Hopscotch: Follow-Up

It's no surprise, this weekend was amazing. Actually, "amazing" doesn't even begin to describe this weekend. I am so glad I had the opportunity to help out by volunteering, as well as partake in the fabulousness that was Hopscotch. A buddy of mine counted up and said he saw 47 bands over the long weekend. That is just ridiculous. I wish I could report seeing that many; but with a 9-5 occupying my Thursday and Friday days, and with my volunteer schedule occupying my Friday and Saturday nights, my number seen is more like 18. So a quick rundown of my weekend:

Thursday: Since Thursday was the only night I was not signed-up to volunteer, I wanted to make the most of it. The first show was Charlotte rockers Black Congo NC. I almost skipped out on the show because we got there early and I felt like I was wasting my night by just sitting around. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because they were great. I'd definitely go (and even pay money!) to see them again. I left midway through their performance to catch Old Bricks, a local group from Raleigh/Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I enjoyed their set but it was really crowded in The Hive, so I'm looking forward to seeing them in a roomier venue at the end of the month. From there, I hopped over to the Lincoln to see Max Indian's "last ever" show. They are probably one of my favorite local bands and one of the first I saw after moving to Durham. Through them, I've been exposed to innumerable other local bands that instantly became favorites. So, of course, I loved every minute of every song from their set Thursday night. But I was a little bit disappointed: I was expecting some fantastic show, with the guys really going out with a bang; and rather it seemed like they were just going through the motions (ugh, it feels like blasphemy giving them a "bad" review). I hung around for a little of American Aquarium, another local fave, then headed over to Tir na nOg to catch Best Coast, who'd had some rave reviews. Unfortunately, after waiting in line at the door then wiggling through the huge crowd, I missed most of her set. The little bit I heard was great, and I'm really looking forward to exploring some of their albums and hopefully catching another show in the future. I stayed at the nOg for Collections of Colonies of Bees and was blown away. Check them out. Do it. Now. I ended the night with Akron/Family at the Pour House. The place was packed, and the energy of the band and the crowd instantly swept me up. It was a great way to end the night.

Friday: This thing called a "job" interfered with me seeing all the great day parties, so I didn't get to Raleigh until about 7. I had to check-in for my volunteer shift and when I was told I was assigned to work the doors at the hardcore show, I got a little nervous. Actually, I got a lotta nervous. Before walking over to the Berkeley, I saw Broken Social Scene at City Plaza. While watching, I wanted to literally kick myself for never listening to anything by them before. Add that to the long "to-buy" list I'm making since this weekend... My volunteer shift started at 8 so I checked in at the Berkeley and prepared for what I was sure would be the scariest night of my life. Surprisingly, everything went really smoothly. The fans were great, the bands were great, and it was a nice night. Because I was working outside, I missed most the bands. But, I was able to catch a little bit of the last band, F*cked Up. (Yes, ma and Pa, that is the name of the band, minus the asterisk, so you may be able to assume the type of music played). Though that's not really my scene, I actually kind of enjoyed their last few songs. And, of course, the people-watching was superb. After the show finished, a friend and I went to the "after-party" at an old warehouse where I expected a homeless man to jump out of one of the dark rooms. It was kind of a weird scene--there were bands playing, but I couldn't tell you who they were (some experimental music, from Brooklyn or something? that says it all...) so we didn't stay for too long. But I ended up in bed at 5am. I'm a party animal.

Saturday: I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 11am and hit the road back to Raleigh. I started my series of day-parties at Tir na nOg for Churchkey records' birthday celebration and brunch. The first band up was Lurch, who made their debut that day. Oh. My. God. They "killed it". Everyone in the bar was talking about them after their set. I'm going to vote that as one of the top 3 shows of the weekend for me. From the nOg, I went over to Slim's to catch the Drughorse show. First up: Jeff Crawford and Nick Jaeger, two of my favorite local musicians who play in a number of my favorite local bands. Jeff crooned a cover "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" and I couldn't help but laugh. Next was a new Drughorse debut, NUDEHUES, with members previously of Max Indian. Honestly, I wasn't impressed. It was not what I was expecting at all. One blogger described the sound as "new-wave, Pink Floyd-era jam"...not my style, so I rolled out to catch Sharon van Etten who it seems everyone was buzzing about. And rightfully so. I'm not so great with the prose, so I'm not going to even try and describe her. I'll just say that her set made me want to laugh, cry, dance, and lay in a grassy field, all at the same time. She gets, hands down, the #1 performer award for the weekend. And I think there are a lot of other folks that would agree (also, she's super nice; I saw her later in the night and told her how much I'd enjoyed her set and she gave me a hug and told me she loved NC...). She's playing 3 shows here in Durham this weekend. Do anything you can to be there. Next, I went back to Tir na nOg to catch Hammer No More the Fingers, another local great, before having to check in for my volunteer shift. I hung around City Plaza to see The Love Language, a local group from Raleigh, which will be the third in my top 3 shows of the weekend. Go buy their album Libraries that came out earlier this summer. And thank me later.

Sunday: Oh, you thought Hopscotch was only Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? Well, technically, it was. But the festivities continued with a "Hopscotch Hangover" party at Slim's. The start-time was slated for noon, but because the barstaff and everyone else in Raleigh was still dragging, the first band went on closer to 2pm. First up, Shithorse (this was the weekend of ridiculous band-names), who I cannot even begin to describe. They sell homemade t-shirts constructed with Sharpies, and their album is only available on cassette tape. I'm going to leave it at that. It was too early in the day for their rock/funk, so I enjoyed their sound from a table outside on the sidewalk. Following that hotmess was Brett Harris, who's album "Man of Few Words" was my soundtrack of the summer (and will probably be my fall, winter, spring, and next summer soundtrack as well). Brett and the band ended on a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan" which I loved. Following Brett was The Spring Collection and Gray Young, two local groups that have been on my "to see" list. Their sets were great and I think I'll move them over to my "to see again" list.

So, I survived; Raleigh survived; and now the countdown begins for Hopscotch, Dos. This year was an epic success and I'm excited to see what Hopsctoch curator and director, Grayson and Greg, and the rest of the Indy folks have in store for next year. (Check out photos of Hopscotch from Indy photogs here)