Wrapping up Hopscotch 2016

I've already posted my photo sets on my Facebook page, but thought I'd post some of my favorites here. This year was by far my favorite for Hopscotch, both for day parties and official shows. Tribulation absolutely ruled the weekend for me, with Yob and Cobalt as close seconds.

Thursday: Primitive Ways Day Party at Hopscotch (Pour House)

Abacus

Savagist

Unmaker

Bedowyn

Thursday: Hopscotch 2016 Night One

The Hell No at Slim's

Mutoid Man at Lincoln Theatre

Vhol at Lincoln Theatre

Friday: Hopscotch Night Two

The Affectionates at Boxcar

MAKE at Pour House

Occultist at Pour House

Cobalt at Pour House

Saturday: Schoolkids Record Day Party

Horseskull

Gross Reality

Toke

Wailin Storms


Saturday: Hopscotch 2016 Night Three

Earthling

Tribulation

Tribulation

MAKE releases 3-song EP

I've spent the weekend listening to, and completely enjoying, MAKE's new mostly instrumental 3-song EP, "Axis." The first song, also called "Axis," sets the standard for the EP. At a whopping 17:01, the song builds slowly from a searing, electric drone, eventually forming a crushing, almost Eastern-sounding melody. The band runs through crushing, psychedelic sludge with the second song,  "Chimera," then winds down, ending with a quiet piano melody on "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters." MAKE's live show was one of my highlights for Hopscotch. I'm glad to see they lived up to their live show with this new EP. Buy it here.

Hopscotch recap!

Now that I've had a few days to reflect on 2012, I can truly say this was the best one yet. I wasn't sure I'd feel that way going into it. All the bands I really wanted to see (meaning the heavy bands) were stacked on Friday night. Baroness, who had to cancel all shows after their horrific bus crash in England, were my original go-to band on Thursday. With that cancellation, I assumed Thursday would be a wash. What that really meant was I was free to just wander around and observe. In the process I found my new favorite band, Hacienda, who were at Tir na Nog. I liked that band so much that I immediately downloaded their album, "Shakedown," as soon as I got home. Unfortunately for me, I found out way too late that the band was playing a day party the next day at Slim's. I managed to get there right as they were loading their equipment out. Also on Thursday I caught the always-entertaining fallen-preacher-man blues of J. Roddy Walston at Tir na Nog and GDFX's electronic trippiness at Kings. 

(Stella Lively at Sadlack's, Thursday)

Most of Thursday was spent at Sadlack's at the Guitartown party. If you remember, last year's Guitartown party was temporarily shut down mid-day for being too loud. This year organizers Jonathan Lee and Greg Rice got around the noise ordinance by having most of the afternoon bands at Sadlack's and Schoolkids. Standouts from that party were the Debonzo Brothers, who closed the party down, and  the dark, bluesy Stella Lively. As you can guess, by the time the party wound down, everyone was pretty well lubricated. 

(Lutie's spot, damnit! Thursday at Sadlack's)

 (Lollipops at CAM, Friday)

Friday I started off at the CAM party, where I nearly wilted from the heat. I ran up front to get a few photos of Lollipops, who were worth enduring the inferno, but afterward retreated -- along with half the people at the party -- over to the one thin strip of shade running along the building. I did get to try a baguette with chorizo and chimichuri sauce from Baguettaboutit, and it was awesome! But on the way to Neptunes for the Thrill Jockey party I truly thought I was going to pass out. 

(Guardian Alien at the Thrill Jockey Party at Neptunes, Friday)

I originally went to Neptunes to catch White Hills, who were playing as a duo, but I was blown away by Guardian Alien (which includes drummer Greg Fox, aka GDFX). Fox is the former drummer for Liturgy, and I've raved before about his insanely quick technique. Guardian Alien was jazzier, chaotic and otherworldly. Singer Alexandra Drewchin spent much of the time in the Neptunes DJ booth, intoning into a microphone. But when she suddenly lept out of the booth and did a crazy dance while chanting in time to Fox's rim shots, I thought I would jump out of my skin. The photo above was totally by accident, but I liked it. 

