Hopscotch Music Festival
09.09-11.10 - downtown Raleigh, NC
PJ was invited to photograph the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh last weekend, and since there was no way I was going to miss a festival of over 130 bands, I went too. Not only was I impressed at how well the first festival ran, but the city of Raleigh was really welcoming to thousands of artists and music lovers. There were day parties at the venues, free outdoor concerts, special listening parties (Superchunk’s Majesty Shredding at Foundation, presented by our friends at Merge Records), and amazing food and local beer at every turn.
The first band we saw was Raleigh’s Gray Young, who played carefully crafted post-rock, a genre that has been underrepresented the past few years. They took over the stage, moving around and offering a great sample of what we were going to experience over the next three days.
Next was Cults, who at the time were on tour with Best Coast. They played some songs from their only release, a 7” on Forest Family Records. The simplicity of the recordings was replaced with a more rock and roll, energetic set. I definitely liked them more than PJ, but I am biased towards female singers.
We skipped Best Coast since we had seen them at Macrock and went next door to the Pour House and found Birds of Avalon setting up. The folks in this band are really involved in the local scene--Paul Siler and Cheetie Kumar are co-owners of Kings Barcade—which made their heavy psych sound even sweeter.
Sleepy Sun are from San Francisco, which is home to some of my favorite current artists like The Fresh and Onlys, and they also have a pop-psych sound like many of the bands I love there, but the songs were slow and meandering. The singer reminded me so much of Constantine Maroulis that I couldn’t look at him.
Friday we decided to attend some of the day parties. Many of the bands like Megafaun and Bellafea played at night but also during showcases during the day, similar to South by Southwest.
We walked into Pour House looking for a friend but found Collections of Colonies of Bees at the Hometapes Showcase. We had missed them the night before (they played after Best Coast and everyone who was there raved about them on Twitter) but were so thrilled to stumble upon them. They were playing their not-yet-released LP from beginning to end and I loved their long, melodic instrumental songs. I really hope I get to see them again soon.
Next door at Tir Na Nog was a label showcase, so we stopped in to buy some vinyl and see Veelee, a local band featuring former Richmonder Matthew Park, who was also in Opening Flower Happy Bird. I liked them a lot—they had a Matt & Kim sticker on a case, which is a good comparison to their music.
We headed to King’s for another daytime show, this one featuring free beer from Triangle Brewing Company (North Carolina’s local beer is some of the best I’ve had) and our friends Bellafea, who were amazing as always. It was weird seeing them in a bright space during the daytime but they are so good and Heather McEntire is so engaging that you can’t help but just stare at them.
Friday and Saturday featured large shows at Raleigh’s downtown plaza. We showed up early Friday and sat down but were forced out fifteen minutes later. I was annoyed but since it was the first time this festival has ever happened, I just don’t think they prepared to have volunteers and security to show up so early.
The Rosebuds played first and I can honestly say after seeing them rock at XX Merge last year, that the sound was horrible. They didn’t sound like themselves. They were fun and poppy and cute and I could tell they were playing well—our friend even walked around to see if the sound was bad everywhere, and he reported back that yes, it was.
Co-headliner Broken Social Scene fared better, sound-wise, but that was perhaps due to the six guitars on stage playing at once. I was happy to hear some older songs (though the woman singing the Feist part on “7/4 Shoreline” was no Feist) as well as new stuff from Forgiveness Rock Record, which I have listened to several times this week, and it is more enjoyable than I thought originally.
We skipped Panda Bear in order to get some food (next year, Hopscotch organizers: more food trucks/vendors at the plaza shows!) which was a good decision since most people did not enjoy Noah Lennox’s set.
Afterwards PJ went to see Whatever Brains and Harvey Milk while I held it down at King’s. I saw John Mueller from Collections of Colonies of Bees and Volcano Choir play an excellent set, hitting his drums with a rise and fall in intensity and speed so you felt like you were a part of the rhythm.
