Hopscotch 2016 - Thursday Day Parties. Well, PotLuck's, which is the only one that really matters. (9/8/16)

Hopscotch Music Festival's day parties are always a highlight of the festival.  Free all-day lineups of music (and in this case, PIZZA!) at clubs throughout downtown Raleigh provide the budget-conscious music fan a way to see many local, and a handful of touring, bands perform on the cheap.  And there is usually no better day party than PotLuck's Annual Rock'n'Roll Pizza Party, at Slim's.  

So good is it, in fact, that I never ventured to another day party on this Thursday afternoon, despite the fact that there were many within a few blocks' walk.  Durham label / co-op / community PotLuck have so many great bands in their orbit that there was no need to go further for music.

At the PotLuck Pizza Party, bands alternate between indoor and outdoor stages, with barely a minute break between sets.  This year featured:  Teardrop Canyon, The Second Wife, Knurr and Spell, Beauty World, See Gulls, Schooner (above), and Some Army... among others, these were all I saw.  I've written about most of these bands here before, and they're all good.  But The Second Wife, Knurr and Spell, and Beauty World were new to me (though I'd caught snippets of the latter once or twice before).  The Second Wife features powerhouse singer Reese Henry in a pretty raw, stripped-down rock'n'roll setting that's great for her voice.  Knurr and Spell is fronted by a couple of North Elementary members doing their own, more synthy/Brit-sounding pop.  Beauty World feature (until recently) half of See Gulls, Duncan Webster (Hammer No More the Fingers) and Leah Gibson.  Their amalgam of cello, banjo-uke-guitar, drums, etc, although clearly very structured and complex, still comes off as fun and whimsical.

Lazy photog's way out:  I've still so many Hopscotch shots to process that I just don't want to edit them all, so these have been converted to Black & White.  Actually, the stark light (especially outside) at Slim's that bright day lent itself better to B&W.

Except for one shot of See Gull Tom Sowders.  That shirt! (bought in a Magazine St. shop, for extra  NOLA points)  I just couldn't bring myself to wash it out.  In fact, I bumped that shit to 11.

Teardrop Canyon...

The Second Wife...

 Knurr and Spell...

Beauty World...

See Gulls...

I apologize in advance for any seizures this may cause...

My colleagues were out in force for See Gulls...

Schooner...

Some Army...

Check out the PotLuck link above.  Several of these bands have recent releases which are excellent, including Magnolia Collective and Jphono1 (who, though I missed each, opened and closed the party, respectively).

Phuzz Phest Night 1 (Winston-Salem, NC, 4/15/16)

Winston-Salem's Phuzz Phest has really come into its own in this, its sixth year.  While not quite as expansive as its sibling here in the Triangle (Hopscotch), there are ample venues and musical choices to satisfy the most discerning and adventurous music fan.  One thing they did exceptionally well this year was the genre-groupings at the respective venues.

Take Friday night.  Looking for indie, psychedelic, guitar pop?   The Garage had you covered with Sunflower Bean, Lacy Jags, and Shadowgraphs.  Wanted a punkier edge?  Try Reanimator.  The fancy digs of Millenium Center could fill all your EDM desires with the likes of Quilla and Neon Indian.  More garage-y rock held sway at Bailey Park, headlined by Thee Oh Sees.  Krankie's had a great lineup of twangy, rootsy, female-fronted acts like Lera Lynn and Sarah Shook and the Disarmers.

But this festival is so compact that, despite 7 or 8 venues, you could catch a little honky tonk, walk down the block for a little psych weirdness, then close out the night with some dance grooves... which I did, not in that particular order.

I started the evening off before sunset, at the wonderful new Bailey Park (a venue still under construction, but great nevertheless).  Drag Sounds are now formally a Baltimore band, but have heavy NC roots.  They got the festival proper started with their own brand of Velvety phuzz.

Drag Sounds...

As Drag Sounds was finishing, I walked the furthest walk this festival required (only about 7 blocks) up to the Garage, to catch Carrboro's Teardrop Canyon. Rootsy, psychedelic pop that can start slow but ends up grinding it up pretty good.

Teardrop Canyon...

Teardrop Canyon... from the street seats

Then I hoofed it down two blocks to catch one of the sets I had most anticipated, Greensboro's Quilla.  Her new album, Beautiful Hybrid, leans heavily on piano and acoustic instrumentation.  The live set, however, was more electronic (as almost every acts' are, but talking more dance-y type of electronic here).  Both are excellent, and her strong voice is the heart of each.  Quilla is definitely a rising talent, one that we're lucky to call local (despite her Montreal origins and French-Canadian/Peruvian parentage).  Keep an ear out.

Quilla...

After Quilla, it was back up to the Garage for another much-anticipated set... that of Charlotte's Shadowgraphs.  These guys create a very good facsimile of a late 60s/early 70s psychedelic vibe, while never sounding derivative.  I'm really digging their self-titled EP.

Shadowgraphs...

Both Skylar Gudasz's debut album (Oleander) and live show are entrancing.  I wanted to leave halfway through her sett Krankie's to see Lacy Jags back at the Garage, as I'd seen Gudasz a handful of times recently and the Jags only once.  But the music was so beautiful that it really felt like a siren had cast a spell on me.  I was frozen in place, stage front.  Sorry Lacy Jags! (it ain't a good festival without some hard choices)  Gudasz is another NC act that I'm guessing will be going places fast.

Skylar Gudasz...

It's just as well I stayed at Krankie's though, because Sarah Shook and the Disarmers were up next.  This buncha honky-tonkers from Chapel Hill are SO good, they burn up the stage every time they play.  Buzzfeed recently put Shook on top of a list of "5 Women Who Are Kicking Country Music’s Ass".  Well-deserved, and accurate.  And that band!  They definitely keep up in the ass-kickin' category.

Sarah Shook and the Disarmers...

Back to the Garage, I returned mainly for one of the festival's headliners, Sunflower Bean.  But I lucked out and caught the last couple from Spirit System.  Winston-Salem's answer to Peter Murphy, with a little Cocteau Twins thrown in.  I felt a little musical whiplash from Sarah Shook to this! (no pain, no gain)

Spirit System...

Sunflower Bean did not disappoint.  Live, they brought a much harder edge to the sometimes almost twee songs on their album Human Ceremony.  I loved it, as did the capacity crowd.  Bassists/singer Julia Cumming was fearsome, a monster onstage.  AND... their guitarist did not look nearly as much like Michael Cera in person as on the album cover! :)

Sunflower Bean...

One last stop, a few doors back down Trade Street at Single Brothers, to catch a little of Sumner James' (of Bombadil) set.  A mellow, electronic set accompanied by drums.  It was a good way to close to night one of an excellent festival.

Sumner James...

Up next, Night 2 (and some day party stuff):  Shirlette Ammons, Zack Mexico, Brett Harris, Body Games, Boulevards, etc. etc. etc.