Jenny Besetzt, Wing Dam, Secret Anderson (Kings, Raleigh, 8/5/17)

Jenny Besetzt has consistently been one of the best bands in North Carolina since I first caught them at a Hopscotch day party a few years ago.  Their new album, Tender Madness, should be on everyone's heavy rotation.  Driving bass, spine-tingling guitars, and what's becoming clear to be one of the most badass drummers in the Triangle, come together musically for an angular, retro-futuristic sound.  Bright light, dark energy.  But Jon Wollaber's unfathomably deep baritone is the cherry on the top (or deep down in the abyss).  Speaking of Hopscotch Music Festival, they're about to play with Future Islands on the big stage there, before embarking on a tour across wide swaths of the US and Canada with the Islands.

They played another powerful set at Kings last weekend, with two comparably great openers.  Baltimore's Wing Dam were full of crunchy indie-punk, and brought a grinding fun energy to the stage as usual.  South Carolina's Secret Guest and ET Anderson joined forces as Secret Anderson to celebrate the launch of the new label/platform/collective APT by the bands' respective frontmen Brett Churchill Nash and Wilson W. Wilson... or is it Tyler T. Tyler? :)

Photos and a couple of videos below.

Secret Anderson...

Wing Dam...

Jenny Besetzt...

Secret...!

... Anderson!

Hopscotch Music Festival - Friday Day Parties (9/9/16)

On the second day of Raleigh's Hopscotch Music Festival, I hung close to the west side of town for the day parties.  I was staying at an AirBnB in Boylan Heights, so this gave me a chance to freshen up (i.e., shower, nap) before another long night of shows.  As I posted earlier, it's all about the pacing.  Plus the west side of town leaned indie rock that day, which is fine by me.

The first set I caught was Greensboro's the Kneads, at Crank Arm Brewing Company. They've added a fourth member and filled out their sound.  Nice taste of jerky stop-starts, with a side of LOUD, to get me going for the day.

The Kneads...

Then just across the street, at Boxcar Bar + Arcade, I wanted to catch my third -- yes third -- set of the weekend by Secret Guest.  Having seen them in three totally different settings (house show, big club, daytime outdoors on a patio) on successive days, I can verify that they brought it each time.  Slight disappointment this time in that they didn't have quite as much room to jump around; made up for the fact that their end-of-set physical implosion was all that tighter. :)  They had their own secret guest in singer Hunter Park from She Returns from War, who played the Boxcar day party earlier.

Secret Guest...

Just outside on Commerce Place was the Hopscotch Makers Market, with it's own day party.  I just caught the tail end of Palm, who I had seen warm up the crowd for the Snails the night before.  Then I took in See Gulls for the second day in a row.  Yeah, a lotta repetition in my Hopscotch scheduling this year.  But this was special, because it was the last show for Duncan Webster and Leah Gibson with the band.  Check out their own band, Beauty World, who'll be having a release show for their EP, Joypop Turbo, at the Carrack in Durham on October 8th.  

See Gulls...

Closed out my stint of day parties by popping back to the Baxter next door (after a few games of Frogger), seeing a local band I'd never seen, the Affectionates.  They make indie pop with a big stride and a nod to the traditional, banjo and violin weighing in heavily.  Come to think of it, that's the second band I saw in two days to rock the banjo, the previous being the afore-mentioned Beauty World.  Can be tricky, but I love it when it works (it did both times).  Affectionates are a bar band in the best sense of that phrase.  Nice harmonies, too.  

The Affectionates...

So, um, I've still got a ton of Boxcar tokens if anybody needs some.  The music was just too good... plus Frogger was giving free credits!  

Next, I'll post about Friday night; great line-up at CAM + Big Freedia at Lincoln Theater!

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!