Sunday, September 11, 2011

Hopscotch 2011 Day 2: John Vanderslice at Berkeley Cafe & Hospitality at The Union

All photos by Kevin Norris
During night two of Hopscotch, troubadour John Vanderslice took the stage at the Berkeley Cafe for a rousing solo set.

The opening lines of "Trance Manual" received a hearty cheer from the receptive crowd. He seemed to be in good spirits and asked that the venue's disco ball be turned on, which added a bit of sparkle to the fairly drab room.

He launched into "Pale Horse," prefaced by saying it is a "call to arms" written after George W. Bush was elected to his second term in 2004. After that killer performance, I left the venue to explore more music the festival had to offer.

Later in the evening, the newest addition to the Merge Records family, Hospitality, took the stage at The Union. They played their laid back pop for a small crowd who stuck it out for their 12:30 a.m. set.

John Vanderslice


Hospitality


1 comment:

Jarrett said...

Vanderslice ended his set by coming down into the crowd and playing completely unplugged as the crowd circled around him and sang along. A great set, but way too short (he barely played 30 mins).