…and we’re baaaaaack!

After a hiatus from Children, Covid, Children, and more Covid, RDUmusic is ready to get back to doing what we do best - Covering live shows with just the right amount of snark.

So pardon our dust as we get back up and running ( Someone may have let the site lapse…ahem *cough *cough Lan). We’ll be digging through the archives getting the content you know and love back in it’s best form while we prepare for an onslaught of new shows and content this summer!

See you in the pit, or in the back with the other old people!

-Much Love the RDU Staff

Hopscotch 2018

Day 1

by negadave | Sep 27, 2018

Downtown Raleigh

Nothing denotes the end of summer better than Raleigh’s annual Hopscotch Music Festival. Your intrepid reporters were on hand once again to bring you our own editorial slant on the festivities.

H.C. McEntire | Real Estate

We kicked things off over at City Plaza with opener HC McEntire of Mount Mariah fame. She brought her brand of jangly electric country, replete with pedal steel. [Love me some pedal steel. -Ed.]

Next up was Real Estate, who showed me that dressing like characters in Napoleon Dynamite is apparently still “in.” It was a very gentle start to a City Plaza show but that is the modus operandi of Jersey’s favorite indie sons. Personally, I’ve already heard the Shins but more power to you, Real Estate. Here’s what our very own Yang had to say about it.

Real Estate had their fair share of fans in the crowd when they took the stage. While I’m a big fan, having seen them twice previously, I couldn’t help but feel as though they’re music would’ve been better suited for one of the larger-sized indoor venues at a later point in the evening. City Plaza, while hosting most of Hopscotch’s marquee acts, often tends to lack energy since it starts that day’s festivities off. That being said, Real Estate’s set was as clean and smooth as their studio work; meshing dreamy, surfy guitar harmonies that pair perfectly with Martin Courtney’s “Ben Gibbard-esque” vocals. They also rebounded quite nicely after dealing with some technical difficulties earlier in the set. The ousting of guitarist, Matt Mondanile, was a tad bit noticeable when it came to the natural flow of the guitars, but was hardly an issue.

Your humble narrator did not stick around City Plaza for the Flaming Lips, though everyone said they were great. I have seen them at City Plaza in the past so I thought I’d leave that to Yang while I slipped away to the Basement (read: a concrete airplane hangar underneath the Raleigh Convention Center) where things were about to get loud.


Flaming Lips

Even if you’re not the biggest fan, you can’t say a bad thing about their live performances.  However, that’s about it when comes to The Flaming Lips. I recall mentioning to fellow RDU Music writer, Negadave, that my fandom for Flaming Lips had been waning for the past several years, as I was not a fan of their more artsier and experimental servings, including a horrendous collaboration with Miley Cyrus. Of course, once they took the stage, I was reminded of the pageantry and theatricality of their live show. Confetti cannons, lasers, inflatable pink robots, giant hamster balls, and balloons which equal out to jingling a set of keys in front of a baby. The majority of the audience was so enamored with trying to bat balloons into the air that they forgot that people were standing around them.  As I watching from the back, I saw multiple women bump into other spectators, and continue to do so in hopes they could hit a balloon back into the air. I also had the luxury of being forearmed in the face by a person next to me trying to do the same. As the show progressed, I began to recall their previous headlining performance back in 2011 and basically realized this was a beat-for-beat repeat with the same props and songs. There was nothing wrong with their performance as it served its purpose to set the tone for the rest of the festival, however, I’ve seen it before. (Props to the cleanup crew who had to sweep up all the debris left over from the show. I could feel their collective misery as I walked through city plaza on the way to another show.)

Bedowyn | Grohg

First up was one of Raleigh’s best-kept secrets, Bedowyn, who played to about 50 people in the largest Hopscotch space this side of Red Hat and City Plaza. If you didn’t catch their set, you missed out on one of Raleigh’s finest.

The Basement is simply too big of a venue for just about every act on any night of the bill. So what “should” have been booked there on night one? Metal night? Probably not but it was still a great show, no matter how you sliced it. Bedowyn’s set seemed to be a bit abbreviated while the showrunners waited in vain for the venue to fill up. Good luck. Beyonce would have had a hard time filling that shit.

I still assert that Bedowyn’s Marc is the hardest working drummer in Raleigh this side of Boulevards’s Nicky Bags. Rounding out the Bedowyn rhythm section was new bassist Channing, who looked like he was enjoying every second of his new gig. Both Mark and Alex on guitar were trading off some serious riffage.

Next up was another hidden treasure of Raleigh’s metal scene, blackened metallers, Grohg. Frontman Will’s black corpse paint was dripping in the Southern heat, despite the jacked-up AC in the Basement. It didn’t slow down Grohg’s massively heavy set. Props for the Considered Dead-era Gorguts shirt on bassist Mark.

Sleep

I can see why the Sleep “comeback” show drew top billing as fans of the seminal stoner-rock band entered in droves. I got hemmed in at the first row real quick and had a hard time getting out despite not wanting to leave to cover other bands. Where else would I rather be than seeing the godfathers themselves?

Guitarist Matt Pike gave Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis a run for his money with the obscene amount of Orange cabs on stage. In other news, Matt Pike still not wearing a shirt. It was weird to see him without a mic as I had grown accustomed to seeing him front High on Fire but Al Cisneros was like hearing an old friend. The whole crowd joined in for some slow headbanging [Like there is any other way to headbang to such dank stoner riffs. -Ed.] as we were all feeling it for the first time in many years. Go check out this year’s follow-up to 2003’s Dopesmoker, the brilliant The Sciences. Thank me later.

Lee Ranaldo

In what would be one of our worst coverage choices of the fest, we left Sleep early to hoof it over to Kings, hoping to catch Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth fame. While old enough to be most of our dads, Lee was still looking sharp in black jeans, boots, and a hip flannel. He opened the set with 10 minutes of jingle bells and slapping the back of his guitar. The look on Yang’s face was priceless. I was waiting for some actual music and was starting to think I came to the wrong neighborhood but eventually, we did hear some trademarked jangly guitars and some pseudo-spoken-word vocals. If it weren’t past midnight and I wasn’t pushing 40, I’d have been into this latter portion of the set something fierce, but alas, we had to call it a night.

Skeletonwitch

My most anticipated set of Hopscotch went to Ohio’s Skeletonwitch, gearing up to support this year’s excellent Devouring Radiant Light, opening for System of a Down and At the Drive In this October. To what was arguably less than 100 people, Skeletonwitch kicked the fucking door in and drew another two hundred or so metal fans as they began to shred. They didn’t care if it was 200 or 2000 people they were playing for. They melted faces all the same. Frontman Adam maintained an aggressive amount of eye contact with the crowd, amping up the intensity of their blistering live set.

Hopscotch 2018 Day 1 winner:

Skeletonwitch

Hopscotch 2018

Day 2

by negadave | Sep 27, 2018

Downtown Raleigh

It Looks Sad.

RDU Music didn’t do as much club hopping this year at Hopscotch, choosing to focus more on the big venues but we did manage to catch a hidden gem in Charlotte’s It Looks Sad. over at the Pour House. They brought some jangly Midwestern emo with a little neo-shoegaze tinge that was expertly executed. There’s just something about an earnest, yet not classically “good” singer that tickles my fancy. Hopscotch has a whole other side of the festival that this band encapsulates. Earnest indie kids pouring out their hearts, which is not to be confused with scene kids phoning it in. A big difference exists there, one that It Looks Sad. has a firm grasp upon. I can’t wait to hear their upcoming full-length, Sky Lake, due out in November on Tiny Engines.


The Revolution

I never thought I would get the chance to see rock legends, The Revolution, live in concert but 2018 has turned out to be an excellent year as they headlined Day 2 of Hopscotch at the Basement. Bassist Brown Mark handled the Prince vocals admirably, often letting the focus remain on the band as they sliced their way through an interesting setlist that didn’t simply churn out Prince’s greatest hits. What I always thought of as the lone throwaway track on Purple Rain, “Computer Blue”, featuring prominently at song 2. Wendy and Lisa still sounded good while keyboardist Matt Fink turned up in his classic surgeon’s outfit, making for a fun trip down memory lane.


Body/Head

In RDU Music’s 2nd terrible coverage choice of the festival – oddly also Sonic Youth-related – we left The Revolution to swing by the Fletcher Theater to catch Kim Gordon’s new project, Body/Head. They employed a very minimal setup of just a few amps and a large film projector, all to simply make squawking noises that barely amounted to music. I had gotten turned around looking for the men’s room so I stopped to ask a middle-aged usher for directions. The look on her face was one of pure incredulity mixed with disgust at the sounds coming from the stage. Sadly, we shared her sentiment and called it a night.

and it sure is soupy out in the Southern heat. But we soldiered on, just for you lovely readers. [All 7 of you. -Ed.]

M8alla

We kicked it off over at Red Hat for M8alla, self-described in Indy Week as singing “for immigrant women with American degrees and bottom grillz.” Her band brought some rocking guitars and 4 dancers with gold-plated (spray-painted?) assault rifles.


Mipso | Thundercat

Due to some “weather,” forcing Red Hat to kick everyone out of the venue, we bounced over to City Plaza to catch that venue’s first two acts of the night. Kicking it off was Chapel Hill’s Mipso, bringing some soft, dreamy Americana with violin, mandolin, and upright bass. Their frontman’s McConaughey-good-looks will open some doors [Legs? -Ed.] for the band in the future. Watch the official video for “Moonlight” here.

Next up was Grammy-winner Thundercat, whose far-out bass shredding was too much for RDU Music’s Yang. I described it as soul singing on top of a less avant-garde Mr. Bungle but Yang had this to say: If you ever wanted to experience an epileptic seizure without having to bite down on a pencil and incur ruthless medical bills, then this Thundercat performance was catered just for you. 


Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear has been a gold standard of indie rock since the mid-2000’s with landmark albums Yellow House and Veckatimest. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them multiple times during that span. Their headlining performance on the City Plaza stage marked the first time in at least 8 years that I’ve seen them live. Unfortunately, I had to join the show at the last half while covering other acts but walked up to a crowded City Plaza. Much like Wolf Parade from 2016’s Hopscotch, I was happy to see that time had passed these indie stalwarts by when it came to sound and crowd support. The little I saw was enough to know that they haven’t lost a step when it came to performing their older material and making fans of their more recent offerings.

