Show Review: Hopscotch Music Festival 2013, Day 2

A-Trak @ City Plaza

14 hours of live music will take something out of you--I can attest to that. But the prospect of another full day of even more exciting festivities is enough to push me to drag my ass out of bed and immerse myself in a whole new day of beer drinking, fried food gorging and most importantly live music consumption. Hopscotch's three-day run is a unique festival experience, I've trekked out to Bonnaroo and know the woes of spending your days camping in the sun, but Hopscotch is an equally exhausting experience believe it or not.

However, one of my favorite parts of Hopscotch is the ability to revisit some of these acts--whether they be local or not--that you haven't seen in years and suddenly stumble upon. That's what my day was filled with on Friday, an afternoon of high-energy rock music from a wide array of genres. I begrudgingly attended my Friday class and made it downtown just in time for Last Year's Men to begin their set at Slim's. Last time I saw these guys was ironically enough at Hopscotch...at Slim's, so this was definitely a familiar environment for me. Their buzzing brand of garage rock continues to wow me as I experience the band in this tightly packed setting that is absurdly conducive to their sound.

After Last Year's Men finished up their raucous set I checked out The Everymen from New Jersey behind Slim's. Of course I feasted on free booze and veggie burgers, but the highlight of this experience was most definitely the discovery of an absolutely wonderful live act. The Everymen packed out Slim's back porch despite the beating sun and rocked harder than anyone I saw on Friday (including Valient Thorr). At one point the keyboardist picked up his instrument and pulled out a rocking behind the head solo which is arguably the most rock and roll thing a keyboardist can do. Their lively set even drew a crowd of underaged kids on the adjacent parking deck which everyone began to gawk over as well. All in all Slim's served as an awesome kickstart for my Friday.

A-Trak and Holy Ghost! To Replace Big Boi at Hopscotch

A-Trak will join Holy Ghost!, Future Islands
and Gross Ghost at Hopscotch's City Plaza Show
on Friday, Sept. 6

Last week Hopscotch announced some bittersweet news, Big Boi's City Plaza performance was cancelled due to unfortunate scheduling circumstance. While it's a massive bummer that Big Boi won't light up the Hopscotch stage, the silver lining lies in the fact that Hopscotch had announced that Big Boi would be replaced with two artists on the Friday night bill to make for one massive "sorry this isn't Big Boi" show. Well it turns out that Hopscotch attendees have broken the age old mantra and can now have their cake and eat it too, as the festival announced A-Track and Holy Ghost! as Big Boi's replacements. But most importantly, they've announced a rescheduled Big Boi show with a huge added perk for festival goers.

Big Boi's replacement show will take place at Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Sept. 21 and the first 1,000 tickets are going to made available absolutely free for Hopscotch wristband buyers. The wristbands will be available at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Raleigh once wristband distribution begins on Sept. 4. Fans who bought a single-day ticket for the City Plaza show will still be able to attend the festivities on Friday and will also be able to obtain a free ticket for the Big Boi show. For more information on the replacement show check out Hopscotch's official announcement.