Hopscotch Music Festival - Saturday Night (9/9/17)

Okay readers, I'm gonna knock this one out so these photos don't wait until December to be seen!  Last night of a great Hopscotch.  After the Pour House day party, I went to City Plaza to see Body Games. Downed my second shish kabab of the fest at, well, Shish Kabob, then gathered with the crowd stage front.  Though it was early and a large venue, quite a few Body Games fans showed up.  They got to use the gi-NOR-mous TV screen behind the stage (it was a large LED screen, NOT projection).  Thanks, Big Boi!  This made it possible to incorporate their always great visuals into the set, which you wouldn't have expected possible on a bright day outside.  Of course, the music was good too!

Body Games...

Took a short break before the night shows.  I was going to take a longer one, but I heard a rumor that Andre 3000 was gonna hop on stage with Big Boi at some point during his set... or at minimum, that his show would feature a lot of Outkast material.  So I head back to City Plaza.  No Andre, but yes, Ms. Jackson was apologized to yet again.  Fun show with or without Andre (I'm sure that rumor goes around before every Big Boi show).

Big Boi...

Due to me taking the bait, I missed locals Naked Naps and most of Advance Base at Lincoln.  Caught just the last couple of songs of the latter.  While I'm not too familiar with his music other than generally, I like what I've heard (as Advance Base and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone).  It was very downbeat and unfortunately not very crowded.  He would have worked well at Neptune's, given the general vibe of that venue for the fest (see later).

Advance Base...

So speaking of Neptune's, my Plan A was to close out the fest seeing Japanese Breakfast there (Plans B & C were Slim's & Pour House in no particular order).  The two acts before her/them looked good, too.  And my past Hopscotch experience told me this would be one I'd need to get into well before the show (thus the Plans B & C).  But I still had a few minutes before Truth Club started there, so I popped back into the HUGE "Basement", the new festival venue at the Convention Center.

In the wide open space of the Basement, Alessandro Cortini was "playing".  I say that in quotes not because he's a producer/experimentalist (I learned a long time ago that a good DJ/producer "plays" their instruments, too).  I say "playing" because all you saw when you walked in was a very large screen projecting what looked like old home movies, an empty table on the stage, and experimental music seeming to come only from the speakers.  Okay, maybe he's a recluse.  He's played with Nine Inch Nails, his own band, and various others.  He's paid some dues.  Stepping to the back to get the wide view, an older guy (probably a festival hire) was working the projections.  But in the dark, in front of him, was Cortini... tweaking knobs and controlling the music, unbeknownst to most of the crowd lounging on the floor taking in the atmosphere.  It was a pretty good atmosphere to take in.  One of those unexpected little side-jaunts that Hopscotch always provides, if you're open to them.

Alessandro Cortini...

On to Neptune's.  I had recently been pleasantly surprised to find that this new-ish Raleigh band Truth Club featured Travis from Wilmington's late-great Astro Cowboy.  Similar sound, maybe a little poppier (but I never saw Astro enough live to really compare); another great drummer!

Truth Club...

Staying in the (much smaller) "basement" of Neptune's, I prepped to close out my Hopscotch with a pair of Brooklyn bands.  I know, imagine that! 😄  Cende kicked out a restless pop that very much brought me back to my days of first discovering Cali pop punk when it was new:  Lag Wagon, Descendents, early Green Day... yeah, I'm old.  But these guys aren't just completely re-hashing.  They do it with a fresh take, good songwriting, and ample skills.

Cende...

Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, who's been touring with Cende, popped up to sing the last number with them before her set...

I had heard a lot from Japanese  Breakfast, mostly on 'KNC.  Frankly, they were overplaying them there for a while (as I'm sure other college stations were).  So much so that I thought they were local for a bit.  But every time I heard them, I liked what I heard... "Oh, it's that Japanese Breakfast band again!"  Unlike a lot of bands that generate such buzz, they deserve it

Japanese Breakfast is the solo project of Michelle Zauner (who is of Korean ancestry and not Japanese, thankyouverymuch... the name is meant to juxtapose Asian and European values, or something).  Though her own thing, she's touring with what is a great band.  But Zauner is the unequivocal focus, a stage presence that calls to mind Annie Clark or Sam Herring.  A little warmer than the former, not as ferocious as the latter, but like them, she puts it all out there and leaves it.  It was a tiny setting, but I think she'll be taking over (and taking to) much larger stages soon.  And the music... I thought it would be a mellower show given the bedroom pop feel of the records.  But live, Japanese Breakfast lean more towards the indie of indie-pop.  Very fun, energetic show.  As I posted the night they played, Michelle Zauner is a punk rocker with a lounge singer trying to get out, or vice versa.  Amazing show.  Amazing end to Hopscotch 2017.

