Hopscotch Music Fest 2014 announces initial lineup

Official press release: Hopscotch Music Festival, recently called America's (Secretly) Best Festival and the premiere experimental and underground festival in America, celebrates its fifth anniversary in downtown Raleigh, N.C., this Sept. 4-6, 2014. The festival, noted for its diversity and selective programming, features nearly 160 bands in a wide range of genres. With today's initial lineup announcement of 115 acts, Hopscotch reaffirms its commitment to showcasing North Carolina's thriving scene alongside notable artists from around the world. For the fifth year in a row, approximately 40% of the festival's artists hail from in-state, a figure few, if any, nationally recognized music events can claim. An additional 40 bands will be revealed in the coming weeks. Hopscotch 2014 will be highlighted by two nights in Raleigh City Plaza, the city's most inviting downtown space. On Friday, Sept. 5, Spoon prolific pop experimentalists and one of indie rock's most commercially and critically acclaimed bands will headline the festival's main stage. Friday's bill also features St. Vincent, creator of one of 2014's best records and most captivating live shows. Lonnie Walker will open. On Saturday, Sept. 6, Mastodon, Atlanta'?s perpetually evolving and consistently enthralling hard rock nonconformists will top a bill with Detroit's punk pioneers Death and local favorites Valient Thorr. Some 150 other bands will perform in various clubs during Hopscotch's three days. Initial lineup: IIII, 6 String Drag, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, American Aquarium, Artificial Brain, Author & Punisher, Axxa/Abbraxas, Ava Luna, Avers, Bedowyn, Blanko Basnet, Blursome, Body Games, Canine Heart Sounds, Coke Weed, Cousins, Dark Rooms, Davidians, Dead Gaze, Demon Eye, Deniro Farrar, Dent May, Diarrhea Planet, Drag Sounds, Death, Eagulls, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Enemy Waves, First Person Plural, FREEMAN, Free Clinic, GEMS, Ghostt Bllonde, Guerilla Toss, Helm, High On Fire, Holygrailers, How To Dress Well, Jacuzzi Boys, Jamie XX, Joe Scudda, KEN mode, Krill, Last Year's Men, Landlady, Lee Noble, Loamlands, Lonnie Walker, Lunice, Mark McGuire, Marley Carroll, Mapei, Mastodon, Matt Kivel, Matt Northrup, Mas Ysa, Museum Mouth, Mutual Benefit, Nest Egg, New Music Raleigh Presents: Future Shock, Nik Turner's Hawkwind, No Eyes, No Love, Obnox, Octopus Jones, Open Mike Eagle, Potty Mouth, Power Trip, Palehound, Paperhaus, Phosphorescent Solo, Prince Rama, Reigning Sound, Ryley Walker, Saint Rich, Screature, See Gulls, Soft Cat, Solar Halos, Spoon, Strange Faces, St. Vincent, SubRosa, Sun Araw, Sun Club, Sun Kil Moon, The Haxan Cloak, The Nervous Ticks, The Tills, The Range, The White Octave, Thurston Moore, Tony Conrad, T0W3RS, Valient Thorr, Virgins Family Band, Walin' Storms, Well$, White Lung, White Laces, Wild Fur, Wing Dam, Winston Facials, Witch Mountain, Wowolfol, Y'ALL, Young Cardinals, YVETTE, Zack Mexico