Miguel

I forsook Grizzly Bear’s set – leaving the coverage in Yang’s capable hands – to head back to Red Hat so that I could see what all the fuss over Miguel was about. It wasn’t 5 minutes into the set when I realized why all the girls were screaming for him. Whatever “it” is, that boy has it in spades.

He opened atop a giant, white staircase on stage. The presentation was legit: smoke, lights, vid screen with golden booty, and actual live instrumentation. Miguel must have studied the classics of showmanship, learning from masters such as Michael, Prince, and Marvin as he enthralled the audience from the start. His falsetto was also on point, which is always hard to do live. Early in the set, Miguel tried his hand at some stage banter. “I was told that Raleigh had a lot of babes. Is that right?” The response was a depressingly tepid cheer from the crowd so I guess poor Miguel will never know.

Hopscotch 2018 Day 2 winner:

Miguel and It Looks Sad.

Hopscotch 2018

Day 3

by negadave | Sep 27, 2018

Downtown Raleigh

Hopscotch Day 3 caught up to our near-40-year-old bones real quick but we soldiered on, knowing that we would soon be seeing musical royalty.

Zack Mexico

First up, at City Plaza, was Zack Mexico. Two drummers and lots of poor fashion choices, ranging from dad-style with a t-shirt full of Schnauzers to a guy that looked like he drummed from Foreigner in 1986. The latter was rather majestic, I must say. Flowy shirt, open all the way to the 5th button with snow white pants and a mullet. Naturally. They also had a bassist who looked like he’d rather be surfing. All of that visual stimulus came together with some jangly guitar rock.

Boulevards

Opening Red Hat was Raleigh’s premier funksmith, Boulevards. He and his air-tight band were funk personified. We’re talking, born-in-the-wrong-generation funky. The guitarist looked like he studied music theory but totally knows how to get down on weekends, despite what it shows on his face. It was all about that slap bass though, playing its siren song of funk. Boulevards was genuinely having a blast. All smiles, glistening sweat, and dancing. This man loves Raleigh and it’s only a matter of time before all of Raleigh reciprocates.

Liz Phair

I missed this excellent set. Luckily, Yang was there to tell us about it.

What a welcome surprise to see and hear. Felt like I had stepped out of a time machine into 90’s alternative. A good throwback that seemed to have more authenticity to the genre than Liz Phair’s performance. While my plan was to see a few songs then meet up with the rest of the RDU Music crew, I ended up staying for the whole set. It was hard not to be captivated by lead vocalist, Sadie Dupuis, who had a angelic yet ferocious set of pipes. While they certainly had a style that belonged to them, I couldn’t help but hear things that reminded me of Veruca Salt, Pixies, and even L7 and Babes in Toyland. Needless to say, they made a fan out of me that evening.

Speedy Ortiz

I missed this excellent set. Luckily, Yang was there to tell us about it.

What a welcome surprise to see and hear. Felt like I had stepped out of a time machine into 90’s alternative. A good throwback that seemed to have more authenticity to the genre than Liz Phair’s performance. While my plan was to see a few songs then meet up with the rest of the RDU Music


Nile Rodgers and Chic

Boulevards mentioned that Nile Rodgers taught him how to funk. Nile showed all of Raleigh that he still has a thing or two to teach the rest of us.

He came out on guitar, draped in bold yellow camouflage alongside 2 keyboards, a trumpet, a sax, a bass, and 2 backup singers in flowy, tiger stripes. He did a whole portion of the set solely for songs he wrote for other artists: Diana Ross, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, and more. There was lots of crowd participation because these were all solid gold hits that we knew by heart. I remember one particular sax solo making me wet, and I don’t even have a vagina. [It’s true. I checked. -Ed.] It was nice to see the young and the old come together to fly the banner of funk.

MC50

It’s hard to imagine writing a song that will stand on its own for 50 years. MC50 brought that one and more to a frenzied set where they looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd. Let’s hear what Yang has to say about it.

What can you say when you see the best collection of rock royalty on one stage playing the songs of one of rock’s most polarizing bands? I’m still trying to find the words. MC50 marks the 50th anniversary of “Kick Out the Jams.” OG guitarist and vocalist, Wayne Kramer, was backed by Kim Thayil of Soundgarden (guitar), Brendan Canty of Fugazi (drums), Billy Gould of Faith No More (bass), and Marcus Durant of Zen Guerilla (vocals) to perform MC5’s classic album.  The crowd was a great blend of older and younger, showing the reach and influence that MC5 had in their short tenure. The age of the crowd showed its face when a younger audience member complained why they would play the song “Kick Out the Jams” so early and not save it for last, to which I had to remind the young lad that it was the second song on the album. The look on that kid’s face was precious. The icing on the cake of what was an amazing performance.

Hopscotch 2018 Day 3 winner:

Nile Rodgers and Chic and MC50.

Har Mar Superstar.

Sugarland – Still the Same 2018 Tour

with Brandy Clark and Clare Bowen

PNC Arena – Saturday, May 26, 2018

by negadave | Jun 6, 2018 

Saturday was a night of firsts for RDU Music. We covered our first arena show at PNC with our first country act, Grammy award-winning Sugarland. [I thought this was also our first time covering a Grammy winner but I forgot Deftones won in 2001 for “Elite.” And then I got tired of looking for other winners so let’s just pretend, mmkay? -Ed.] They are touring in support of their soon-to-be-released, sixth studio album, Bigger. Joining them were songwriter extraordinaire, Brandy Clark, and TV’s Clare Bowen, of Nashville fame.

Country fans turned out en masse for this bill. PNC Arena was hopping for Atlanta’s finest, who brought a whopping 22-song setlist to our fair city, replete with a 2-song encore, closing with crowd-pleaser, “Lady Marmalade.” It is no small feat commanding an arena crowd of roughly 20,000 but Jennifer Nettles has the chops to make it happen.


RDU Music’s resident photographer, Lan, was handed a less-than-stellar assignment to shoot from the soundboard in the back and yet he still managed to grab some quality shots. I’m not sure if the PNC Arena crew forgot to leave 4 feet between the stage and barricade for photogs but getting up close is what we live for. Maybe next time.

Cromags. Buzz Oven. Eye Hate God. Witch Tit.

Melvins

Monday, May 7, 2018 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro

by negadave | May 11, 2018 

Lan and I have seen the Melvins open for just about every band in the late 90s but we’ve never been to a Melvins headlining show. Gonna see NIN? Melvins are opening. Tool? Melvins. Manson? You bet your ass Melvins are opening. So here in the year of our Lord 2018, it was time for King Buzzo and co. to show us what they are working with as the marquee act.

We headed to Carrboro and made it just in time to miss the opener. [Sorry, All Souls. We’re old. -Ed.] It was a pretty decent turnout for some old dudes on a Monday night. I was telling my girlfriend about the show and she said, “Who are the Melvins?” I guess I forgot that she is 25. She doesn’t remember Houdini or Stoner Witch. Say what you want about some of their records over the years, when they step on the stage and rock, it’s a unique experience. King Buzzo commands the stage and plays every show at full throttle. Except for that time I saw them at Ozzfest ’98 where Buzz was not stoked in the slightest and did nothing but feedback his guitar on the stacks for 20 minutes until I bounced to the main stage to catch Soulfly. Peep Buzz talking about his Ozzfest experience in an interview with Metalsucks here. “Not cuz Ozzfest wanted us, because Tool wanted us. And I quote, they told us that they will not do it unless we do it, because [Tool] wanted at least one band on the tour that they liked. So they took us with them on the tour. Ozzfest people were adamantly opposed to us playing.” [LOL! -Ed.]

The Melvins in 2018 are all about bringing the low end with 2 bassists and a kick drum that rattled my eyeballs so bad that I had to move to the back and get another beer. Their newest slab of downtuned, head-scratching weirdness, this year’s Pinkus Abortion Technician on Ipecac, only appeared once on the setlist. With 35 years of recorded output to choose from, I can see why they throw the rule book out the window. Also, they are the Melvins and never opened the book in the first damn place. The setlist bounced around between about 12 albums and a handful of covers. It was nice to catch some classics like “Honey Bucket” off of Houdini and Stag‘s opener, “The Bit.”

The King was resplendent in his eyeball wizard regalia, alongside Pinkus, who was looking like he came straight from a Midwest trailer park next door to Joe Dirt, and Steve, rocking a suit with an all-over print flame pattern that was likely tailored by Guy Fieri himself. Oddly enough, none of those fine gentlemen were the oddest thing I saw that night. [Honorable mention goes to the dude with a sweet Mercyful Fate backpatch. -Ed.] Sitting on some rigging, stage right, was an older lady, all kitted out with a lawn chair and art supplies. She was apparently live-sketching the aural dysphoria that is a Melvins show. It doesn’t get much more avant-garde than that.

Clutch

After a couple more overpriced drinks and a trip to the smokers patio that was a masterclass in beards and embarrassing makeouts, we were treated to one of the best purveyors of riffs to ever grace a stage. The quality level of a band like Clutch is immediately recognizable. Say what you want about Sevendust, but I’m positive that any band would hate opening for such wizards of rock, for fear of being outclassed well before the first chorus.

Drummer extraordinaire, Jean-Paul Gaster, appeared effortless, just chewing gum and laying it down better than anyone in the biz. I am shocked that he isn’t awarded with Drummer of the Year accolades from various publications after each new Clutch release. Or maybe he is and it is so commonplace that it is not even newsworthy at this point. Alongside bassist Dan Maines, I have been saying that Clutch has the tightest rhythm section in rock for at least 20 years.

Neil Fallon’s charming banter was a sign that the band is still having fun after all of these years. “We’re gonna do one more new one and then a long line of #1 hits. Just kidding. We don’t have any of those.” Which might be precisely what is wrong with this country. [That and Trump. Go vote, kiddos. We gotta right this ship. -Ed.]

The only complaint I could have possibly had was that Clutch took so long to play something off of The Elephant Riders, but they closed with “The Soapmakers” so I was golden. I’ve seen Clutch countless times and will never pass up an opportunity to see them whenever they come to town.

