Hopscotch - Day Three

The fallout from Friday night's Sun Kil Moon performance was already on the street, literally, by Saturday morning.  However, the Hopscotch Music festival continued unabated.

CELESTIAL SHORE

Raleigh labels Cardigan Records and Trekky Records were having next-door day parties at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub and The Pour House, respectively, so I started the day alternating between the two. Celestial Shore's performance at The Pour House was too loud and garagey for me that early in the day, so I went over to Tir Na Nog for  Capital Arms.

CAPITAL ARMS

Capital Arms rocked pretty hard, too, but their slightly poppier sound was a little more palatable to my ears in the early afternoon.

CAITLIN ROSE & PHIL COOK

I may have tilted a tad too far in the laid-back direction for singer-songwriters Caitlin Rose and Phil Cook's set.  Pleasant folk music, but now not aggressive enough to keep my going through the day.

STEVE GUNN

Steve Gunn, one of the guest guitarists with Yo La Tengo in the so-called Little Black Egg Big Band, was an acoustic singer-songwriter as well, but with a more muscular, more aggressive approach.  We were going in the right direction now.

LANDLADY

Brooklyn's Landlady were the first discovery of the day, putting on a quirky set of their impossible-to-categorize music at The Pour House.  This was a lot of fun.

MUST BE THE HOLY GHOST

As soon as Landlady was over, I went back to Tir Na Nog to get something to eat, and caught the second half of one-man band It Must Be The Holy Ghost's loop-fueled set, including psychedelic light show. 

VALIANT THORR

It was metal night at the Main Stage, starting with North Carolina's Valiant Thorr.  I did not seek the rail for these sets and watched from the safe distance of the periphery of the crowd.

DEATH

Detroit punk metal legends Death (A Band Called Death) played a very impressive and surprisingly accessible set.

MASTODON

Atlanta's own Mastodon headlined the metal slate at the Main Stage.

SEE GULLS

I left Mastodon a little early to get to The Deep South to catch buzz-band See Gulls, and was surprised to find a long line to get in - looks like a lot of other people skipped out on all or part of Mastodon as well.  It took me most of their set to get in, much less get close enough to snap a few pictures, but they sounded great.  Second discovery of the day.

WEYES BLOOD

We saw Weyes Blood a year or two ago opening for Ducktails and Alex Bleeker at The Earl in Atlanta. Same interesting take on country murder ballads and heart-breaking sadness. 

AVA LUNA

Brooklyn's Ava Luna played a great set of their neo-New Wave, soul influenced indie pop.

PRINCE RAMA

Prince Rama's performances are always spectacular, but last night they brought the audience or the audience brought them to new heights of ecstatic delirium.

SUN ARAW

Late-night set around the block at Slim's by the enigmatic Sun Araw, who combined drone, free jazz and psych rock into a spell-binding mix of mind-bending music.

Will post more pictures, etc., soon.  Meanwhile, the maids are knocking at my door to tell me it's time for me to check out of my hotel and return to Atlanta.