Show Review: Hopscotch Music Festival 2014

St. Vincent at City Plaza

I feel like every Hopscotch has just gotten better and better. Each year the lineup finds a new way to break down barriers, to pack in artists of every genre imaginable for one loaded, sometimes spastic three-day marathon of music (or four if you're some showzilla who knows no limits.) 2014, surely enough proved to be my favorite Hopscotch yet thanks to the all of its eccentricities and unforgettable performances. Though this is the first year I was unable to attend the Thursday and Friday day parties, there was still tons of music packed into that brief weekend that we all yearn so long for. Between the prodigal return of Lonnie Walker, T0W3RS' exhilarating full-band debut, and Valient Thorr bringing that Venus weirdness to City Plaza, there was plenty of local love going around downtown Raleigh. Regional acts were some of the most exciting of the festival, but that didn't stop folks like Lunice, Jamie XX, Ava Luna and others from bringing their 'A' game to this nationally acclaimed event.

Thursday

De La Soul at City Plaza
Photo Credit: Agatha Donkar

Things started off late for me on Thursday as I showed up towards the end of an excellent display of showmanship from Toon & The Real Laww. This Durham based duo garners quite a few OutKast comparisons with their lyrical wit and brilliant, charismatic interplay. Throw in their stellar crowd participation antics and you've got one hell of a kick-off to this four-day festival. Things were immediately followed up by the hip-hop visionaries De La Soul, a set that even had the photographers in the pit dancing along with their cameras hanging down. While the evening got off to a hip-hop oriented start, I took off from City Plaza around twenty minutes in to catch the brilliant acts at Kennedy Theater. Body Games brought the venue to capacity as fans were entranced by Adam Graetz's mind-bending visuals. Last year they had one of the weekend's most memorable moments with a Michael Jackson cover, and surely enough they raised the bar once again this year with a "Kiss From A Rose" cover that everybody pretending like they knew the words to the verses. After Body Games came Marley Carroll, the Asheville-based producer with a knack for engaging yet trancey electronic sets. Carroll perfectly blends four on the floor house beats with spacey fills, turntable scratches and serene vocals. It was difficult to pull myself away from the dance marathon, but it's also important to take in some low-energy stuff throughout the weekend as well. Thus, it was next door to Fletcher to check out IIII, the drum-circle marathon that started out strong and ended up droning on.

The drum circle was rooted with an electronic drone that was gradually engulfed by the slew of drummers circled around the stage. It was a nice pause to sit down and mindlessly enjoy some instrumental music, but I'd hardly call it one of the weekend's highlights. It was a nice break regardless, and gave me everything I needed to soak in Deniro Farrar and Lunice with every ounce of energy possible. Deniro played to a small crowd, but you'd never know by the energy and showmanship that he displayed throughout the evening. Rapping about pampers while staring lanky photographers in the eyes, spitting out profanity laced statements that proclaim himself the king of cult rap. Frankly I wasn't expecting to enjoy this show as much as I did, but it was emanating heavy Danny Brown vibes, Farrar has a keen stage presence and knows how to get a crowd involved with his set. Regardless of whether he was simply sharing his brothers music or baring his soul on the mic, he's a man that knows how to get the people going. Farrar was also the perfect segway into Lunice, the early 20s trap wunderkind. Lunice provided a set filled with originals and remixes that ranged from a handful of Kanye West tracks to Future, mostly sticking to heavy rap throughout the night. While that made the pacing a bit difficult for those of us that danced throughout the whole set, it's one hell of a way to end an evening. Lunice had another surprisingly small set, but once folks planted themselves inside of Kennedy they stayed through the duration. A small pack of dedicated fans beats a crowd full of bored concertgoers any day.

Friday

Spoon at City Plaza

City Plaza once again kicked off the night's festivities and provided for some truly surreal moments. Getting the chance to see brand new Lonnie Walker tunes amidst a sea of thousands is something that fills folks like me with an immense amount of joy. I got into local music in late 2008 and Lonnie Walker were the kings of the scene, pounding out show after show of high-energy singalongs that struck your core as much as your sense of rhythm. While their newer tracks are a bit more subdued, they're just as powerful as the fan-favorites, making for an incredible comeback show for this high-profile local favorite. While the transition from hopped up, twangy indie rock into the art-rock auteur St. Vincent was a bit shaky, Annie Clark's guitar mastery more than made up for it. While I'm a huge St. Vincent fan the set felt a bit impersonal, perhaps it's the wide-open spaces of City Plaza or maybe it's the choreographed stage antics, either way the content was still precisely on-point. Fans of St. Vincent sang along in unison to favorites from her latest self-titled record, Strange Mercy and some deep older cuts as well. After what felt like a brief St. Vincent set, Spoon took the stage as the crowd was at its peak. Going into this kind of blase was the best thing I could have done, because Spoon frankly surprised the hell out of me with not only their live energy and performance but also by their songwriting. I've moved a bit past the straight-forward indie rock that they showcase but I'll be damned if they don't do it well. I left about a half-hour into the set though to trot over to The Pour House for one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend.

Dark Rooms at Tir Na Nog

Crowdsource kicked off my night of venue shows and proved to be one hell of a way to start the night's marathon. Blending sprawling midi-arrangements with pounding rhythms and stunning visuals, Crowdsource's crowd grew swiftly throughout the set and compelled all in attendance to get some dancing on. I ducked out early to head across the block for Enemy Waves, mostly because heavy psych-rock in a church is so Hopscotch it hurts. Seeing sax-lead psychedelic jams inside of a gorgeous church hall is something you can really only experience at a festival as unique as Hopscotch. It's one of the perfect examples of a show that seems to be totally bizarre on paper but brilliant once you step foot in the door. After a bit of jammage it was off to check out Celestial Shore at Fletcher, a set that was exactly as perfect as I'd imagined. Expansive indie-pop just works inside of this opera hall and made me yearn for more shows at such a gorgeously built venue. The acoustic lent itself to Celestial Shore's reverb-washed style and made for an excellent chill set to refresh your energy at. From there it was off to Tir Na Nog for Dark Rooms, arguably one of my favorite sets of the weekend. This was an invigorating set that blended dream-inducing violin lines and Daniel Hart's earnest, evocative brand of songwriting with some melodically focused indie rock. While I only caught the first four or five songs, it was a set that relied heavily on ambition and it paid off immensely, as their gorgeous harmonies and unique arrangements stuck with me throughout the weekend. I darted off from here to check out Mas Ysa, but sadly enough I almost immediately left as I simply couldn't get down to what I was so excited to see.

