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WKNC x Hopscotch ’25
Category: Festival Coverage
Previews, reviews and coverage from music festivals like Hopscotch and Moogfest
The 15th year of Raleigh’s homegrown Hopscotch celebrates a diversity of music experiences and cherishes Raleigh’s flair. It featured day parties, discussion panels and genres covering metal to country and events involving the city’s businesses such as galleries, restaurants and shops.
Frank Meadows, Day Party Coordinator and Co-Head of Dear Life Records spoke about the festival’s origins and impact.
“Hopscotch is named in reference to Raleigh’s grid structure and the ability to navigate between venues and sets…You can see a lot of everything if you’re willing to jump in and catch 10 minutes and then head over to other stuff,” Meadows said.
“The format is conducive to exploration and putting a lot of different organizations, bands and music performers in the same pool.”
Part of Meadow’s job also includes working with local organizations in hopes of increasing the accessibility and local representation in Raleigh. “We put the pieces together for hosting free and public events that highlight what people are doing in Raleigh on a day to day basis,” Meadows said.
For example, Black + White Coffee Roasters hosts ‘Roadkill Angels Day Party’, showing bands like bedrumor, Foxie Kills, Lily Flower. Experimental pop group Entrez Vous joined Kit Mckay, Featherpocket, and Kenny Wavinson at Wolfe & Porter’s “Indie Twang” Hopscotch Day Party. This world building and pockets of parties is a main component to Hopscotch’s charm.
If you follow the sound, Hopscotch is the perfect venue to taste a little bit of everything and find a new interest. Meadows elaborated on how Raleigh’s layout specifically supports this kind of festival. “One of the cool things about it is that you get to be out in Raleigh on a really lively weekend and can take a break and get a drink somewhere nice,” Meadows said.
This emulsification of various scenes lends to a vibrant weekend in downtown Raleigh, spanning into venues down the ways and even in the post and upcoming days as the community engages in kickoff parties Wednesday and more music Sunday, invigorated by a beat carried through the streets.
Meera Mehta, senior in Business Administration with a concentration in IT and marketing, says “I think it brings together a sub genre of people that would have never met under the same context, other than Hopscotch”.
This lively weekend and its disposition was something I had Michael Whittington, Senior in Statistics speak on, to which he said “I would like to see the percentage of hopscotch goers that are above the age of 30 years old.”
This trend analysis was elaborated on by NC State graduate in International Relations, Avery Pardue in regards to cultural and consumption based content saying “I would like to see a 30% increase in IPAs. I would like to see a 30% decrease in man buns and skinny jeans”.
This playground for fashion, culture, community and musical artistry lends to all sorts of people and works to support Raleigh as a community and cultural hub as discussed by Neptunes founder, on his discussion panel and film screening of local film ‘The Great Cover Up’ about King’s Cover Band show series.
The documentary and discussion panel highlight how events, continual experience creating and the annotation of that culture through the documentary was purely sourced through community. This emphasis on supporting creativity and a positive feedback loop of structural support in communities such as Raleigh is the running throughline of what Raleigh aims to do in its next stages of development as we see industry and politics evolve.
This throughline runs central to Hopscotch’s mission, which aims to integrate independent musicians and connect them with different artists and opportunities. Meadows expands, “All genres, from hip-hop to rock and roll to jazz to punk to metal to experimental and beyond. If there’s a common denominator, I’d say almost-if-not everyone releases music on a non-major label…”Public Enemy was the headliner of the first Hopscotch, which represents a very concerted effort to include underground and independent music”.
Catch you there.
**Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license**
DJ CJ: Alright guys, this is DJ CJ here with WKNC 88.1 and I’m here with…
Geordie Greep: Geordie Greep.
DJ CJ: Geordie Greep!
DJ CJ: And I just have one question for you, it’s quite simple or you know, as complex as you want to make it, but it’s what does music mean to you?
Geordie Greep: Ah, it’s the best thing in the world you know,
DJ CJ: Yeah!
Geordie Greep: it’s like pure expression you know
DJ CJ: Mhm.
Geordie Greep: its something that you try to imitate nature and imitate the universe, but also it’s like why does certain music sound good and sound bad, it’s like a mystery you know.
