W♥M (Archive)

Hopscotch: The Mountain Goats at Fletcher Opera Theater, Raleigh

Tour Dates 10/06 Reynolds Industries Theatre, Durham, NC 10/09 The National* , Richmond, VA 10/10 The Ottobar* , Baltimore, MD 10/11 Theatre of the Living Arts* , Philadelphia, PA 10/13 Music Hall of Williamsburg* , Brooklyn, NY 10/14 Music Hall of Williamsburg* , Brooklyn, NY 10/15 Bowery Ballroom* , New York, NY 10/16 Bowery Ballroom* , New York, NY 10/18 House of Blues* , Boston, MA 10/19 The Haunt* , Ithaca, NY 10/20 Phoenix Concert Theatre*, Toronto 10/22 Ladies Literary Club*, Grand Rapids, MI 10/23 Pabst Theatre* , Milwaukee, WI 10/24 The Varsity Theatre*, Minneapolis, MN 10/26 Blue Moose Taphouse* , Iowa City, IA 10/27 The Vic Theatre* , Chicago, IL 11/04 Mountain Stage, Huntington, WV *with Matthew E. White Read More Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats' new single, "Cry for Judas," is available as a free download. The song is from the forthcoming Transcendental Youth (out on October 2nd, 2012, via Merge Records).

The Mountain Goats
Fletcher Opera Theater, Raleigh
Hopscotch Music Festival, September 07, 2012

It is well known that John Darnielle, the force behind the Mountain Goats, likes heavy metal music. It comes up in interviews often, and hearing him speak about his love of metal has made me feel a little softer towards heavy metal and its fans, who I had always presumed to be angry, awkward men I couldn't relate to. I am not a metal fan, but I love it when people love music.

The Mountain Goats played two sets to a hushed crowd at the Fletcher Opera Theater on Friday, the second night of the Hopscotch Music Festival. The first set was a showcase of heavy metal songs, Darnielle solo in the spotlight on a large piano. Darnielle's sharp, earnest talk-singing was occasionally backed by a trio of barbershop singers. My description sounds ridiculous, but the performance profoundly touched me. The complex guitar riffs of the metal songs were arranged beautifully for the piano. Stripped down, the songs sounded clear and meaningful to my ears. I do not know enough about metal to know quite which songs Darnielle was singing, but when he paused in one of the songs to sing in his own manner, "All Hail Satan!" I wanted to stand up and cheer. My companions and I giggled appreciatively from high up in the rafters.

For his second set the piano was exchanged for a guitar, and Darnielle played a selection of self-described rarities from his own extensive catalog. I stayed for just a few of them, admiring the wordplay in his lyrics and the simplicity with which he presented them. The audience was quietly respectful, listening to an honest man and his guitar.

It is an exciting time for the Mountain Goats; the latest album, his fifteenth since 1994, is coming out October 2, on Merge Records with a month-long tour to follow. I hope John Darnielle will keep some of those metal covers in his repertoire this fall.

robinx ♥ www.mountain-goats.com

Hopscotch: Holograms at Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh

Tour Dates 09/11 Toronto, ON @ Shop at Parts & Labour 09/12 Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog 09/13 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick 09/14 Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern 09/17 Vancouver, BC @ The Media Club 09/18 Seattle, WA @ Barboza 09/19 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 09/21 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop 09/22 Santa Cruz, CA @ 105 Pioneer 09/23 Los Angeles,CA @ The Echo 09/24 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar 11/07 Brighton, UK @ Green Door 11/08 Bristol, UK @ Louisiana 11/09 Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds 11/10 Manchester, UK @ Castle Hotel 11/11 Glasgow, UK @ Captains Rest 11/13 Leeds, UK @ Melbourne St. Studios 11/14 Nottingham, UK @ Bodega 11/15 London, UK @ Shacklewell Arms

Holograms
Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh
Hopscotch Music Festival, September 06, 2012

It didn't take long for the mosh pit to break out in front of Holograms during their set at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh last Thursday. It happened organically, as a good mosh pit does, when something inside the music urges an audience to throw themselves around in union with other bodies doing the same. It was like old times! There was much flailing about. Men stood next to women to make sure they didn't get too knocked around. Strangers fell down and were selflessly given a hand up. We were all in the music together. I danced until my shoes broke apart.