After a trek out to CAM, I decided (poorly) to see what was going on with Sun Kil Moon at the Lincoln. Apparently I walked in shortly after those fuckin' hillbillies got berated because the crowd was sparse and the vibe was all kinds of odd. I took that as my cue to check out what else was happening around town. I walked in for the last moments of Purling Hiss then booked it over to CAM to catch as much of NGUZUNGUZU as I could. After vibing for a while to their skittering remixes, I decided to check out the greatly hyped Clipping. over at The Pour House to end my evening, and man was that a great call. Jarring beats with a surprisingly smooth flow lead the sizable Pour House crowd to jumping, bobbing and swaying their way through the evening.

Saturday

Valient Thorr at City Plaza

The first full festival day for me was also of course the last festival day. Things got kicked off early with some delicious brunch from Fiction Kitchen and a few sets over at Legends. Family Bike, a new project from Karl Kuehn of Museum Mouth, stood out amongst the early sets but shortly after that it was time to post up at Trekky's day party for a bit. I walked in to see Hi Ho Silver Oh in the middle of their full band set, and frankly it was one of the best sets I saw all weekend. Last year I was floored by a stripped down set from Casey Trela, but finally seeing the full band experience got me totally sold. Their cover of Tom Petty's "Time To Get Going" was without a doubt the most beautiful track I heard all weekend, a sparse arrangement of a classic tune that ends in a subdued singalong. The rest of the day was great, including some great sets from Celestial Shore, Phil Cook and Caitlin Rose and a rooftop view of Lonnie Walker at Slim's, but Hi Ho Silver Oh definitely won the day parties for me. Things swiftly changed direction though once City Plaza started and the metal fans poured in in bunches. It was one of the most unique crowds I've ever seen at Hopscotch and it was fucking excellent. Valient Thorr has become one of my favorite bands to see live because they're just such excellent showmen. I'm not really the type to sit around and listen to them in my house, but I'll be damned if I won't throw my fist in the air when prompted by some dude from Venus. Death and Mastodon were equally impressive, but really when you've got Valient Thorr opening it's hard to live up to that kind of energy.

T0W3RS at The Pour House

As quickly as I fell into the metal hole I came back out to check out the highly touted set from See Gulls at Deep South. It was one in one out and packed wall to wall, which is always a fantastic feeling when you're checking out a swiftly rising local act. I'm sure the NPR coverage didn't hurt in terms of attendance either. See Gulls' gritty garage pop was an excellent way to transition into Y'ALL, a band featuring various regional musicians producing some pretty simplistic but interesting pop-leaning indie rock. After that I surprisingly decided to forgo the soft folk at Fletcher and rock out to some orchestral metal from Subrosa. I was surprised at how in to this band I was, but I feel that for my level of intoxication I shouldn't be too surprised. My drunken self did make a pretty excellent call though in foregoing a trip out to CAM to check out How To Dress Well (which I'd have positively balked at if you'd told me a week ago), to check out Ava Luna and T0W3RS at Tir Na Nog and The Pour House. T0W3RS put on hands down the most elaborate, engaging and all-around incredible performances of this year's Hopscotch. T0W3RS has kind of grown into the Hopscotch band for me, really. It started with a shoulder to shoulder day party at The Hive, grew into a psych-rock excursion at CAM and has ended up at electronically oriented indie pop mastery. Whether T0W3RS was cranking out the brilliant tracks from the forthcoming album TL;DR or pulling out Don Henley covers (seriously though, "Boys of Summer" was the last thing I'd have expected from this Hopscotch), the band was giving it 100% the entire time. Plus some of the most talented artists in the Triangle were rotating around the stage to provide support for what is already an impressive one-man show. So getting to see the T0W3RS experience as it should be was easily the most enjoyable aspects of this year's Hopscotch.

Jamie XX at CAM

Ending the night at Jamie XX though. I feel as if I need to type out a moment of journalistic silence in appreciation for how incredibly arranged that set was. Mastering the push and pull of energy, Jamie XX's pacing allowed fans to lose themselves in the melody or dance until they fall out. Frankly there was a good bit of both. Roaming throughout the venue one could find dance circles, crowd surfers, bathroom pot smokers and pretty much every type of person you could imagine just jamming out and enjoying the music. It was the perfect way to end this year's festivities. With us all under one roof raving.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2014 Itinerary: Day Three Itinerary

Usually by Day Three all pre-planned schedules are off for me. It's to wherever seems the most reasonable, comfortable, less-packed, etc. That's usually lent itself to some pretty incredible nights, but alas that's not the game plan this time. Saturday is arguably my favorite day of the schedule, and while I may not garner as much interest in the City Plaza hard rock-fest as others, it's still a ridiculous lineup from top to bottom. This will be the first day of the festival that I get to check out the Day Parties and I'll likely be bouncing between the Trekky/Hometapes Party at The Pour House, Reverbnation's Party at Deep South and Legends' Let Feedback Ring Party, a trio of shows that bring together some of the best locals and touring artists of the festival. After all of the day partying it'll be time to mosey on down to City Plaza for one of the most energetic, engaging metal acts I've ever had the joy of seeing.

Photo credit: Grant Golden

Valient Thorr at City Plaza @ 5:45 pm
Last year's CAM set from Valient Thorr was one of my favorite shows at Hopscotch, the dudes simply know how to put on a show. You're liable to see Valient Himself trotting around the stage with his badass denim jacket flailing to-and-fro as he manically mounts speakers and shoots imaginary cannons, and frankly who's not down with that? They'll be an excellent way to open the heaviest night of City Plaza in history, they're an easily palatable hard rock band that's got crowd control down pat. If you're thinking about skipping out on the early City Plaza shows on Saturday, then maybe reconsider to check this crew out.

Photo courtesy of Death

Death at City Plaza @ 6:50 pm
Death is one of those bands I've always had the pleasure of hearing about, so I know how iconic they are throughout the history of punk rock and music in general. Death is credited as one of, if not the, first black punk band and really helped fuel the uprising of Detroit punk in the 70s. They'd been broken up for decades, but in the past few years a reunion and acclaimed documentary A Band Called Death has thrust the band back into the spotlight. I'd imagine a lot of drunken flailing around to be going on close up at City Plaza, and most importantly a lot of really confused non-concert goers. People watching will be in its prime here folks.