Clutch

with Sevendust and Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018 @ The Ritz

by negadave | Nov 4, 2018

The RDU Music extended family turned out in full force to witness rock legends (and one of Lan’s personal favorites), Clutch. This was a rescheduled date due to illness from a few weeks prior.

As our 5-man crew was pregaming Newcastle browns at Lan’s place prior to the show, we made the executive decision to skip Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown after spinning part of their most-spun track on Spotify. Sorry, boys. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat. [Though their 50k monthly listeners on Spotify would beg to differ and likely call me something uncouth and indecorous. -Ed.]

After a short trek to a drive-thru-less McDonald’s so that Greg and Rick could fuel up, we walked up to the Ritz where we were met by a bevy of security personnel. All nice, by the way. Though I was confused about one of them explaining to me that vaping was not allowed in the Ritz. In other news, water: still wet.

Sevendust

After Greg’s $6 blue Gatorade – poured into a cup, as is customary [Thanks, Live Nation. -Ed.] – and my G&T [Heavy on the T. :/ -Ed.], we were ready for a band that Yang and I hadn’t seen since Ozzfest ’98: Sevendust. Apparently since then, the band has achieved gold status on 3 consecutive records and sold millions of units worldwide while still maintaining their uncanny knack for forcing me to incessantly check my watch during their set.

I could talk shit on Sevendust for days [Which I will do a fair amount of here, presently. -Ed.] but I wanted to lead off with a compliment. Vocalist Lajon Witherspoon is the real deal as a front man. Stage presence and strong pipes for 25 years. Though he will get no points for his leather bracers. Negative 5 to charisma, if you ask me.

Apparently, there is a fashion prerequisite for being in Sevendust. One must either own a backwards baseball cap or grow dreadlocks, the latter of which is a feat that drummer Morgan Rose failed at but thought that twisting his hair into Korn-style braids was good enough. [It wasn’t. -Ed.]

Lan described Sevendust’s sound thusly: “I feel like I am watching a military commercial.” Yep. That is about right. Music for guys with tribal/razorwire tattoos on their pythons. I feel like they were a poor choice to open for Clutch but I wish them the best with their new record, which reached a respectable #28 on the US Billboard 200, so fuck me, I guess.


Converge

The Toadies w/ Local H

October 24th @ Motorco

The RDU Music staff was approached about covering a Tuesday night show in Durham. That’s one strike for a weeknight and another for Durham. [That shit is like 30 minutes away! – Ed.] It’s a good thing that the bands in question happened to be two of the best grungy, alternative rockers that the 90s had to offer: The Toadies and Local H.

Local H

Let me tell you: Local H’s Scott Lucas is looking great at 47 years young. Life on the road must have been good to him because I look like shit at 35 while he can still hit the high notes with ease. Alongside drummer Ryan Harding, Scott brought Local H back to the Triangle area for a raucous set that flirted with disaster for its entirety. By the middle of song two, Scott proclaimed that it was, “one of them shows already,” as kick drum mics got tangled in patch cords and certain over-the-hill drunkards tried their best to ruin an otherwise powerful set from one of my favorite and most underrated rock acts of the 90s.

Durham did not put its best foot forward at Motorco for this show. The majority of the crowd were likeminded thirtysomethings or higher who wanted to be reminded of how it felt to spin an excellent record like As Good as Dead for the first time in their parents’ basement. Unfortunately, a couple of bad apples spoiled the bunch as two middle-aged assclowns decided to get shitfaced before 9pm on a Tuesday and bum everyone out.

In the middle of the first goddamn song, these tools were taking cell phone photos from the first row with the flash on and pantomiming hitting Scott’s guitar as his rockitude brought him to the front of the stage. “I don’t want to be in your selfies,” said Scott as he unironically flipped off the camera. Things went downhill fast as the meatheads in the crowd began to feel like their declining masculinity was in question, causing them to pop off at the mouth about wanting to fight a complete stranger who was nice enough to play a show for them. Scott tried diffusing the situation with some humor as he called out one of the assholes for sloppily making out with his insufferable girlfriend during the set. “This is a rock show, not prom. Get the fuck out of here. You are bumming everyone out.” This was apparently akin to insulting one’s saintly mother so the shitty party boys proceeded to continue causing a scene while one of their girlfriends got into it with another woman, each ending up with a handful of each other’s hair before a larger and more level-headed woman stepped in. I was more than embarrassed and hope that Local H will accept my apologies on behalf of Durham at large.

I had written about three more paragraphs on the topic of the deplorable behavior exhibited by these buttmunchers but I realized that I was starting to bum myself out so I decided to not waste any more keystrokes on these garbage people. For those of you that need closure, I heard from a reputable source (some dude) that the buffoons in question got thrown out and were starting shit outside. All is right in the world. Now back to the true star of the show: Local H’s set.

I never thought I’d see Local H with a bassist [Scott’s guitars are modded with a bass pickup. – Ed.] but The Toadies’ Doni Blair made a guest appearance on stage to join the duo for “Michelle (Again)” from 2008’s Twelve Angry Months. Other set highlights included a rockin’ cover of the recently deceased Tom Petty’s “I Need to Know” in addition to some great crowd participation on hits from the Island years like “Fritz’s Corner” and “Bound for the Floor,” both of which found yours truly screaming along at the top of his lungs. Those lyrics are so deeply ingrained into my memory that I won’t ever forget them.

If my memory serves [It usually doesn’t. – Ed.], Local H closed the set with a fiery double-time version of “High-Fiving MF” which was worth the admission price alone.

The Toadies

Photog extraordinaire and RDU Music‘s own, Lan, busted out 1994’s seminal Rubberneck on the way to a party we attended the prior weekend. I was immediately transported back to a simpler time when rock had that fat groove and the weed was chockful of seeds and stems. I could almost taste the ill-gotten packs of smokes we had to get older kids to buy for us. If good music doesn’t have that effect on you, it’s time to hang it up and go sell some insurance for The Man.

On the surface, the years have not been quite as nice to The Toadies’ Vaden Todd Lewis but he and his cohorts have not missed a beat when it comes to knowing how to lay down the chunkiest riffs this side of 1995. The frontman laid it out from the beginning of the set: “We’re gonna play songs from the new record, songs from Rubberneck, and some in between.” He wasn’t lying as The Toadies burned through 7 songs from their biggest record, 4 from the new record, and a handful of others including an encore consisting of two covers flanking Rubberneck‘s underrated, slow-building closing track, “I Burn.”

Durham showed up with some solid crowd participation on hits such as “Backslider” and “I Come from the Water.” I had to laugh at the poor roadie who rigged up a separate mic solely for one song’s worth of some egg-shaker percussion. Toward the end of the set, I spied the best-dressed concertgoer I have seen all year: Coexist t-shirt and suspenders with a drug rug tied around his waist. Man, I miss the 90s.

The first cover of the encore saw The Toadies paying homage to the recently fallen rock hero, Tom Petty, with their rendition of 1977’s “Breakdown.” They then closed the set with some sweet back-to-back guitar courtesy of Local H’s Scott Lucas on the classic hit, “I Put a Spell on You,” which culminated with the Scott effortlessly crowd-surfing back to the bar as if he had done so a hundred times. I have good money that says these two bands had a blast at every single stop on this tour.


Manchester Orchestra @ Ritz

October 4th, 2017 @ Ritz Raleigh

by negadave | Oct 23, 2017 

It was a busy week for RDU Music and the Ritz as we attended two shows in two nights. In the famous words of Roger Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” It’s a good thing that Manchester Orchestra is incapable of disappointing an audience. Since it was a Wednesday night, I was unable to catch openers Foxing and Tiger’s Jaw. That was unfortunate because I hear good things about both of those bands. Rain check?

Manchester Orchestra brought seven tracks off of their excellent new album, A Black Mile to the Surface, to the Ritz along with a healthy dose of back catalog tracks, making for a fun and varied 17-song setlist. They opened the night with the first three tracks off of Black Mile in front of a surprising amount of gear. MO brought enough stage lights to make stoned Pink Floyd fans wander in off the street thinking that a laser light show was breaking out. There was also an auxiliary instrument station, complete with a microphone that invited a revolving door of members from opening bands to join in for a variety of songs, adding some additional live texture that I am sure was as fun for the guest musicians as it was for the crowd. That was a real classy move by Andy Hull and co.


As the set progressed, I quickly realized that I hadn’t written a scathing piece about shitty rock music fans in a long time. It’s a good thing that I was standing directly behind the Jolly Drunk Giant and his cadre of tiny whores. They provided me with a nearly endless supply of material. Thanks, you gangly prick.

In case my ardent misanthropy hadn’t shone through in any of the other pieces I have written for this website, please allow me to express my feelings on cell phones at concerts: fucking stop it. If you want to whip it out and take a couple of snapshots to commemorate the event, more power to you. I am not an unreasonable man. I do it myself. But if you want to record 30 minutes of video when you are standing directly next to the stage-left speaker stack, maybe ask an adult first. We’d be happy to tell you that you are a ludicrously tall moron and are ruining the experience of literally everyone behind you so that you can get 4 Insta pity likes on a video that is wholly unwatchable due to the atrocious audio quality and your inability to fucking hold still.

To top it off, when my view wasn’t 89% obstructed by this gargantuan monkey-person, his tiny girlfriend managed to snake the final 11% by holding her PBR tall boy as high as possible while, naturally, screaming, “Woo!” at the top of her lungs. It’s really hard to drink your PBR when it’s a foot above your head, young lady. That beer was also roughly eleventy dollars (thanks, Live Nation…) so maybe take it easy over there. I love Manchester Orchestra as much as you but seeing Andy bathed in multi-colored electric light didn’t make me forget how to pound a tall boy. This ain’t my first rodeo.


Oh, wait. I was supposed to be writing about the Manchester Orchestra set. Shit. Why didn’t anyone stop me? [Maybe because you are your own editor and are drunk with power. -Ed.] Regardless, the real star of the show was Manchester Orchestra, who brought an immensely powerful set, ripe with thumping bass, soaring harmonies, and poignant lyrics. I had seen MO in the past but I think they are really proud of Black Mile, and it showed through in everything they did at the Ritz.