(MAKE, Friday at Kings)

My strategy for each night was to take a long nap after the day shows, so I basically missed Built to Spill. I started off at Kings, where Scott Endres from MAKE was playing with a possibly broken thumb. Maybe it was a good omen because the band sounded phenomenal. New Hampshire black metallers Vattnet Viskar were up next, and they sounded great from what I heard, but they really did suffer from having a slot that was right before when Pallbearer was scheduled to go on at Pour House. That meant that a bunch of folks cut out halfway through their set, and a bunch of other folks (yours truly included) spent the first half of the set nervously wondering whether or not we should go ahead and head to the Pour House. At least they fared better than Black Tusk, who went up directly against Pallbearer. I love Black Tusk, but there was no way I was missing Pallbearer. 

(Black Skies, Friday at the Pour House)

As it happened, there wasn't much to worry about. I got to the Pour House in plenty of time to get up front, catch the end of Black Skies (who sounded really tight despite the fact they hadn't played in six months) and stake my claim on a spot right in front of Pallbearer leader Brett Campbell. 

(Pallbearer, Friday at the Pour House)

Throughout this entire Hopscotch, as soon as I knew they were booked to play, I had been looking forward to Pallbearer. Their "Sorrow and Extinction" album had been my No. 1 album of the year (followed very closely by Dawnbringer's "Into the Lair of the Sun God"). I was honored to be able to write the description of the band for the Hopscotch website. And wouldn't you know it, they started off with my absolute favorite song from the album, "Devoid of Redemption." Somewhere there is an Instagram, taken during that song, of me holding a "Goblet of Rock," as one commenter put it. It was completely beyond an invisible orange. If I could have built a fire onstage and offered up a human sacrifice of thanks for that one song, I would have done so. 

After Pallbearer, I headed back to Kings for The Atlas Moth, a band I normally love. Their 2011 album "An Ache for the Distance" was my No. 3 album of the year (after Graveyard and Feist), and I was blown away by their show last year at Nighlight. But, man, I just couldn't hang after Pallbearer. I spent a good bit of the show sitting at the bar, thinking, "at some point I'm going to get with this." But I never did, so I went home before the end of the set, totally missing Altar of Plagues. 

(Salvacion, Saturday during the Mann's World party at Dive Bar)

Saturday's big event, as far as I was concerned, was my own Day Party at Dive Bar. This is the third year I've held a heavy music day party, and the second time I've done it at Dive Bar. And each year, when I wake up on Saturday, I think to myself, "why in the hell am I doing this?" I'm always terrified that no one will show up. And I'm always a bit disappointed that I can't walk around and catch the other day parties happening that day. And, like each year before, as soon as it's over, I think "that was awesome. I can't wait to do it again!" This year, with Salvacion, Earthling and Caltrop, was by far the best. The place was packed, the bands were on it (Earthling in particular had a phenomenal set) and everyone seemed happy. There's nothing like pumping your fist to some screaming metal in a dark bar with 70 other smelly metalheads, only to have someone open the door and have daylight flooding in on everyone. That truly made it 10 times better for me. This killer show was happening in the middle of the afternoon, and everyone was happy about it. 

I had no real plans for Saturday, but a good friend (who btw ended up skipping out on Hopscotch altogether) had convinced me that Berkeley was the place to be, particularly because of Charlotte's Young and In the Way). But I'll admit that Saturday's downpour, and the fact that I was pretty much exhausted from the previous two days, meant that by 7 p.m. on Saturday, I really just wanted to hang out at home with a glass of wine. Even with missing a ful day of official Hopscotch shows, I can say that this was the best festival so far. I really can't wait for next year! 

MAKE and Sinister Moustache at Dive Bar

Last night I ended my extended unintentional social life hiatus by checking out MAKE and Sinister Moustache at Dive Bar. It was also my first chance to record something with my new Flip Cam. Overall, the photo quality is about the same, and the sound quality is actually worse than recording with the G9. Plus, I swear I recorded the whole song. Not sure why I only got a couple of minutes on the cam. I imported the video through iMovie, rather than the clunky Flip Share software. I'm going to experiment with that and see if there's something I can do to improve the sound quality.