PJ joined me for Ben Frost, who is a noise guy who lives in Iceland and played in front of a few stacks of large borrowed amps. I couldn't believe the amount of talking and general rudeness during his set. I don't know if it was because Atlas Sound was next but many of those people just sat through two other noise acts so they can't claim to not know what to expect. Anyway he was amazing, and might have been my musical highlight of the weekend.
For his Atlas Sound set, Bradford Cox played just an acoustic guitar and used live samples to serve as the background sounds for his wonderful, stark set. I love his records but seeing the songs live changed how I viewed them. I thought of “Sheila” as romantic and pretty, but seeing Cox perform it made me realize it’s about being lonely , depressed and disconnected with others.
Saturday we wandered around and watched some bands but nothing that day or probably the whole weekend had as much impact on us as the panel at the Raleigh City Museum, Hip-Hop Planet: Music and Its Work in the World. The panel included music writer Christopher Weingarten, 9th Wonder, Charlie Smarts (both local hip hop artists), Mark Anthony Neal, a faculty member at Duke University, and CHUCK D. He was a later addition and no one really knew he was speaking until the organizers tweeted about it a few minutes before it started.
After some technical difficulties, Weingarten DJed for about 15 minutes and played some of the songs Public Enemy famously sampled. Then Greg Lowenhagen, co-organizer of the festival, moderated the discussion panel. I learned so much about the political climate in the 80s and also what the panel thinks about hip hop today (many of the popular artists are manufactured and most great hip-hop is coming from the undergound). Chuck D talked about why PE agreed to play the festival, noting that the local scene is where great music is created and praising Hopscotch for bringing national and local music together.
This ran later than expected (Chuck D had nothing to do until he performed, so they talked almost two hours after it was supposed to end!), so we missed most of the Love Language’s set. They are one of my favorite live bands so I’m glad I didn’t hear their tunes marred too badly by the sound at City Plaza.
No Age played next. While the sound at their show wasn't very good (shocking) and they blew a few speakers, I loved their punk rock attitude which was missing from many of the bands. They definitely converted me into a new fan.
Crew Grrl Order, who is signed to Chuck D’s record label, did a few songs before PE came out. I really loved how genuinely excited they seemed to be performing. Chuck D spoke earlier about how groups were missing from current hip-hop and I was happy he was doing something to change that.
On their current tour, Public Enemy is playing their entire album Fear of a Black Planet to celebrate its twentieth year after release. After “Brothers Gonna Work it Out,” Flava Flav said that he had to do something before they continued, which was pull out his famous clock neckwear from under his shirt. They launched into the next track on the album, “911 is a Joke,” a crowd-pleasing favorite. At one point, Flav made an announcement to promote three future endeavors: a line of liquors, a biography and FFC, Flav’s Fried Chicken and thank everyone for making him VH1’s number one reality star. It was all a bit ridiculous but we were all having a good time so it didn’t matter.
The rain was getting to us, so an hour into Public Enemy’s set we walked to Slim’s to see Chapel Hill’s Dex Romweber Duo, who have put out a few records on Jack White’s fantastic Third Man Records. Dex Romweber, who was one half of Flat Duo Jets, plays guitar and sings while his sister Sara Romweber drums. Their music is rockabilly plus Elvis plus southern roots music plus a whole lotta fun.
We then went to Tir Na Nog to see The Golden Filter instead of Dungen because I was too tired to go to a challenging show (also the venue is tiny and I had a panic attack there Thursday and missed Akron/Family), so I was treated to one of the worst bands I have ever heard in my life (Tigercity) and this fun dance band. Their first song was about liking kitties and ice cream and since I love those things, as well as girls in cute patchwork minidresses and tulle Elizabethan collars, I was in heaven.
The last act of the weekend was one-man electronic band Washed Out. It was really crowded and we only stayed for a few songs. While I enjoy this kind of music, seeing it live makes me appreciate how much better it is on headphones at home.
There is no doubt that I will return to Raleigh next year for Hopscotch 2. It was such a smoothly-run festival and I was so impressed at the variety of music and events I was able to attend.