Andy was giving 100% on the high notes. He was not phoning it in at all. On personal favorites such as “Colly Strings” and the pre-encore closer, “The River,” Andy was able to evoke the same intense level of feeling from me live as he does on wax. I was visibly affected by the sheer power of, “I’m gonna leave you the first chance I get,” followed by a mic drop to end the set. Had Manchester Orchestra actually ended the set on “The River,” I might have been forced to walk out of the Ritz holding back a tear. Luckily, the crowd was graced with an encore of “I Can Feel a Hot One” in order to let the crowd know that Andy was indeed capable of feeling love again, followed by the apt closer of Black Mile, “The Silence.” It left me eternally grateful that Manchester Orchestra “let me open my eyes and be glad that I got here.”

Raleigh Hopscotch Music Festival 2017 Part One

by negadave | Sep 10, 2017

Downtown Raleigh

Hopscotch is akin to the Super Bowl for us here at RDU Music. We haven’t been very active this summer because we were apparently saving ourselves for this particular weekend, to which we showed up in full-force. For more of Lan’s stunning photography work, check out the RDU Music Instagram. Otherwise, you’re stuck with my humble words (with some assistance and color commentary from Yang and Jom) for this recap of Hopscotch 2017 Day 1.

Datura @ Pour House (Day Party)

Bandcamp | FB

The sounds of brutal thrash/death metal that were echoing down the hallway of Pur House were a welcome treat for this music fan.  From the outside, I heard the deep growls ala Cannibal Corpse which segued into high pitch banshee screams, leading me to think, “Oh cool, they must have two frontmen in this band.” So you can imagine my surprise when saw those vocals coming from one female vocalist. Punishing, brutal, energetic, and loud are just some of the superlatives I can throw to describe the set by Raleigh’s Datura. Lead singer Kellie Gates’ variation in vocals gave the rest of the band so much range as a metal act, with no song sounding exactly like the other.  In the short time they played, they definitely made a fan out of me, and I look forward to seeing their next performance! [Yang]

City Plaza

I met up with the fellas at City Plaza where Lan and I proceeded to grab a couple Goose Island Fest Biers [4/5 stars from me. I’m a sucker for the Oktoberfest style. -Ed.] and met up with our own Jom (John Michael Buscemi) to witness the official kickoff of Hopscotch 2017 with Durham’s Skylar Gudasz.

Skylar Gudasz @ City Plaza

Skylar opened with a soulful, solo piano number before inviting the full band on stage for some more tunes with a wide variety of instrumentation, including a flute interlude. It was early so the City Plaza crowd was only starting to file in but as they did so, they were treated to Skylar’s beautiful Americana folk voice.

Extended flute interlude!

Big Thief @ City Plaza

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Next up was Saddle Creek’s newest darlings, Brooklyn’s Big Thief, who brought their emotionally-raw lyrical storytelling to a rapidly growing City Plaza crowd. At one point, I looked back and the place had filled up to hear Adrianne Lenker’s wounded lyrics and strong vocals. Being such a huge fan of the early days of Saddle Creek [Mayday’s Old Blood is one of the best records I’ve ever heard. -Ed.], I was hoping that Big Thief would be the torchbearer for the label’s resurgence back into the popular zeitgeist but I think they would have fared better in a more intimate venue than City Plaza. Still, keep an eye on Big Thief as they progress.

Jom had this to add on Big Thief: There was a line in a song that gave me chills though: “The blood of the man who killed my mother with his hands, is in me.”  That’s pretty fucking heavy, and it was then met with some awesome, noisy, spacy, loud jamming.  But just as a song started picking it up, it would end…leaving something to be desired.  As the set was coming to an end, I couldn’t help but notice how the drummer, as terrible as his posture may be, was really into all the songs.  Singing along as he played.  I like bands that are into their own music…shows it’s something they believe in.  And if Big Thief ever starts pulling off live what they do on a recording…watch out! [Jom]

I like bands that are into their own music…shows it’s something they believe in. [Jom]

Margo Price @ City Plaza

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Capping off an interestingly subdued yet stylistically cohesive opening night at City Plaza was Nashville’s Margo Price who brought her brand of traditional country to Hopscotch 2017 concertgoers. The RDU Music squad did not stay long as we had places to be [I kind of wanted Margo and her band of Berklee grad, studio musicians to…”go back to Tennessee.” -Jom] but we left a mostly full City Plaza to enjoy the Nashville starlet’s set without us.

CAM Raleigh

We made a brief pitstop at Parkside where I was enjoying a delightful Three Little Pigs sandwich and the Chiefs/Patriots game until I looked at the clock and my heart skipped a beat. My second most anticipated band of the 2017 Hopscotch lineup was about to take the stage at CAM! I drained the last of my beer in two gulps, threw a $20 on the table, and made for the door like my ass was on fire while Jom stayed to enjoy his ridiculous-sized burger. [Huge patties. Big ol’ slap-that-meat-on-your-black-eye-sized patties. -Jom] As I powerwalked up to CAM, I could hear Brooklyn’s weirdest sons, Kayo Dot, opening their set.

Kayo Dot @ CAM

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I have been a fan of Toby Driver’s musical collectives for a very long time [Maudlin of the Well’s Bath and Kayo Dot’s Choirs of the Eye are undeniable classics. -Ed.] so I was extremely excited to see them live for the first time. Despite a set marred by technical difficulties, Kayo Dot were still able to prove that they are on a whole other level. To the untrained ear, Kayo Dot might be considered “too” avant-garde and downright cacophonous at times but I found their live set to be a mystically moving experience. This live incarnation of the band was a 3-piece but was still able to fill the air with all manner of transcendental sounds. I was physically saddened when the set ended. Afterwards, I bought a Maudlin of the Well shirt from Toby himself at the merch booth and complimented him on his 2017 slab of solo gorgeousness for the Flenser, Madonnawhore. I then grabbed another gin drink and began waiting for what turned out to be the best set of the night.

Also, the singer has a haircut…that is maybe influenced by cocaine. [Jom]

Pallbearer @ CAM

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Little Rock’s Pallbearer have been making waves in recent memory with their last couple of records under the excellent Profound Lore label but I never gave them much of a listen. Their dense and impactful live set at CAM let me know that I was woefully late to the party. Huge, sludgy riffs with some surprisingly elegant vocals for a “doom metal” band proved to be a killer combination. All I could do was bang my head and sway along with each funeral dirge as amateur photographers struggled with the lighting while bassist Joseph D. Rowland fought to get back in the game after he blew his bass cab. Seriously, the CAM stage must be cursed. Either way, I hope Pallbearer was able to see my face melt from the front row because I was viscerally affected by their adroit hooks and soaring solos. Pallbearer made a believer out of me after about a song and a half.

Pallbearer did an amazing job of fighting through the technical hiccups and overall suspect acoustics that CAM is notorious for. [Yang]

The Tills @ Pour House

Oh man!  The Tills are based out of Nashville and come out to Raleigh a couple of times a year.  They have yet to disappoint me, and tonight was no different.  I’ll start by saying…haircuts.  This year’s Hopscotch theme is haircuts.  Haircuts that may or may not be infused by Schedule I substances.  Haircuts that frontman of The Tills, Harry Harrison, described to me one day as “Me and Marty (the drummer) are bringing back the haircut.  People get a haircut all the time, we’re not bringing the act of haircuts back…but look at my hair!”  It looks like he just got some scissors and cut some bangs, cut some stuff from the sides but not all of it, got what he could off the back and balanced out the top.  And the drummer, I grew up with this guy and know that he’s a free spirit.  Lan described him as, “The type of guy that would pick up lonely wives on the beach.”  And I can almost guarantee he’s done that before, so just picture that person.  Harry and Marty are both happy dudes, living the lives they want to live and making music with energy, spirit, enthusiasm, volume..and just pure joy.  Their live performance perfectly portrays that spirit.  This was the first band that I saw that really brought life to the crowd.  People dancing.  Faces smiling while singing along with the band.  And it’s hard to not feel that when Harry is flash dancing in a polka dot patterned shorts and shirt ensemble while ripping off energetic British riff after riff.  There were 5 guys on stage playing their hearts out for a crowd that was sweating out their own hearts.  I’ve known Marty to finish a show in his boxers, but tonight he just ended it shirtless.  Singing duties were shared across the band, and the set climaxed with a stage dive from Harry.  If The Tills are ever coming through town, do yourself a favor and bring some friends to their show, drink some cheap beer, and have a blast!  You won’t be disappointed.  Until that day though, go buy their records.  Their latest album Canon is available on vinyl from their Bandcamp site. The song “Cold Ones” is a must listen. [Jom]


The type of guy that would pick up lonely wives on the beach. [Lan]

The Oh Sees @ The Basement

What venue is The Basement?  Where is it? Oh, it’s in the Convention Center? Ok. Ho. Lee. Fuck.  As soon as Red Hat Amphitheater shuts down for the season, shows should pick right up at “The Basement.”  This was hands down the best venue of the festival.  It was like an airplane hangar with a huge stage in it.  It could have been loud and echoey and shitty, but the sound was mixed perfectly.  Plenty of natural reverb, but nothing too washed out.  Whoever put this together deserves a raise!

The Oh Sees are a band that I’ve heard all this buzz about, and apparently so had a lot of other people because the venue was packed. Overall, I was very impressed with the Oh Sees. Two drummers seemingly in a competition to see who could play harder, louder, and better kept the rhythm upbeat and energetic. One loud-ass, clear acrylic SG-shaped guitar drove riffs to new levels.  This band brought it in an incredible venue that only had more in store for us the rest of the weekend.

The only downside here was the line for drinks at the venue was REALLY long.  But at midnight on a Thursday, with a workday steadily creeping around the corner…I think it was for the best I didn’t have another drink. [Jom]



Torche @ CAM

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A perennial favorite of mine since buying their 2005 self-titled debut for Robotic Empire, Florida’s Torche brought the ruckus with them on this particular trip to our fair City of Oaks. I have seen Torche perform live about 5 times now and this might have been my favorite set of the bunch, despite the technical difficulties that prevailed throughout the entire night at CAM. Frontman Steve Brooks had a hard time hearing anything out of his monitors and eventually decided that he would just rock the fuck out sans the ability to hear himself. He didn’t miss a beat but was noticeably irritated for a hot minute there.

Torche seemed like they were all having a good time during their high-energy set at CAM. Especially drummer Rick Smith who was playing so hard and with such zeal that stagehands had to bring out some mic-stand bases to put in front of the kit to minimize movement. Rick was undeterred. He banged so hard that bassist Jonathan Nunez even had to stand on them to keep Rick from vibrating the kit the entire 6 feet off the front of the stage. All that energy from Torche made for a supremely satisfying set.



