Full Report | 2014 Hopscotch Music Festival Day Two

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All Photos by Aggie Donkar Unless Noted

Lonnie Walker

I've seen Lonnie walker 6,654 times now.  More than anyone has seen any band in the entire world. Hell, I've seen Lonnie Walker more times than the number of shows Lonnie Walker has played. Chew on that for a second.

So while Lonnie Walker's set in City Plaza was no shocker, the new material they played showcased a step forward both in song-craft and their live persona.  As bouncy as ever, the was another element in there that, while I can't articulate it in words, rounded things out, and seemed to achieve what they've been close to for some time now.

- Matt Smith


St. Vincent

The most memorable of all Hopscotch shows by a quick minute, St. Vincent took to the stage after a Radiohead-esq computer voice very personably asked the audience to put their damn phones down and enjoy being in the moment.  Surprisingly -- it actually seems this made a bit of a difference.

I'm not sure what David Bryne did to Annie Clark. It seems like more possession territory than some sort of muse, but that's not to say it doesn't totally work.  Because it does, and in that moment where she's robotically moving her appendages during a part of a song where it makes no damn sense -- it all makes so much damn sense.

Truly exemplifying the "live experience," she sounded amazing, looked cool-as-shit in her bloody-eyeball-sequined dress, and utilized not only every inch of the stage, but also every member of her band.  Whether standing in the front singing, or way back in the back of the stage playing guitar -- she owned it. The stage, and the plaza, was hers that night.

Here's to hoping she Bowies us and reinvents herself on the regular. 

- Matt Smith


Spoon

I'm not going to say anything amazing here.  But that's not to say Spoon wasn't awesome, it's just that, Spoon was Spoon, but this time, Spoon in all white! Shazaaam! 

For real though, these guys are seasoned festival-vets.  They were the first band I ever saw at SXSW at a tiny-little day party at Club Deluxe. And my they've grown since then. The old songs have taken on nuances that are vividly noticeable to those of usthat fell in love with them via Series of Sneaks. You can hear the newer sonic elements they've toyed with over their past two LPs begin to sneak their way in -- making the contrast between those gems from Kill the Moonlight and They Want My Soul far less-blunt than they could have been.

Even a slow-jam like "Who Makes Your Money" translated very nicely in the middle of their set - bookending an up tempo start and kicking off what would be the funkier portion of their time with us.

- Matt Smith


Gems

There are few things I like better in the festival-setting than some loud-ass dream pop. Call me a romantic, but that shit is like Calgon to me, alleviating every care in the world and even though I can't dance one-single-bit, I sway my non-existent ass back n' forth like I know what I'm doing. 

So when Gems blurped on our radar during our festival research, they immediately vaulted to the top of the "must-see" list, even though it was half-way across the city at what has become the douchey venue at Hopscotch inexplicably.

Gems has yet-to-release a proper LP, and while in this day and age while that's not important, the fact they have yet to piece together a complete package seemed to resonate in their live set.  It all sounded good. Great at moments when Clifford John Usher and Lindsay Pitts really hit their stride. "Medusa" was certainly a highlight, and shed quite a bright light on what these to can accomplish when firing on all cylinders.

The majority of the set remained in the good, to the all kinda sounds the same territory, which for a new band thrust into an odd setting, isn't a bad thing at all. They certainly piqued this-blog's interest.

- Matt Smith

Full Report | 2014 Hopscotch Music Festival Day One

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All Photos By Aggie Donkar Unless Noted

Well y'all -- Hopscotch 5 has officially been laid to rest. The hangovers have subsided, all the hipster and hillbilly gear has been washed, folded and put away for another year. Cleanup crews have swept up truckloads of spent wristbands, glowsticks, airplane bottles and cigarette butts. The old people living at the Sir Walter Apartments can now watch their programs without bass in their face. Normality has returned.