Photo courtesy of Mastodon

Mastodon at City Plaza @ 8:15 pm
Little is left to be said of the massive metal band Mastodon. They've gradually ascended to mainstream stardom thanks to their consistently excellent releases since 2002's Remission, and since their beginnings they've been slowly expanding upon their sound to create a more broad appeal for fans. With Valient Thorr and Death opening up the evening, things will surely roll easily into Mastodon's highly anticipated set as the first metal headliner of the festival. Mastodon's City Plaza set feels like a true coming-out party for Hopscotch metal, the festival has long been home to some of the genre's most celebrated acts but never before have they been blasting throughout the streets of downtown Raleigh. If only that debutante ball could see us now.

Photo courtesy of See Gulls

See Gulls at Deep South @ 9:00 pm
When this lineup dropped See Gulls was one of the new local acts I knew that I had to check out. I'd heard rumblings of this female-centric garage rock group, but hadn't had the fortune of seeing them live until a few months back. Fronted by Sarah Fuller, formerly of The Big Picture, See Gulls boasts a seriously raucous live energy that puts a grittier spin on their already fuzzed out anthems. Songs that may have started out as little folk diddies are turned into full-on punk rock bangers. With Maria Albani (Schooner, Organos) on drums and Duncan Webster (Hammer No More The Fingers, Beauty World) and Leah Gibson (Lost in the Trees, Beauty World) on guitar and bass, this local supergroup of sorts is most definitely worthy of an early leave from City Plaza.

Funkss at Pour House Music Hall @ 9:30 pm
When I first saw funkss amidst a sea of underage badkids that were boasting of the 40s and blunts they downed in the parking lot of a Yung Lean show, he served a messiah of sorts. Lifting me up from the shoulder to shoulder bro-sweat with their backwards snapbacks and psychedelic tank-tops and into a dark, yet danceable land of aggressive electronic music. It's a bit hard to categorize these songs, but there's really little need to as well. It's music that transplants you to a different headspace, allowing you to lose yourself in the deep rhythms and brooding melodies.

Photo courtesy of Alexandra Sauser-Monnig

Alexandra Sauser-Monnig at Fletcher Opera Hall @ 10:00 pm
It's always important to remember that Hopscotch is a marathon, not a race. While I'd love to stay at The Pour House and dance myself ragged until How To Dress Well/Jamie XX, it's impotant to pace yourself. That's why sets like this one are so damn important. Not only will one-third of the gorgeously harmonic folk trio Mountain Man be at Fletcher, but there'll also be cozy seats and probably quite a few nappers. But frankly, if you're literally sleeping on Alexandra Sauser-Monnig then you're making a huge mistake. This'll likely be comparable to the Angel Olsen set at last year's Hopscotch, a set filled with insanely quiet concertgoers soaking in the breathtaking sounds of this passionate folk singer.

Photo courtesy of How To Dress Well

How To Dress Well at CAM Raleigh @ 11:30 pm
I didn't think that picking How To Dress Well would be the hardest decision of my Hopscotch this year, but they're going up against the local superstar T0W3RS. T0W3RS will be pulling out all the stops with a special full-band performance at The Pour House that'll likely be filled to capacity. Unfortunately though, it's hard to always pick the beloved local over a high-profile touring artist that doesn't come through very frequently. How To Dress Well  is on the heels of What Is This Heart? a fully realized neo-soul/R&B work of art that surpasses any and all expectations I had of this highly touted songwriter. CAM is the perfect place for these low-end heavy croons to fill the airwaves, and with Jamie XX closing out the evening there's little reason to leave.

Photo courtesy of Jamie XX

Jamie XX at CAM Raleigh @ 12:30 am
For quite some time I was largely ignorant of the excellence of Jamie XX. I'd seen stories of his Gil Scott-Heron remix album, I knew he was the producer-side of The XX, but that was about it. I hadn't realized how incredible of an artist he was until I physically saw The XX at The Lincoln this past spring. The melancholy melodies up front were the last thing I was paying attention to, it was all about that thunderous bass and gorgeous synths that were making my brain shake and my teeth chatter. Jamie XX's work is crafted to envelop the listener, allow them to wrap themselves in these immense sounds that are arranged so minimalistically that it just works. Jamie XX can pick up a groove and run with it, and frankly a sweaty dance party is without a doubt one of the best ways to close out a Hopscotch. And I say that from experience.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2014 Itinerary: Day Two

This year marks a totally new Hopscotch experience for me, a mostly Day Party-less Hopscotch. It feels strange, like I'll have a bit too much energy to last me throughout the weekend. But alas, the woes of finding full-time work. It's a bit of a double-edged sword though, on one hand it's great to not be sore and sweaty when the evening's just starting, but on the other hand it greatly reduces the amount of music I get to see...which is kind of the whole point of this thing. But regardless, I'll be starting my evening once again at City Plaza, but this time for one of the most impressive Plaza lineups since the festival's beginnings. With local figureheads Lonnie Walker seemingly having their big come-back show at City Plaza (I'd imagine it'll be a set filled with mostly new tracks), followed my St. Vincent's new David Byrne-inspired stage show and ended with the indie-rock icons Spoon, City Plaza is going to be a welcomed kick-off to a jam-packed weekend of excellent tunes.

Photo courtesy of Lonnie Walker

Lonnie Walker at City Plaza @ 5:45 pm
It's been quite a few years since Lonnie Walker reigned supreme amidst the local music scene. Their eccentric brand of spastic folk-rock has been long missed in the Triangle, and while they'd play sporadically, there haven't been regularly scheduled Lonnie Walker shows until recently. With a new single out in the world it looks like the band is set for some new music in the near future, which has me all sorts of excited. Newer sets from the band has brilliantly interspersed older favorites like "Grapejuice," "Compass Comforts," and "Back Home Inside With You" alongside newer tracks like their single "All Bombs Away," a track that displays a re-ignited sense of purpose for this beloved local act. They'll serve as a wonderful opener to the indie-rock gatekeepers that will finish off the evening at City Plaza.

