Welcome to Hopscotch 2010
In the summer of 2009, a new advertising executive at the Independent Weekly named Greg Lowenhagen decided the newspaper and the Triangle was missing a music festival. A longtime resident of two towns with proud festival traditions, Austin and Chicago, Lowenhagen approached a trio of his bosses with the idea. They loved it. Now, more than 14 months later, Lowenhagen is in charge of more than 130 bands from around the world and from dozens of different genres, all converging for three days in 10 downtown Raleigh venues.
This festival, we hope, is a chance for both fun and discovery. Hop from club to club, take in some of your favorites, jotted down on a trusty itinerary of your making. But take a moment to take a risk. With 130 bands, we hope Hopscotch‘s first year offers something for most peopleeven if you haven’t heard it yet. Grayson Currin, Hopscotch Music Festival Curator
INTERVIEWS
Public Enemy vs. Fucked Up by Grayson Currin
Raekwon by Spencer Griffith
Kylesa by Bryan Reed
Tortoise and Broken Social Scene by John Schacht
ESSAYS
Lucero sophisticates by Stephen Deusner
World samplers by Jeff Klingman
Punk again by Chris Parker
SCHEDULE, GUIDES & MAP
A guide to day parties, discussions and film screenings
ITINERARIES
If we booked Hopscotch correctly, this weekend should be full of tough decisions for you, the music fan: Do you take a chance on some new sound, or do you settle in for a longtime favorite? And what if two or more of those favorites are playing different stages at the same time? What happy problems.
We feel your pain. We asked Hopscotch director Greg Lowenhagen, Spin and Village Voice critic Christopher R. Weingarten and three of the Independent Weekly‘s regular criticsGrayson Currin, Spencer Griffith, Ashley Melzerto play out their fantasy battles for the inaugural Hopscotch weekend.
TICKETS & INFORMATION
Tickets for the following shows are still available in advance: Panda Bear and Broken Social Scene with The Rosebuds Friday, Sept. 10, in City Plaza at 6 p.m.; Public Enemy with No Age and The Love Language Saturday, Sept. 11, in City Plaza at 5:50 p.m. Those $30 tickets are for sale at www.hopscotchmusicfest.com/tickets. These tickets can also be purchased the day of the show at the entrance to City Plaza in downtown Raleigh, at the corner of Davie and Fayetteville streets.
VIP wristbands, club wristbands and all-show wristbands sold out in advance. A very limited number of wristbands and single-show tickets will be sold at the doors of Hopscotch’s nine club venues. Again, these single-show tickets are very limited and, based on capacity, might not be available at all. Each ticket costs $20, and none will be sold in advance.
For more information about the festival, including biographies of and music from each band playing, visit www.hopscotchmusicfest.com.
