Hopscotch Night 3: ‘As Perfect As It Could Be’

Words by Adam Kincaid, WKNC
Photos by Jake Seaton, NBC-17

Some of us have had one of those life-altering experiences; some of us are still waiting for it.

They’re those moments during which time stands still as your concerns float away on a soft and silent breeze, and your mind transcends the physical limitations of your body.

Each and every person is different in how they reach this stage. Some get their kicks from religion, some from nature, others from literature and arts.

I get mine from music.

For me, this past weekend at Hopscotch was filled with those moments. Perhaps it was the amazing crowds at every show, or possibly it was the fact that each and every band was feeding off of each others energy and presence all weekend. Maybe we can attribute it to organizers and volunteers of the event who could not have done their jobs better. It might have just been the beer.

More than likely it was a combination of these things.

I go to live music shows often, usually several a week. I have seen hundreds of concerts of every genre, and I have seen my fair share of incredible bands whose performances and music have made a lasting impact on me. But never before have I seen and heard so many amazing shows crammed into such a short period of time and space.

Groups of different levels of prominence and notoriety sharing space and time, sweat and blood. People from all demographics and social standings standing side by side at every show, cheering on bands they know and also bands they may have never heard of before that night.

Hopscotch was about as perfect as it could be.

In all respects Hopscotch had every reason to fail. It had every right in the world to fall flat on its face. Hyped up for months on every blog and newspaper in the area as well as on local radio stations and by local bands. Many people may have been hesitant to get too amped for a festival that had never been put on before.

Ten dozen things could have gone wrong. But they didn’t.

I think we can attribute a large amount of the success to the huge number of local performers who were mostly playing no further than 40 miles from their own homes.

Bands like The Love Language and The Rosebuds were of course main attractions, but lesser known acts to the an audience outside the state like Max Indian, The Light Pines, Megafaun, Small Ponds — dear God, I could go on and on — were truly highlights for everyone. The music scene here is so rich and diverse and full of exceptional talent that few regions in the nation can even come close to comparing themselves to it. I would guess 40 percent of the bands at Hopscotch this past weekend were North Carolina bands, and each and every one was on the same level as, if not better than the national bands that came into town.

Because of this, I spent the last evening of the festival going to as many local acts as I could.

Day parties were the highlight for many, particularly those who could not afford weekend passes, and Saturday there was almost too many to choose from. It was my goal to hit as many as I could, which was easy enough to achieve although I missed some seriously awesome acts.

Raleigh Times had an all day/night show outside of the restaurant starting at 11 a.m. with Flute Flies.

Unfortunately I missed the Flute Flies, but I made it just as NAPS, was hitting the stage and was excited to see the band for the first time. I was able to sit down with my friends and grab some lunch as the group finished its set to a crowd of playing children and hula hoopers who had taken over the middle of the street. It certainly set the mood right.

The Loners came on next for what turned out to be one of my top performances of the weekend. Eddie Taylor and Chis Jones prove themselves time and time again as the most kick ass rockers in the Triangle as they dived into a lengthy high-energy set of melting guitar riffs and screaming vocals backed by Jones’ smashing drums.

If I had not been eating, I would have certainly been dancing my butt off like a fool.

After that, I headed over to Karen Mann’s “Mann’s World” day party at Kings Barcade, which was decidedly the heaviest of all the shows I saw this weekend.

Make was just starting when I arrived and was another group I had never seen. Heavy metal is a genre I don’t see often live, but when I have come across a good group of the genre, the raw energy and power of the music truly does come through. In a word, Make was incredible. Its bombastic playing style coupled with a spirited stage presence made the show super intense and highly entertaining.

Next I dropped by for the last half of the Embarrassing Fruits set at the Trekky Records Day Party. The Pour House was positively packed wall-to-wall and I was only able to squeeze onto the side of the stage as the trio rocked the crowd through a list of some of its older hits and new tunes.

Sharon Van Etten was up next and it was my first time seeing her perform. Soft and polite, she was wonderful to listen to after a day full of rock ‘n’ roll and was a nice break from what I had been listening to all weekend.

The Pour House was so packed at the end of Van Etten that it literally took me five minutes to squeeze my way out in time to head over and catch The Dry Heathens’ last four songs at Tir Na Nog. What I found was the best crowd of the weekend at the Churchkey Records Birthday/Hopscotch Day Party as The Dry Heathens put the audience into such a frenzy of chanting lyrics and banging heads that I thought everyone inside had lost control of themselves. Compared to the quiet and demure crowd from the Pour House, I was taken aback by the sheer intensity of this new show I had wandered into. I wish I had come in sooner!

Hammer No More The Fingers went on next to a huge crowd that flowed in rather quickly. The band hit it off immediately with Joe Hall’s shredding guitar work and its unquestionable on-stage chemistry. HNMTF is certainly the tightest band in the area and only gets better with each and every show the band plays. I left after five songs, but the group was impressive as always.

The Old Ceremony was just warming up as I rolled up to Raleigh Times and the band entranced the crowd with several new songs from the up-coming album and of course the older fan favorites. The crowd was certainly into the show as I counted at least eight photographers up front taking pictures and nearly everyone on the block either singing along or dancing to the songs.

I missed Kid Future to see Public Enemy and happened to get a high five from non other than Flava Flav himself (along with his personal body guard), but I walked the three blocks back to Raleigh Times to check out another local favorite group of mine, the Tomahawks.

The Bright Young Things was well into its set at Slim’s when I got there, and the only standing room was right behind the band next to the ladies restroom. Besides the fact I had to move every three seconds to allow someone to get by (it isn’t called “Slim’s” for no reason), the group completely rocked and the show-goers went wild at the end of the set.

I left Slim’s immediately to hit up the Pour House where I found The Dynamite Brothers. I had never given the group much of a chance before, but I am certainly going to have to reevaluate that and give their last album a re-listen after the band completely blew me away with some serious high-energy blues rock that left everyone on the floor in awe. Check this band out as soon as you can.

Everyone had high hopes for The Light Pines who were certainly not a let down and never have been. Already a mini-super group of sorts from the Drughorse Collective, these guys are well on their way to the top of our music scene.

Megafaun deserves a huge writeup to fully capture their show, which was by far the best of the day and I know I won’t do it any justice.

There is no other band quite like this trio in terms of ingenuity and sincerity. Each performance is unique. Every comment in the audience gets a response. Every song is different. It never gets old.

Megafaun usually wanders sonically with the band’s acoustic instruments throughout songs, but last night was different. Brad and Phil Cook, and Joe Westerlund were more straightforward in their playing and hit many different songs including a fantastic DB’s cover and an incredible electric rendition of “Lazy Suicide” with HNMTF’s Joe Hall and The Old Ceremony’s Django Haskins. Finally, to cap the night and weekend, the crowd forced the band back out for an encore and Megafaun obliged with an unamplified traditional cover in the middle of the crowd.

Again, perfect.

In the end, Hopscotch could not have ended any better. The entire weekend was a huge success to the festival goers and every single band was terrific. Sign me up for next year already!

Similar Posts:

• Hopscotch Night 2: Broken Social Scene Wins The Night
• Oh Snap: Weekend, Cold Cave close out Hopscotch Night 1 at Pour House
• Hopscotch Night 1: The Wait Is Over, And It’s Good!
• Oh Snap: Dinosaur Feathers, Lower Dens get Hopscotch rolling at Kings
• Oh Snap: Scenes from Night 2 of Hopscotch 2011

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