Raleigh's 2012 Hopscotch Festival Announces Lineup

The Roots are one of the headliners at the third
annual Hopscotch Music Festival, Sept 6th-8th.

Those of you who've been reading Myxem for a while know that we're huge proponents of the annual Hopscotch Music Festival in downtown Raleigh, NC and have been anxiously awaiting this year's lineup. Well, at approximately 12:01AM on Wednesday April 18th, that wait was over. This year's festivities will be headlined by hip-hop all-stars (and Jimmy Fallon's favorite co-workers) The Roots, legendary noise pop pioneers The Jesus & Mary Chain, and influential introverts Built to Spill. Also of note: the one-of-a-kind solo set from John Darnielle (a.k.a. the Mountain Goats) consisting of 50% acoustic Mountain Goats rarities and 50% heavy metal songs covered on a grand piano, Matthew E. White performing his currently unreleased 5-track album with a gospel choir and full string section, and what is certain to be an electrifying performance from quirky Pittsburgh MC Danny Brown. Also, according to the official press release, "New York guitarist Ben Greenberg, who performs as Hubble, will offer the world premiere of a piece called Lag, in which he uses the Internet as a delay pedal." Not sure how exactly that will work, but I'm excited to find out.

3-Day Wristbands and VIP wristbands are on sale now for $110 and $165 respectively, with single day passes and City Plaza tickets going on sale in July when the performer schedule is announced. Check out the full lineup after the jump and be sure to check out the festival website for details and ticket information.

Shakori Hills Spring 2012 - The Local Bands

With over 60 bands attending the four-day festival,Shakori Hills' spring 2012 iteration has more than enough variety to please every taste. We're going to be taking the weeks leading up to the festival to introduce you to some of the acts we're most excited about. It's starting today with bands from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle and North Carolina as a whole. Look for new Shakori updates every Wednesday.

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 Bombadil

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Saturday, Grove Stage: 11:00pm

As one of the resounding highlights of the Hopscotch Music Festival, Bombadil was a not-so-surprising but thoroughly exciting addition to the Shakori Hills line-up. Having recently released their second album, All That the Rain Promises, Bombadil's star is rising. After a hiatus related to health issues, Bombadil is roaring back to form, expertly crafting their singular mixture of Bolivian folk, roots rock, and chamber pop as if they'd never missed a beat. It is highly recommended that everyone make every effort to catch their set at the Grove Stage Saturday night. This is a quartet of masterful musicians and unparalleled showmen whose live performances vacillate between bombastic energy and restrained solemnity.

Hopscotch '11 - Smells Like Team Spirit

Raleigh City Plaza, 2010. Photo by Ladye JaneVickers.

2011 will mark my first immersion in the full Hopscotch Music Festival experience. Last year, I was only in town for the last day to see Public Enemy and No Age in City Plaza and attend a fantastic day party for Trekky Records beforehand. Then and there, I swore that nothing would prevent me from enjoying everything the festival's second year would have to offer. And now, here I sit, with a blue wristband on my right arm and an itinerary that's constantly being rewritten.

What won me over so powerfully this time last year was the strange feeling that seemed to dominate downtown Raleigh on that Saturday evening. It was an atmosphere so overwhelmingly infectious that just by walking down the street, you feel included in something bigger than yourself: a horde of enthusiastic spectators, all here because they're excited about independent music. More than that, the event seems like a tribute to Raleigh itself; the fact that a city's community can have the ardent passion required to pull off something of this magnitude speaks volumes about its character.