It's hard to even begin to rundown what to see on Saturday because there's just so damn much of it. Saturday will feature both indoor and outdoor day parties and will surely be filled with hours of day drinking and general musical debauchery. Some of the state's finest acts will be on display throughout the day, including some that were unfortunately left off of the festival. Mandolin Orange for example will be performing at one of Hopscotch's official Day Parties outside of Raleigh Times, with their latest full length This Side of Jordan freshly released, one can expect a fantastic set from this beloved act that'll be filled with new songs from their stellar album. But Saturday also gives fans a chance to see a few of the festival's standout acts from Saturday night. Got a hard time deciding who to see? Maybe you can cross off a few bands like Torres (performing at Phuzz Phest's Day Party at The Hive) or Jamaican Queens (performing at Spazzscotch at Slim's) to free up some of your evening's schedule.
I for one will be darting from venue to venue like a sweaty madman to check out everything I possibly can. However, it'll be essential to start out with Trekky's Day Dream at The Pour House for a few reasons. First off, because Trekky is awesome and they've got a killer lineup that features Estrangers, Hi Ho Silver Oh, and Loamlands, but also because they've got an OPEN BAR while the tab lasts. I'll be getting my drink on while taking in the sounds of Winston-Salem's fantastic Estrangers, but throughout the afternoon I'll be checking out Some Army at Deep South, Ghostt Bllonde and Jamaican Queens at Slims and hopefully some of Odessa's badass lineup at Kings that features Gross Ghost, Spiderbags and Flesh Wounds.
Naturally the evening will kick off at City Plaza with the frenetic indie pop of The Lollipops. Last year I was introduced to this band at The Love Language's day party and in one short year they've already made it to City Plaza. Once you hear their infectious songs though you'll understand why. The Lollipops are a tightly-wound ball of energy and once Iggy Cosky and crew get on stage that energy starts bouncing around with a contagious intensity. I'll be sticking around City Plaza for The Breeders and Spiritualized but I admittedly don't have much interest in the bands. Curse me for being that young guy that doesn't appreciate the greats, but I felt the same way about Guided By Voices and The Jesus and Mary Chain. I'll stick around to see the shows because the energy that these bands will give off is going to absolutely electrifying, but it's definitely not something that I'm losing my proverbial shit over.
Needless to say I'll be leaving City Plaza early into Spiritualized's set unless they reel me in somehow, but my destination is still pretty unclear. Saturday's club shows start out with tons of fantastic local bands. Though it's a toss-up between Casual Curious at The Hive and Estrangers at Berkeley Cafe, I'll probably be focusing my sights on Saints Apollo at Tir Na Nog, because ultimately Hopscotch provides an excellent opportunity to get to see those local acts that you've been putting off. Saints Apollo won me over with their full-length debut We Are Ghosts that was recently released, it's a wonderful display of their folk-pop mastery, with evocative strings and captivating melodies they're an easy choice to kick off the evening.
From there I'll book it down to Memorial Auditorium to catch some of The Dead Tongues' set. The Dead Tongues have put out one of my favorite records of the year, so getting the chance to see them fill out the massive Memorial Auditorium will be a wonderful opportunity. It'll also make it easy to hop over to San Fermin at Fletcher Opera Hall. I'd never listened to San Fermin until about twenty minutes ago truthfully, but that's one of the joys of this festival. Despite the fact that the lineup has been out for months, I can still run through the schedule and find discrepancies I'd have never even considered. San Fermin is a gorgeously grandiose chamber-pop act from Brooklyn that will be a perfect fit for Fletcher.
After San Fermin ends it's off to Deep South to catch some of Torres' set. This is another toss-up that depends on whether or not I get the chance to check out Torres during the day parties, but if not this is an easy choice to check out this incredibly talented 22-year old songwriter. Mostly because I can stand there and feel bad about myself for having accomplished nothing close to Mackenzie Scott despite our shared age. I'll cut out of Torres early though to grab a spot for Majical Cloudz at The Hive. Majical Cloudz is one of the standouts for this year's festival, his art-pop sorcery has left me transfixed since my first listen. Devon Welsh's striking baritone vocals mesh together perfectly with the minimalistic synth lines and bare-boned percussion that flesh out this beautiful music. Majical Cloudz is sure to be an intense experience, so I'll have to close my night on something much lighter in tone. Something like Gent & Jawns running the trap at Kings. I've got to admit that I'm addicted to trap music, especially the new electronic oriented variety. I cut my musical teeth on southern-styled hip-hop with it's blazing hi-hats and ear-rattling bass, so closing out my night cooking to Gent & Jawns is going to be a fantastic way to end my Hopscotch weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment