Little Dragon kicks off amazing music festival

By Lauren Duffy

The fourth-annual Treasure Island Festival felt more like two festivals rolled into one; electronic music kicked off the first day while indie bands rocked the second. Treasure Island, a man-made island located between Oakland and San Francisco, provided breathtaking views of the San Francisco skyline as electronic-oriented artists DeadMau5, LCD Soundsystem, and Miike Snow headlined Saturday, bringing in rowdy, party-ready fans.

Broken Social Scene, She and Him, The National, and Belle and Sebastian provided melancholic, slightly darker indie rock for the second day, an entirely different atmosphere from the previous day's mania.

"It's a hipster haven," said sophomore Miles Graugnard, who attended the first day of Treasure Island. Saturday's candy-colored raver crowds gave way to mature fans donning earth-toned North Face windbreakers, with many "Team Zissou" red knit hats spotted on the chilly, drizzling second day on the island.

Little Dragon, a Swedish synth-pop quartet, performed pulsing, sensual electronic music at the waterfront Tunnel Stage Saturday night. Vocalist Yumiki Nagano, drummer Erik Bodin, bassist Fredrick Kallgren, and keyboardist Hakan Wirenstrand make up the electronic band Little Dragon. The group has been friends since high school. "It's a nice little family more than a band," said Bodin.

On stage, Nagano was a sequined whirl of perpetual motion during their eight-song set, even hopping up to Erik Bodin's drumset and banging on the cymbals during "Blinking Pigs."

The petite Japanese-Swedish singer swirled around the stage with seemingly boundless energy, even letting out a guttural scream for the audience to "Put your hands in the air!"

"It's so heartwarming, because you get to express yourself and you get to feel the love from people who appreciate what you do, and that's really a huge high," said Nagano. Little Dragon performed hypnotic songs from their most recent album, "Machine Dreams," as well as new material from their upcoming album. After an aggressive touring schedule of playing the same songs over and over again, the group eagerly anticipated playing new music. "It's going to be very exciting to feel a little bit nervous again, to feel fragile with new songs...[to make] some major mistakes," said Bodin with a laugh.

Little Dragon has collaborated with some big names in the music scene recently, including Gorillaz and Maximum Balloon. The indie-electronic group was featured on two tracks of "Plastic Beach," Gorillaz' critically acclaimed 2010 album, which they recorded in London during a few days off from tour. "For Plastic Beach," they had been making music not only in the studio in London but also in Syria, Damascus and even China. "We were just enjoying the experience and at the end of it all [we were] happy that the songs ended up on the album," said Nagano.

Currently, Kallgren and Nagano are guest performers on the Gorillaz' US tour, and Little Dragon will act as the opening act on the "Gorillaz: Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour" which began Oct. 3 in Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong. Little Dragon is coming back to the United States for a solo tour this

January to perform their new material.

Maximum Balloon, the solo effort of TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek, recruited Little Dragon to perform on his 2010 album, which also featured Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's and legendary Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Nagano said that they first became friends with Sitak while touring with TV on the Radio, and that working with him came together pretty naturally. "He's been supporting us since day one and we just love him as a person," said Nagano.

After Little Dragon's set, as DeadMau5's performance approached, ravers with pacifiers, glow sticks, furry boots, and homemade "Mau5" heads appeared throughout the crowd. The wildly popular electro-house DJ performed in his signature LED light laced mouse helmet, with the crowd roaring in approval as his ghoulish cartoon grin moved its "mouth" to the words "Sometimes things get complicated."

The damp second day at the festival provided dark, melancholic indie tunes to a laid-back crowd that felt like it belonged more in Portland, Oregon than upbeat California. Canadian super-group Broken Social Scene and whimsical indie vets Belle and Sebastian performed new material as well as fan favorites, which left audiences grinning and singing along.

She & Him, a duo comprised of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and Portland-based indie rocker M.Ward, brought sunny, 60's girl-group style indie pop to the overcast afternoon. Deschanel, known for her roles in "500 Days of Summer" and "Elf," looked as adorable as expected in a ruffled hot pink mini-skirt as she bounced around stage, tambourine in hand.

Despite the chilly temperatures on Treasure Island over the weekend, music fans kept warm to bumping electronic music and the best of indie rock.

Contact Lauren at leduffy@scu.edu or at (408) 551- 1918.