Categories
Hopscotch 2025: In Review
Hopscotch 2025 was action-packed with an intensity that did not settle until the final note was played. From day parties to the main stages, there was no lack of entertainment downtown Raleigh this year. Let’s break it down day by day with some personal experiences of mine sewn in!
Day one of Hopscotch kicked off with the WKNC Day Party at D.H. Hill Library. Paperbrains opened the festival with a bang! After their set, it was off to the main stages for the day. I spent the majority of the day at Moore Square, seeing artists like MIDS, Frog, and Unwound. The stars of the stage for the day, in my opinion, were MIDS. They were the stage opener, and they set the bar high. The energy was unmatched.
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Hopscotch Coverage in Photos
Hop
Scotch
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2025
Photos by eviedall.
Another Hopscotch has come and gone with the fourteenth festival in the books.
And good golly, was it a learning experience.
Hopscotch started early at the Rialto with a little help from power-pop darlings The dB’s and singer-songwriter, Kate Rhudy on Wednesday Sept. 4, 2024
What’s a better way to kick off our beloved festival days than with a meeting of old and new NC music at a tried-and-true old venue turned new?
For the uninitiated, The dB’s are an NYC power-pop quartet by way of Winston-Salem.
Guitarist and vocalist Chris Stamey was the first member to fly the Southern coop to NYU, making a name for himself as a member of Alex Chilton’s backing band “The Kossacks,” later persuading bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will Rigby to join him.
It wasn’t until Chapel Hill based band H-Bomb fizzled out in 1978 that the soon-to-be dB’s lineup would be complete with the addition of guitarist and vocalist Peter Holsapple.
A prime example of “your favorite band’s favorite band,” The dB’s saw rave critical reviews but never quite broke the mainstream in the same way their Southern college rock pioneering contemporaries did.
They easily could have and should have been apart of that massive boom, marching across college campuses arm in arm with R.E.M.
With the imminent reissue of their 1981 debut album “Stands for Decibels” on the horizon, their warm-up set was a celebration of the band’s multifaceted sound an more importantly their
Encompassing both Stamey’s nebulous and amorphous Beach-Boys-by-way-of-Big-Star baroque style pop and Holsapple’s straightforward, youthfully sneering guitar rock, their set was an effective love letter to not only their beginning but to the fans who have stuck with them through the years, and those who have joined along the way.
Supported by Kate Rhudy, the Raleigh-based singer-songwriter warmed the theater with an intimate and tender 45-or so minute set.
Tried and true coffeeshop acoustic, Rhudy cut an incredibly charming if not a little green figure on stage in her rhinestone go-go boots.
Standing alone with her guitar, she carried an air of vulnerability as she crooned and flipped her way through breakup songs and love letters to missing cats.
With each quasi-yodel and delicate vocal flips, she garnered easy comparisons to 10,000 Maniacs’ Natalie Merchant and Taylor Swift.
Perhaps a more direct line of comparison would be if a young Merchant managed Swift’s songbook.
Melding with what seems to be the over all ethos of the festival, Rhudy felt comfortably familiar to old favorites we know and love, while still keeping a unique image all her own.
Alternatively, The dB’s felt as fresh as they day they emerged from NYC’s basement clubs, now serving as a musical “Guess Who?” between their influences and the later influenced.
In contemporary terms, you wouldn’t have groups like The Lemon Twigs without The dB’s, nor would I hazard to guess one of Jack White’s many projects, The Raconteurs.
But that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Remembering why we love our favorite bands and finding something new to fawn over at the same time; a celebration of music’s circularity.
Together, The dB’s and Rhudy brought a show together for a an intimate welcome to the festival weekend and it certainly left me wanting more of the Hopscotch soup du jour.
– Bodhi
Pregame and pre-plan the 2024 Hopscotch Festival with your not-so intrepid guide, Bodhi.
I am certainly not the festival going type, but when in Rome…right?
As much as I love live music, I’ve never really taken the opportunity to explore the wonderland of a multi-day festival.
So, thanks to the benevolent gods of WKNC, I have the utmost privilege to take you along with me as I dive headfirst into Downtown Raleigh’s favorite indie-alternative smorgasbord.
