Earl Sweatshirt performs at Lincoln Theatre for Hopscotch Music Festival on Friday Sept 6. Photo by Katherine Hoke
Future Islands might have been the best show at Hopscotch Friday night for one reason—Samuel Herring.
Herring delivered a dramatic performance, pacing across the stage with a disheveled demeanor and a button-up shirt to match. His screams and yells injected energy into what would have otherwise been a forgetful performance. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the band was great, but would have been forgotten among other synthesizer-oriented groups.
Holy Ghost!, a duo from Brooklyn, definitely surprised me. Their set included not only their own music, but also a variety of samples. For this reason, Holy Ghost!’s performance could be enjoyed by anyone with even the slightest interest in electronic music. Their set did have its repetitive moments, and I caught myself zoning out, only to be caught up again in a particularly catchy segment. However, as a band that relies on a steady, groovy vibe, I accepted this fact and walked away satisfied with them.
Action Bronson canceled his show (apparently due to back problems) and left me with a Hopscotch dilemma—Should I go see Bronson’s replacement act, Big Daddy Kane, or watch grass grow? I ran into countless people who were more than excited to see Kane, and that still wasn’t enough to convince me. Instead, I saw the end of Local Natives’ set to get my indie-rock fix. The always entertaining band, along with their light set-up complementing their act, put them near the top of my list for best performances at Hopscotch.
As soon as an Earl Sweatshirt Hopscotch performance was announced, I made a promise to myself that I would see him—no matter what. When I found out Ryan Hemsworth would be playing at the same time, I immediately put that promise on hold and subsequently went into a week-long, soul-searching binge. Throughout the night I found out I was not alone, but ultimately ended up traveling to the Lincoln Theater to see Earl.
I was a bit nervous before the show after my friend told me his show at Sasquatch! was “underwhelming,” which makes sense due to Earl’s under-the-radar persona compared to other Odd Future members. He started off with “Orange Juice” and continued playing his older material, which kept me entertained to say the least. He even asked the crowd, “Old or new?”—Probably the first time I’ve ever heard that at a show. Overall, Earl was my favorite show of the night, despite going into the act with a mixture of excitement and suppressed expectations.
San Fermin highlighted my Saturday night, even though I didn’t know much about it before attending its show at the Fletcher Opera Theater. A hilarious back-and-forth conversation occurred between the band members and the audience while technical difficulties were sorted out. At that point I knew I was in good company, as San Fermin made every effort to interact with its audience. The performance featured two singers, a pianist, a saxophone player, a violinist, a trumpeter and a drummer. All were proficient with the instrumentals and played enthusiastically, which contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the show. However, the female singer, Rae Cassidy stole the show, delivering one of the best live vocal performances I’ve seen. However, Allen Tate, the male vocalist, did not impress me with his deep, western-style voice. Tate’s voice seemed more suited for a slow-tempo country band. Overall, I’d say San Fermin reminded me of a poor man’s Arcade Fire, but that’s still a pretty good band to me.