And while many things remain bouncing around in my head post-event, one thought definitely stands out -- I'm getting too old for this shit.  Yes, that sentiment trumps Mark Kozelek telling the crowd to "shut the fuck up," How to Dress well basically telling the crowd to shut the fuck up by referencing Mark Kozelek the night before, and even watching my wife, AND friend, completely fall asleep during the final set of the fest.

Lets get to this.

Toon & The Real Laww

Kicking off any festival is a tough proposition, but doing it not only as the first band to the stage, but also the group that takes the stage directly before one of THE seminal hip hop acts, would give even the most seasoned act agita. Luckily - Toon & The Real Laww, from Durham, NC (or Durty Durm  if you're nasty) handled their business and even got some of those persnickety old-school-rap-fans moving. 

-Matt Smith

De La Soul

I have a lasting memory of hearing "Me Myself and I" while playing putt putt in Myrtle Beach, SC when I was 10 years old. It's one of those things that remain inexplicably -- but seeing De La Soul perform Thursday night reminded me just how big of a musical influence they were, not only for me as a suburban kid, but also on the rap world at large.  The crowd was the perfect example of this -- comprised of everyone from teeny-hipsters to aging old-school-fans that haven't been into anything since Tu-Pac killed Biggie.  But that crowd was worked, arms pumped and De La Soul exemplified a group that not only is good at what they do, but still loves doing it.

-Matt Smith

Wild Fur

It ain't no secret -- we love us some Wylie Hunter around the SIC office, so we ducked out of the City Plaza shows a bit early to finally catch Wild Fur in their natural habitat.  Glad we did -- their trickle of music we've heard from these guys translated beautifully live.  The perfect mix of a synth backbone supporting a southern circulatory system.  Really looking forward to hearing what these guys put out next.

-Matt Smith

Sun Club

For me - the best part of music festivals like Hopsctoch are not seeing the big bands in small settings.  It's being surprised by acts that you've never seen, heard or heard of until doing research for the the nightly itinerary.  Sun Club, was one of just a handful of bands that truly blew us away this year.  Engery amass - they looked like they were fresh out of high school, but worked that stage like they had been doing this shit for years and years and years.  Definitely one of the bands we'll track from here on out.

-Matt Smith

IIII


Photo by Dylan Newcity

Due to the substantial wetness that characterized Thursday night I resolved to spend the majority of the evening holed up in the ever-comfortable Fletcher Opera Theater. After catching the tail end of New Music Raleigh’s featured piece, “Future Shock,” I staked out a primo spot to experience “IIII”, a collaborative performance involving fifteen drummers and two synthesizer players interpreting each of the four seasons musically.

    
The first six minutes were a bit like the onset of an acid trip -- It began with a long, bellowing synthesizer drone that soon built into an arrhythmic din of cymbal crashes and skittering drums. When all the cacophony finally became too much to bare, the second movement began with a syncopated electronic drum pattern that firmly grounded things and introduced the first of the four primary drummers who would lead the ensemble for each of the seasons. More drummers joined the fray until everyone was grooving together nicely, but then chaos erupted. The beat degenerated into a crashing wave of percussion noise, with each drummer playing as loud and as fast as they possibly could. The resulting air pressure could be felt in your sinuses.

IIII’s exploration of rhythmic dynamism and textural synthesis continued for approximately forty-five minutes, veering into tribal drum circle territory and making more pronounced, melodic use of the impressive synthesizers on hand. While it wasn’t entirely evident to me the order of the seasons as they were performed, the rhythmic and melodic progression from movement to movement was distinctly evocative of the dramatic seasonal changes our landscape undergoes each year. Well done, lads (and lass!)

-Dylan Newcity

Saint Rich

Another artist we've never been ashamed to proclaim complete and unabashed love for is Steve Marion. Through his main project, Delicate Steve, he put out on of our favorite albums of the decade with Positive Force, then followed that up with his singing side project Saint Rich.  And unlike the set we saw Delicate Steve play during Hopscotch 2, Saint Rich mellowed things out and took us slowly into the end of the night. Songs like "Officer" translated extremely well in the setting they were given at Tir Na Nog.

