Show Review: Hopscotch Music Festival, Day 3

Spiritualized @ City Plaza

By the time Saturday rolled around exhausted is one of the words I had in my rolodex to tell people how I was feeling when asked. But despite my energetic woes, there was no way that I'd miss out on the full days worth of shows that came along with Saturday's Day Parties. While the move shows my nonsensical youth at work, my day began right at 12:00 thanks to Trekky's Day Party and an open bar thanks to Team Clermont. Because what better way to battle hangovers than with a quick round of day drinking?

Winston-Salem's fuzzed-out rockers Estrangers kicked off the day for me, so while half of this attendance was for the free booze the other was most definitely to see this fantastic band. Their debut full-length Season of 1000 Colors (you can check out my review in Creative Loafing Charlotte today!) was released earlier this summer and proved to be one of my favorite local releases of the first half of the year. It's unfair to make Love Language comparisons of any local act that's got reverb-washed, classic pop stylings--but frankly the comparison is apt when it comes to Estrangers. Phillip Pledger's unrestrained vocals are liable to turn on a dime, ranging from delicate croons to passionate wails.

Immediately after Estrangers came a solo set from Hi Ho Silver Oh and it was one of the few sets this year that absolutely blew me out of the water. Everyone packed upstairs for the quaint show, but Casey Trela held nothing back in a powerful set that slowly evolved into a riveting full-band display with locals Joah Tunnel and Josh Kimbrough joining Trela for fully fleshed-out interpretations of his raw, attention-grabbing tracks. Trela's folk inspired melodies took form over a looped guitar that added depth and complexity to his bone-chilling vocal delivery. I walked in oblivious to this former North Carolinian's act and immediately left with the desire to immerse myself in their work. A stellar set that set the bar high throughout the day.

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.

Show Review: Hopscotch Music Festival 2013, Day 1

Kurt Vile & The Violators @ The Lincoln Theater

I say it each year, but I truly don't know how Grayson and Greg will be able to top themselves next year. Although this year's festival was plagued with last minute cancellations of some big named artists, the show still went off without a hitch. Artists like Action Bronson pulling out last minute made for brilliant, once in a lifetime moments like Big Daddy Kane's set at The Lincoln. And while many thought the cancellation of Big Boi could harm this festival, considering he was their marquee act, the addition of A-Trak and Holy Ghost! made Friday night's City Plaza set far more wild than Big Boi ever could have. While the hip-hop icon will certainly tear down the house on Sept. 21 when he plays his rescheduled show, few lineups in Hopscotch history have meshed as well as Friday's events.

So after seeing 35 bands in three days and amassing more hours of live music than sleep, I've slowly begun to take in everything that I checked out over the weekend. From the good to the weird, I can honestly say there weren't really any sets that I couldn't find something to enjoy. For those that frequent festivals like this, that's a true testament to the power of this lineup. When you've got as many bands as Hopscotch does on your lineup there's bound to be a few duds, but if they were around this year I certainly didn't get the chance to see them. As a matter of fact, I stumbled upon more surprisingly fantastic sets than I did disappointing.

Rather than lambast you with a gigantic, novel-esque post that encompasses all of these acts that I've seen throughout the weekend, I've chosen to give day-by-day reviews for all of this year's festivities. So indulge yourself in day one and be on the lookout for the Friday review tomorrow!

Hopscotch Itinerary: Friday, Sept. 6

Ah, Friday. Even though we're only a day away I'm still stressing out about who I'm going to see, what sets I'm going to cut out of early and who I'll sadly miss all together. Even with this year's cancellations, Friday's lineup is still one of the strongest for a single day that I can remember. Day Parties kick into full effect on Friday and City Plaza starts off in the evening with an eclectic but incredible combination of locally and internationally acclaimed artists.

Since there's no WKNC commitments taking up the afternoon, Friday is thankfully a day entirely dedicated to bouncing around venues for some of the incredible Day Party showings. There's some local goodness of all varieties that'll be performing in downtown Raleigh this afternoon, so I'll surely be making my rounds throughout most of the day parties.