Anyway, last night was MAKE's last show with guitarist Daniel McDonald. Guitarist/singer Scott Endres told me that the band has decided to continue on as a trio, and they're getting ready to write all new songs. Last night they sounded fantastic, and they had a large appreciative crowd.

I'd also like to say that Dive Bar is quickly becoming my favorite place to see a band in Raleigh, because they are booking some interesting shows, the bands sound great, and the lighting is good enough for me to usually get some good photos. Plus, their shows are free AND if you park downtown you can take the R-Line to the club, which is a total plus because parking on Glenwood South really does suck.

Sinister Moustache from Savannah opened the show. I have to say I was on the fence about them. They were very proggy, and were very good at it. I heard a lot of King Crimson and a good bit of Pink Floyd in what they were doing. They were mostly instrumental, which was a shame because I thought the few vocals they had (especially the interplay when three of them were singing together) were the best things about their music. But evidently I was alone in my assessment because everyone else seemed to be completely into what they were doing.  See more photos from the show. 

After the show, I made it down to the Mecca for the first time since they've begun opening for drinks at night. It is absolutely my new favorite downtown hangout. It wasn't crowded at all, they were playing good music, and they serve late night food. As much as I love the Landmark, we all know that place turns into jackass city after 11 p.m. on the weekends. The Landmark's patio will still likely be my favorite warm weather Sunday afternoon spot, but for Thursday - Saturday late nights, I will probably spend my time at the Mecca. 

Weekend wrap-up: Bad videos from Ragnarock

I have to say, maintaining this blog, and taking photos at shows had made me appreciate light men (and women) everywhere. Seriously, there are a lot of clubs in this area that take great care with their sound (and some who don't) but few who bother to make sure the band looks good on stage. Now, by saying that, I don't mean to completely rip apart Reservoir, because they are hardly the only club in this area with bad lighting, but as you can see from these videos, their lighting is pretty godawful.

I caught much of the Saturday Ragnarok show at Reservoir, mainly so I could check out MAKE (above). As you may know, they're one of the band playing my day party during Hopscotch. And I had booked them simply on the strength of their recorded output. I am glad (and thankful!) to say that they rock just as hard live as they do on their recordings. Their show Saturday was amazing, and thanks to the fact that the lights were left all the way up during the show, it's the only video that even halfway decent. The others are almost pitch black and good for listening only.


MAKE from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Following MAKE were In the Year of the Pig, Systems and Ruscha. Ruscha didn't do it for me (though i'll give them another try), and Systems grew on me during the show. In the Year of the Pig was great, especially Dave Cantwell's super powerful drumming.


In the Year of the Pig from Mann's World on Vimeo.


Systems from Mann's World on Vimeo.


Ruscha from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Announcing: The Mann's World Hopscotch Day Party!

On Saturday, Sept. 11, yours truly will present a Hopscotch day party at Kings with four of my favorite heavy local bands! This is going to be a free show, and will take place during the afternoon (start time isn't set, but it will definitely be done by 5:30 p.m. so you can go catch Public Enemy and the Love Language).

I'm proud to announce that the line up will consist of two of my long-time favorites: Black Skies (above) and Caltrop;  plus two bands that have recently blown me away: MAKE and Hog. In fact I'm so impressed with MAKE that I put them on this bill without ever having seen them live. They're that good.

This is a FREE show, and will be a good appetizer for the amazing Hopscotch show to happen at the Berkeley (U.S. Christmas, Kylessa, Weedeater, In the Year of the Pig) and the Pour House (Dungen) that evening. I should also note that this is not an official Hopscotch event, but that Grayson and Greg have been very cool about helping those of us (including Trekky Records, Churchkey and 307 Knox) who are putting on day shows.

I am really excited about this show and hope you all can make it -- and since it's a free show, I hope you drink lots of beer and buy lots of merchandise to make it worthwhile for Kings and the bands.

See you there!