Hopscotch Music Festival - Thursday (9/7/17)

My first night of Hospcotch 2017 featured sublime bedroom pop and fun-as-hell rock'n'roll sandwiched between full-blown trippiness on both ends.  But before the formal festivities began, I rushed from work and managed to catch the last day party show at Boxcar, Columbia's ET Anderson.  They were great as usual; more on them with Saturday's day parties.  

ET Anderson... 

Onto the night shows... but first, a quick bite at Garland, upstairs from where I would catch my favorite shows (Neptune's).  Everybody should make this place a Hopscotch standby, or anytime before a big show upstairs (Kings) or downstairs.  I didn't try the boozy snow-cones, but one had watermelon!  Next time...

To the opera!  One of the shows I was anticipating most was seeing Zack Mexico frontman John Saturley's solo set at Fletcher Opera Theater.  I had no idea what to expect, which frankly, excites me... especially knowing that someone with talent is about to stretch their boundaries.  Given the wild psych-indie of his band, you'd think an opera theater an odd setting for John.  Not necessarily.  His solo material ranges from downbeat versions of Zack Mex-type stuff to long-form spacey aberrations (and this space is a great one for experimental).  John didn't let down.  His set leaned towards the latter; it was definitely an experiment!  He and local music scenester and mutual friend Jesse Tecpilticani came out in gas masks and colorful muumuus (yes I said gasmasks and muumus).  As John crouched by a set of knobs and switches, he began to make droning, swerving sounds that filled the big room.  Jesse merely sat down and read.  But every now and then, he'd get up and read aloud (or really, just emote) unknown words in Spanish.  That was it, and it was great.  If I was one who smoked pot (and was high during), I'd probably have loved it even more.  If I was one who did acid (and was tripping during), I'd probably still be huddling in a fetal position somewhere, terrified, alone.  It was dark and ethereal, like a warped indoor Disney ride.  Wonderful.

"Gasmasks and Muumus".  There's a band name for ya.

John Saturley (w/ Jesse Tecpilticani)...

This is what it looked like...

This is more what it felt like...

More weirdness before moving onto the "normal/music" sets, local dance/music/experimental duo Reflex Arc began what would be a slate of great acts lined up at Neptune's all weekend.  I only caught the last few minutes, but Ginger Wagg was writhing through the crowd, making full use of the space, and generally making people uncomfortable (but in a good way, again, stretching boundaries) while Crowmeat Bob provided sax and guitar accompaniment.  People can't have been too uncomfortable though; as always during a Reflex Arc set, there were plenty of smiles during and after.

Reflex Arc...

Another of my most-anticipated sets came next, still at Neptune's.  Moon Racer is Autumn Ehinger of Cassis Orange and the Love Language.  Mostly because I'm selfish, I'm always on her for never releasing enough of her own wonderful, dark-yet-soothing bedroom pop.  Likewise, she doesn't play often.  So all the more anticipation for her set.  This time, she came packing a drummer!  Will Hackney's percussion fleshed out the quiet keyboards well.  This was a great way to really settle into three nights of Hopscotch music.

Moon Racer...

Next, I had to make my first hard choice of Hopscotch:  Oh Sees or the Tills?  Both spend a lot of time in the garage, though the Tills are a little more psychy.  I had to dig up my blog posts from 5 years ago to see what I thought about the then "Thee" Oh Sees when they played CAM during Hopscotch 2012.  They were good, but maybe not up to the hype.  I liked what I heard of their new album, Orc, though.  But I felt it was too long since I'd seen the Tills.  And when the choice gets tough, I'm always gonna lean towards the local band (Asheville) and the local label (Winston-Salem's Phuzz Records).  And was I glad I did!  I had forgotten how much fun this band could be!  The music was great, and frontman Harry Harrison was all over the stage (and the drums, and the crowd...), as the photos below attest.

The Tills...

So it turned out I had a little time to catch the end of Oh Sees' set after the Tills.  This new Hopscotch venue, "The Basement" (of the Raleigh Convention Center), is HUUUGGE!  It seems like ten CAMs could fit inside it.  You'd probably never fill it to capacity (gotta break all the fire codes), but even with 20% of the floor filled, gathered at the stage, the place felt packed.

Oh Sees were good again, but I didn't really see enough of them this time to really take it in.

Oh Sees...

I stayed at the basement for Brian Jonestown Massacre after Oh Sees.  Not a band I'd kill to see.  But nothing else jumped out at me for my Thursday night closer, and their reputation made me curious.  They were, well, about what I expected.  A bunch of seasoned vets cranking out well-done retro-psychedelia.  A very different kind of trip than the one that started my night at the Fletcher.  Made you almost feel like you went back to 1968, which I guess is the idea. But my guess is the best Thursday night show at the Basement was actually Asheville's Nest Egg, just before Oh sees.  I really wanted to see them, too, but... well... Moon Racer and the Tills.  Rule #1 of Hopscotch:  No Regrets.

Brian Jonestown Massacre...

So after my pre-Hopscotch post saying "camp out at one venue all night!", I ended up seeing 7 acts at 5 venues.  Hey, at least I stayed for (parts of) successive acts at a couple of venues!  But that's Hopscotch for ya.  Bring snacks, stay hydrated, plan your locations, and looks for pedicabs! (I think those are Rules # 2, 3, 4, & 5)

Next up:  Friday night shows (and eventually, Saturday and some videos).