Photo courtesy of St. Vincent

St. Vincent at City Plaza @ 6:50 pm
Having seen St. Vincent on her Strange Mercy tour, I've got to admit that I'm ridiculously excited to see just how different her stage show is now after seeing so many different photos and reports of the theatrical event. It appears all of her work with the legendary David Byrne has rubbed off on her showmanship, St. Vincent's set is now run by angular choreography and fuzzed-out guitar solos that thrust the listener into the musical ethos, daydreaming over the guitar goddess before them. Annie Clark has proved to be one of the most prolific artists in recent memory, churning out album after album of incredible material. I'd expect this festival set to feature a nice career-spanning bit of songs while pulling heavily from her latest self-titled album.

Spoon at City Plaza @ 8:00 pm
Spoon is a band that's been pretty integral to the success of the Triangle's music scene despite the origins of the band having little ties to the region. They're one of Merge Records' most successful acts, standing tall alongside folks like Arcade Fire as one of the label's Top 10 charting acts. Their no-frills brand of pop-leaning indie rock has been evolving steadily since their beginnings in 1993, and now with the recent release of They Want My Soul they've found themselves back in the limelight. With some stellar songwriting that's been elevated by unforgettable hooks, their headlining set at City Plaza will be one for the Hopscotch record books. Folks of all ages will be packed in tightly, singing along to these anthemic tracks, which is one of the finest parts of a festival like Hopscotch.

Photo courtesy of Crowdsource

Crowdsource at The Pour House @ 9:30 pm
It's become a bit of a tradition to duck out of City Plaza a little early to try and catch the first acts of the night, and so far it's been an excellent decision. I'd imagine this one will go quite the same, as Crowdsource is hands down one of the most exciting new acts in the region...when he's here! Crowdsource is the new project behind musical visionary Phil Torres, who recently gained local acclaim through his folktronica project Baobab. Digging deeper into the electronic rabbit hole, Torres now crafts an entrancing blend of sounds that range from obscure samples from Nas and Jay-Z to refugees wailing or double-rainbow exclamations to classically inspired MIDI-riffs. To top it off, Torres seems to have perfected the visual aesthetic of the show as well, blending some seriously psyched-out scenes to the projector behind him. Mixing it all live, Crowdsource is a multi-media project unlike any other, and an excellent way to get yourself dancing through this Friday night.

Photo courtesy of Celestial Shore

Celestial Shore at Fletcher Opera Hall @ 10:30 pm
Celestial Shore is an act I've been meaning to catch for quite some time now. Since I learned that Sam Owens is related to the guitarist/songwriting wunderkind Zannie Owens from New Bern, I knew I had to check out this band and surely enough I wasn't disappointed. One minute Celestial Shore will have you gliding along on cloud-like melodies one second and then have you thrashing about wildly the next. It's as if you had Beach Boys inspired melodies with Dirty Projectors' style rhythmic shifts. They're frequently playing out with Ava Luna, another frenetic band that thrives on swift rhythmic alterations, so I'd expect a similar experience from this excellent trio from New York. Fletcher will provide excellent acoustics for a show like this, allowing listeners to soak in all of the intricacies of their songs, and perhaps even have themselves a nice seated show from a fresh, mind blowing act.

Photo courtesy of Allyce Andrew

Mas Ysa at CAM Raleigh @ 11:30
 The one-two punch of Mas Ysa and Nguzunguzu is probably one of my favorite last-minute finds of this year's festival. At first it was a bit of a toss-up as to where my Friday night would take me, while Sun Kil Moon at Lincoln would be an awesome way to close things out, festivals like Hopscotch aren't always the best setting for quieter artists (unless of course you're at Fletcher, then all bets are off). So with two open blocks I scoured the lineup and found these two back-to-back at CAM, the Hopscotch mecca for me this year. Mas Ysa is a folk-leaning electronic artist that bridges atmospheric soundscapes with danceable rhythms and pop structures. This New York-based composer blends field recordings into his mixes to make for a more organic feel, and once that all meshes together with his attention-grabbing vocal presence it makes for an incredible sound that's unparalleled amongst the Hopscotch lineup.

Photo courtesy of Nguzunguzu

Nguzunguzu at CAM Raleigh @ 12:30
Their name may be hard to pronounce, but their music is some of the most easy to palate on the entire line-up. Nguzunguzu is a powerhouse duo out of L.A that's best known for crafting R&B leaning productions that blend spacey aesthetics with forceful polyrhythms and grimey, bass-heavy synths to leave you awash in mystery but compelled to groove. This year's Hopscotch lineup is heavily dance oriented for me, which I have absolutely zero problem with. Going into electronic artists with a bit of ignorance is always a great thing, you don't know what kind of stage set-up to expect, how they'll execute their live show or really anything other than the fact that you're probably about to dance your ass off. That's really all you need to know when you step foot into CAM on Friday night, so leave your inhibitions at the door and leave the rest on the dance floor.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2014 Itinerary: Day One

Now that Hopscotch week is upon us, the time has come to buckle down and determine exactly where I need to be going to each night. With the first ever Thursday City Plaza show, the evening gets kicked off with two high-energy hip-hop acts that will hopefully provide me with the boost of adrenaline I'll be needing to get to all of the shows I need to see throughout the night. Starting things off with Tune & The Real Law and ending with trap pioneer Lunice gives a pretty good indicator that it'll be a night filled with dance-driven, bass-heavy sets from some impressive locals and nationally renown artists.

Photo courtesy of Toon & The Real Laww

Toon & The Real Laww

at City Plaza @ 7:00 pm

Toon & The Real Laww are one of the area's most underrated live acts and when they kick off the Hopscotch festivities on Thursday they'll surely grasp the attention of quite a few new fans as they open up for the legendary De La Soul. Toon & The Real Laww mix club-ready beats with impressive lyrical acrobatics and crowd-pleasing tracks. By the end of the set the festivalgoers will likely be shouting along in unison as Proffessor Toon and The Real Laww command different halves of the crowd, enlisting them as rhythmic tools for their tracks. Hopefully they'll have their full band set-up, one that blends crunching guitars with breakbeat rhythms and thunderous bass, but if not their two-man set-up with a DJ is still pretty perplexing.