I turned to someone halfway through Holograms' set, sweaty and panting, and I shouted at him, "What is this? What is this music?"

It's simple, it's Joy Division. It's post-punk. Hardcore. It's new post-punk. It's modern.

Holograms make angular, youthful music, steady and driving. It is music that compels your heart to beat faster. Holograms are not just copy artists, though they drink from the same well as their post-punk forebears, with tight guitar-and-drum rants cleverly augmented by heavy synthesizers. They transmit their music in a live setting with energy, giving the audience a reason to jump around aggressively. I like my music sweet sometimes, and I like it twee too, but every so often I need a catharsis, and at their Hopscotch appearance Holograms provided just what I needed.

The Swedish band continues their tour with dates in North America and the United Kingdom (see tour dates on the right-column).

Their debut LP was released in July 2012 on shoegaze-revivalist label Captured Tracks.

robinx ♥ capturedtracks.com/artists/holograms

Hopscotch Spotlight: Thee Oh Sees and Flesh Wounds

Read More Hopscotch Music Festival The third annual Hopscotch Music Festival is September 6-8, 2012, in North Carolina. More details on hopscotchmusicfest.com. If you're attending, maybe you would want to check out some of these Hopscotch shows

In advance of a transcontinental North American tour co-headlining with Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees will play at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. They take the late slot at the Contemporary Art Museum on Thursday, September 6th. I've heard a lot of good words about the San Francisco band's urgent garage rock performances, and I'm putting them on my Hopscotch Must-See List.

Their latest album is due September 11th, on In the Red.

Also playing at the Contemporary Art Museum are Flesh Wounds, the latest from Montgomery Morris, Laura King, and Dan Kinney, all veterans of the still-kicking Triangle music scene. It's good old-fashioned rock'n'roll played hard and loud, as can be heard on their single, AAA, released April 2012. They'll be playing twice at this year's Hopscotch, first at the Contemporary Art Museum on Thursday, and again the next day, September 7th at the free day show at Slim's Downtown sponsored by Churchkey Records and The Layabout (2:00, outside).

Thee Oh Sees and Flesh Wounds play with Holograms, who are coming all the way from Sweden, and Tenement at the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, Thursday, September 6th.

Show schedule:
9:30 - Flesh Wounds
10:30 - Tenement
11:30 - Holograms
12:30 - Thee Oh Sees

Thee Oh Sees tour dates:

09/06/12 Hopscotch Festival Raleigh NC 09/08/12 Uptown Oakland CA * 09/09/12 El Rey Los Angeles CA * 09/10/12 Bar Pink San Diego CA * 09/11/12 Bunkhouse Las Vegas NV# 09/13/12 Gothic Theater Denver CO# 09/14/12 ACM @UCO Oklahoma City OK# 09/15/12 La Zona Rosa Austin TX# 09/18/12 Goat Farm Atlanta GA # 09/19/12 The Bottletree Birmingham Al# 09/20/12 Zombie Shop Nashville TN # 09/21/12 Strange Matter Richmond VA # 09/22/12 The Well (Wick) Brooklyn NY# 09/23/12 ATP NYC 09/25/12 Town Ballroom Bufffalo NY#

09/26/12 The Hoxton Toronto ON# 09/27/12 Lager House Detroit MI# 09/28/12 Logan Square Auditorium Chicago IL# 09/29/12 High Noon Saloon Madison WI# 09/30/12 Turf Club St. Paul MN # 10/02/12 VFW Missoula * 10/03/12 Broken City Calgary AB * 10/04/12 Broken City Calgary AB * 10/06/12 Rickshaw Theater Vancouver BC * 10/07/12 Neptune Seattle WA * 10/08/12 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR * 10/09/12 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR * 10/12/12 Great American San Francisco, CA* * with Sic Alps, # with Ty Segall

robinx ♥ www.theeohsees.com