Autumnal Vibin' (a mini-mixtape of local releases for your enjoyment)

Lately, I've been listening to a playlist of recent local and sorta local releases on my trusty Galaxy SIII (hey, at least it doesn't explode!).  I think these bands all go together in a mellow way appropriate for the fall season.   Since I never have time to review records, and this is only a small selection the the many great local releases to come out in the past few months, I thought I'd share some here.

Beauty World and Moon Racer celebrate their two releases Saturday at the Carrack in Durham.  Eston Dickinson recently released a collection of songs that's decidedly more lo-fi than the his last, AM Gold (fully fleshed out with his Carolina Wrecking Crew).  But this set of tunes shows that if the songs are good, production is secondary.  Sort of the same thing can be said for SE Ward, who's recent EP is stripped down compared to the full band she's been hitting stages with of late.  But either way, the songs are good; and damn if her voice doesn't sound awfully Southern for being from Vermont.  Oh, and BTW, Eston will be on Raleigh Little Radio tonight from 9:00-10:30.

While Flock of Dimes may not be considered local (listed as Baltimore on their bio), Jenn Wasner now calls Durham, I think, home.  And Davíd Garza, though not a local, was a big part of my scene coming up in Baton Rouge.  He's always been an Austin guy, but came east to play Red Stick a bunch of times when I was hosting local radio show back then, so he's kinda "local" to me.  Plus, for the first time since I've moved here, he plays the Triangle!  (Nov 1 at the Pour House, with Gaby Moreno).  I can't recommend that show highly enough; and show up to catch Garza opening!

My short little mixtape closes with Greensboro's Echo Courts, kicking it up a bit (though this song is mellower than most of the psych-romps on their new LP, In the Garden).  So here's a short little playlist of that stuff.  Be sure to check out the full releases! (which you can jump to from each of the tunes below)

Hopscotch Music Festival - Saturday Night (9/10/16)

At long last, here's the last night of my Hopscotch Music Festival coverage... is it Hopscotch 2017 yet? (I know, practically... :) )  You may have noticed I skipped the big shows at City Plaza, save for the wonderful Wye Oak on Thursday.  With all the day parties (often stretching into the City Plaza time slot) and the great night shows, I had to take a break sometime!  Plus, I've never been much for bigger venues... takes the immediacy away.  Live music for me is as much about a shared experience with the band as it is about hearing the music.  I need to be front and center whether I'm taking photos or not.

Side note:  It's come to my attention that some people think I'm "working" when they see me shooting a show, or they don't want to get in my way, etc.  Nah, I'm having fun like everybody else.  Dive in!  Say hi!  The camera's just the way I see things.

Anyway, two shared experiences I was looking forward to in this last batch of night shows were at Deep South, always a good venue for Hopscotch shows.  I had never seen Weird Pennies (of Raleigh) yet, but knew of frontman Thomas McNeely when he was with Jenny Besetzt.  The Pennies' music sounded great online, and the show didn't disappoint.  Jerky, punky indie-experimental in the vein of a (slightly less esoteric) Whatever Brains or the next band in the lineup (see later)... I'll have to listen more to fully digest their sound, but it was good.

Weird Pennies...

Next band in the lineup (see now) was Columbia, SC's, ET Anderson.  As I wrote a few weeks back after their Kosher Hut pre-Hopscotch show, they may be my new favorite live band.  Recorded, they come off a bit quieter... chill, introspective weirdness with a slow burn.  Live, they take the same songs and blow that shit up.  Either way, it's a meld of soul and indie-weirdness.  A little bit Devo, a little bit Pavement, a lot bit outer space.  That shot at the top is ET Anderson bassist Hot Tub John, his wife's eyes lit up with love (and guitar glare).

ET Anderson...

Speaking of Whatever Brains, my next stop was to be Neptune's to see Bodykit, a new project featuring Rich and Josh from the Brains.  Unfortunately, I found out on the way over they were done. But I bumped into most of Beauty World and Moon Racer (where they told me about their joint release show at the Carrack in Durham this weekend, to which all of you MUST GO!) and followed them over to Memorial Auditorium to catch a little of Andrew Bird.  I'm somewhat familiar with Bird's music (having only one of his releases), but again, me and big venues... not so much.  Still, it was a nice break from the treble and the clang.  Tift Merritt even got up and sang a couple with him (see below).

Andrew Bird...

One way or another, I was gonna close Hopscotch with some brass.  My initial thought was fellow New Orleanians the Stooges Brass Band.  I figured the shotgun shack that is Slim's would already be at capacity for Downtown Boys (sorta-kinda brass in that members come from brass band What Cheer? Brigade, who wowed Hopscotch a year or two ago).  But I was getting reports that the line at the Pour House for Stooges was around the block, and when I walked by Slim's, it was open!  So I camped out there for the remainder.

Downtown Boys describe themselves as a "bi bilingual political dance sax punk party from Providence."  Yeah, that's pretty much it.  Singer Victoria Ruiz opened most songs with a rant against the given injustice of the next song, and then proceeded to cap it with a blast of raw energy, belting out lyrics in English and Spanish with the ferocity of Ian MacKaye in his heydey.  She spent half her time in the crowd, singing and slamming, as the band held down the fort with dual saxes.  Definitely a fun way to close Hopscotch 2016.

Downtown Boys...

Are we done yet?

Not quite.  Here's a few black and white shots that better capture the controlled chaos of the Downtown Boys at Slim's.

See ya next year, Hopscotch!