $115, and “a limited number of early bird two-day tickets will be available for $99.00 through the festival pre-sale.” (VIPs can get their tickets again too, in four-packs for $445.00). More info at Treasure Island’s website. – Jennifer Maerz