In the immortal words of Smash Mouth, there’s so much to do and so much to see, so let me be your guide on our nearly week-long romp.
Or, in my own words…let’s take a peek at my must see’s for the 2024 Hopscotch Musical Festival
Pregame! Wednesday, September 4th – The Rialto
The lineup: The dB’s, with support from Kate Rhudy, showtime: 7:00 pm
Quasi-Local favorites The dB’s (Yes, I know they formed in NYC but Winston-Salem calls dibs) are doing a pre-festival warm-up show at the Rialto Theatre to kick off the long festival quasi-weekend.
If you are a fan of WKNC, I’d be willing to bet you’re a fan of first wave college rock/jangle pop too – and in that case where would any of us be without The dB’s?
Fret not: if you can’t catch them on their warm-up, the original line up will also be taking to the one of the Hopscotch main stages on Saturday, September 7.
Day 1: Thursday, September 5 – City Plaza
The lineup: Waxahatchee, Snail Mail, Tim Heidecker and Lonnie Walker
I, for one, about lost my mind to see Tim Heidecker and Waxahatchee sharing a billing. So obviously that’s where I’ll have to be.
It’s day one of the festival and I will be starting low and slow across the plate with the easy, breezy down home sounds of tried and true lo-fi acoustic indie.
But, if twangy, folksy indie isn’t quite your speed, that’s alright over in Moore Square, you’ve got a bill consisting of: JPEGMAFIA, Mavi, Previous Industries, and Jooselord.
Day 2: Friday, September 6 – Moore Square
The lineup: BADBADNOTGOOD, Chicano Batman, Peter One and ¡Tumbao!
A little bit of Neo-Soul and a little Latin flair tees up a fine night in Bodhi’s book.
We’re all familiar with BADBADNOTGOOD from their TikTok viral stint as part of the Adult Swim “[as]” logo trend, but selfishly, I’m in it for the effortless psychedelic SoCal-cool of Chicano Batman and the classic Latin-fusion of ¡Tumbao!
Alternatively, if that’s not your speed, more power to you because over in City Plaza you’ve got the bulletproof bill of: Faye Webster, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, Feeble Little Horse and My Sister Maura.
Day 3: Saturday, September 7 – City Plaza (and maybe Moore Square too?)
Oh, my lovelies…I have a lot of heartburn over what to do with myself on the last day of the festival.
On one hand, you’ve got the wonderfully eclectic lineup of: The Jesus Lizard, Wednesday, Durand Jones, The dB’s, Ducks LTD and Charlie Passo over in Moore Square.
On the other, you’ve got the undeniably electric (see what I did there?) bill of: St Vincent, Guided by Voices, Indigo de Souza, Amen Dunes and Sofia Bolt in City Plaza.
And this, dear reader is where the ever appropriate name of the festival comes into play; we’re going to play hopscotch.
The beauty of downtown is everything is within walking distance if you’re stubborn enough, so I’m going to attempt to split the bill and see a little bit of everything Saturday night – Who said I can’t have my cake and eat it too?
Speaking of Hopscotch: Clubs and Darties
Before I let you go to begin your own plan making, I would be remiss to ignore the legendary day parties that further thicken the Hopscotch plot.
Spread across The Lincoln Theatre, Neptunes, Kings, The Pourhouse, Wicked Witch, Slim’s, TRansfer Co. Ballroom and Nash Hall (amongst others), small bands light up the City of Oaks in more intimate shows through the mid afternoon and the early hours of morning.
For my lazy bones who forgot to get a pass, good news! While late night club sets require a pass (womp womp), anything labeled a “Day Party” is free and open to the public.
Go forth and happy Hopscotch-ing! – Bodhi
We’re witnessing the musical changing of the guard and it could not be a more excitingly bittersweet time to love music.
The 2024 line-up for the Outlaw Music Festival was nothing short of legendary rolling into Raleigh’s Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek; Celisse, Alisson Krause & Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson all taking the stage.
But as best laid plans are apt to do, the line up fell through.
The danger, you see, is in relying on octo- and nonagenarians for your entertainment is the general precarity of old age.
Friday, June 21st Willie Nelson’s team released a statement announcing the country singer’s departure from four of the ensuing tour dates due to medical concerns.