Hopscotch 2017 Day 1 winner: Pallbearer

Raleigh Hopscotch Music Festival 2017 Part Two

by negadave | Sep 11, 2017 

Downtown Raleigh

I think I finally figured out the key to surviving my…6th?…Hopscotch festival: Leave early. Not like “early bird special” early but maybe early enough that you can get to bed by about 1am because you have at least 2 more days of drinking, walking, and rocking ahead of you. I met up with JOM outside of CAM after Torche finished their great set on Day 1 and he was like, “I have to work in the morning.” Say no more, fam. You need a ride?

After a solid 7 hours of sleep (and another 4 of laying around on the couch), I was feeling good and was ready to head back to City Plaza to start Day 2 of Hopscotch 2017. Little did I know that I was going to stumble upon RDU Music’s hands-down favorite set of the festival later in the evening.

Birds of Avalon @ City Plaza

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Kicking off Night 2 was Raleigh’s own Birds of Avalon. You might recognize some of their members from Kings and Garland. They brought a rollicking rock ‘n’ roll set fueled by dual drummers to City Plaza. Everyone had a mic so there was a nice, varied vocal approach to individual songs. I could have done without the extended, rambling jam session at the end but was overall impressed with Birds of Avalon’s rockitude.

The Make-Up @ City Plaza

Wiki

Up next was a band whose reunion tour was lost on most of the unsuspecting City Plaza crowd, D.C.’s The Make-Up. About 8 seconds into their opening number, enigmatic frontman Ian Svenonius jumped into the crowd and commenced to get weird with bird noises all up in the faces of Raleigh’s musically hungry. They had an MC5 sort of feel…if MC5 were emotionally disturbed people. I will say that their glitter-encrusted mauve suits were 10/10.

Our very own Yang had this to say about the band: I didn’t know much about The Make-Up when they were announced on the bill.  The little I heard of them would not prepare me for what my ears and eyes were about to see. To this very day, I still can’t figure out if my confusion borders on “like” or “dislike.”  On one hand, The Make-Up brought a ferocious amount of energy to their set.  The crowd, like me, was also a tad bit skeptical but they eventually took to the DC band after the first couple of songs. I would bet that frontman Ian spent more time in the crowd or balancing on the barrier and photographers’ shoulders than the actual stage. Songs were frantic and fast, and if you’re a fan of the incoherent ramblings of a mental patient in between songs, then Christmas came early.  I spent a good majority of this set tapping my finger on my chin trying to process what exactly my eyes were seeing, especially at the point when he put the microphone in his mouth and began bellowing like a wild animal. Like a David Lynch film, I applauded the effort and presentation but left confused and baffled. Also, I think they set the record for saying “baby” most times in a song that wasn’t R&B slow jam. [Yang]

So many types of pills…so little time to do them.

Run the Jewels @ Red Hat Amphitheater

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I had “offhandedly” mentioned to some co-workers that I was going to be covering Hopscotch again this year and the subject of Run the Jewels came up. One of the guys was hella stoked but I, being generally too-cool-for-school in addition to a pretentious music snob, mentioned that I wasn’t really into “modern” hip-hop. [I’m all about the GZA. -Ed.] RTJ made me take that viewpoint and stick it in my ass.

We trekked the short distance over to Red Hat Amphitheater and met up with soon-to-be #personalboy and friend of the program, Greg, where we queued up to see RTJ straight burn that motherfucker to the ground, which they verbally intimated that they were planning to do, early in the set. They definitely had the tools to do so but I was hoping that they wouldn’t literally do that. Some of us live here. But in a metaphorical sense, holy shit. By about the 3rd song in the set, I was bobbing along with the rest of the crowd, having the time of my life. Speaking of the crowd, could Raleigh BE any whiter? I heard a Nantucket-Reds-wearing fella behind me proclaim, “Killer Mike is, like…the hypest dude.” Truer words were never spoken, random white guy.

Killer Mike is, like…the hypest dude.


Future Islands @ City Plaza

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In what would turn out to be the worst decision we made during Hopscotch 2017, we left RTJ early to make it back to City Plaza in time for Future Islands. Now I know that we here at RDU Music have been known to be…assholes from time to time, but Jesus Fucking Christ, Future Islands. I don’t know who gave you a record deal but your frontman wishes he were Morrissey but is actually a goat wearing the skin of a man. And not in a cool, death metal sort of way. More like, he just sounds like a goat. And not in a cute, Shakira kind of way. All bitchiness aside, FI is actually a pretty good band but they are not for me, despite the HUGE crowd they draw wherever they play. Godspeed, Future Islands. I hope you enjoy your money and fame without being too offended by little fish like me.


…your frontman wishes he were Morrissey but is actually a goat wearing the skin of a man.


Har Mar Superstar @ The Basement

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There are defining, watershed moments in a person’s musical life journey that stick with them forever. Personally, I bounced around from Jane’s Addiction to Type O Negative to Converge before I settled in for the long haul. Little did I know that I was about to have my musical worldview shaken by a Jay Shermanlookalike from Minneapolis.

I knew that Har Mar Superstar was opening for one of my all-time favorite rock bands, the Afghan Whigs, but I was perplexed when he wasn’t playing the same venue as Greg Dulli and co. at Hopscotch. Instead, the powers-that-be decided to put Har Mar into a goddamn airplane hangar underneath the Raleigh Convention Center. It turned out to be a good thing that the festival organizers did so because there is no other meeting space in town capable of containing Har Mar’s raw sexuality and musical prowess.

Har Mar remained little more than a novelty in my mind for the last 20ish years. I was unaware that he had the voice of an angel and the sex appeal of a young Burt Reynolds. He is The Critic meets Neil Diamond. He is so unassumingly soulful that he could replace Justin Timberlake on any stage, any night of the year, and no one would be the wiser until they were smoking their post-coital cigarette.

Har Mar made his entrance wearing a wide-lapelled leisure suit and immediately commanded the crowd’s attention with his bravado and silky smooth R&B stylings. I couldn’t help but notice the crowd’s incredulous reaction. Some of us (the entire RDU Music extended family included) were blown away by Sean’s skill and showmanship while others were closer to, “Who is this weirdo making me horny?” Either way, Har Mar commanded the attention of an entire airplane hangar for a solid 45 minutes.

Har Mar’s band was a sight in and of themselves. They were all dressed in satin jackets and consisted of who I can only assume was the Tobias Funke on drums and Desaparecidos’s own Denver Dalley on guitar. They maintained an unaffected posture while Har Mar made the first 6 rows’ nether-regions wet until key moments in the set where they would join Har Mar in some minimal yet strangely effective choreography. It was magical. I lost track of myself until the slag next to me spilled her drink on me for the third time. Honestly, I was unfazed since I knew she had a good reason: She was in a hysterical fit of sexual torture brought on by one of our generation’s greatest showmen. I didn’t want it to end but I knew that the rest of the world needed to experience Har Mar for themselves as well. What kind of man would I be if I kept him for myself? This bird was not meant to be caged. Fly free, you magnificent bastard. Fly far.

After the smoke cleared, I did some amateur Googling of our Sean Tillmann and fell down the deepest rabbit hole of his superb videos and live performances. Sadly, I also stumbled upon Pitchfork’s reviews of his early 2000s albums. We’re talking 5.8, 2.0, and 1.9. Now I firmly grasp that Pitchfork’s writers have their heads so far up each others’ asses that they have ceased to comprehend the meaning of “fun,” but Christ, can anyone be so wrong? [American voters circa 2016 spring to mind. -Ed.] For the love of all that is good and pure, PLEASE don’t base your life on Pitchfork. You will end up alone wondering where your life went wrong.

Thou @ Pour House

The tease of any kind of metal was a highlight for me this Hopscotch so I ventured to Pour House to catch Baton Rouge’s Thou.  There was a staggering lack of metal artists on this year’s bill, so anything heavy was a welcome treat.  Vocalist Bryan Funck’s presence was felt on stage, even though the fellow never seemed to move or blink.  Gripping the mic stand and holding that pose like a statue, he growled and screamed with some of the best doom metal vocalists out there.  I’ll be the first to admit that after 4 songs, the rest of the show began to feel repetitive. [Yang]

Whores. @ Pour House

Whores. were definitely in my top three bands to see on the bill, so you can imagine my worry when lead singer, Christian, approached the stage on crutches and left knee in a brace.  Apparently, Christian had blown out two ligaments in the same knee.  If you’ve seen Whores. before, you’ll know that they play with a shit-ton of energy, so I was naturally worried that this show might suffer due to his injury.  Spoiler Alert: I was wrong! Whores. brought the ruckus and the entire RDU Music staff cannot wait to catch them again at Local 506 in December with the ’68. [Yang]



The Afghan Whigs @ Lincoln Theater


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To be perfectly honest, the main reason I bought Hopscotch tickets this year was that I heard Afghan Whigs were playing. My buddy Jeremy played me Gentlemen for the first time longer ago than I can remember. Ever since then, I have followed Greg Dulli’s every move: the Twilight Singers, Amber Headlights, the Gutter Twins. It may only seem like it, due to my age and the ages of the performers, but with the recent influx of bands from my youth reuniting, the Afghan Whigs may very well take the crown for Best Reunion Albums with 2014’s Do to the Beast and this year’s In Spades. [Surgical Steel by Carcass is another top contender. -Ed.] Needless to say, I was more than stoked to see them perform live for the first time in my life.

Greg and co. witchcrafted a sinister atmosphere with their stage setup as illuminated pyramids and skeleton etchings on their amps intermingled with dead priests and demons while the band burned through a setlist comprised heavily of their two most recent albums. Non-festival gigs on this current tour consisted of nearly twice the songs and included many fan favorites from the Afghan Whigs’ initial heyday but I was happy with anything they played as this was the culmination of roughly 20 years of fandom for me.

A couple of set highlights were the cover of the Twilight Singers’ “Teenage Wristband” off of 2003’s stunning Blackberry Belle in addition to a guest vocal performance by tourmate walking Spanish Fly, Har Mar Superstar for “Demon in Profile,” which Har Mar also covered on his recent EP, Personal Boy. Greg switched over to piano in order to let Har Mar’s light shine for that particular track.

