Hopscotch Review

Today's guest blogger is Radio 96.1 Web maven Sidney Little.

The Independent’s Hopscotch Music Festival took over Downtown Raleigh this weekend. So naturally, I could not resist attending. I have been sitting here this morning in a daze, trying my best to recall all of the bands, beer, and venues that made up my Hopscotch. The festival was made up of 175 bands and 15 venues scattered throughout the downtown area making schedule conflicts the biggest and only issue of the weekend. Picking and choosing bands was made a little easier with the epic line up of day parties which were sponsored by everyone from Ashley Christensen Restaurants to School Kids Records.

Thursday night, my Hopscotch opened with the wonderfully eccentric banjo, singer/songwriter Curtis Eller.  

Not only is his music amazing, but seeing him run around Five Star makes attending hard to resist . The festival continued on Friday; me being stuck at work, while the day parties raged. But the night made up for everything I missed with Built to spill at City Plaza, Hiss Golden Messenger performing at Fletcher Opera Hall and ending with the mind blowing audience participation of Dan Deacon.

Deacon, a composer and electronic musician, packed out the Pour House. His live shows are known for the combination of electronic build ups and participation.  His mobile app syncs the audience’s phones to the music which creates an insane light show. The energy in the pour house was so over the top that I probably could have stopped Hopscotching right then and been satisfied.

Luckily I still had one more day, which started off the right way with a Bloody Mary in hand, and Megafuan and Friends out on the street in front of Mecca.  

The night shows were delayed with rain, but with the Roots playing after a rain delay at City Plaza, it put the mood of Hopscotch right back to the perfect place .A Hopscotch set and  5 blocks later we were jumping around to the insanely loud NoBunny (who wears a bunny mask and not much else…) show at the Contemporary Art Museum. This without a doubt is the greatest venue offered at Hopscotch; the art, open feel, and tons of room to dance really is incomparable.

Finally we ended Hopscotch the best way I could imagine, at Deep South the Bar with Starlings, TN and Shovels and Rope. Starlings, TN really warmed the crowd up to get down with some traditional bluegrass. And finally, Shovels and Rope closed out my weekend. This husband and wife duo was, to say the least, my favorite show of the festival. With their chemistry, lyrics, and overall performance, it was hard to keep my excitement in check. To say I would recommend them to everyone I ever meet is an understatement.

Overall this Hopscotch provided some of the most unique, exciting, and powerful shows I have ever seen.

3 days

20 bands seen

16 hours of sleep

More PBR than one person should ever consume

1 Shovels and Rope shirt

1 line waited in (Dan Deacon!!)

Endless mustaches and beards

5 jogs in the rain

200 pictures

and countless memories make my current Hopscotch hangover more than worth it.