The burgeoning metropolis of Raleigh, NC is already gearing up for the 3rd Annual Hopscotch Music Festival this September (check out our extensive past coverage
here). For those of you unfamiliar with the event, the aptly named Hopscotch Festival takes place across over a dozen different venues in downtown Raleigh, all within reasonable walking distance of each other, consisting of a large outdoor stage in City Plaza and an assortment of bars, clubs, and theaters of all shapes and sizes. Back in November, a mere two month after 2011's stellar weekend, the folks at Hopscotch announced that they would be adding the main gallery of Raleigh's Contemporary Art Museum as their fifteenth performance venue, indicating that the festival was continuing to build on the expansive growth that it made after between 2010 and 2011. It turns out that was only the beginning.
As of today, the fest's website has announced another major addition: the 1,200 seat Memorial Auditorium located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts (the same building that houses the Fletcher Opera Theatre, which was a new venue in 2011). With such a large capacity indoor venue, one can't help but speculate the type of acts that will be booked for this year's event. To give you an idea of the potential here, Memorial Auditorium has housed bands such as the Decemberists and Primus in the past, and their upcoming schedule includes Nick Lowe, Art Garfunkel, and Feist. For now, though, we can only guess who will grace the stage at Memorial; the lineup won't be announced until April, but three-day wristbands and VIP passes are already on sale at the festival's
official website.
If September seems too far off in the future, you'll also be glad to know about Racing The Cure: A Benefit for Oliver Gant, presented by local news outfit Independent Weekly. A scaled down fest in the same vein as Hopscotch (and comprised of participating venues), Racing the Cure was quietly announced on February 8th a mere two hours before tickets went on sale. At the time, the festival included three venues and acts such as The Love Language, Ivan Rosebud, Lonnie Walker, Gross Ghost, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all, the Avett Brothers (playing a 25-minute set at King's Barcade). Today, they too announced an addition: Raleigh's beloved Lincoln Theatre will also be taking part in the festivities and is bringing 5 new performers to the table. Updated lineup now includes Triangle songwriter Tift Merritt, high-energy bluegrass outfit Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and Myxem staff favorite Bombadil. The additional space also means that tickets, which sold out a matter of hours after the initial announcement, are back on sale at
Etix.com for a mere $25. The proceeds from ticket sales will go towards assisting with medical expenses for Oliver Gant, the two-year-old son of local blog editor Jed Gant, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Tickets will sell fast, so be sure to act quickly if you plan on taking part on March 23rd.
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