Raleigh welcomed Hopscotch Music Festival for the 14th time this weekend and brought a stacked lineup of upcoming and large artists. Hopscotch, one of the biggest cultural events in the Triangle, led thousands of people to flood the streets of Raleigh.
Hopscotch is known for diverse and adventurous lineups, artists’ memorable performances and a mixture of large venues — City Plaza and Moore Square, for example — and smaller, intimate venues such as Pour House, Slims, Lincoln Theatre and Neptunes.
The festival welcomed large artists such as Faye Webster, JPEGMAFIA, St. Vincent and Waxahatchee, but North Carolinian artists like MJ Lenderman, Indigo de Souza and Wednesday were also integral to the festival’s lineup to show the concertgoers what local music can bring.
The sound and impact of the music was transformed depending on the venue. Lincoln Theatre and Slims gave the intimate feeling of being right in front of the band, nearly close enough to sit on stage. Although the blaring speakers leave ears ringing for hours after, watching Danny Gomez, lead singer of Native Sun, crowd surf during the final song of their set makes the experience completely worth it.
City Plaza gave a unique experience surrounded by the Raleigh skyline that echoed and amplified the music all the way down the street. As Faye Webster played one of her most popular songs, “Right Side of My Neck,” she released bubbles that floated above the crowd, offering visuals that cannot be compared to anything else.
Sheridan Ely, a second-year studying chemical engineering, attended the festival this year with excitement to see the full lineup.
“I love the scene,” Ely said. “Even though we go to [NC State] I think coming downtown and being with all these people who are younger and share the same interests is awesome. Having something that just gets people out is so important.”
Thursday’s lineup was promising and left no boxes unchecked. Waxahatchee, JPEGMAFIA, Mavi, Snail Mail, The Thing and plenty of other artists packed a punch no matter when or where they played.
JPEGMAFIA, also known by fans as Peggy, took the stage at Moore Square with a bang. People jumped with the beat, shouted along and kept the energy going until the end. Lindsey Jordan, lead singer of the band Snail Mail, sang with confidence and vulnerability in the center of City Plaza. Native Sun and The Thing’s back to back sets were a perfect way to end the night and complemented each other greatly with their high energy and cathartic modern rock music.
Enid Walker, a student at Appalachian State University, decided to volunteer at Hopscotch this year. Her parents went to Hopscotch when she was growing up, which urged her to attend the festival herself.
“I think it’s cool to see older people grow up and stay cool when they get older,” Walker said. “My parents are cool, but obviously it’s nice to see more people than just them, who are interested in the same things as us.”
Friday was the tip of the mountain — it seemed as if everyone who came to Hopscotch was there to see Webster. MJ Lenderman and the Wind did not disappoint, and the crowd stuck around, waiting for Webster to appear on stage.
Later that night, people wrapped around the block at Lincoln Theatre to see Ty Segall, where he captivated the listeners with his solo acoustic set. Hovvdy, a duo from Austin, Texas, delivered music with notes of “rootsy bedroom-pop and station-wagon country,” a great way to follow Segall and to finish off the night.
Amy Celeste, a student at East Carolina University, also volunteered at the event out of love for music and discovery of new artists.
“I like seeing smaller music coming to Raleigh,” Celeste said. “A lot of people are moving to Raleigh, and I feel like they bring different things and new culture to music. I feel like the whole music scene is growing a lot.”
Saturday, the final day of Hopscotch, offered shows from Grammy winner St. Vincent and The Jesus Lizard, known for their “shattering live performances.” Asheville native bands Indigo de Souza and Wednesday took the stage that night as well with the North Carolina mountains emanating through and anecdotes of their lives in the lyrics echoing over the festival.
“There’s a lot of indie-based artists, and I feel like there’s a pretty decent alternative culture at NC State,” Ely said. “It’s music of our age, and it’s so cool to see all at once. You always see artists that you have heard of and artists that you’ve never heard of.”
Seeing musicians you don’t know yet is one of the beauties of a festival with over 100 artists playing. It is a place for discovery and connection.
“It opens people up to the smaller bands that people didn’t necessarily come to Hopscotch for,” Walker said. “Now I’m gonna be looking out for bands that I just saw since I was here.”
The music footprint in Raleigh is expanding, and an annual festival like Hopscotch proved itself to be a key avenue to finding new artists far and wide.
