Marie Antoinette once said “I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all.” I’m pretty sure she said that after attending Raleigh’s Hopscotch Festival. I feel like I saw so much and did so much that I can’t remember any of it, does that make sense? I decided to try to remember everything by compiling a list of my personal favourite things about this year’s festival, not just including the bands. Let’s begin:
1) The Atmosphere
This year at Bonnaroo, everyone was SO excited to be there. At Lollapalooza, no one seemed excited at all. I thought this was because no one was camping so it felt like there wasn’t the same sense of community as there was at Bonnaroo. BUT Hopscotch proved that you can have the same sense of excitement and community with a lack of camping. I found that most amazing about this festival because I am not the hugest fan of camping. The excitement and buzz throughout the whole festival was fantastic. Everyone was just so happy to be there.
 2) The Venues
My goodness Raleigh, you don’t know how jealous I am of you and your amount of amazing venues. If Columbia had the amount and quality of venues that you did, my life would immediately be 350 times better. From the big Lincoln Theatre to the tiny Tir Na Nog, everything was just completely fantastic. I never experienced a problem with sound, I could hear all the bands just fine, and there was always a place to stand without something obstructing my view. I never had to lineup for that long to see any bands and it was just an absolutely pleasant experience. OH, and the City Plaza (where Flaming Lips, Superchunk, etc played) was the most fantastic place to have a show. The lights from the buildings all around and the cleanliness and the great stage setup just blew my mind. Once again, so impressed.
3) The Bands
Oh the bands. I could write articles and articles about the amazing shows that I saw but I’ll stick to the best shows. Local band Twelve Thousand Armies were the first band I saw in Tir Na Nog and they were just splendid. The lead singer had a great personality and a brilliant stage presence (you can dl their new album for free HEREÂ and I would if I were you). Thursday night I also saw Cheyenne Marie Mize and that was the absolute best music I heard all weekend. She played guitar, piano, and violin and had a bassist and a drummer to help her out. During one song, all three band members were playing drums and that was one of the best things I’ve ever seen performed on a stage in my life. Black Lips also played that night and they brought insane energy and easily won over the crowd.
The next day I saw a brilliant band called TOW3RS play at a day party in The Hive (where I also got a free freaker). The band is fronted by Derek Torres who plays in a large number of Raleigh bands and includes many talented musicians from the city. I also saw Twin Shadow that same night who were just absolutely brilliant. George Lewis Jr.’s voice is too good, and he managed to pump up the huge crowd during the whole show. Another band who were extremely impressive were Youth Lagoon who, despite the heat, managed to get people to brave the sun and watch their stunning set.
4) The Artists
By this, I mean the artists themselves. As in, I ran into so many bands on the street or in the hotel and everyone was ridiculously friendly and never seemed like they were too busy to chat or anything. I ran into the singer of Black Lips on the street and we ended up interviewing him later that day, even though we were told that the band were not doing any press at the time. Pepper Rabbit were another band that we interviewed and they were literally the sweetest guys. No one acted pretentious or rockstar-ish, everyone was just on the same level at this festival. I feel like the only difference between the fans and the bands at Hopscotch were the colour of their wristbands.
5) The Flaming Lips
Yeah, they deserve their own section. I have literally never been as happy as I was during their set. I was constantly smiling from the beginning to the end. SO MUCH HAPPENED DURING THEIR SHOW. If Wayne Coyne crawling over top of me in a giant bubble was the only crazy thing that happened during their show, I would be content. BUT NO. They had giant balloons all over the place, insane spacey visuals, beautiful girls dancing on the stage, speeches about the moon, and most important of all, amazing music. Every song was better than the other with the crowd participating in every song that they did. I was never bored, I was never uncomfortable, there was always something to watch. It was literally the best headliner that Hopscotch could have picked and I don’t know how they are going to top it next year, but I’m pretty sure that they will.
Everything about Hopscotch Festival was absolutely impressive. I am so excited to go again next year and it’s something I will be talking about for quite a while.
