My experience at the 2011 Treasure Island Music Festival began with seeing Aloe Blacc on Saturday. After boarding a shuttle bus immediately upon arriving in the boarding area in the AT&T Park parking lot with no wait, me and my friends embarked on a short, scenic ride across the Bay Bridge onto the little island built on landfill on top of the Yerba Buena shoals. We breezed through security, excited for some throwback, hip-hop-inspired soul and horns on a beautiful autumn day with the dynamic San Francisco skyline providing a glistening backdrop.

After some opening bars by his band, Blacc slid out onto the Tunnel Stage looking like a lithe, dapper cross between Andre 3000 and Mos Def in an impeccably tailored vest and pants combo over a green satin shirt with a bowtie and hat. Yes, the two stages at this year’s event were named the Bridge Stage and the Tunnel Stage, a nod to the snobby term “Bridge-and-Tunnel people.” The term was originally coined for people who travel to Manhattan Island from surrounding communities and was later appropriated by San Francisco residents in a slightly more playful way. In this context was straight up hipster-ironic since we traveled over a bridge to get out of the city for our good times this particular weekend.

Blacc and his band ripped through several hits from their 2010 album Good Things, including the popular song, “I Need a Dollar,” used as the intro to the HBO show How to Make it in America. Blacc’s super smooth timbre and obvious chops were one of the musical highlights of the weekend for me as he veered effortlessly through different vocal styles, from soul to R&B even briefly dipping into reggae.

During the dearth of interesting acts that followed, me and my friends wandered around drinking overpriced beers (Heineken and Newcastle have an obnoxious ongoing beer monopoly at this festival) sampling various vendor foods (the clam topped French fries made a particular memorable impression) watching hipsters act cooler than us in better clothes than us, and scoping out ironic T-shirts at the vendors. Oh, and checking out the view of the city over the water from different angles, which was not too shabby.

The next band we caught a glimpse of was New Zealand indie rock band The Naked and Famous on the Bridge Stage. It was a fitting name for the too-good-looking-to-be-true quintet. I’ll go out on a limb and say no one would really mind seeing them naked, especially the sultry female lead singer, whose self-assured voice played in syncopation over more-interesting-than-usual synth-pop.

After some meandering about, next up was the end of Battles’ set. Their percussion-heavy post-prog-rock was a nice departure from the decidedly 80’s vibe of the festival, which alternated between dreamy/synthy and poppy/funky/synthy, but clearly dominated most bands there. They brought a straight-ahead tribal rhythmic sound to the table and did some of the only rocking out to be seen on Saturday. As is Treasure Island Music Festival tradition, this year offered more dance-ability on Saturday and more rock on Sunday.

In between sets we ran into some friends, bought some more libations, took advantage of the ample number of porto-potties (this festival is clearly run by people who have an understanding of logistics that exceeds most) while Dizzee Rascal rhymed and swaggered in proper English in the background.

Chromeo came on to finally give everyone a reason to get down. The Montreal electro-funk twosome threw it down for a very appreciative crowd, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics soaring over synth-guitar syncopation. You could feel the energy go up a level as the duo ushered in the beginning of dusk, laying the ground work for Cut Copy to take the stage next.

Australian indie electronic band Cut Copy, who took the stage next, sound so much like they’re circa 1981 that I’ve had friends mistake them for Men At Work when I play their albums when we’re hanging out. Yet if you listen closer, you hear subtle but decidedly post-millennium nuances. The high-energy retro club hits from their 2011 album Zonoscope sounded great across the cooling air as dusk descended further, providing a sweet close to the day.

Sunday was all about two bands and two bands only for us – Explosions in the Sky and Death Cab for Cutie. Both were slated to play late in the evening on Sunday, which was perfect for us, as we stayed up all night on Saturday and didn’t get to the festival until about 4pm on Sunday.

Explosions in the Sky graced the stage with their lush orchestral post-rock mini-symphonies and beautiful, beautiful hair. Their elaborate guitar arrangements and brilliant use of dynamics created just the right atmosphere for the moment as their moving instrumental mini-symphonies, simultaneously tinged with melancholy and wonder, innocence and heartbreak, alternated between soaring violently and pulling back gently. With instrumentalism this expressive, who need words?

After a short break, Death Cab for Cutie came onstage to a fairly thunderous roar of applause and launched into what proved to be a spectacular showcase of many of their best songs from across their spectrum of albums. New drummer Jason McGerr was the highlight, bringing more chops and style to the table as lead singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard expertly executed the band’s song storylines - at times humble and self-loathing, at times lacerating and acid-tongued. I could distinctly tell that many people around me knew every word to every song. When you looked around you could see those who could sing joining in and those who couldn’t mouthing the words. Everyone was appreciative of the song selection, which veered from classics like “Soul Meets Body” and “We Looked like Giants” to the best of the new hits like “You Are a Tourist” off of the 2011 album Codes and Keys.

We left feeling the kind of satisfaction you feel after a good meal. Even the lines for the buses to get off of the island couldn’t bring us down.