Triangle Music: Hopscotch 2012 Day 2: Built to Spill, Jesus and Mary Chain

Saturday, September 08, 2012

Hopscotch 2012 Day 2: Built to Spill, Jesus and Mary Chain

Photo by Kevin Norris

The first main stage show at Hopscotch 2012 was a blast from the past. Hall of fame indie rockers Built to Spill and The Jesus and Mary Chain brought the audience back to the 90’s.

The crowd was packed up to the sound tents when I arrived during Built to Spill. The band’s classic slacker rock sounded good, but the crowd was in a lull. Other than lead singer Doug Martsch, the band has little stage presence. The crowd was waiting for something exciting to happen, but it never came.

The band may have come across better in a smaller venue, but outside in City Plaza all of the energy was dissipating quickly.

The Jesus and Mary Chain had a lot more success energizing the crowd as their brand of up-tempo shoegaze filled the outdoor venue with fuzz.

The band was in top-notch form. They didn’t sound like an old band playing old songs. They were enjoying it as much as they ever had.

One of the highlights was the band shredding through “Reverence.” Jim Reid’s pained vocals gave the lyrics “I want to die just like Jesus Christ” the honesty it needs to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

Despite the good show put on by The Jesus and Mary Chain, Friday’s main stage lineup was maybe the weakest Hopscotch has put together. As an opener for the rest of the night, it was decent, but as a stand-alone show it wasn’t worth the price of a main stage-only ticket.