In his place, son Lukas Nelson and the Nelson Family Band stepped in with an abridged tribute set.
But it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to let the younger Nelson take the stage in his father’s wake.
If anything, it reaffirmed what we already knew about Willie’s songs — they’re timeless country-western staples for a reason.
And more importantly, Lukas Nelson is far too talented to stay in his father’s shadow.
Freed from the albatross of an elderly father, Nelson’s voice quite literally soared through the shortened tribute set – simply put, he sounded like his father for a new age.
Waffling between original compositions and Willie-standards, Nelson was able to effortlessly bridge the divide between new fans and old, bouncing between the soulful growl present on Promise of The Real track “Find Yourself” to his father’s signature warble on songs like “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain.”
Speaking of soul, I would be remiss not to mention one of the freshest faces amongst the lineup: Celisse.
The Oakland born singer and guitarist easily won over unsure and unfamiliar audiences with more than just sweet talk and charm, she won them over with her sound.
Bombastic in every sense of the word, her belt and her shred equally silenced the normally rowdy “lawnies” of Coastal Credit Union – her cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me” met with earthshaking applause and shouts.
For a woman who has been making music for well over a decade, touring as supporting acts for some of the biggest acts in folk and easy listening rock both old and new – Brandi Carlisle and Joni Mitchell, to name a few – I have a sneaking suspicion that Outlaw Music Festival is only the beginning of her just desserts.
So yes, Bob Dylan and Robert Plant were once-in-a-lifetime, bucket list artists to see, but perhaps more importantly, I walked away with not just hope, but a feverish excitement to see what the next wave of Americana, Soul and whatever-the-hell-else-you-want-to-call-it will be.
Long story short, it is sad to see the old god’s fade away, but my god, I cannot wait to see the nebulous eruptions of the new.
– Bodhi
Welcome one, welcome all to my glorious writings about North Carolina’s State Fair. I will regale thee with tales of scrumptious foods, boisterous bands and even look longingly at puppy treats.
Lil’ History:
Here’s a teeny bit of the purpose of North Carolina’s State Fair:
“…the State Fair has become a traditional fall-time event that aims to educate all North Carolinians about the importance of agriculture to our heritage and our economy”
From NC State Fair’s website.
Not only does it educate us about the state’s agricultural history, but it promotes community involvement with it too. With many interactive exhibits like watching livestock prize shows, learning about the agri-business throughout the years in history exhibits and witnessing prize crops being showcased, any fair-goer can experience the amount of wealthy pride exuding from contestants and farmers alike.
What’s a WKNC music blog writer supposed to enjoy about agriculture? Well, local food and business influence the ways people think, especially budding and current local musicians. In a far-fetched way that somehow connects in my mind, I can see the way local bands are influenced by their surroundings.
Look at Wednesday and Indigo de Souza, two of the biggest North Carolinian names in music (we’re going to forget about DaBaby), but both arose with unique sounds and flavors originating from NC’s country, modern, hippie town of Asheville thanks to the special culture brewed there.
Back to the State Fair:
There is tons to do there. The State Fair’s got everything set up for ten whole days of running from nine in the morning until eleven or twelve at night every single day. The daily schedule shifts and flows from day-to-day and going one day would result in a different experience compared to the next.
Food:
So, let us set the scene: it was a glorious Friday afternoon, the second day of the fair, and as it was around lunch time, I decided the first thing I must do is find sustenance. It’s not easy to find food at the fair. No, sorry, let me rephrase that, it’s not easy to choose which of the hundreds of in-your-face smells to let fill your tummy.
I walked around a ton before landing at my first meal, andI saw beautiful smiling faces captivated by comfort foods shoved in a fryer, then on a stick, then into their mouths. Exorbitant amounts of food sailed around and around, passing through grills, hands, more hands, then mouths. It’s a beautiful scene of what we all happily share together, a need for delightful nourishment.
My first purchase of the day was an unmemorable country ham sandwich. Now usually, I go for vegetarian options wherever and whenever I can, but I had a strong urge to get a delightful salty piece of chewy meat down my gullet.
It was okay. The biscuit was crumbly and nothing more than a competent vehicle for the country ham to reach my mouth. The ham itself wasn’t even stereotypically salty. Tougher than horse hide, I had to chew too much to get small bites down my throat.
