The road to the eighth installment of Troika Music Festivalset for Nov. 5-7, in downtown Durhammight have been full of potholes and roadblocks in the rear-view, but Friday night at The Pinhook, the festival received loads of validation from its community: $3,210 of validation, to be exact.
That’s the total amount the festival raised at the Pin Projekt, its annual concert and art auction, in which old bowling pins are converted into new works of art. This year’s benefit featured appetizers from local restaurants and chefs, a concert by bluesman Cool John Ferguson, and 21 bowling pins repurposed by local artists, including Wendy Spitzer (Felix Obelix), Brian Walsby (Double Negative/ Polvo), Shirlé Hale-Koslowski (Gerty/ The Ex- Members) and Jodi Hoover. David Rogers’ large pins-on-needles edifice raised the most money with a winning bid of $380.
The good news doesn’t stop there for Troika: Organizers have already received 170 applications from bands hoping to play one of the three November dates. Though the application process doesn’t end until June 15, that’s as much as double the average number of applications for previous festivals. The number of applications from Raleigh bands has grown as well, not to mention the bands from Switzerland and Japan who’ve asked to play. “It’s grown virally, and I think we’ve also created a fanbase,” says Troika director Melissa Thomas. Approximately 50 of the interested bands will actually make the festival. Thomas says the process of listening to all of those demos has begun, and the lineup should be announced in early July.