Japanese Breakfast...

That's it for my photos.  One day I'll get around to going through my Hopscotch 2017 videos.  Stay tuned...

Phuzz Phest Night 2 (Winston-Salem, NC, 4/16/16)

My second night of Phuzz Phest, in Winston-Salem, was limited to all North Carolina acts.   Despite big indie names like Brooklyn's Chairlift, London's Yuck, and Austin's White Denim, I was happy to stay right here at home, as it were.  If ya ask me, the talent level is so deep in this state, those national and international hotbeds have a little competition on their hands.

As with Night 1, Night 2 kicked off at Bailey Park, with the great Boone band, Naked Gods.  It felt slightly odd seeing a band like this out in the wide open, as my prior experiences had been in little shotgun bars like the Cave.  That didn't prevent singer Seth Sullivan from bringing it out into the crowd, at least a bit, as he likes to do (hugged at least one audience-member).  This band's eponymous second album was one of the best of last year, REALLY worth your listen.

Naked Gods...

After getting my new favorite sandwich from the Camel City Grill food truck (PBBJ: peanut butter, red pepper jelly, & bacon!), I had to leave Bailey Park a bit early -- choices, choices -- to catch some of Chapel Hill's Body Games.  The Milennium Center was a great setting for the visuals that accompany their dark, electronic pop.  And when just they feared they were getting a little too preachy with the graphics, they brought out the fuzzies!

Body Games...

Stuck around Millenium Center for one of the shows I was most awaiting:  Shirlette Ammons.  Her new album, Language Barrier, is a tour de force... a melange of diverse voices joining to express a cohesive vision.  Live, Ammons and her band just rock.

Shirlette Ammons...

Next, it was up Trade St. two blocks for my first visit to Test Pattern.  The location made my remaining festival choices a whole lot easier, catching two great NC bands there, and tag-teaming with the Garage across the street for two more.

It started with the psych/zen/weirdness of Carrboro's Jphono1.  This band's sound has evolved into a sound of its own, distinct from  front-man John Harrison's earlier solo version, and also from his other band, North Elementary.  The full crowd at the small venue were loving it.

Jphono1...

Patrick in the zone...

Body Games travels with their light show, apparently (at Test Pattern/Jphono1)...

I often say Zack Mexico is the best band in NC.  It's just my opinion, but I talked up this show to a few festival-goers asking for my opinion on what to see.  I also often point out that this is one of the few bands I can watch stretch out a song for 8, 10, or more minutes and not get at all bored (I hate jam bands).  They can, and often do, play a 5-song set without leaving you feeling short-changed in the least.  This time, they played four... maybe five if you count the little warm-up instrumental at the beginning.  But what I heard from people milling around in shock afterwards, it only took four songs to make a lot of new fans. "Amazing!" "Incredible!" "You were NOT wrong!"

Zack Mexico...

Having a moment with a new fan...

Packed Garage for Zack Mexico...

Staying at the Garage, I only stuck around for a few songs -- more choices --for Boulevards, the stage persona of Raleigh's Jamil Rashad.  If I had left, I wouldn't have been able to get back in as the line was around the corner.  From what I witnessed, he's all he's cracked up to be.  All over the stage, pumping up the crowd to dance and party (like it's 1979).  Heavy Chic, Sugarhill Gang disco/funk that gets everyone's feet moving.

Boulevards...

Back across the street to Test Pattern, for Durham's Brett Harris.  Harris and his very tight band played mostly songs from his excellent new album, Up In The Air.  That's good, because they're great pop songs from a polished writer who hits just the right notes.

Brett Harris...

Joe Caparo & Brad Porter:  Rhythm section to the stars! (they're everywhere, really)

To close out the night, I head two doors down the street for a quick nightcap at Single Brothers.  The back patio at this little place featured one of the best sets I'd seen at Phuzz Phest (or anywhere, ever, really), the festival-closing set from T0W3RS in 2014.  This night couldn't top that, but Winston-Salem's Mauve Angeles, the solo project of Spirit System's Eric Gilstrap.  He mines the same early-mid 90s British goth vein as his band, with a little more of an updated synth-y approach.  Suffice it to say, Bela Lugosi's still dead.

Mauve Angeles...

A couple of years ago, I would have said (and probably did) that Phuzz Phest was a great mid-year festival to hold over those who couldn't wait for the next Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh.  Now, I could just as easily say that this year's Hopscotch will make a great festival to hold over those who can't wait for the next Phuzz Phest.