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Purity Ring performs in ponchos at the Treasure Island Music Festival on Oct. 16, 2016.  Estefany Gonzalez
Purity Ring performs in ponchos at the Treasure Island Music Festival on Oct. 16, 2016.  (Estefany Gonzalez)

Photos and Highlights From TIMF 10: A Rain-Soaked, Final Fest on the Island

Photos and Highlights From TIMF 10: A Rain-Soaked, Final Fest on the Island

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[Ed. note: This year’s Treasure Island Music Festival, the two-day music fest’s tenth and final year on its namesake island, seemed momentous –and potentially fraught — from the start. Another Planet Entertainment delivered a killer lineup to mark the bittersweet occasion; then, a few weeks before the festival, announced that due to impending development this year’s party would take place away from its typical, iconic San Francisco skyline views, and instead be held on the island’s eastern shore — a site that up until then had mostly been dirt and concrete.  That was before anyone predicted the weather: Oct. 15 and 16 were two of the wettest days Northern California has seen in months Still, a spirit of “Who cares if we’re muddy, the show must go on” was evident everywhere this past weekend. Here, writer-photographer Estefany Gonzalez shares some images and notes.]

Creative costumes at TIMF 2016.
Creative costumes at TIMF 2016. (Estefany Gonzalez)

Rainy weather wreaked havoc on this year’s Treasure Island Music Festival. Saturday got off to a rocky start, with the Ferris wheel and silent disco closed down due to weather by 3pm. An hour later, the storm kicked into high gear — and announcements of pushed back (or canceled) performances began.

Crowd Day Two 03 (1)

Ponchos were the height of festival fashion.
Ponchos were the height of festival fashion.

The Polish Ambassador, a local who was added to the lineup four days prior, played a two-hour set to fill in the gap — and surprisingly did not run out of material.

The Polish Ambassador
The Polish Ambassador (Estefany Gonzalez)

Once the rain really started to pour down, festival-goers piled into lines at the merch booths for rain ponchos, which sold out by 5pm. With no signs of updated set times (festival organizers apologized for the lack of communication in a statement the following morning).

Sponsored

Kelela in crowd

Still, frustrated by the weather and delays, many attendees began to leave the fest.

At the height of Saturday’s storm Kamaiyah and her hype men took the stage in attempts to lighten the mood.

Kamaiyah and her hypemen rocking ponchos with the best of them.
Kamaiyah and her hypemen rocking ponchos with the best of them. (Estefany Gonzalez)

Kamaiyah and Hypemen 03

After, once the rain let up and most festival goers were drenched, a large crowd gathered around a fire installation by Charles Gadeken for warmth and shouts of “Fire, fire, fire,” when the artist turned up the flames.

Day one fire stat 01 (1)

Young Thug didn’t make it onto the Bridge stage until around 7pm, once the rain had dissipated. Soon after, we saw many people rushing out of his set once he made comments like “This side ain’t turned up enough. What’s wrong with y’all?”

Young Thug
Young Thug (Estefany Gonzalez)

Luckily, despite technical problems, How To Dress Well had a more positive attitude about the rain. Front man Tom Krell told the audience he normally plays with 36 sound channels but would only be playing with six.

How To Dress Well
How To Dress Well (Estefany Gonzalez)

After the first song, the mood seemed to lighten. Krell earned a lot of cheers, but his set was cut down to three songs due to delays.

Glass Animals also continued the positive attitude. Singer Dave Bayley thanked the crowd for braving the storm to see the band and even joined it at one point.

Glass Animals
Glass Animals (Estefany Gonzalez)

Artist response to the situation was, well, variable. Duke Dumont refused to play due to the poor weather. Festival employees told the audience it was “too wet” for Dumont, which he later clarified on Twitter meant that his audio equipment was flooded and the stage was being dismantled.

The rest of the festival continued without noticeable problems. ZHU commented on the weather during his set but told his audience not to worry. “Zhu is here for you,” he said.

Zhu
Zhu (Estefany Gonzalez)

Ice Cube energetically closed out the night on the main stage and reminded everyone that before he “made too many movies,” picking up a mic was where his career started.

Ice Cube
Ice Cube (Estefany Gonzalez)
Ice Cube
Ice Cube

Day two’s weather started out much better. It also helped that attendees came better prepared with rain boots, ponchos and even some saucy two-piece rain gear.

Crowd day 2 06

Day one Crowd 07

Syvlan Esso
Syvlan Esso (Estefany Gonzalez)

Sunday, as per the festival’s tradition, featured more electronic and dance bands, like Sylvan Esso and Neon Indian. The crowd seemed to be in a much better mood with the sun out.

Sylvan Esso
Sylvan Esso (Estefany Gonzalez)

Another highlight was San Francisco’s own Deafheaven, whose brand of metal was vastly different from any other act on the lineup; they gathered a large crowd and had one of the loudest sets at the festival.

Deafheaven
Deafheaven
Neon Indian
Neon Indian (Estefany Gonzalez)
Tycho
Tycho (Estefany Gonzalez)

Overall, day two went smoothly until around 7pm when the rain picked up again and James Blake canceled his set due to high winds. (Earlier today, Blake announced a make-up show for tonight at Fox Theater, free to TIMF ticket holders. Purity Ring and Sigur Ros were also pushed back around an hour.

Purity Ring
Purity Ring

Despite the delay Purity Ring put on a great set. The band’s light show was beautiful to watch, and singer Megan James had the crowd captivated with her airy vocals.

Purity Ring
Purity Ring

C

Though the rain did put a dent in festival plans, most of the rain-drenched attendees didn’t seem to mind by the time Sigur Ros took the stage and closed out the night.

Day one Crowd 02 (1)

 

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