The Afghan Whigs closed the night with “Into the Floor,” the appropriately-themed closing track to In Spades, setting a melancholy tone that told me that the band had to be moving on to the next stop of their tour. But at least they left me this excellent performance so that “I’ll always remember you this way…”


Hopscotch 2017 Day 2 Winner = Har Mar Superstar

Deftones @ Red Hat Amphitheater

by negadave | Jun 25, 2017

Sunday, June 18th, 2017 – Red Hat Amphitheater

You know it is summertime when RDU Music finally puts on shorts and ponies up the $12 for Yeungling tall boys at Red Hat. This time just so happened to be for one of our all-time favorite bands, Deftones.

Openers

Three Trapped Tigers

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As gate security was touching me in my no-no zone, Three Trapped Tigers were bringing their synthy, breathy, instrumental rock all the way from foggy Londontown. They sounded as if Horse the Band “sold out” and met up with Chon to get, like, hella blazed and just totally chillax, you know, but still managed to write some good Minus the Bear-style jamz. They played a good set, which is no easy feat when you are opening for huge bands at an amphitheater. They must have a dope manager to get on this stacked bill for their first time in the states. Cheers, mates.

Thrice

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Thrice has aged well, despite the fact that literally everyone I know prefers their early work. Their entire catalog drips with emotion and solid song structure though, so I can’t complain too much that their set consisted of mostly new material, but you are about to set off on a huge amphitheater tour with some of the biggest bands in rock. Did you maybe think that you should dust off the old bangerzzz that everyone wants to hear? [Deftones didn’t play a single song off of their latest release, and that record is very good. More on that later. -Ed.] I just feel like that was a missed opportunity to really go out there, play the most beloved hits from your storied, near-20-year career. Really kick the fucking door in and remind everyone that Thrice is still a kick-ass band, you know? Especially when you only get 8 songs. Instead, they went with the, “Hey, please buy our new record, guys,” strategy, which was met with lukewarm regard from rock fans who had not yet quite caught a buzz in the soupy Southern heat. What a shame.

Dustin Kensrue is still one of the more underrated front men in rock. [Though Lan thinks he is Nickelback-y. -Ed.] If the world were a just place, Rise Against would be opening for Thrice but radio appeal is a palpable thing, especially for amphitheater shows. RA hammers that nail despite being the inferior band. [#sorrynotsorry RA fans. It’s only gonna get worse from here. -Ed.]

Rise Against

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Going into their set, I underestimated the sheer amount of fans that were in attendance solely to see Rise Against. They received one helluva crowd reaction when they took the stage. For not being a fan of their band, they still put on a fun and energetic show. I just cannot come to terms with all the fans that left after their set. I saw a lot of boyfriends nodding along politely while their girlfriends went crazy for Tim McIlrath and co. That is why Rise Against has roughly 1.5 million more FB likes than Deftones. [Criminal. -Ed.]

I did see the sweetest bf in the row ahead of us though. His girl was jumping around, really getting into Rise Against. So much that she almost lost her phone so she put it in her purse and was gonna set it on the seat but he took it and held it for her. D’aww. She was having the time of her life while he did it all for the nookie. And was probably a Nickelback fan. [No judgment. They write hits. Straight up. -Ed.] But then they left 3 songs into Deftones so fuck ’em in the ear.

Partway through the set, Tim decided to break it down and “tell us about America.” Rise Against might just be the softest activism of all time. Like activism for attractive people. Not that their message isn’t important, it’s just old hat. Or maybe I am just old hat. [Mind = blown. -Ed.] He spouted such aphorisms as, “Resist the urge to bury your head in the sand,” and “I can’t put my finger on it but there is a reason we are all here tonight.” [Yeah, it’s called, “Deftones.” #yaburnt -Ed.]

I will say that I am a sucker for the portion of a set where the frontman takes the stage by himself to play a heartfelt solo electric guitar track. Tim killed it on that one but to me, Rise Against and Deftones just don’t overlap in the Venn diagram of my heart, so I was ready for them to vacate the stage and get Deftones up there.

Deftones

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I hadn’t seen Deftones in 17 years. I also hear that had not played Raleigh in 16 years. For the first 10 years of their existence, I used to say that they were the best band of that era. (I still do.) As the pages of the calendar fell one by one, I never stopped loving each new Deftones release. I had just filled my life with countless other bands. Seeing Deftones in 2017 rekindled my 20+ year infatuation with them and will likely go down in history as my favorite show of the year.

As the stagehands were doing their thing, I scanned the crowd, as I am wont to do. There was an interesting mix of graying beards, Carolina Rebellion faithful, and girls who took great care in not letting their fathers see their outfits before leaving the house. My favorite though was the over-30 fella carrying a Hello Kitty backpack, followed by his daughters who were adorably holding each others’ hands so as to not get separated, with his super Goth wife bringing up the rear, noticeably stoked that the sun had gone down a mere 2 minutes before she came out of hiding. They looked like a fun, modern, counterculture family. I wanted to share a bottle of wine with them and discuss how music just ain’t what it used to be.

I was ripped from my reverie as Deftones kicked the door in and announced that they were ready to burn this motherfucker down by opening with fan-favorite rager, “Headup,” which they had used as a set closer for a good portion of the late 90s. Deftones proceeded to outclass all of their opening bands combined in the first two minutes. The energy and intensity of the crowd skyrocketed as they segued right into “My Own Summer (Shove It).” I was instantly teleported back to 1997. All the old emotions of my formative teen years came flooding back as I lost myself in Chino’s trademark banshee shriek, which sounded as fresh as it did 20 years ago.

The setlist was strictly limited to only two pairs of back-to-back Deftones albums: Around the Fur to White Pony and then Diamond Eyes to Koi No Yokan. No jumping around from raw Adrenaline-era scorchers to artsy Saturday Night Wrist experiments made for an interesting and oddly cohesive overall aesthetic. The majority of songs (5) came from Diamond Eyes, which happens to be a favorite of mine. Deftones also took a cue from my rulebook: If you are headlining an amphitheater tour with $50+ tickets and $12 beers, you had better bring your hits, which they totally did, especially in the back half of the set with a stunning trifecta of “Change (In the House of Flies)” into “Passenger” (with Rise Against’s Tim taking the stage to masterfully sing Maynard’s parts) before majestically transitioning into “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away).” I was stunned.

I seldom look up a band’s setlists for previous nights of the tour because I love experiencing the moment when I can feel the set about to wrap up and am left to wonder what classic song will be used to cap off an excellent evening. On this particular night in Raleigh, Deftones decided to close with the rough and tumble “Rocket Skates,” defying the most jaded of music journalists [Cough. -Ed.] to, “fuck with me,” leaving us to “drown underneath the stars” and “drink with our weapons in our hands.”

Mastodon w/ Eagles of Death Metal & Russian Circles

by yang | Oct 16, 2017

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 @ Ritz Raleigh

If you’re like me, then Christmas came early in the month of October.  A mega-bill of “music festival” proportions had descended upon the Ritz this past Tuesday.  Mastodon along with Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles brought all the rock, groove, and thunder that Raleigh could handle.

Russian Circles

Chicago’s Russian Circles opened the night with their intoxicating brand of instrumental post-metal heaviness, touring in support of last year’s excellent full-length, Guidance. I managed to get two $20 gin drinks in me (thanks, Live Nation…) as the venue slowly filled up. By the time RC hit the stage, the Ritz crowd was in full effect, ready to be mystified.

I love the no-nonsense approach taken by instrumental bands. No need for banter. No point in even rigging the mics. Let’s just kick right into some expertly-crafted rise and fall. Bassist Brian Cook, dressed as dapper as ever, sports an impressive pedigree of previous Pacific Northwest musical projects including mathcore legends, Botch, and post-hardcore noise merchants, These Arms are Snakes. [TAAS’s Steve Snere accidentally hit me in the face with his mic in the back of a dive bar in Lawrence, KS sometime around the release of 2004’s Oxeneers. It was magical. -Ed.] Both of those outfits were short-lived compared to his 10-year run with Russian Circles. He really found his niche playing alongside guitar wizard Mike Sullivan, whom I last saw join Sargeant House labelmate Chelsea Wolfe onstage at the Lincoln for Hopscotch 2016. At one point in the set, Mike effortlessly looped a riff into finger tapping into another riff, layering more into one song than most guitarists can cram into an entire album. Drummer Dave Turncrantz knocked his drums around with such authority that I didn’t mind his “solo” as Mike re-tuned. (And I hate drum solos.) Russian Circles was an excellent way to kick off a diverse bill at the Ritz. [Negadave]

Eagles of Death Metal

At first glance at the bill, I was a tad shocked to see EODM on the poster.  While I am a huge fan, I wasn’t entirely sure how the band would take to a crowd that was predominantly metalheads.  EODM proved that a quality performance matched with the same energy can make believers out of anyone.  RDUMusic’s own photographer extraordinaire, Lan, who was not the biggest fan could not deny how much fun their set was.  EODM started with their hit, “I Only Want You” which definitely got the crowd into a frenzy.  It took a minute for me to notice Brett from Mastodon playing guitar alongside them for that song.  This was my first time seeing EODM, and let me tell you, frontman Jesse Hughes has charisma for days.  It appeared as though staying still would result in immediate death as he would constantly be dancing in place even if he was not singing or playing guitar.  It was clear to see that they were having a blast on stage, and the crowd picked up on that enthusiasm.  In between songs “Complexity” and “Whorehoppin,” Jesse Hughes would constantly survey the crowd to see if the women or the men were having a better time (all in a southern preacher delivery).  Spoiler Alert: the ladies won!  The set was disappointingly short, only spanning eight songs, however, a near-perfect rendition of David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” and the concluding “Speaking In Tongues” more than made up for the short set.  I look forward to seeing a show in the future that will feature Eagles of Death Metal in a headlining spot, as there were so many more songs I wanted to hear from them.

