Treasure Island Music Festival
This weekend, Treasure Island hosts the largest music event ever to take place on its man-made shores. Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment created the Treasure Island Music Festival to establish an indie-leaning event in San Francisco, and boy did they do the job right. Saturday will focus on electronic and dance music with a spectacular line-up of international artists including Thievery Corporation, Gotan Project, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, the funky/fabulous M.I.A., Ghostland Observatory, Kinky, and many others. Sunday will lean more toward the rock end of the spectrum with bands like Modest Mouse, Spoon, Built To Spill, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, M. Ward, and others. Be a part of indie history and support the inaugural Festival in the Bay, an event that will hopefully keep us dancing for years to come. Date: Saturday 9/15 – Sunday 9/16, Time: 11am-10pm, Place: Treasure Island, Cover: $58.50 one day, $110 both days, More Info. (EK)

Talking Music Series
The Talking Music series kicks off this Tuesday with Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service) and author Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket. Although Handler is famous for A Series of Unfortunate Events, he is also an accomplished musician who has worked with the Magnetic Fields and the 6ths as an accordion player. Handler says he started playing accordion because, although he played piano during his childhood, when he went to college during the late '80s/early '90s "no keyboard instruments were cool." Full-time rocker Gibbard and part-time rocker Handler will have an in-depth conversation about music and then play a couple tunes together. While it is easy to go watch musicians in action, it is rare to hear them speak about their work in a casual setting.  Listening to these two artists talk about their love for music will inspire anyone, whether you're a musician or music enthusiast. Date: Tuesday 9/11, Time: 8pm, Place: Palace of Fine Arts, Cover: $19, More Info. (EB)

Earthdance 2007
Missing the unity and freedom of Burning Man? Then stop by the very different but similarly creative Earthdance 2007, a three-day “camp out celebration for world peace and unity” set in a beautiful oak forest and featuring multiple stages crammed with incredibly excellent performers. Among the scheduled acts are Zap Mama, Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, Ozomatli, Les Nubians, and a slew of DJs including J-Boogie, Malarkey, Nickodemus, Amar, Dragonfly, Alex Theory, Aaron Jae, and Rob Rayle – just to name a few! From this sampling alone you can tell that the music will be phenomenal, so come happy, come peaceful, and come ready to feast your ears on the classics of many different decades. Date: Friday 9/14 – Sunday 9/16, Time: varies, check schedule, Place: Laytonville, CA, Cover: $150 presale, $180 gate, $70 Sunday only, More Info. (EK)

Block Party
The warm summer air is already giving way to cooler breezes, the days are darkening earlier, and the prospect of Fall is prompting many of us to pack away the swimsuits. Right? Wrong! It’s time for one more block party, that harbinger of loud music, short shorts, and partying outside, on the sidewalk, in the sun. Moulten Media is throwing the bash on Polk between Pine and Post, so hightail it on over there to hear a “playa list” that includes Mauricio V & Jessie Martinez, David Harness, Trevor Simpson, OD vs YBD, Landshark, Anthony Mansfield, the 40 Thieves, Andre Lucero, the Worker & Christian Schmidt, and Claude Van Stroke & Worthy. An afternoon of dancing in the streets of SF? For free? Summer ain’t over until we SAY it’s over! Date: Saturday 9/15, Time: 12-7pm, Place: Polk between Pine and Post, Cover: no cover, More Info. (EK)

Love Fest 2007 The Love Parade reached worldwide headlines in 1989, ironically, just four months before the Berlin wall came down. Fittingly, the event's founder, DJ Matthias Roeingh, aka, Dr. Mott, held the belief that bringing people together with a common love, in this case, dance music, would make a political statement to the world that peace, unity, and international understanding could be a reality. Simultaneously to the wall falling and the unification of Germany taking place, the annual gathering of revelers began. Since then, the crowd has grown to more than a million people dancing in the streets as they follow floats carrying DJs throughout Berlin, making the city a venue for one big party. By the early 2000s, the party began to spread to other cities, including San Francisco, Vienna, Mexico City, Tel Aviv, and Cape Town. Because of changes within the organization, the parade has become known under different names around the world. In San Francisco, it's Love Fest. On September 29th, Love Fest, along with its 10s of 1,000s of revelers, will once again take to the streets of San Francisco, and then change hats, becoming a huge party at the Civic Center. Be a part of this procession as it continues to grow to be one of the biggest collections of DJ music and fans in the world. Date: Saturday 9/29, Time: parade kicks off at noon, Place: 2nd and Market St, proceeding up Market to the Civic Center, Cover: tba, More Info (KW)