Photo courtesy of De La Soul

De La Soul

at City Plaza @ 8:00 pm

This iconic hip-hop trio is the perfect headliner for the first ever Thursday City Plaza show. The fondest memory I have of the first ever Hopscotch was dancing amidst a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at Public Enemy as the rain poured down and the music blared on. De La Soul represents an area of early 90s hip-hop that's sonically miles away from Public Enemy, but will likely boast similar vibes. Socially conscious, non-violent lyrics meld together with jazz-inspired rhythms to create a sound that's as dancey and upbeat as it is heady and introspective. It's an excellent way to kick off the first night of Hopscotch, with some no-frills mind-blowing hip-hop.

Photo courtesy of Wild Fur

Wild Fur at Lincoln Theatre @ 8:30 pm

Wild Fur begins shortly after De La Soul, so I'll likely be missing the first 15 minutes or so of Wild Fur, but surely I'll be able to recover. This electronically driven-duo is fleshed out as a four piece band that highlights the songwriting prowesses of Nick Jaeger and Wylie Hunter. While their previous work had leaned on Americana influences with some indie-pop thrown in the mix, Wild Fur is an amorphous musical entity that lies within a genre of its own. It's a darker tinged brand of neo-soul that still feels rustic at heart. I've been able to see their live set-up at Tir Na Nog recently for Local Band Local Beer and it's one you'll definitely want to catch, at least for a few songs.

Sun Club at Lincoln Theatre/Body Games at Kennedy Theatre @ 9:30 pm

Photo Credit: Grant Golden

Ah, the first conflict of the night. As always, I'm usually torn between catching sets from beloved locals and infrequently visiting touring bands. I'll likely start this block off at Lincoln to see Sun Club, a bizarre psych-pop act from Baltimore that feels vaguely reminiscent of early Animal Collective. Sun Club's latest release Dad Claps at the Mom Prom was a captivating album that simply felt constrained by their studio limitations. Not to say that the album isn't impressive, but it's clear that Sun Club thrives off of their live energy, and that makes them a must-see for the evening. I'll likely drag myself away mid-way through the set to head down to Kennedy Theatre to check out what's left of Body Games.

Body Games is one of the locals I've grown most excited about lately. They're blending dream-pop roots with heady electronic beats and entrancing visual projections, making for a truly immersive live experience. Last year they were the highlight of Hopscotch day one solely for their Lion King projection and Michael Jackson cover, so I'd imagine they'll be pulling out the stops for this Kennedy Theatre set as well.

Photo Credit: Grant Golden

Marley Carroll at Kennedy Theatre @ 10:30 pm

Any time I get the chance to see Marley Carroll live I feel obligated to jump on it. This Asheville based producer is one of the most exciting electronic artists I've come across in recent years. Not only does he craft enormous productions filled with tightly backed grooves and etherial melodies, he's also putting on one hell of a performance as he balances between an analog keyboard and turntables. Carroll will keep you entranced with his spacey soundscapes, only to rip you from your daydream with a pounding bass drum and syncopated rhythm. He's got originals like "The Hunter" and "Speed Reader" that'll linger in your head for days, but he's also capable of pulling out devastatingly dancy remixes of folks like Lotus or Polish Ambassador. He's truly earned his moniker of "the producer's producer" or "the DJ's DJ" or whatever the hell you want to call him. I prefer to simply call him fantastic.

Photo courtesy of Deniro Farrar

Deniro Farrar

at Kennedy Theatre @ 11:30 pm

While I'm admittedly not as excited for Deniro Farrar as I am the rest of the acts on the bill for Thursday night, staying around Kennedy just makes sense on a night like this. While I may hop over to Fletcher Opera Hall momentarily to see what's happening with IIII, a massive drum-ensemble taking place at 11:00,  it's only logical to end my 11:30 slot at Kennedy as I'm sure there'll be droves of folks trying to check out Lunice afterwards. Deniro is definitely an act I've been interested in seeing though. This Charlotte based hip-hop artist grinded his way through the Charlotte scene and broke out fairly quickly by signing to Vice/Warner Bros. label back in 2013, earning quite the name for himself in the process. Farrar raps in sharply spat bursts over a wide array of beats ranging from producers like Ryan Hemsworth and Flosstradamus to Blue Sky Black Death and Lunice himself. His beats are always on-point and his flow is unparalleled, a stinging rasp that always feels on the cusp of something larger. He'll be an excellent transition into the evening's main event.

Photo courtesy of Lunice

Lunice at Kennedy Theatre @ 12:30 pm

When I first saw the schedule upon release, Thursday night at Kennedy immediately struck me as one of the strongest bills on the entire lineup. It's an excellent mix of some of the most beloved uprising locals with nationally renown artists of a similar style. While Body Games and Marley Carroll lean towards dancy electronic, Farrar and Lunice stray more towards heavy, bass-driven hip-hop stylings that'll rattle your bones and compel you to move in strange ways that your body's never done before. Lunice is best known as one half of the trap gods TNGHT, and while my dreams of seeing that power-duo at Hopscotch are out the door, the only way I could top seeing Lunice in my own town is by seeing HudMo as well. But obviously that won't be happening this weekend, so getting the chance to see this prolific producer in the prime of his career is a chance you'd be foolish to miss. While there's plenty of other incredible acts performing at the same time (Thurston Moore, The War on Drugs, Landlady, Reptar, etc), Lunice is an artist that demands attention. Blazing hi-hats cut through the mix as roaring sub-bass interplays with piercing melodies, creating a bizarre yet cohesive sound that makes you want to throw your hands up and trap-arm until your body collapses onto the floor. Which I'd imagine is likely how I'll end my first night of Hopscotch.

Hopscotch Highlight: Celestial Shore

Celestial Shore (Brooklyn, N.Y.) will perform on
Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 6 at
Hopscotch Music Festival

You never really realize how stupidly excited for Hopscotch you are until you're only a week away. Thoughts of sore feet, slightly sunburnt necks and sweaty springs between venues become something to look forward to as you frenetically plan out how you'll possibly make it all the way from CAM to Kings and everywhere in between. After perusing the lineup more times than one could ever care to count, it seems like the schedule is finally set in stone (with some obvious room to pop in and out of shows based on the crowd reactions). While it's absurdly exciting to be seeing St. Vincent, Spoon and Mastodon in the middle of our downtown city streets, some of the best parts of the festival is usually from the young upstarts that perform at the gorgeous Fletcher Opera Hall. Last year San Fermin served as one of the absolute highlights of the festival, it reminded me of how beautiful it is when venues and bands perfectly sync. Fletcher is a versatile venue that feels just as comfortable for orchestral baroque pop as it does for spastic, dreamy psych rock like Celestial Shore.