The Pinhook has teamed up with Cirque Du Vol Studios for an afternoon filled with some of the area's most talented female artists like Shirlette Ammons, Des Ark and the fantastically fun Creedence Queerwater Revival (featuring Kym Register and a barrage of CCR covers!). Their hilariously titled Bitchfork Day Party takes place at Cirque Du Vol and kicks off at 11. Deep South's Schoolkids Day Party is another awesome one with standouts like Onward, Soldiers and Kenny Roby. Slim's Churchkey Day Party is always a ridiculously good time and this year's lineup features some incredible acts like Spiderbags and The Beets. It'll also be nice to check out Caleb Caudle on Friday at The Hive as well as First Person Plural at Tir Na Nog. While it'd be sweet to get to see Thurston Moore performing at Kings for the Three Lobed/WXDU Party, I remember how packed Kings got for last years XDU show, so I'll likely stray away from that venue.

Hopscotch Itinerary: Thursday, Sept. 5

This year's festival has a lot to offer for fans of all types of music. While diversity has always been a staple for Hopscotch lineups, this year's installment boasts such an interesting collection of bands that any festival goer could pop into any given venue and find something worth staying for. While this year has also been plagued with cancellations, the festival has done a remarkable job at maintaining high caliber replacements to make for an incredible weekend of music. While my festival schedule is still looking remarkably hectic for Friday night, Thursday will serve as an awesome, generally stress free opening night for the festival.

The day's festivities naturally kick off with day parties, which I'll be hopping back and forth from. Thursday's standout is most definitely the Rock & Roll Pizza Party at Slim's (mostly because you can't go wrong with free pizza, especially from Mellow Mushroom) which will host acts like Naked Gods and Lonnie Walker. But for a good chunk of the afternoon I'll be DJing at Wristband City as a part of WKNC's Remote Broadcasting. However, Thursday's daytime events also include some other awesome artists like The Brand New Life at Art of Cool's party at The Pour House and DiggUp Tapes Kings/Neptunes Party that highlights some of the label's finest artists alongside some of the state's standout acts that don't frequent the Triangle (I'm looking at you Alligator Indian).

But Thursday starts getting awesome quickly, as the night's marathon of a show schedule begins at 8:30 with Body Games at The Pour House. It'd be easy for fans of electronic music to just post-up at The Pour House, because it's filled with astoundingly talented artists all night, but those of us that want a bit more variety out of our Hopscotch experience will resort to venue hopping. Body Games is an incredibly promising new act from Carrboro with Lake Inferior's Dax Beaton behind the wheel. These electro-leaning pop tunes are an excellent way to kick off a night filled with energetic acts like this.

Hopscotch Music Festival announces Day Parties + Ed McKay Artist and Author Series

Hopscotch Music Festival is held from September 8-10
in downtown Raleigh, headlined by The Flaming Lips
and Guided By Voices

It's been a big week for Hopscotch, not only did Guided By Voices announce that their September performance in Raleigh would be their farewell performance, but Hopscotch also announced some of their free Day Parties and their Ed McKay Artist and Author series.  The Ed McKay Artist and Author series will feature some headlining artists joining in on some of the most exciting parts of Hopscotch, I mean who can turn down seeing Wayne Coyne discuss "The Limits of Pop Music" or John Vanderslice and Patterson Hood discussing "The Power of Narrative Songs".  Not only does the Artist and Author series deliver but we've also got some awesome Day Parties going on this year between two features from DiggUp Tapes on Friday and Saturday and some of last years favorite's such as Trekky's Daydream, Hometapes' Friend Island, and much, much more.


The Ed McKay Artist and Author series last year featured names like Chuck Dee, Andrew Whiteman (Broken Social Scene), and local Grammy-winning producer 9th Wonder, but this year's boasts even bigger and better names for the unique and invigorating series that gives the fans a bit closer of a look into these artist's perspectives.


Hopscotch's second year of Day Parties continue to bring the heat as well, there's some incredible lineups already set up and even more to be rolling out between now and September.  Some highlights include The Rosebuds & Friends outside of The Lincoln Theater with The Rosebuds, Hammer No More The Fingers, Ben Sollee, and The Big Picture just to name a few.  DiggUp Tapes Saturday show has a pretty awesome lineup as well with Lonnie Walker, Birds of Avalon, Quiet Hooves, Thank You, and surprise guests.  Check out the full list of Day Parties below along with the Ed McKay Artist and Author series information.  You can get more information about Hopscotch Music Festival from their website at http://www.hopscotchmusicfest.com.  The number of All-Show 3 Day Passes are dwindling though so pick one up while you still can!