Friday in Raleigh marked the first full day for the Hopscotch Festival. With headliners set to take stage in the City Plaza, I started walking. From the get go I noticed that streets were way busier than they had been the night before. It seems most people viewed Thursday’s shows as a warm-up night for the actual festival, which is a shame, because there were some quality shows to be seen. Once I got to the plaza, I made my way to the front of the crowd and watched as The Dodos took the stage. They were incredible. Energetically plowing through guitar and drum creations they kicked off the night the right way. Midway through the set lead singer/guitarist Meric Long quipped “It might just be the coffee talking but I’m feeling good.” They closed with a less than polished rendition of Jodi. No one seemed to mind the few stray notes, myself included.
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Today’s set featured:
Hardwood Floor
Holler & Howl
Loxtep
Sweet Sister
Stream the full playback here.
Sweet Sister is out now.
MP3: Annuals – Loxtep
Sweet Sister is out on 3/30. It features:
1. Loxtep
2. Turncloaking
3. Sweet Sister
4. Holler & Howl
5. Flesh & Blood
Last year, Annuals dropped by WOXY.
Visit Annuals on MySpace.
MP3: Annuals – Confessor
Yesterday’s set featured:
Always Do
Springtime
Confessor
Wake
Visit Annuals on MySpace.
In January, Annuals dropped by NPR’s World Cafe.
Listen to WOXY here.
MP3: Annuals – Live On WOXY
Yesterday’s set included:
“Hot Night Hounds”
“Always Do”
“Confessor”
“Down The Mountain”
“Hardwood Floor”
“Wake”
“Brother”
“Hair Don’t Grow”
Enjoy the full playback here.
Annuals will visit WOXY in early March.
Visit Annuals on MySpace.
MP3: Annuals – Confessor
This bill is really shaping up (good job, NME). Jen and I are due to give Annuals another chance after we were sorely disappointed by one of their CMJ gigs. And you know you can never go wrong with The Walkmen or Kaiser Chiefs. Woooo!
FULL Tour dates below (we know they’ve been trickling in as of late but here’s the complete list, we swear!):
04-06 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
04-07 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
04-09 Boston, MA – Avalon
04-12 New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
04-17 Montreal, Quebec – Spectrum
04-18 Toronto, Ontario – Kool Haus
04-20 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre
04-21 Minneapolis, MN – Trocadero
04-24 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
04-25 Seattle, WA – Showbox Theatre
04-26 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
04-27 San Francisco, CA – Warfield
UPDATE: EDITORS ARE PLAYING TOO!!! Info HERE!
Last night, The Fader hosted their ‘Sideshow’ at 88 Delancey (there are all day events all the way through Saturday), a converted space that has been abandoned for quite some time. I’m not sure exactly what it was before but a cheesy women’s clothing store would be my best guess. Regardless, the sound equipment was brought in, a makeshift stage was erected and it was time to check out some of the buzz bands from this year’s CMJ.
Frida Hyvoven came on somewhere around 6pm to a moderate-sized crowd. One thing that immediately distracted me was her outfit. Her blouse and scarf were wrapped SO TIGHTLY around her throat that her face would turn as red as a ripe tomato every note she sang. Girl, loosen it up! Her music was sort of Cat Power meets Joan As Police Woman meets Regina Spektor, with a Scandinavian twist. I wish I could say that I enjoyed her more than I actually did. Her voice was stunning but the charisma was lacking and the song lyrics were, how should I say it, trite. However, I do see potential for Frida. She is beautiful and her voice is really powerful. Perhaps she needs some mentorship from Nellie McKay.
Next up, the much-blogged and buzzed, Annuals. With high expectations, the room was over capacity at this point and everybody’s eyes were glued to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I wasn’t grabbed. I’m sorry. I know some of you worship the band. I do enjoy the album alright but I didn’t get anything out of their live show. Perhaps the length of the set had something to do with it (just under a half hour) or perhaps it was the venue, but I don’t know, it just wasn’t what I thought it’d be. The college kiddies in the front were enjoying themselves though, while the other half of the room just kept scratching their heads. Did we catch them on a bad night?
Closing out the evening was 120 Days. Otherwise known as 4 pretty Scandinavian boys who attempt to combine New Order-like hooks/beats with some shouting. The result is almost a success, but not quite. It’s just that the boys seem so disconnected from one another. The beats are pretty cool and by the end of their set I was shakin’ shakin’, but some of their songs really need to be condensed! The last number of the evening closed in at a staggering 15 minutes. But I believe in 120 Days, and won’t give up on them that easily. Below is one of their shortest tracks, for your consideration!
MP3: 120 Days – Get Away
