Saturday, April 29 at AOC Fest, North Carolina hip-hop and r&b/soul once again proved that it is a force to be reckoned with.
Packed atop downtown Durham’s Google Lounge, artists and hip-hop enthusiasts alike gathered to hear the sultry vocals of Ari Lennox, a Washington D.C.-native signed to J.Cole’s Dreamville Records, and Cypher Univercity + J Rowdy, trailblazers of North Carolina’s cypher movement.
Cypher Univercity and J Rowdy are no strangers to me. Since 2013, I’ve braced rain, wind, and ice storms to attend the legendary Monday night cypher (which has since expanded to include weekly cyphers at 6 other universities) and witness the unfiltered rhymes of some of NC’s dopest local cats. And it was awesome to see just how many people were willing to do the same. 80+ degrees, unbearably humid, and yet the rooftop must have been stuffed near capacity.
What I was not expecting, though, was the sheer radiance and alluring stage presence of Ari Lennox, who performed tracks from her newest release, PHO EP. Her sound is best described as a little bit of Joyce Wrice mixed with a dash of Badu but flavorful in a way that is entirely unique. Her performance had me floored, and a brief interaction with her after the set revealed a mind and personality as sweet as honey. I’ve definitely stumbled upon a new R&B favorite.
This past Saturday, I went to the Shakori Hills Music Festival for the first time ever. I’ve been hearing about this fest for years, so when WKNC gave me the opportunity to go, how could I pass it up? I brought my uncle with me for the adventure (and because I didn’t wanna go alone). As it turns out, it was a great time and definitely worth all the hype. I thought I’d share my experience with y’all!
THE MUSIC – The first thing that I (of course) noticed was the happy, upbeat music. It was all kind of folksy—not my usual genre, but I really dug it. It definitely put me in a feel good mood. There were big stages and small stages scattered about, and I went to a few of each. One of my favorites was the front porch acoustic stage; three gentlemen were playing their instruments on a small little porch and would invite anyone to come and sing with them. (They asked me, but I’m tone-deaf. Oh well.) And the coolest thing was that they had two cute little chickens running around!
FOOD & BEER. – This festival has great food. Not the kind of greasy junk you find at the fair or warped tour, but genuinely delicious stuff. One of my favorites were donuts from YeeHaw donuts, which are made from four simple ingredients: eggs, buttermilk, flour, and sweet potatoes. Way too delicious for words! Secondly, the beer. Am I of drinking age? Nope, got five more months on that. But working at a semi-sports bar has taught me plenty, and they had some neat craft beers (like Hoppyum). My uncle could get a glass for $5, which, when you think about it, is quite a reasonable price compared to most festivals!
ART! – Shakori was filled with colorful art everywhere you turned. Whether it be in the form of a sculpture, face paint, handmade jewelry… this place had it all. I bought some neat new earrings and my uncle got a painted wooden turtle. Even items that weren’t for sale, like tapestries, caught my eye. Such an overall creative mix of people.
THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE – What an all-inclusive, genuinely kind group of people. There were poetry stages in which LGBTQ people were sharing their personal stories, signs promoting peace and acceptance, all that good stuff. I could tell this was definitely a judgment free zone.
In conclusion, Shakori was everything it was cut out to be, and I only stayed for half a day! I can only imagine the sorts of fun I would have if I had camped out with friends and stuck around for a few days. With that in mind, I’ll definitely be returning for the fall festival to get the whole experience!
Each May and October hundreds of music lovers, artists, and adventure seekers alike gather together in Pittsboro, NC for Shakori Hills grassroots festival of music and dance, I myself have become one of those people. Rain is a notorious part of Shakori In fact, there hasn’t been a dry festival in years, but this hasn’t ever stopped people from packing their belongings and heading out for a weekend getaway. This year is no acceptation as we lurk the midst of hurricane Matthew this may be the rainiest Shakori yet. With this being said here are a few items I am taking out to the festival to keep the festivities going despite the ominous weather.
1.) Boots: Not only do boots keep out rain and mud, you can dance in them. When I’m forced to wear shoes I’ll be sure to have a pair of boots on deck.
2.) Plastic Rain poncho: Not the picture of fashion but very necessary if you want to get out and enjoy some music without getting soaked and catching a cold. I’ll be taking around my clear $1 rain poncho I picked up before Spring’s Shakori.
3.) Vitamin C: The last thing you want is a cold to force you home for the weekend. To keep my energy up and immune system kicking I’ll be taking Emergen-C along with me.
