Hopscotch Music Fest

I was literally complaining about the venue itself but looking back, I can't imagine seeing them anywhere else.

The floor was all wobbly and people started dancing and jumping and I was at first all concerned and by the end of the third song I stopped caring. It was noise. It was punk. It was art, simply put.

Easily the best thing I've seen this weekend and possibly the best all year.

excited for every single one of you to see my sweet sloppy boys tonight and report back to me, thank you.

sorry, but my demands stand, rain or shine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Depends on levels of intoxication.

Glad to hear everybody’s having a blast

Florry and Chelsea Rich moved to Neptunes late. I just saw Florry there yesterday and probably gonna skip for Setting.

is that Joe-bengals or hoe-bon-glaze?

I saw a few good sets, mostly Thursday, but that was one of the most frustrating and disappointing festival experiences I’ve ever had. Almost everything was either late beyond published delays, inaccessible due to capacity, or a straight no-show (looking at you Kool Keith). I spent more time last night waiting in line or waiting for a show to start than I did watching music.

That sucks about Kool Keith. He's done a few No Shows when I was supposed to see him and then the Ultramagnetic MC's fiasco at ATP a few years back where it only ended up being him playing UMC songs.

Agreed on capacity issues with the venues. They either need to add more venues or do a reservation system so know if you'll get in or not without loosing half the night trying to find a show you can get in.

aight now that i have decompressed for a day i can do my First Timer write up.

the good:
- wide range of genres and acts. imo this lineup is the best one they’ve had in years.
- venues are all walking distance, and i never felt unsafe walking alone at night.
- the food and drinks were reasonably priced for a fest.
- in general the attendee demographic was older, and this made the crowds more enjoyable to be a part of.
- getting local vendors in at moore was a good move.
- ACTUAL sinks at the portapotties!!! and still had toilet paper the last day!
- being able to come and go throughout the day. i did many trips to my car to drop off merch, change shoes, or to just sit and take a break. also checked out some shops while i had time to kill. next year i may keep a cooler with some snacks in my car just so i am not beholden to the food vendors or restaurants all day.
- as far as the outdoor stages, i never felt super cramped in the crowd (except for Jbrekkie) and had space to move around.
- for the most part, things stayed on schedule. the rain saturday caused some delays and reshuffling but it worked out in my favor.

the not so good:
- i knew coming in that the late night shows can reach capacity and sometimes you gotta wait in line to get into one, and even then there’s still no guarantee you’ll get in. still sucks though. i had to adjust my expectations for the weekend and allow more buffer time just so i could see my most anticipated sets, in addition to accepting that i would be missing other shows because of that. i’m not sure what a solution could be, if any, other than selling fewer tickets or opening more venues to spread people out.
- they needed food vendors at city plaza. it wasn’t convenient to walk to moore just to get food.
- had to plan my meals because once i left for the late night venues i knew i wouldn’t be eating again. this wasn’t super annoying, but i didn’t wanna be SOL at midnight and have to leave because i got hungry (and then go where for food? there’s nothing open at midnight in downtown raleigh)
- had an issue saturday due to the storms and the wifi for the vendors went out. and because it’s a cashless festival, they couldn’t take payments because they couldn’t connect their POS so i had to wait to pay for water. there needs to be a contingency plan for this. maybe, crazy idea, allowing cash?

other thoughts:
- my bag didn’t get checked once. i could have easily brought a reusable water bottle— i didn’t only because i assumed the late night venues wouldn’t allow it.
- why tf aren’t they using red hat as a venue? it’s right there!
- they were prompt on updating their IG and the app for the rain delays and rescheduling, but not everyone was checking their phone. they should put the announcements on the big screen.

top sets:
1. model/actriz: for real thought the floor would cave in. crowd was insane. so slutty, so hot. so glad i got to see them after being a fan since the pandie.
2. florry: originally they were gonna be a 3 pm outdoor set, the rain meant they got rescheduled to 1 am at a teeny bar. they didn’t go on until 1:30 but they put their whole florrussies into that set. the backup singer/guitarist would go out into the crowd with her mic and jump around with the crowd and that hyped us all up. the sloppy boys, who went on before them, came out and watched their set from the middle of the pit. ended their set with a cover of “lay lady lay”.
3. jbrekkie: michelle my beloved. how magical. her set made me the most at peace, when i really started thinking “this is the most content i’ve felt in weeks”. i think if i had consumed a few more drinks i would have started crying. but almost did start to cry bc there was a montage of photos of michelle’s mom.
4. pavement: stephen malkmus in the flesh!!!!! they did a full hour and forty minute set, longest of the weekend. it made this 90s kid v happy.
5. cable ties: i sacrificed seeing sarah sherman to see them because i (rightly) assumed it would be a shitshow to get in to sarah’s show. no regrets, they killed it. i think out of all the undercard acts, they’re the one i’d recommend everyone checking out.

honorable mentions:
- the wicked witch, the venue i saw M/A and CT at. goth-y queer-friendly bar that i will absolutely be going back to.
- sittin on the lawn watching american football was a vibe. that’s fall time music babey!
- all the people that struck up conversations with me based on my shirts. talked at length with one girl who complimented my laura jane grace shirt about all things AM!
- the couple who started talking to me before jbrekkie and found out they’re local and we attended the same front bottoms show back in december. hoping i run into them at the front bottoms show in two months because they were cool.
- getting to meet rummy and garageland and xfinity and not making me feel awkward for being the new kid!! y’all are legends and thanks for hanging with me!

anyway this fest was 100% worth the $150 i paid for it, if they have another lineup like this next year then i will def be back.

LEE DANGER