Apologies for posting this a day late (I just discovered this as visiting my computer-less grandparents yields limited Internet access), but this is a big story to stary off 2010.
The Independent Weekly will be launching a music festival in September 2010 called Hopscotch, set to span 10 venues in downtown Raleigh (note music editor Grayson Currin’s addition to the comments section). The festival is set for Sept. 9-11 (that’s a Thursday-Saturday structure), about two months before Troika usually falls, and we are to expect 150 bands of national scale at Slim’s, Tir Na Nog and downtown Raleigh’s City Center.
At the N&O, Dave Menconi states the obvious: this is a surprising time for any publication to be doing anything other than cutting back. Regardless, the festival seems to be a Raleigh version of South by Southwest. Though it’s months away, the lineup will likely include Currin pals the Rosebuds, Bowerbirds and Megafaun–the latter two formerly of Burlytime Records–as well as some Merge acts (e.g. the aforementioned Rosebuds and the Love Language). Here’s hoping Superchunk reserve
With Merge taking over Chapel Hill every five years, and Troika tackling Durham annually (and Trekky, Piedmont Biofuels, among other small ones), it seems like the capitol could blow the other two points of the Triangle away. It certainly is aspiring to be much grander in scale that Cherry Bounce. We’ll be following this one closely for sure.
You should be really excited right now because Troika 2009 starts today. What looks like the best iteration of the Troika Music Festival tonight kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at Durham Central Park with the Beast and Megafaun. We previewed some of the shows you should definitely check out (the aforementioned one among them) in today’s recess. You can check it out here:
Also noteworthy (I could go on about all the shows–Pipe!–but Trekky has a good guide here) is the Rock Paper Scissors art/music event Saturday afternoon. If nothing else, you can be a humanitarian and buy some of Red Collar drummer Jonathan Truesdale photos to help him work out some medical bills caused by CMJ (see the story for clarification).
See you at Troika.
[Photo of Bowerbirds in Paris by Oliver Peel. Courtesy Flickr.]
Megafaun just released the video for “Impressions of the Past” from Gather, Form and Fly, which, to anyone who was at the Arts Center show in August, will seem pretty familiar. Nonetheless, it’s pretty great and an excellent song. Also, be sure to catch them Thursday in downtown Durham for the Troika kick-off (the Beast opens.)
New, however, are It’s Just Vanity playing with Antarctic and Greensboro’s the Bronzed Chorus and Princeton (which I believe has been advertised on the door for some time so not quite new) Oct. 16. The big announcement is Former Ghosts, fulfilling the Coffeehouse’s annual Jamie Stewart visit requirement. In addition to Mr. Xiu Xiu, the new super group includes This Song Is a Mess But So Am I’s Freddy Ruppert and Zola Jesus’s Nika Roza. Openers for the latter shows are TBA. In a more meaningful presentation of information:
Oct. 3 – The Lovely Feathers w/ Rural Alberta Advantage, $7
Oct. 9 – Former Ghosts w/ TBA, $5
Oct. 10 – Princeton w/ TBA, $10
Oct. 16 – The Beast CD release party w/ Carlitta Durnad, Kooley High and Freebass 808, Price TBA, 8 p.m. Show
Oct. 17 – It’s Just Vanity w/ Antarctic and the Bronzed Chorus, $5
Nov. 1 – Islands w/ Jemina Pearl and Toro Y Moi, $10
Nov. 5 – TROIKA (Future Islands, EAR PWR, The ExMonkeys, Molly Bancroft)
Nov. 6 – TROIKA (Birds of Avalon, I Was Totally Destroying It, the Pneurotics, the Ringing Cedars)
Nov. 7 – TROIKA (Lonnie Walker, the Travesties, Maple Stave, the Bronzed Chorus)
As always, shows are free to Duke students, doors are at 8:30 p.m., shows at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Three nights. Nine venues. A ton of bands. The schedule for the 2009 Troika Music Festival has been released over at the festival’s Web site. You can check it out here, and make sure to buy your passes too (only $20).