Celestial Shore have been barreling through any expectations of an upstart group of 20-somethings, churning out two full-length albums in a little over a year while earning opening slots with folks like Deerhoof, Ava Luna and Freeman on Friday at Hopscotch. Celestial Shore feels instantly familiar whilst simultaneously being entirely fresh. It's like if The Beach Boys took a dose of bad acid and listened to too much Flaming Lips. There's enough enchanting melodies to keep listeners honed in on the airy vocals while their rhythms and time signatures flip to-and-fro to keep listeners on their toes as well. I spoke with Sam Owens (coincidentally from my hometown of New Bern) about the origins of the band and the blog-buzz they've recently received.

1) When and how did Celestial Shore get started?

We explored the ins and outs of our early 20s together…through music and misadventures. discovered our miscreant tendencies, dropped our responsibilities and found stability in the idea of playing loud music for extended periods of time. we lived in a few different cities, and ended up in the indie swamps of Brooklyn.

2) Did the earliest songs you worked on sound like your current musical output? If not how do you think your sound has evolved throughout the duration of the band?

I'm not sure. To me they sound different. To you they may all be variations on a theme. I feel the quality has improved.

3) When you're writing songs is there an equal musical voice throughout the band regardless of instrument, or does everyone generally stick to their own parts and pieces?

Greg and I switch off singing lead and harmony. max plays drums. We all write things.

4) You got picked up by Hometapes for your first full-length and immediately started to receive a lot of national attention? Did that place any internal pressure on the band or was this the goal from the get-go?

We've always wanted to enjoy some level of success in music. We haven't gotten there yet.

5) Along with that national attention naturally comes the constant reaction from the blog-o-sphere? Do you stay up to date with who's writing what? Do their pieces/reviews have any effect on the way you view or approach your music?

We all pay attention in our own way. we're definitely not above it. it feels good when someone sings your praises, and it feels bad when they pan you. Its impossible not to react. The climate is confusing but amid frustrations I appreciate the opportunity to reach people through the internet.

6) You've had a pretty quick turnover when it comes to album releases, you've already got your second full-length set for release this October? Do you see yourself keeping up with this pace or are you just in a creative spike right now?

I'd like to keep up the pace. It would be fun to challenge the idea of the current album cycle, but I realize its not a marathon. We'll see how it goes.

7) How do you think Enter Ghost sonically and thematically compares to 10x?

Enter Ghost is more realistic. The energy and sounds are more obvious, less oblivious. If 10x was a game of cat and mouse in some dark alley,  Enter Ghost is a psychedelic romp around the east village.

8) You've got a very spastic, yet somehow fluid sound. If you had to choose three bands to describe your sound to a new listener, who would you choose?

During Enter Ghost, I was listening to T.Rex, The Breeders, and Big Star.

Celestial Shore performs at Fletcher Opera Hall at 10:30 pm on Friday, Sept. 5. They'll also be performing at the Trekky/Hometapes Day Party at The Pour House at 1:15 pm on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Hopscotch Recommendations: Freeman, Ava Luna, Krill, Palehound, Landlady and Prince Rama

Hopscotch Highlight: Wild Fur

When I first had contact with Wylie Hunter, the local songwriter behind the Americana group Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores, I was immediately hooked. Hunter's got a serious knack for catchy hooks and booming choruses, regardless of whether he's singing in jest of tattoo'd girls or with an earnest hint of sadness over lost loves, he's doing it with passion. That's probably what got me so excited when news of Wild Fur came around. Hunter and fellow local powerhouse Nick Jaeger teamed up last year to create the inexplicably awesome duo of Wild Fur. Combining both artist's songwriting prowess, they immediately began to push genre boundaries between pop, Americana and electronic with their numerous singles (one of which was premiered here on The Bottom String). When Hopscotch's lineup dropped and I saw Wild Fur, I immediately knew I'd have to check them out at some point throughout the weekend. After getting a sneak peek of their live set-up at a recent Local Band Local Beer, it was clear that they'd be one of the weekend's highlights for this busy festival. I recently spoke with Wild Fur about the origins of the band, why they chose to release singles initially as opposed to an EP, and their Hopscotch excitements.

1. What brought the two of you together musically? I know Nick has been involved in a slew of local projects both as a musician and producer, but what specifically sparked the decision to start a project such as Wild Fur?

Wild Fur was started as a way for both of us to do something different with no preconceived notions of what we were trying to sound like. Had these been recorded or released under the monikers of “the Cazadores” or “The Tomahawks” they would be perceived as sounding a certain way because of association with those bands. We were both in a place where we wanted to explore new territories and and not be bound by what had come before.

2. Did you have a musical direction in mind when you started the band or was this just how it came out?

The idea from the beginning has been to avoid genre and follow the muse of each individual song.

3. How do you break up the songwriting responsibilities?

In short, we're still discovering the process. In the beginning we each had songs or song ideas that we had been working on individually. We worked through those ideas together and kept what we liked. Anything we disliked was reworked or rewritten entirely. Every part of an arrangement is discussed, not just lyrics or melody. It's an interesting approach, having someone give you their candid opinion about a song makes you push into ideas you never would have considered. 

4. How did you go about switching the tracks from studio set-ups to a live show?

We decided to start with a four piece band for the simple fact that it makes touring easier. We decided to both play keys and guitars in the live setting. We did a lot of talking about what parts were important to include in a live show and tried to adapt those to work for the setup we have. We basically asked ourselves, “what are the hooks?” and tried to make those translate to a live show.

5. You've been slowly releasing singles throughout the duration of the band, what's the reasoning behind that? Do you feel that the slow trickle of musical releases as opposed to an EP or album out the gate helps to build the trajectory of your band?

Releasing singles was an attempt to get people to actually listen to each song. There’s so much music released now, when releasing an EP or LP there’s always the potential for someone to start listening but then switch their attention to the latest viral sensation.

6. Speaking of trajectories, when do you see Wild Fur releasing a full-length or EP?

The 4 singles have been packaged and released as an EP and a split 7” with Joshua Carpenter was released in June. We’re currently working on finishing up a full length. We’ll release it once we have the means to do so.

7. What do you feel each of you bring musically to the table?

We each bring our own individual definition of what a hook is. The common ground between those two places is where the songs of Wild Fur are found.  