Mastodon

If you know me personally, you won’t be surprised to know how much I love Mastodon.  I guess owning 10 shirts of the same band might be a dead giveaway.  Mastodon was supporting their latest album, Emperor of Sand, an album that personally took some getting used to.  So I was not expecting the “mega-hits” set that I had seen the past few times I’ve seen Mastodon.  If you were a fan of the earlier albums such as Remission and Leviathan, then you were in for a bit of disappointment as only one song from each album was performed, none of which included hits like “Blood and Thunder” or “Crusher Destroyer.”  While it was strange to see Mastodon not play those songs, it certainly wasn’t a negative since they have such a rich catalog.  I also had to make peace that only one song from 2011’s The Hunter was played, though “Black Tongue” is one of my favorite songs so it was hardly a concession.  Most songs were dedicated to Emperor of Sand,though a number of songs from Crack the Sky, Blood Mountain, and Once More ‘Round the Sun made their way into the rotation: “Divinations”, “Bloodcatcher”, and “Oblivion” to name a few.  I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of their latest album upon first listen, but like most concept albums from Mastodon, it would take repeated listens to finally appreciate the next step in their evolution.  Even if I had remained tepid on Emperor of Sand, that opinion would’ve surely changed after seeing those songs performed with ferocity and volume that comes with a Mastodon show.  As expected, Brann Dailor (who I think is one of the most underrated drummers in the world) banged the skins like the machine that he is.  Brett Hinds and Troy Sanders still remain one rock’s best vocal tandems.  Bill Kelliher continues to have the best mustaches in the history of facial hair.  Put them together and you get an ever-evolving rock band that transcends labels and genre.  If you haven’t had the luxury of seeing Mastodon live, I highly recommend doing so the next time they swing through your town.  You certainly won’t regret it.


The Obsessed at The Pour House

by negadave | Jun 5, 2017

Sunday, May 14th, 2017 – The Pour House

RDU Music is back to kick off the 2017 summer concert season with coverage of the venerable Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s first love, The Obsessed.

 

Openers

Boasting an impressive pedigree of local acts, openers Lightning Born have fused together into a surprisingly cohesive unit for being such a new band. Although that should be unsurprising since its members have done time in COC, The Hell No, Demon Eye, and RDU Music faves, Mega Colossus.

Up next was Ohio’s Lo Pan, taking their name from the evil sorcerer in Big Trouble in Little China, and bringing their own brand of stoner rock to the riff-hungry Pour House crowd. Lo Pan employed an interesting yet obvious-when-you-think-about-it stage setup in which the drum kit and frontman swapped positions, leaving vocalist Jeff Martin to hang back, allowing the crowd to focus on the more animated members of the band. At that time, I thought that setup was odd but the more I pondered it, the more it made sense. What are you really watching a vocalist do? As a “music journalist,” I always find myself paying more attention to a drummer’s go-go-gadget arms or a shredder’s guitar-histrionics anyway so you do you, Lo Pan. That led me down the rabbit hole of pondering the perceived necessity of vocalists in metal across the board. For a band like Lo Pan, sure. But for Dying Fetus? Your indecipherable “vocals” sound like farts and bring nothing to the table.

My fellow RDU Music mates demonstrated some rather witty commentary during Lo Pan’s set that I have dutifully shared here via screenshot. [The mean things we say about bands in the moment are priceless but are generally so catty that I fear we will alienate any band that decides to grace the greater Triangle area with their presence if I print them. Then I look at our paltry website traffic and remember that I have nothing to worry about. -Ed.]

Closing out the opening acts was a great set by instrumental stoner rock vets, Karma to Burn. Boasting the mantle of “Only Band I Can Name From West Virginia,” K2B really nails the payoff that many instrumental bands find so challenging: Bringing it back home at the end of a song. They are at the top of their game. Also, their drummer is a human personification of Animal from the Muppets. It was uncanny. Unfortunately, I must give him a demerit for the wood block on his kit. I find it funny when you drag a piece of gear all the way across the country for just one bridge of one song. Either way, K2B’s riffs were dank and their set closer was a straight banger.

I could tell that photog extraordinaire Lan was in good spirits as he would return to my basecamp and regale me with tales of his photography in the wild. “I think I kneeled on a sanitary napkin.” The Pour House, ladies and gentlemen! Don’t forget to tip your waitress. He also confessed that instead of Karma to Burn, he thought we were seeing Mission of Burma. Nothing against the night’s lineup (which was solid, through and through) but if Mission of Burma were playing the Pour House, I would have dashed up front with a raging, mega-huge fanboy boner. I love me some Signals, Calls, and Marches.

The Obsessed

After a positively riffy night of beers and patented RDU Music shenanigans, we were ready to strap in and witness one of the greats do his thing with The Obsessed. And I can testify that Wino was born to solo. It is so effortless and he manages to do it with the most lustrous mane of silver hair that I have ever seen. Most touring bands are lucky to be blessed with two showers a month which leads me to believe that Wino employs a team of fabulous stylists, akin to what an artist like Madonna might bring with her. [It’s true. I fact-checked the hell out of it. -Ed.] New bassist Reid Raley has his beverage game on lock down. He had 9 drinks laid out in a row on the banister in what appeared to be in order of potency. Well played.

It’s impressive how fresh and relevant the Obsessed sounds after all these years. Wino is out there every day proving that metal is timeless, and not only because he looks like he time-traveled straight from 1979. May his fiery riffs outlive us all.


Hopscotch Music Festival 2016 – Day 1

by negadave | Sep 15, 2016

Day 1 – Thursday, September 8th, 2016

Downtown Raleigh

As another muggy North Carolinian summer begins to wind down, the town of Raleigh begins to amp up for the annual Hopscotch Music Festival. I got the call from my partners in crime, Lan and Yang, late in the afternoon. They were headed downtown to check out some day parties, one facet of the Hopscotch experience in which I seldom partake. Yes, they are free, fun, and overflowing with the best underground talent in the area but I am not a young man. I can’t start drinking in the hot sun around noon and expect to close down the bars for the nightly headliners so I tend to spend my Hopscotch days writing in the cool confines of my ever-darkened apartment.

I met the boys at the Pour House where I comically missed Bedowyn’s set for the eleventeenth time. Seriously, every time I see Bedowyn drummer Marc, I am apologizing for perpetually arriving 20 minutes after they finish their set. Which is unfortunate since Bedowyn are one of the best metal acts in the region. Go spin Blood of the Fallen right now. Thank me later.

Bedowyn: Facebook | Bandcamp

Wye Oak

City Plaza

We made it to City Plaza in time to catch one of my favorite bands on this year’s bill, Baltimore’s Wye Oak. I have caught them live a couple of times after falling in love with their sound on 2011’s Civilian. They opened the night perfectly with their varied instrumentation and widely-accessible-yet-unique sound which brought a great turnout to the Plaza. Frontwoman, Jenn Wasner, has a great stage presence and was adorably touched as a generous concertgoer tossed flowers on stage for her and her partner-in-crime, multi-instrumentalist percussionist, Andy Stack.

RDU Music’s own Yang may have more on Wye Oak later as he tackles a piece about one of his all-time faves, Wolf Parade, who headlined the first night of the City Plaza shows but since I took the day off to write, I am going to sneak in this mini-review of Wye Oak before he notices.

4/5 stars = Great

Wye Oak: Facebook | Merge Records

Battle Trance

Nash Hall

Battle Trance: New Amsterdam Records | Bandcamp

Lan received an email from New Amsterdam Records asking us to check out tenor saxophone quartet Battle Trance. I was immediately intrigued by that statement so we left Wolf Parade in Yang’s capable hands and made our way to Nash Hall, a fresh and artsy 300-capacity seated venue in a church converted from Nash Motors. Hopscotch’s site aptly describes the venue as, “a more intimate CAM Raleigh.” It was the perfect venue for such a unique act as Battle Trance.

Oftentimes at Hopscotch, I tend to gravitate toward metal acts and plant my feet firmly in the same venue for an entire evening. Battle Trance reminded me why it is so fun and liberating to roll up on a strange, new place to hear even stranger things.

I walked in expecting a jazzy good time but was immediately proven wrong. Battle Trance are an altogether different kind of animal, weaving ambient aural textures by shattering one’s preconceived notions about the “correct” way one should play a saxophone. By trading solos in the round and relying as much on breath sounds and key-clacks as “notes,” Battle Trance’s sound at times flirted with the cacophonous before devolving into emotionally-moving minimalist sections reminiscent of say, Sigur Ros, before ramping back up to a sound one might more traditionally think of when envisioning a tenor sax quartet.

Their ability to hold on loosely to a gossamer, cohesive thread of “song structure” while taking it for completely unexpected rides in multiple directions at once was masterful. There weren’t even any breaks for applause. The crowd had no idea when to clap so they thought the better of it, which only contributed to the eerie atmosphere weaved by Battle Trance.

I wish I could have seen my face as I tagged along for Battle Trance’s musical journey. I could feel the look of incredulity as my brain struggled to grasp what was happening. I then felt by brow begin to unfurrow as an aural wave of emotion crashed around me and permeated my being. I looked around and saw similar emotional rollercoasters on the faces of the rest of the concertgoers. Many never reached the same sense of acceptance and fulfillment that I did. There were some palpably negative visceral responses to some of the tones and movements but that only made me appreciate Battle Trance even more. It felt as if I were becoming part of some secret musical society that was able to appreciate all that Battle Trance had to offer.

5/5 stars = Excellent

After only the first night of Hopscotch 2016, Battle Trance proved to easily be the biggest and best surprise of the festival. Their set was a wholly transcendent experience that made me wish I were a more eloquent writer so that I might adequately do it justice.

Mutoid Man

Lincoln Theatre

Mutoid Man: Facebook | Bandcamp

After a brief side trip to another plane of consciousness courtesy of Battle Trance, I headed south down Blount, making my way to the Lincoln Theatre where one of my more anticipated acts of Hopscotch 2016 was beginning to soundcheck: Mutoid Man. (Steve soundchecked his mic with “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones, so you know they were ready to party.)

Boasting a pedigree of some of my favorite bands of the new millennium (Cave In, Kid Kilowatt, Converge, All Pigs Must Die, etc.), my excitement level was already off the charts before Mutoid Man opened with the world’s all-time rockinest cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Steve can really hit those high notes too.

The central theme of Mutoid Man’s set was pure, unadulterated fun. Those three fellas were having the time of their lives: Steve and Nick trading middle fingers to each other between riffs, Ben losing a drumstick and deciding to try ramming it into Nick’s ass, all while cruising through a stellar setlist of mutant jams. They even played some new songs, the first of which lasted for all of about 6 seconds before they all stopped and Steve announced, “This one’s still cooking.”