4.) Tarps: Not only will your tent need a cover but you won’t want that mud seeping into your sleeping bag this can easily be avoided by covering your campsite in a tarp.
5.) Lots of Layers, extra clothes: With Autumn in full swing it’ll be chilly at night, pack lot layers you can strip off when you get sweaty swing dancing to Dirty Bourbon river show and can pack on when you’re hanging out by the fire at the end of the night.
If you choose to partake this weekend follow these tips, be safe, and have a happy Shakori!
Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance takes place October 6-9 in the beautiful Chatham County, NC. Shakori Hills features 50 bands on 4 stages across 4 days, with genres varying from indie to bluegrass, and indie to electronic. This is a family friendly event that not only includes live music, but crafts, food/art vendors, dance & music workshops, and sustainability education.
More information on the festival can be found here.
In the military, we have this cool thing we do called an After Action Review (or AAR), where after an operation, we break down the positives and negatives of the operation, what can be fixed, and what should be sustained for future operations. It’s a great way to analyze your team’s work and provide constructive criticism.
Now that Hopscotch has been over for a couple days, and we’ve had time to digest the whirlwind of a weekend that it was, I think it’s fair to realistically judge 2016’s festivities.
Positives
In a year that has caused NC’s ability to book and retain quality artists for tours and concerts due to HB2; Greg, Nathan, and everyone on the Hopscotch team secured one of the best lineups I’ve ever seen in the festival’s seven-year run.
Our local artists shined the brightest this year. There have been a couple instances in Hopscotch history where some local artists didn’t really deserve to be there, and their performances reflected it. That wasn’t the case at all this year, at least at the places I made it to. Sylvan Esso did an electrifying show in City Center, and Oak City Slums burned CAM to the floor as the first act in Saturday’s lineup!
Saturday didn’t end with a fizzle compared to Friday. That was my biggest complaint last year, and I was feeling kind of skeptical going into Saturday night 2016, but between Vince Staples, Sylvan Esso, Oak City Slums, and Mr. Carmack, Saturday was one of my best nights at a music festival ever. I knocked my head for seven hours straight!
Negatives
The daytime heat was brutal, and my wardrobe being limited to mostly black didn’t help things. Doing the math, I spent almost $100 on trying to stay hydrated. There’s not much we can do about that though.
Hip hop acts were clumped together on Friday night, and I missed a lot of artists that I wanted to see because I was forced to pick between Erykah Badu, Young Thug, and the King’s lineup. Queen Badu always wins.
I missed Big Freedia and it was no one’s fault but my own.
The whiplash I gave myself from knocking my head for seven straight hours on Saturday night.
Improve
I really wish there was a way the Hopscotch team could improve how they space out rap artists. Last year and this year, the bulk of hip-hop acts was on Friday, so if you are a hip hop head, there were some really difficult choices to make.
Some artists seemed mismatched in their venues and time slots. A prime example was Swizzy Mack. He killed, but I feel like he would’ve been better placed at CAM on Saturday night, than closing out Thursday night at Neptune’s.
There was no incentive to go bring people to the Maker’s Space. Not that there weren’t really cool artists there, but it just felt like something you had to walk by to get your bracelet, rather than something to go out of your way to check out.
Some of the vendors at City Center were straight up dumb. That whole area could’ve been filled with more interesting and immersive booths. Not much creativity was put into product placement in the one area where product placement was ok.
Next year there should be a Hopscotch app. Many festivals have done this, and it’s really helpful to stay on top of the schedule and events/attractions that attendees may not know about.
Sustain
The utilization of City Center as a venue was perfect. It didn’t gum up traffic throughout the city, the acoustics were great no matter where you were standing, and if you didn’t want to be in the pit, you didn’t feel like you were 100 miles away from the performance.
Once again, the lineup was curated very well. Better than in other years. A perfect balance of mainstream, up-and-coming, and obscure was achieved, and the way the artists were lined up made it so that finding new artists wasn’t like taking a gamble.
The lighting used at CAM of EDM artists was DOPE this year! Last year I felt that the lighting was bland and took away from the excitement of the acts. Their use of ambient lighting in different colors set an awesome mood, and changed my mind 100% of CAM as a music venue.
We can all agree concert photography is difficult, so let’s celebrate the really awful and blurry photos of Hopsctoch from this past weekend. Even better, try to challenge yourself to identify who the artists are!
OK so this isn’t an artist, but rather my good friend and DJ trainee Command Shift +Q
Let us know if you think you can guess any of the artists!!! And always celebrate even the bad photography!
