As noted here, many times, MusicFest NorthWest (MFNW) in Portland, Oregon is now a mere shell of what it once was, and I'm not going this year and I didn't go last year. Bumbershoot in Seattle has apparently run into the brick wall of financial limitations, and it isn't worth flying cross-country for this year's lineup.
On the other hand, Atlanta's own Shaky Knees Festival had a stellar line-up, and for months I've been waiting to hear the lineup for this year's Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh. They announced back in March that Godflesh would be playing (I'll try not to hold that against them) and then later that same month they announced that Owen Pallett would also be playing - better, to be sure, but hardly a marquee headliner - and that the full lineup would be announced in April.
The whole month of April passed without any announcement, and it wasn't until today, May 19, that the full line up was finally announced, and holy fucking shit.
They had me at Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I didn't have to read any further than that to know that I'd be going to Hopscotch this year. Alert readers might recall that we saw Godspeed back in 2013 during the last of the "good" MFNWs, and it was a transcendent experience of music and visuals, a wonderfully long crescendo leading up to one stunning musical climax. I cannot wait to see then again and I immediately went online and bought a VIP wristband and booked three nights at the downtown Raleigh Marriott.
It's hard to top that, but the rest of the lineup is nearly as stellar. Deerhunter. Lydia Loveless. Jenny Hval. Mac McCaughan (Superchunk). And that's just the first day, and it gets better and better from there.
One of my regrets during Day One of Shaky Knees was having to pass on TV On the Radio in order to see The Mountain Goats. Well, TV On the Radio are headlining Day Two of Hopscotch. Add to that Mitski, Tycho, the legendary Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators), Natalie Prass, and Steve Gunn, and you've got yourself a solid day right there.
They finally trot out Godflesh and Owen Pallet on Day Three, not to mention Chlesea Wolfe, Dwight Yoakam, Jessica Pratt, Flock of Dimes (Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak), and even X and Zs.
And on top of all that, about 100 bands I haven't heard of yet.
I used to think that I had to fly all the way to the Pacific Northwest for a lineup of this caliber, but so far this year, between Shaky Knees (Atlanta) and Hopscotch (Raleigh), the nation's two best festivals, in my humble opinion, are right down here in the Southeast.
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