The schedule for San Francisco's 2nd annual Treasure Island Music Festival is now available.  Following events like Outside Lands and Power to the Peaceful, this festival confirms San Francisco as having played one of the biggest roles in this year's summer/fall festival season.  And it's about damn time.  Golden Gate Park is one of the best places in the area (if not the country) to hold a large music festival, as is Treasure Island, located right in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.  Once a naval base and now pretty much just a small stretch of land connected to that big rock that the Bay Bridge runs through, it didn't really occur to most Bay Area residents to hold a music festival there.  But when the announcement came out that the event was to take place, everybody went, "Oh.  You know, that's actually a pretty sweet idea.  Why not?"  And as last year's debut of TIMF was such a success, all the kinks ought to be worked out by now and all the elements should be perfected.

Another unique thing about this festival is that you can have your cake and eat it to.  Between two stages, every act is scheduled in such a way that no two artists are going at once and each stage switches off immediately following the other.  The concept of a mass of people moving back and forth between two points numerous times seems odd, but most festivals entail having to choose between multiple artists, where even after making a decision, you spend much of the time contemplating whether or not you should have chosen one of the others.  It's wonderful that the USA is a land of freedom, but sometimes it's nice to have the decisions made for you.  The weekend's lineup is split in a fashion where the first day is predominantly electronic and dance with some hip-hop, and the bulk of the second day features bands from the alternative and indie rock families.  But rather than having a reporter continue to ramble on and carelessly affiliate the festival with naval bases and totalitarianism, just take a look at the schedule for yourself:

Saturday September 20th
JUSTICE (9:15-10:30)
CSS (8:25-9:10)
TV ON THE RADIO (7:25-8:25)
AMON TOBIN (6:40-7:20)
GOLDFRAPP (5:50-6:40)
FOALS (5:15-5:45)
HOT CHIP (4:25-5:15)
NORTEC: BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE (3:50-4:20)
ANTIBALAS (3:05-3:50)
LOQUAT (2:35-3:00)
AESOP ROCK (1:55-2:35)
CHESTER FRENCH (1:25-1:50)
MIKE RELM (12:50-2:35)
THE FRAIL (12:30-12:50)

Sunday September 21st
THE RACONTEURS (9:05-10:20)
THE KILLS (8:20-9:00)
TEGAN & SARA (7:25-8:20)
DR. DOG (6:40-7:20)
VAMPIRE WEEKEND (5:55-6:40)
THE DODOS (5:15-5:50)
SPIRITUALIZED (4:30-5:15)
FLEET FOXES (3:50-4:25)
OKKERVIL RIVER (3:05-3:50)
THE MORNING BENDERS (2:35-3:00)
TOKYO POLICE CLUB (1:55-2:35)
PORT O’BRIEN (1:25-1:50)
JOHN VANDERSLICE (12:50-1:25)
OR, THE WHALE (12:30-12:50)

The festival doesn't end with the above lineup, though.  Late-night performances will take place in a few of SF's more intimate music clubs.  Set to play on TIMF's second day, Fleet Foxes will give fans an appetizer at their sold-out show at The Independent on Friday night before the festival, along with Frank Fairfield and Sleepy Sun.  Also at the Independent, Saturday night will have a performance from Menomena with Dat'r.  Although Menomena isn't on the festival bill, the multi-talented trio will surely be a more-than-enjoyable ammendment to day 1 (this show is seriously worth missing some of Justice to make it into the city on time).  Tilly and the Wall, along with White Williams, DJ Aaron Azelson, and DJ Omar will also perform on Saturday night at Mezzanine, a show that will surely bridge the gap between the dance music of the first day and the indie rock of the second.  Visit the festival website for more details and updates.