Hopscotch is always weird about crowd sizes due to the fact that the entire city is hosting shows at overlapping frequencies but a decent crowd turned out to see Mutoid Man, all of which were headbanging along with all the dank-ass mutant riffs.

5/5 stars = Excellent

SO. MANY. RIFFS. I defy you not to hurt your neck.

Converge

Lincoln Theatre

The piece de resistance of this year’s Hopscotch for me was the announcement of Converge to the bill. If I didn’t already have enough reasons to purchase yet another wristband, Converge sealed the deal. They have consistently been one of my favorite bands for the last 15+ years. I got into them during the heyday of 2001’s seminal game-changer Jane Doe. I didn’t “get” that record for the first 3 months I owned it until one day I succumbed to its harrowing bleakness and never looked back.

I saw Converge a couple of times in those days but haven’t seen them live in 10 years, since the release of 2006’s No Heroes. The timing was perfect since Hopscotch was to be Converge’s last show of the year (or longer) so that they could go home and start working on a new record. I am forever grateful that they decided to swing through Raleigh and rekindle my fire with a blistering set that further reminded me that they remain at the top of their game.

Each member of Converge is larger than life with a stage personality all their own. Jake pacing the stage like an enraged teenager bouncing off the walls of his bedroom; Kurt looking like the elder statesman who no longer cares about punk fashion, doing more with one guitar than many bands do with three; Nate furiously hitting the bass so hard that he probably goes through three straps a month; and finally Ben, a drummer’s drummer whose intensity is head and shoulders above anyone else in the game. They’ve all been together so long that the sum of those parts generates a palpable electricity each time they take the stage together. It felt as important and meaningful now as it did 10 years ago.

I’ve never been able to adequately describe why I feel Converge so deeply but as soon as they took the stage, all the old and unnamed feelings came flooding back to an overwhelming degree. Ragers like “Trespasses” and “Concubine” will bring out the beast in any man but the highlight of the evening for me was when Steve Brodsky (of Mutoid Man, Cave In, and early Converge) joined the band on stage to close out the night by singing the high parts of “Jane Doe.” The sheer bleakness and raw, overpowering emotion of “Jane Doe” will haunt me forever, in the best possible way.

5/5 stars = Excellent

Lost in you like Saturday nights

Searching the streets with bedroom eyes

Just dying to be saved

If you are in the mood to reminisce, you can check out my coverage from last year’s Hopscotch below.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2016 – Day 2

by negadave | Oct 7, 2016

Day 2 – Friday, September 9th, 2016

Downtown Raleigh

I am really proud of myself for my Hopscotch 2016 – Day 1 recap. I paid attention, took insightful notes, and came away with a solid piece. Then I threw all that out the window for Day 2 as I simply meandered about the city with no real destination in mind.

Beach House / Anderson .Paak

City Plaza

Beach House: Facebook | Soundcloud

Anderson .Paak: Facebook | Soundcloud

Day 1 was a solid turnout in City Plaza for Wye Oak and Wolf Parade but even more people packed the street for Day 2’s lineup of Anderson .Paak and Beach House.

Hip-hop funk revivalist, Anderson .Paak got the crowd moving early until Beach House emerged through the fog to drop a dark and smoky set.

Young Thug: Facebook | YouTube

An artist that generated one of the largest pre-show buzzes was Atlanta’s paradoxical fashionista MC, Young Thug. Memorial’s meager pit area couldn’t contain all of the concertgoers so there was substantial spillover into the aisles as Jeffery brought his unique brand of Southern rap. But he left the wedding dresses at home.

Demdike Stare

Fletcher Opera House

Demdike Stare: Soundcloud

After leaving Memorial, I realized that Fletcher was directly next door so I thought I would check out the odd stylings of dark ambient electronic duo, Manchester’s Demdike Stare. I didn’t know what to expect as I’d only briefly familiarized myself with their music that afternoon, but I will be perfectly honest with you: It had been a long day and I was excited to sit in the dark and get weird with Demdike Stare.

I was hoping to more eloquently describe their sound but it is a sensation best experienced. There wasn’t much “show” as DS are simply two chaps with some electronics on a table but they were able to take the scattered, post-midnight crowd on a sweeping and disconcerting journey through dark, industrial landscapes of the mind.

YOB

The Pour House

YOB: Facebook | Bandcamp

To close the night, I staggered over to the Pour House where I had intended to spend the entire night but got sidetracked. That venue’s lineup was stellar: MAKE, Occultist, Cobalt, and YOB. But I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into the same experience as Day 1 where I pretty much posted up at Lincoln Theatre until it was time to go home. Since I had a pleasantly surprising experience the night before by stumbling into a set by the stellar Battle Trance, I thought I would try my luck again on Day 2 in hopes of turning a corner and being surprised. Unfortunately, I should have stuck with my initial impulse and hung out at Pour House all night to catch bands I actually wanted to see. Oh well. You can’t win ’em all. At least Lan got some dope shots.

I was only able to catch the back half of YOB’s set but that was more than enough for me to solidify the fact that I had chosen my route poorly for the evening. I should have been there, front and center, for YOB’s entire set of top-tier atmospheric doom. (Missing Cobalt might have been my biggest mistake of the Fest though. -Ed.)

Erykah Badu

Red Hat Amphitheater

Erykah Badu: Facebook

2016 marked the first year where Hopscotch added Red Hat as a venue and invited hip-hop & soul visionary Erykah Badu for its inaugural run. It’s a good thing too as Red Hat filled up quickly, likely past the point of City Plaza’s capacity.

I received an email from Etix earlier in the evening saying that Erykah was delayed in transit from Texas so her set was pushed to 9:15 but it was actually closer to 10 before she took the stage. The house music kept fans occupied for a while but eventually Erykah’s band took the stage for a jam session in order to buy some extra time.

Erykah finally took the stage in dramatic fashion, both literally and figuratively. She casually sauntered out on stage wearing a 10-gallon leather hat adorned with a fox tail. It didn’t take her long to shed some of the excess leather as the NC heat has a tendency to remain oppressive well into the wee hours of the night.

Hopscotch Music Festival 2016 – Day 3

by negadave | Oct 7, 2016

Day 3 – Saturday, September 10th, 2016

Downtown Raleigh

I say it every year, but this year it might actually be true: This is my last Hopscotch. It’s not that Hopscotch is anything other than the best curated and executed music festival in the Southeast, but rather that a 3-day festival is a younger man’s game. I was ready to go home midway through Day 2 but I knew there were still some gems to be found on Day 3. Instead, I only managed to see about 3 sets because I again decided to not park myself at one venue since I thought some change would do me good. (That mindset caused me to miss Tribulation and Baroness. Or maybe I missed them because I fell asleep at Memorial Auditorium. -Ed.)

Sylvan Esso

City Plaza

Sylvan Esso Facebook | Website

My heart swelled with pride at the fact that the arguably biggest City Plaza turnout was for Durham’s own indie-electronic duo, Sylvan Esso. I immersed myself in the center of the massive City Plaza throng in order to fully experience a musical style that was markedly outside my personal spectrum. I only lasted a couple songs before I found myself searching for an egress. I will say that SO was a pleasant surprise to me but the crowd was hanging on Amelia’s every word and Nick’s every bleep and bloop.


Necrocosm

Kings

Necrocosm: Facebook | Bandcamp

Next up was a short walk to Kings where I felt more comfortable among those of my own ilk who turned out to see hometown melodic death metal upstarts, Necrocosm.

Now we’re cooking with gas! I had seen the Necrocosm boys around the scene and caught a few of their sets before but this one was the pièce de résistance. The crowd was amped, filling Kings pretty full for such an early set. Necrocosm immediately went to work with their high-octane guitar histrionics.

Frontman Zach’s large and commanding stage presence was offset by how excited and grateful they were to be playing for a crowd that was diggin’ it. Joel’s luscious locks were flying in the non-existent breeze as he headbanged with almost the same ferocity that he uses to attack his ripping riffs.

Necrocosm played three new tracks which I am sure will feature prominently on their upcoming October tour. One of them, I believe, was called, “Atrocities of the Ephemeral,” whose subject matter centered on Peruvian human fat harvesters selling their ill-gotten gains to the highest bidder for use in beauty products. Metal is the fucking best…and Raleigh is proud to let Necrocosm carry that banner for the City of Oaks.

Andrew Bird

Memorial Auditorium

Andrew Bird: Facebook | YouTube

What would become my last show of the night, I swung by Memorial Auditorium to catch America’s premiere indie-folk violinist and whistler extraordinaire, Andrew Bird.

AB is highly talented: violin tricks, guitar, great voice, etc. I have never been a fan of whistling but Bird makes it much more musical than the average asshole whistling next to you at the urinals. The classiness and large scale of Memorial Auditorium was a great setting for Bird and co. The smoke and lights were understated which was a nice touch that matched the tone of the set. I liked that all four musicians on stage were lined up equally, creating a sense of cohesion despite AB’s many overpowering talents.

A highlight of the set was when Bird stated that he had earlier thought that the venue was conducive to an acoustic session so he made it happen as he and his bandmates gathered around an ambient mic for quite a few songs under that setup. Then it was back to the Andrew Bird recipe for success: Whistle a bird noise, loop it; pluck the violin, loop it; bow the violin, loop it; put down the violin, pick up guitar, sing.

Bird played an exceptionally long set as he was the Memorial headliner for the evening but it did not feel as if it was dragging on. I did doze off for a few minutes but that had little to do with the show. I was simply draggin’ ass after three nights of festival shenanigans.

As much as I wanted to catch Tribulation and Baroness, I knew that my tank was empty after Andrew Bird so I simply disappeared into the night, bidding yet another Hopscotch Music Festival adieu.

Modest Mouse

Ghun. Sikth. Periphery.

311

Whores. Torche. Red Fang.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Zack Sabbath & Clutch.

Carcass. Testament. Slayer.

Winter Metal Fest 2016

Crowbar. High on Fire.

Colossus.

The Good Life.

Faith No More. Refused.

Megafauna

Antique Hearts Raleigh 2015

Clutch City Plaza 2015

Garmenbozia

Cursive