Troika's final bow

Melissa Thomas has been busy. Her day job as a software developer has her commuting to Austin, TX, on Sundays and flying back home to check on her Durham-based record label, 307 Knox, on Thursdays. When the weekend comes, she’s been picking up tour dates with her punk outfit, 8 Inch Betsy. Its last gig was in Chicago. Up next? Indiana.

In June, Thomas announced something that really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to the Triangle’s music community: her ten-year running brainchild, Troika Music Festival, would not see eleven, and was cancelled forever.

But there was plenty of room for speculation. Last year, eight weeks before Thomas’ three-day, local bands-only festival, Independent Weekly launched its own Hopscotch Music Festival in downtown Raleigh, but with national bands headlining alongside local acts. So Hopscotch took Thomas’ model, added more popular bands and bankrolled it, killing Troika and other, smaller festivals in its wake, right?

Grayson Currin, music editor at the Independent and Hopscotch curator, argues that if they were to ever become the ‘Wal-Mart’ of festivals, it would be the weirdest one ever. From the beginning, Currin and codirector Greg Lowenhagen set out to minimize the impact of their proposed festival, saying to other local establishments, “we’re going to do this — how can we do it so it doesn’t ruin what you already do?”

“When I reached out to (Thomas) in November, she was one of the first people outside of the inner circle of the Indy, besides the city planning people that we needed to talk to, that was aware that the Independent was going to do something,” Lowenhagen said.

“We had a really positive conversation about here’s what we think we’re going to be planning or how it’s going to be done, here’s how we can hopefully work together and play off each other and support one another. She was really helpful, both in terms of what I could expect and if she could offer any help.”

In the festival’s first year, Currin and Lowenhagen proved it could not only coexist alongside Troika, but collaborate as its neighbor. When Troika hosted and curated a free day party at Kings Barcade during Hopscotch, the festival’s banner hung proudly in the venue while bands like Atlas Sound and Megafaun headlined the last two nights. Thomas returned the favor when Troika 2010 came around, and Currin and Lowenhagen curated one night at its biggest venue.

Hopscotch I was successful enough to warrant Hopscotch II and hopes from the Independent’s president for “Hopscotch XX,” and Troika 2010 was in the black.

Given their mutual success, when Thomas posted a letter on the festival’s website announcing its closure, people started pointing fingers.

“It’s the first backlash that probably gave me pause in terms of, ‘Hmm. Is this right?’” Currin said. “Because when people complain about their favorite band not playing, we’re just kind of like, ‘well, you know, it’s one festival.’ It’s Greg and I beating each other’s heads against a wall for months, figuring out the 150 bands we want to play.

“The Troika thing definitely gave me pause. Just thinking about the conversations we had with Melissa and thinking about the way we approached that and thinking about how adamant we were about partnering together.”

For Thomas, the decision to end Troika ultimately stemmed from a feeling that the festival had peaked, that 2010’s Troika Music Festival was the best that the festival would ever be. And when you hit the top, Thomas says you have to ask yourself: are you going to go over that cliff or end on a high note?

If people are bummed, Thomas thinks that means the festival did something right. And with her trust in the Independent, the spirit of Troika continues.

“I feel like part of what Troika did was to help Greg and Grayson and the Indy have a vision, curate it and have the audience that they needed. We’re just a part of, now, history.”

Contact Dive at diversions@dailytarheel.com.