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).

Just Another Raleigh Friday Night: Part I - Granite In Reverse (7/14/17)

When I moved here about a decade ago, downtown Raleigh was a dead zone.  True, I was busy with two much younger kids and a wife.  I get out much more these days, as the former two are now much older, and the latter is no more... well no more my wife anyway, somebody else's :).  But even busy as I was with domesticity, when we managed to get downtown, there was NOTHING.  No events, no galleries, not even a decent restaurant (trailblazers excepted, I know there were a some brave pioneering spaces).

Now, it seems you can't throw a stick without that stick hitting something that challenges your artistic preconceptions or sates your creative palate.   One recent Friday night was a case in point.

I've appreciated the breath of fresh air that Ginger Wagg and Wild Actions have brought to the scene lately.  Wild Actions is a collective of performance artists, usually featuring Wagg moving silently and exploring a space in various ways (depending on the piece), accompanied by music, props, films, etc.  You might have seen Reflex Arc (Wagg and Crowmeat Bob on sax) opening for a band. Whatever the aim of the given piece--admittedly not always clear to me--you always come away with a different appreciation for the space, for sound (or silence), and for what art can be.

This time, the theme was somewhat more concrete (pun intended).  Granite in Reverse was a collaboration between Wagg and filmmaker Jaclyn Bowie.  It was inspired by Bowie's film, Geij, a short in which "a poisoned atmosphere is restored by a plant and its seeds."  In Granite... Wagg crawled and climbed around Exchange Plaza, stretching tendrils, leaves, and seeds over the cement and brick surfaces.  You could imagine in hundreds or thousand of years, that is inevitably what will happen... granite will degrade, nature will return.  On top of that, the "plant" offered the viewers a bounty!  Wagg placed little tamales of what tasted like corn and coconut.  Then, we placed the husks into a nearby sculpture, which took them in, "digested" them, and kicked out little pellets of totally natural um... fertlizer! (see video clips below).  It was a humorous end to represent the circle which will inevitably claim all that we, as humans, do.  Curiously, filmmaker Bowie was nowhere to be seen... ;)

As alluded earlier, there was a lot going on around downtown this night.  I caught Granite In Reverse before heading over to Kings for some live music, then Slim's for some DJ action.  More on that in Part II...

Hopscotch 2016 - Thursday Night (9/8/16)

By the time the first full night of Raleigh's Hopscotch Music Festival began, I had already seen a boatload of bands.  Between the earlier PotLuck day party at Slim's and the previous night's non-Hopscotch house show at Kosher Hut, I was already in danger of burnout.  I had to pace myself.

I ended up seeing only four club shows... five shows total counting the always wonderful Wye Oak at City Plaza... so no photos :( as I didn't have a press pass this year.  But I've photographed them several times before.  Better for once to put up the camera, and just listen to Jenn Wasner's voice.  Always give me chills.

Didn't hang out for Wolf Parade; not really my thing.  Plus needed to go take a break between the day and night shows.  Again, pacing.

Actually, I did catch another show or two of sorts.  Caught a little pop-up show by Television... err, Less Western... playing at the WKNC photo booth when picking up my wristband.

Then I caught a bit of a performance piece called In Spectrum, by Reflex Arc (dancer Ginger Wagg and saxophonist Crowmeat Bob).  Wagg writhed, wriggled, and ran among the lights of artist Lincoln Hancock's installation "Flag" as Crowmeat shadowed her physically and musically.  Not really sure of the meaning behind the movements, but every now and then, you need to take in art that leaves you scratching your head.  Prevents rust.      

Little poster out back by Slim's.

My first Hopscotch-proper show was prompted by seeing Charleston's Secret Guest the night before at Kosher Hut.  They were so good there, I wanted to see them on the bigger stage at Kings.  They didn't disappoint.

Secret Guest start out with guitars on fire...

The trumpet on that last song tho...

I'm learning that all of Secret Guest's shows end something like this...

I hung around Kings for the dark guitar noise of locals Lacy Jags.  Their sound really boomed in the big room at Kings.  I hadn't seen them in a while, and they've sharpened what was already the pretty well-honed edge they had from the Day One.

Lacy Jags...

Patrick taking a mid-song nap during his fifth show of the day (he pretty much spent the entire PotLuck day party onstage).

My night was planned around making sure I didn't miss the Snails.  So knowing the Pour House would fill up well before they went on, I set up shop sidestage before the band before them... Palm.  Palm apparently has a pretty big following themselves, and played to an enthusiastic full house at the Pour House.  Their jazzy math rock isn't really my taste, but I have to admit I was impressed.  The synchronicity between players was amazing.  And the Animal Collective-like vocals that kicked in more as the show went on put them in my soft spot.

Palm...

I didn't want to miss the Snails.  I had yet to see them, despite the fact that I'd been a fan ever since that night a couple of years back on  Letterman.  You know, that night the little band from Baltimore wowed Dave?  (Future something, I think)   Well, earlier that night, another B'more band -- the Snails -- played a great set of their own under the stands, to an eager crowd of fellow invertebrates.  That was the REAL story.

At the Pour House, frontman Samuel T Herr... I mean Sammy Snail... took the stage with  gruff sarcasm: "We're fucking snails!  We've been around for MILLIONS of years.  Maybe you've heard of us."  But he could back up the 'tude.  His voice and stage persona are the kind that only the fine-tuning of millions of years of evolution could produce; survival of the fittest.  Pretty early on, the show got a little risque, as the band shed their shells and actually spawned into the crowd!

But seriously, the whimsy was great, and it was complemented by great songs and stagecraft,  proving that the Snails can hold their own with their fellow Baltimore bands of the phylum Chordata.

"We're fucking snails!"...

Off came the shells, and out came the eggs! (NSFW)

Sandy Snailbelow gets a ride...

 I was entranced, and I shall never eat snails again!