Up next was a true delight; a Fair food, no, a street food that has become internationally significant to many people, falafel. I went to the “Neomonde” stand to get my falafel pita wrap. These fried chickpea balls of golden, crispy goodness warmed my heart as it was paired with pickled red onions, a topping incomparable to pickles or relish on a burger or hotdog.
The only downside to this pita wrap was how surprisingly filling it was for me. I intended to eat a lot more food during my walk-abouts and general enjoyment of fellow fair goers, but my stomach was full so I did my best to digest…
Music:
…And listen to live music of course. During my stay of about five hours at the Fair, I was able to see two performances at the “Live and Local Music Stage”, which can be easily located on the map to the fairgrounds.
The first performance I saw was Teens in Trouble, a local Raleigh band full of folks living in the area. Their lead singer, Lizzie Killian, presented the very small audience with lovely vocals and lively atmosphere. I wish there were more folks around to enjoy the woozy, melodic vibes emanating from Teens in Trouble.
They played one of Killian’s solo tracks, “I Wonder What You’re Doing Now” off their EP released last year. It’s a sweet, acoustic track that is perfect for the Fall. Teens in Trouble has a new release coming out early next year that we can all look forward to.
After Teens in Trouble, was Christian James, a Raleigh native who appeared on WKNC’s “The Lounge”, which is a great way to see recorded performances of artists that come into our radio station to give us a taste of their sounds.
On the stage at the Fair, James performed “Junie B. Jones” and a few of his other tracks that I unfortunately didn’t get the names of. I really enjoyed James’ energy they provided on stage. With a limited number of people in the audience, he brought smiles to the few who were enjoying the show, including myself. They were a very charismatic group of characters on the stage and it was fun to watch the show unfold.
Home Chef Competition:
It was quite toasty sitting out there in the sunlight, drinking up all I could of the wonderful live music, but I needed to escape the heat, so I walked right next door to the Got to Be NC Pavillion to enjoy some shade. There were tons of local vendors selling everything from popped rice biscuits to local water. Everything had to do with food here, and I felt like I was in heaven.
A talented chef from Asheville was on a large stage in the center of the arena making a delicious smelling meal of pulled pork and coleslaw to a few lucky volunteers. I stayed and watched for a bit, but my attention was dragged away by the illustrious Home Chef Competition happening just in the entryway of the arena.
On the day I was there, the competition was based on doggie birthday cakes. What I witnessed had to have been the most lavish puppy treats and creations I’ve ever seen. One contestant presented the judges with a charcuterie board of homemade dog treats including a pet friendly martini, fresh strawberries, cucumbers and assorted doggie baked goods. Even the judges were drooling over it.
Another contestant submitted a cartoonish looking burger the size of a bowling ball meant for one or two lucky pets to enjoy. I’m not even sure a dog the size of Cujo could have eaten that thing in one sitting.
Walkin’ ‘Round Again:
I got my fill rather suddenly of doggie desserts when my stomach started to rumble again. It was time to eat more food. Immediately outside the arena I found myself hankering for something sweet. I stumbled upon Tropical Delights, a fruit smoothie stand, which appeased my needs very efficiently. The well proportioned plastic cup held so much sugary sweetness in just the perfect amount to be devoured during another walk-about.
This time, on my adventure into the chaotic masses, throngs of people had made their way to the fairgrounds and were trampling over the burning asphalt.
With my drink in hand I walked through smelly live animal exhibits featuring beautiful looking swine, cattle and peafowls taking up residence in cages; I traipsed into the beautiful gardens influenced by local fauna at the “Flower & Garden Show”; my feet took me past hundreds of screaming children wanting to get another go at the rickety rides I wouldn’t condemn anyone to spend a single minute on.
There is no end of adventuring at the State Fair. There is no emptying the pool of wealth to be had there. There is no limit of excitement that can be obtained there.
And of course I’ve left out quite a number of things I experienced here. I had no more room to make this blog post into a readable and coherent experience for the people soaking up these words instead of experiencing the fair for themselves.
If you’ve never been to the North Carolina State Fair, then I recommend you take a chance and find yourself some time to visit, eat, and learn, or something along those cheesy lines.