8. What are some of the major influences in the songwriting process for Wild Fur?

Inspiration for these songs comes from attempting to move away from the well-trod paths of songwriters before us. We’ve listened to a lot of music and have a lot of influences but, we both reached a point where emulating our influences was not filling the creative void.   

Wild Fur performs at The Lincoln Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 8:30 pm 

Lineup Recommendations: Saint Rich, How To Dress Well, St. Vincent, White Laces, Phosphorescent, Sun Club, Free Clinic, See Gulls and Dark Rooms

Hopscotch Highlight: Landlady

It's crazy to think that we're under a month away from Hopscotch, the multi-day music marathon that annuals takes over downtown Raleigh. Now into its fifth year as a festival, the event has grown to unimaginable expanses, combining a wide breadth of genres to create a surprisingly cohesive lineup with unparalleled character. For the past few years I've been providing weekly run-downs of the artists I'm most looking forward to from the festival, combining local and nationally touring acts to give a nice snapshot of some of the most anticipated sets of the weekend. When I first saw Landlady on the Hopscotch lineup I didn't bat an eye, but as I went through my annual lineup run through I was immediately entranced. "Dying Day" was the first song I heard from this New York based outfit and it's a song that's as upbeat and rambunctious as it is somber and morose, Adam Schatz brilliantly tackles the topic of mortality with a sleek aural approach.

I recently reviewed Landlady's album for Paste Magazine, and in case you've yet to check out the write-up I'm basically in love with it. So I took that as an opportunity to dig into the mind of Adam Schatz, the mastermind behind Landlady. Schatz is a member of Man Man among a slew of other acts that range from loosely constructed improvisational jazz to funky Afropop and more. I e-mailed a few questions over to Adam (as my recorder conveniently decided to "shit the bed" the same day as our interview) about his musical beginnings and life as a musician with your hands in umpteen thousand pots.

1. When did you first get seriously involved with music and what was your first project like sonically?
Adam Schatz: In 8th grade me and a few of my best friends talked about starting a band. It seemed like the appropriate next step for us, living in the suburbs. We had two guitars, bass and me on piano, and met our first drummer the next year. We went through a number of names and settled on the name One Eyed Stanley after our guitarist's one eyed basset hound. The band lasted throughout high school and we took the year after high school off before college to keep playing in the band and not just following the school path without any break. The music had a pop core always but also had a difference to them. Even from that early of an age I had a real interest in using dynamics and arrangements as a way to shape songs, rather than pick influences and try to imitate other songs. It helps that I had a basic understanding of music theory and knew my way around the piano, so subconsciously things were at work when I sat down and tried to write a song, tried to see what came out when my hands messed around and I let my voice go.


2. How have your musical tastes evolved over the years and how has that been displayed throughout your music.
Adam Schatz: My tastes evolve every day, and I try to maintain an openness. There are always the albums and songs you liked when you were younger that are embarrassing now, but for the most part I just like to pile it on.

When I was a sophomore in the high school concert band one of the older saxophonists passed me a DVD. It was Slow Century, the story of Pavement, and he told me to listen to the song Summer Babe. Around that same time I was listening to the Pixies and the Flaming Lips and all sorts of goodness that had been around but was just then landing on my head. They all dealt with personal weirdness in an open way, never afraid to get aggressive or beautiful. From then on I've always embraced thinking of music in human terms, what it does to you and what you can convey with it, rather than approaching the making or listening of it with too much technique at the forefront. Technique is essential and technique is the best when it's subconscious. When the people making it are the heart of the music.

So with every lesson I've taken or every new person I've met who's turned me onto something new I've tried to keep stretching my ears. I'm often very late to the bandwagon on any artist. Charlie Haden just passed away and the attention brought upon him and his music from so many people I know egged me into digging in and there's this live album with him, Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell in Montreal that's just magical to listen to. Nina Simone was a recent personal discovery. It makes you feel like a big idiot to wait so long, but also so satisfied to get to experience something new and great even now. It's essential to never think you've heard it all or know everything that you like.

In 8th grade I was super into the Three Six Mafia.


3. How did Landlady come together? Where does it fit in time-wise with the starting of the rest of your myriad of musical projects.
I've always done a lot of things because I have a lot of ideas, and rather than pour everything I've got into just one project that may or may not catch with people and possibly burn that out in the process, I've planted a bunch of seeds and tried to work with as many great folks as I can.

But that's not to say that right now Landlady isn't the biggest focus. I'm writing this from the back of my minivan cruising through Montana. This is happiness for me and it's what I'm doing all of the time right now. (Not to say many other things aren't being cooked up).

I started the band in 2010, I had taken a break from writing "real songs" to do a project with my buddy Jeff Curtin called Previously On Lost where we wrote about television and made a lotta folks happy along the way. But I was ready to try personal songwriting again and wanted a crack team of expert musicians and singers who could make it the best it could possibly be. I wrote the songs with these friends in mind, and that became the first album Keeping To Yourself. Since then the lineup's evolved a bit and grown to where there's an extended family of Landlady musicians who could be on a show. But the new record, Upright Behavior, is the core band as it stands now, a 5 piece. We hammered out a bunch of live takes in a studio in Woodstock in April of last year, and did overdubs in our homes in Brooklyn. Not long after that I met the folks who run the Hometapes record label and we really hit it off. I sent them everything I'd ever recorded and even rough mixes of the new album. I believed in what they were doing and it turned out they were quick to believe in us as well. I'd been waiting and working to find people to support this music for years and years and it ended up being a right time right place situation. I'm terribly okay with how long it took, though don't ask me 2 years ago how I was feeling.


4. How did you get together with Man Man and how has being a part of the band shaped your musical output?
Adam Schatz: All of these answers start with a childhood story, which is okay, and maybe good. In 2006 my friend Kevin took me to see Man Man at PA's Lounge in Somerville. They were just starting to get attention and I was just starting to not feel out of place standing in a rock show around people a lot cooler and older than me. Without exes on their hands.

I could barely see the band in the dark room and the music was unbelievable. The energy destroyed me and the songs were great and I became an instant fan, seeing them at least six times after that when I moved to New York for school. As I went on with my life, a mutual friend of the drummer knew that I was a fan and doing a lot of improvised music, so he introduced us knowing that Chris (Man Man drummer) was also into making spontaneous stuff. We emailed a bit, and not long after that a few of the guys had left Man Man and I played a show with Those Darlins in Philly where Ryan (Man Man singer) saw me play and asked what I was up to. I joined the band not long after that and recorded on the newest album On Oni Pond almost immediately.

