We’re sad to say that Hopscotch has wound its way to a close, and man, are we worn out. All indicators point to a hugely successful event — great sales, plenty of crowds and most importantly, an awesome roster. Check out the hefty slideshow, with photos of Dive’s entire Saturday itinerary.
After Dive’s trip to the Drughorse day party at Slim’s yesterday, we grabbed a spot in the crowd to catch The Love Language, No Age and Public Enemy. As the most advertised, largest set in the entire festival, it lived up to its masthead role — fans continued to trickle in during the beginning of The Love Language’s set, but by the time No Age took the stage, City Plaza was packed with a diverse group of fans.
No Age encountered some sound issues that detracted from its lo-fi noise pop during a few songs, but managed to remain high-energy and fast-paced despite the interruptions.
The time that elapsed between No Age and Public Enemy heightened the crowd’s noise and intensity. Crew Grrl Order, a three-woman rap group, took the stage first. The woman had a definite sense of stage presence, but musically, the songs fell flat in comparison to the surrounding acts.
Public Enemy’s first song had fans shouting, dancing and swaying along. The two “soldiers” standing sentinel onstage gave the performance a sense of theatricality, and Flavor Flav and Chuck D’s occasional shout-outs and monologues balanced well with the music.
Before the end of the set, we headed down to the Berkeley Cafe to see In the Year of the Pig. Unsurprisingly, it warranted some ear plugs, but even pulsing speakers can’t compete with the shredding and intensity ITYOTP’s members elicited. It was the kind of gig that busted more than a few ear drums and drum sticks, and the Chapel Hill band proved that it can hold its own amidst a plethora of out-of-towners.
Next we jumped over to King’s for a little bit of Megafaun’s free-form set. Marissa Nadler played a few solo tunes on guitar. It made for an interesting visual — a tall chanteuse in silver high heels playing a show with bearded, folky rockers — but Nadler retained her audience’s interest.
After King’s, Dive caught Juan Huevos at The Hive at Busy Bee. It was everything we expected — insane video projections of Huevos and friends dancing in strange, green-screen provided locations, raunchy lyrics and general debauchery. Needless to say, the set was one of the more vibrant and active ones we saw throughout the festival (Future Islands excepted).
By the end of Juan Huevos’s set, The Hive was getting crowded in preparation for Yip Yip, so we dashed back down the street to Megafaun. This time, the band stuck to a more traditional format, playing its recorded material. There are few bands that translate from record to stage as well as Megafaun, and this set was particularly exceptional. Brad and Phil Cook’s uncanny ability to improvise and jam was in fine form, and songs like “The Process” got the audience moving.
The highlight of the night was at the end of the show, when the trio descended from the stage and played acoustically in the center of the audience. Fans packed in close for a phenomenal sing-along. The three musicians led an eerie, beautiful multiple-part sing-a-long of an old folk song.
It was a fitting symbol of Hopscotch itself — musicians of both local and national reknown, surrounded by the adoring fans that are always down for a hometown jam.
Photos by Joseph Chapman, text by Linnie Greene.
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