-Matt Smith

War On Drugs

Unlike the Sun Kil Moon show the night after -- there was no talking to be heard during War on Drugs' set at Lincoln Theatre. But that speaks less to the crowd's attention span and more to the fact that this shit was loud.  So loud, in fact, that it made the mix seem a bit off. Not sure if that's how War on Drugs likes it, or if it's the festival change over effect rearing it's ugly head, but unlike apparently most of the bouncing people up front -- I wasn't feeling it.  My eardrums were being pummeled in ways they didn't like, and while songs like "Red Eyes" of were of course welcomed, they didn't live up to what were perhaps unrealistic expectations.

-Matt Smith

Jam of the Day | Landlady - The Globe

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Constant SIC readers know we like to coin new music genres from time to time. And outside of electrofunkaroots, they've for the most part gone on to become worldwide descriptors when describing music to your friends over a beer or five. It's a knack we have, and we're happy to share.

So when listening to "The Globe," we couldn't help but think that, gun to our head if asked to categorize it, we'd say it was indienewmangazeoperaesque. Listen below and see if you agree.

Maybe you feel something different. Let us know what that something is.

Regardless, we'll be catching them at this year's Hopscotch Music Festival. And you should too.  Tickets are available right here.

Jam of the Day | Avers - White Horses

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Good things are happening in Richmond, VA people -- and I'm not talking about barbeque and breweries. Somehow, the former heart of the Confederacy has morphed into a hotbed of indie-rock, producing some major favs around the SIC offices like Matthew E. White, and now, Avers.

I'm not sure you'd call them a supergroup, but there are some heavyweight names in Avers including members of The Head and the Heart, Hypercolor, The Mason Brothers, and Farm Vegas.

Check out their new single "White Horse" below, and come see them at the 2014 Hopscotch Music Festival, which starts in early September.

Jam of the Day | MAS YSA - Shame

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Let's pretend that there is a perfect human being. And this person instantly brightens days when they enter a scene. They don't come in and command a room - they operate slightly under that level, where their energy slowly filters out, unbeknownst to the people whose moods are slowly changing from grey to yellow.

This song represents the musical opposite of that person, where a negative feeling -- in this case "Shame," builds slowly and unknowingly until you're completely consumed. You don't really feel it taking over, but once it has, you have no other choice than to confront it head on. Then -- you're left staring in the mirror asking yourself just what the hell is the problem.

MAS YSA will make us feel SOMETHING during the Hopscotch Music Festival this year.  Hopefully it's more euphoric than that shameful feeling you have when you fuck up real good.

Jam of the Day | Death - North St.

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Before there was punk -- there was Death.  When I woke up this morning, I had no idea what that sentence would possibly mean, other than it sounds like some sort of half-assed-rally-cry for suburban-kids decreeing "punk" as a concept that's been around since the dawn of time. Fuck you mom and dad - I'm not mowing the goddam lawn today.

BUT - that's not what it's about. See, Death was/is a band that formed in 1971, and recorded a quasi-punk record all the way back in 1975, a full year before them darlins' Black Flag even formed officially. The reason the vast majority of us have never heard of them, and why they're not at the tippy top of every list categorizing punk visionaries, is that the record was never released to the masses. In fact, they weren't picked up by a record label until 34 years after that first record was laid to tape.

Many reasons probably factor into why they were largely ignored for over thirty years, but the fact they were three black dudes playing music that would soon be referred to as punk, all the way back in the early to mid-seventies, surely didn't help their cause. They were from Detroit for god's sake - while Smokey Robinson and his angelic voice were singing about "Cruisin," these dudes were recording songs with titles like "You're a Prisoner."

Badass guys - can't wait to learn more and we'll certainly be catching their set at the 2014 Hopscotch Music Festival. Sorry it took us all so long.