Musically, seeing that show happen at age 18 did pleasantly irrevocable damage. The creative drumming and tweaked song structures piled onto a sea of driving new music that was already spreading in my head fueled by the likes of Deerhoof, Wilco and Grizzly Bear. It all helped and that plus all of the jazz and other sounds that steamrolled me when I got to New York has certainly affected the music I make. But I'd say those musical influences are maybe 30% of what affects the music I write. You gotta account for all the other experiences you have being a person walking around on earth. I think there's a misconception about how people write songs or how bands make it happen, where they decide what the influences are and write in those styles. Maybe some people do do it that way. We do not.


5. When writing songs for Landlady do you take hold and orchestrate the entire piece or do individual members compose their own parts?
Adam Schatz: It's different for every song. Sometimes I have a complete vision. Other times I have just the smallest ideas and know I can trust the band for us to make it a finished piece. Sometimes I'll record a demo that has lots of improvisations on it and band members will transcribe those improvised melodies and those become the parts. That's how "Dying Day" was made. It was a piano improvisation that came out very quickly, then took me hours and hours to transcribe it and we rehearsed the hell out of that song to get it to sound as good as it does now.



6. What do you feel are the overarching themes of Upright Behavior? It feels like a very cathartic record, was it difficult to write or did it come together easily?
Adam Schatz: It came together over time, some of these songs are 4 years old, so I never sat down to "write a record." But because of that approach + the big picture themes of many of these songs (life, death, growth, plants, food) it seems to be outlooks from my brain, what I think other brains see, what I think my heart and other hearts feel. There's a lot of humor in the album, because there's a lot of humor in me and in the band. It's something I value so so much. When you analyze all the parts, it just becomes an honest portrayal, and probably how I'll keep trying to write until it stops working.


7. So do you try to tailor these older musical ideas to a newer sound or did these song snippets just not fit in for previous projects/releases?
Adam Schatz: There really is no talking of a "newer" sound. It's amazing when everyone gets along and is incredible at their instruments, we can just go for it. Sometimes we set different musical rules for different songs, based around unisons or textures or anything. But it really is a case by case basis. The recording and mixing process of the album gives it an overall connective sonic tissue, but that stuff isn't thought about in the writing or even arranging process necessarily. Maybe that will change for the next album.


8. Being in such a diverse array of acts, do you feel like Landlady is a project that has all of these separate influences/sounds funneled through it or is it separate of your other work?
Adam Schatz: This is the most whole presentation of myself. Combined with the people I like the most playing music with me. I think it's the most sincere, honest and creative thing I've been able to do so far. Where any of the projects go or grow from here is anyone's guess.


9. Did you set out with a particular sound in mind for Landlady or was this just the music that felt right for your creative output?
 Adam Schatz: It's the music that came out when I was 23. 24. 25. 26. It's all time-dependent more than "sound" dependent. I wrote many of the songs for the first album on Casios and my Farfisa organ which gave a different result than when I started with piano, but at this point each song comes from a new place. I really just wanted to be able to do anything. Landlady is not a band that does everything at once. But we could do anything. We'll surprise you. It's a guarantee. That energy, that attitude, is so awesome. It feels so good.

Landlady performs at Tir Na Nog on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 12:00 am and at the Trekky Records/Hometapes "Friend Island" Day Party at The Pour House on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 3:25 pm.

Lineup Recommendations: De La Soul, Reigning Sound, and Ed Scrader's Music Beat

Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Chic and More Set for Moogfest 2014

Moogfest 2014 will take place from April 23-27 of 2014
throughout 10 venues

Up until 2013, Moogfest had become a bit of a staple for downtown Asheville. For three years the electronic based festival brought a wide variety of acts to the town under the Moog banner, but when it was announced that AC Entertainment's contract with the festival wasn't renewed the festival's future was in doubt. Shortly after details of AC Entertainment's new festival, Mountain Oasis, came about, the Moog family reassured folks that Moogfest wasn't going anywhere. After a bit of restructuring, it was announced that Moogfest would be returning to Asheville for the week of April 23-27. The now five-day event has blossomed to massive proportions that include some of the most influential names in electronic music history. This morning Moogfest announced the initial lineup for their 2014 festival, including some of the pioneers of dance music like Kraftwerk (performing 3 separate 3-D sets throughout the fest), Giorgio Moroder and Nile Rodgers' Chic.

While this eclectic array of dance icons head up the lineup, some of the most exciting parts of this lineup are buried within the details. Not only will Avey Tare (of Animal Collective)'s Slasher Flicks be performing, but so will Chaz Bundick's Les Sins, RJD2, Gaslamp Killer, Dan Deacon, Darkstar, Laurie Anderson, Wolf Eyes and much more. While the initial lineup alone is enough to warrant the $200 ticket for the week's musical festivities, there's still over 70 bands left to be announced.

Each night will also feature showcases from a wide variety of labels and curators like DFA Recods, Fool's Gold, Warp Records and even Hopscotch Music Festival. But music isn't the only thing that this promising new installment of Moogfest has going for it. Throughout the days there will be immersive conversation, exhibitions, film screenings and even engineering sessions for those with enough cash. Visionaries like Giorgio Moroder, Laurie Anderson and Cliff Martinez will join others for panels, discussions and presentations throughout the days.

The set-up of Moogfest allows for folks to choose between just seeing the panels and conferences, checking out the music, or both for separate ticket packages. For a full week pass (day + night) admission is $299 while you can check out the day's festivities for $249 or the night for $199. Those with larger pockets also may be interested in the slew of VIP packages that the festival offers, including a standard VIP deal ($499), an Engineer VIP deal (you can build your own synth and get all of the VIP offerings for $1,000) or a Legacy VIP deal ($10,000 for your own Moog Voyager XL, transportation to and from the airport, dinner with Keith Emerson, hotel accommodations AND the previous package offers). However, those without buckets of cash to spend on festivals will be able to partake in the free street festival or the Tech Expo and Job Fair and visit an electronic instrument pop-up shop.

Tickets for Moogfest can be purchased at the festival's website, where you can check out the full lineup thus far. Check below for the initial lineup announcement:

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.