LIVE REVIEW: Treasure Island Music Festival 2012, Day 1

October 19. 2012 | By Jay Raco

To some of us, there is no better festival than San Francisco’s very own Treasure Island Music Festival. Coachella is ridiculously hot and feels like being on Survivor in the middle of the desert. Outside Lands is oversold and getting from place to place feels like an epic journey. TI Fest? Goldilocks perfection. Efficient to get to and get into (no lines either day), great views of the skyline, lots of space, and every year features a kick-ass lineup.

Saturday is traditionally the urban dance day. Public Enemy, Araabmuzik, and Girl Talk were the most anticipated acts for us on Day 1.

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Public Enemy

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Public Enemy

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Public Enemy

Public Enemy tore shit up, “Fight the Power” had fists in the sky meanwhile the solders on stage dressed in camo fatigues did their awesome synchronized marching. PE definitely won over a crowd that may have originally viewed them with some hipster irony. “Harder Than You Think,” “Can’t Trust it,” “Rebel with A Pause,” and “911’s A Joke” reminded people how many great songs they’ve made…and how well they’re music holds up. The set made us forget about Flavor Flav the reality star, and think of him instead as the greatest hype man in rap history. He did push-ups while rapping, and of course, the patented dance! Chuck D’s voice sounded strong, and their DJ did a rock mashup that featured the drums from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that had the place jumping.

Araab Muzik @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Araabmuzik

Araabmuzik’s come along way since being the primary producer for Cam’ron and the Dipset crew. Gaining a fair share of YouTube fame for his performances on the MPC (look it up, so worth it), we were interested to see how it translated live, and in short, he put on arguably the best set of the weekend, and certainly stole the trophy on Saturday. Yes, Porter Robinson was good, and Girl Talk was awesome. Yes, people were dancing on stage and getting engaged, but Araabmuzik sounded like the future. A spooky hard-hitting future. He mixed up The Throne‘s “I Can’t Stop,” and the place was going nuts.

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K.Flay

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The Coup

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Matthew Dear

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Grimes

Grimes @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12

Grimes

TORO Y MOI - TI Fest'12 -0036
Toro Y Moi

Toro y Moi @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Toro Y Moi

Dirty Ghosts @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Dirty Ghosts

SBTRKT @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
SBTRKT

The Presets @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
The Presets

Tycho @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Tycho

Girl Talk @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Girl Talk

Porter Robinson @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12
Porter Robinson

Porter Robinson @ Treasure Island Festival, SF 10/14/12

Check out The Owl Mag’s entire Treasure Island 2012 photo collection HERE and HERE.

Photos by:
Mike Rosati
Amber Gregory

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