Coachella. Lollapalooza. Bonna-who? There are enough summer music festivals alive to pack Earth's schedules and empty its wallets. And most of them boast the same acts. Listening Post has a couple to check out that may offer more for less.
this audio or video is no longer availableTreasure Island Music Festival: Location, location, location. Where would you rather watch usual headliners like The Raconteurs and Justice bang out noise: A godforsaken desert, or a square-mile island in San Francisco Bay named after Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel? In its sophomore year, Treasure Island isn't slumping by sticking to the aforementioned acts, as well as regulars like TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend; it's doing smart business. But it's doing it smarter by adding bands that the Bay Area loves, like CSS, Hot Chip and Jason Spaceman's bizarro hybrid Spiritualized, with more to be announced. When the lineup firms up, this will be one festival that's right up Silicon's alley.
Don't miss: Amon Tobin. The Brazilian sound experimentalist has explored every corner of the electronic music spectrum, and rarely failed to set his gun on anything other than stun. He's awesome.
F Yeah! Tour: What's in a name? Everything, especially if it starts with an F. For four years, the F*%! Yeah fest has mashed music, comedy and art into a package blast that celebrated the vibrancy of its Los Angeles home base. But now the brainchild of 22-year-old Sean Carlson, and Circle Jerks and Black Flag grad Keith Morris, is taking its show on the road as the F Yeah Tour in a 44-passenger '92 Bluebird Bus. Better yet, its bands are far from big shots, which means less posers and more spirit. Left-field artists signed on for the 2008 hell ride include Matt and Kim, Dan Deacon, Dillinger Four and more, including Morris' Circle Jerks. (Any Repo Man fans in the house?)
Don't miss: Team Robespierre. Imagine The Minutemen careening headlong into Milemarker, and you get an idea of what these dance-rock smartasses are all about. If it could be tapped, their high-octane music could function nicely as a renewable energy source.
Photo: TreasureIslandFestival.com
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