If this is your first time dartying (day-partying) you are in for a treat this weekend. I will be guiding you to the best darties around town during HOPSCOTCH. This might be the best and only weekend of darties, so don’t play yourself. They are famous for providing an eclectic range of artists and genres for the fans that can not get enough of it at night. So below, thanks to HOPSCOTCH, is a list of all of the darties going on around town. (And dont miss our darty at LEGENDS from 1-3). Hope to see y’all there.
Hopscotch 2016 Makers Market: Commerce Place between Martin & Davie
Friday, Sept. 9 – noon to 5:30 p.m. Natural Causes (1:30), Daniel Bachman (2:30), Palm (3:30), See Gulls (4:30) More than 40 featured vendors
Saturday, Sept. 10 – noon to 5:30 p.m. DJ Nick Neptune (12:30), Dirty Dub (1:30), Nervous Dupre (2:30), Stooges Brass Band (3:30), Kooley High (4:30) More than 40 featured vendors
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH
Boxcar Arcade + Bar: noon – 8 p.m. Sore Thumb Series // Indie Rock // Day 1 Savannah Valentino (1:00), She Returns From War (1:45), Say Brother (2:30), Secret Guest (3:15), Fk Mt. (4:00), Thayer Sarrano (4:45), Husband (5:30), MyBrother MySister (6:15), The Affectionates (7:00) Sponsored by The Stereofly, Free-Times, 10 Foot Woody Records and Jam Room Studio Free Sore Thumb Vol. 1 Compilation CD featuring a song from each artist while they last Crank Arm Brewing Company: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Roost Frequency Recording Presents The Lemon Sparks (1:00), The Kneads (2:00), The Bleeding Hearts (3:00)
Deep South the Bar: noon – 5 p.m. Ultra Psychic Mega Monolith TELEP▲ THY Hopscotch Day Party @ Deep South the Bar. Kabak (12:30), Mhymes (1:05), Yyen (1:40), Away Msg (2:15), Trandle (2:50); Drozy & Friends (3:25)
Kings: noon – 5:30 p.m. Three Lobed Records + WXDU Present Manas (Tashi Dorji & Thom Nguyen) (12:00), Sarah Louise (12:30), Mary Lattimore & Kid Millions (1:00), 75 Dollar Bill (1:40), Bill Nace (2:10), Watery Love (2:50), 75 Dollar Bill (3:30), Bachman – Toth Duo (4:00), Sarah Louise (4:40), Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore (5:05)
Foundation: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Merge Happy Hour
Legends Nightclub: 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. XTALS (12:30), Pie Face Girls (1:10), no smoking (1:40), TBA (2:20), Oak City Slums w/ P.A.T. Junior (2:40)
Neptune’s Parlour: 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Party Illegal Presents: Hubble (12:30) BITCHCRAFT (1:30), DJ PlayPlay (2:30), NeatFreak (3:30), Queen Plz (4:15) Pour House: noon – 5 p.m. Mir’s Empire and K97.5 Presents Cayenne (12:30), Cypher University (1:00), Lazarus (1:30), Nance (2:00), Shame (2:30), Mosca Flux (3:00), Ace Henderson (3:30), Well$ (4:00), Deniro Farrar (4:30), DJ Wade Banner & DJ RNB, Hosted by Mir.I.am
Raleigh Roadhouse: noon – 5 p.m. Kristen Abigail Collective Presents Eric Paul (12:00), Foxture (1:00), Castle Wild (2:00), Animalweapon (3:00), Hectorina (4:00), YOUMA (5:00), Sponsored by Bunn DJ Company
Ruby Deluxe: noon – 5 p.m. Full of Spiders: Bad Grrrl and Egghunt Records Day Party Feral Conservatives (12:00), Headless Mantis (1:00), Manatree (2:00), Clair Morgan (3:00), Avers (4:00)
Schoolkids Records: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Nevernauts (1:00), Dick Richards (2:00), Second Husband (3:00), The Eyebrows (4:00), Happy Abandon (5:00)
Slims Downtown: noon – 5:30 p.m. Churchkey & The Layabout present “¡Que Viva!” The Dry Heathens (12:15), KONVOI (1:00), Scanners (1:45), The Nude Party (2:30), Drag Sounds (3:15), shirlette ammons (4:00), The Dry Heathens (4:45) Sponsored by The Blotter, Bull City Records
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH
Crank Arm Brewing Company: 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Roost Frequency Recording Presents Oatmeal Conspiracy (1:00), Drling (2:00), Coytah (3:00)
Boxcar Arcade + Bar: 2 p.m – 8 p.m. Sore Thumb Series // Hip-Hop // Day 2 DJ Set playing classic hip-hop (2:00), Preach Jacobs (3:30), H3R0 (4:30), Grand Prize Winners From Last Year (5:30), Preach Jacobs DJ Set (6:30) Sponsored by The Stereofly, Free-Times, 10 Foot Woody Records and Jam Room Studio Free Sore Thumb Vol. 1 Compilation CD featuring a song from each artist while they last
Berkeley Cafe: noon – 6 p.m. The 6th Annual Guitartown Hopscotch Day Party Sponsored by Brüeprint Brothers Grim (acoustic) (12:00), Sara Bell (1:00), Melissa Swingle Duo (2:00), Texoma (3:00), J Chris Smith and Marc E. Smith (4:00), Mike June (5:00)
Deep South the Bar: noon – 5 p.m. Cardigan Records Day Party Dogs Eyes (12:20), Greaver (1:10), Lazarus Wilde (2:00), Youth League (2:50), Pleasures (3:40), Professor Toon (4:30)
Kings: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Orange County Social Club & Third Uncle Records featuring Merge Records present: Sneaks (1:30), Honey Radar (2:30), Rock *A* Teens (3:30), Birds of Avalon (4:30) Neptune’s Parlour: noon – 5 p.m. Orange County Social Club & Third Uncle Records featuring Merge Records present: Boogie Reverie (1:00), Shelles (2:00), Faults (3:00), Queen of Jeans (4:00) Person Street Bar: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Zack Mexico (1:00), The Trousers (2:00), Grand Champeen (3:00), Benji Hughes (4:00) Sponsored by Southern Wine & Spirits and Raleigh Rum
Pour House Music Hall: noon – 5 p.m. Younger Brother Productions Presents Downstairs: Seabreeze Dinner (12:00), Echo Courts (1:00), Gray Young (2:00), No Eyes (3:00), Zack Mexico (4:00) Upstairs: Flash Car (12:45), The Summer Life (1:45),Vacant Company (2:45), Happy Abandon (3:45)
Raleigh Roadhouse: noon – 5 p.m. Kristen Abigail Collective Presents Raid the Quarry (12:00), Sean Thomas Gerard (1:00), Dragmatic (2:00), Mike Blair & the Stonewalls (3:00), LAIRS (4:00), The Antique Hearts (4:30) Sponsored by Bunn DJ Company
Ramble Supply Co: noon – 5 p.m. Kristen Abigail Collective Presents Jesse Stockton (12:00), Texoma (1:00), DRISKILL (2:00), Ellis Dyson & the Shambles (3:00), Catie King (4:00), Parallel Lives (5:00) Sponsored by Bunn DJ Company
Ruby Deluxe: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Pabst Showcase curated by Claire Ginn ZZ Corpse (11:00), Ouroborus Boys (12:00), DIP (1:00), The Nude Party (2:00), Dirty Fences (3:00), Nest Egg (4:00)
Schoolkids Records: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. He Who Walks Behind The Rows (1:00), Horseskull (2:00), Gross Reality (3:00), Toke (4:00), Wailin Storms (5:00)
Slim’s Downtown: noon – 6 p.m. Spazzscotch + Jack the Radio Present Other Colors (12:15), Maple Stave (12:50), Wild Fur (2:00), The Charming Youngsters (2:35), Jack the Radio (3:10), Ghostt Bllonde (3:45), The Backsliders (4:20), Wing Dam (4:55)
Tactile Workshop (1001 S. Saunders St.): noon – 5 p.m. Tactile Workshop x Good Times Assurance Co. Present: The Hopscotch Oasis DJ Nayfong (12:00 PM), Brassious Monk (1:30 PM), Just Archie (2:30 PM), Pie Face Girls (3:30 PM) Vacant Company (4:30 PM)
Trophy Brewing (656 Maywood Ave.): 1 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. 5th Annual Phuzz Day Party Shadowgraphs (2:00), Drag Sounds (3:00), Body Games (4:00), The Tills (5:00)
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11TH
Pour House Music Hall: 1:30 p.m. –
Pour House Presents: The Day After 1:30-5:30 Zigadoo Moneyclipos (2:00), Tangible Dream (3:00), Eno Mountain Boys (4:00), Zephyranthes (5:00), Curtis Eller’s American Circus (6:00), Ancient Cities (7:00), Absent Lovers (8:00), The Everymen (9:00)
Slims Downtown: noon – 5 p.m. Slim’s Hopscotch Hangover 7 The Vibekillers, S. E. Ward, The Everymen, Grand Champeen
