Tickets for Hopscotch III will have been on sale for only a matter of hours, but the festival's already kick-starting itself with a blend of talent that is half local/ half national, idiosyncratic and approachable, and bolstered by a worthy cause. The Music Tapes' restless, ragged chamber pop opens; expect some Christmas carols. Local upstarts T0W3RS and The Toddlers offer omnivorous indie pop and restless Americana, respectively, before Omaha's Depressed Buttons launch into a kinetic electronic dance party. Also, $1 raffle tickets will provide one lucky winner a free VIP pass to the September festival and benefit Dan and Letha Melchior, local artists and musicians faced with a daunting medical bill for Letha's cancer treatment. (Note: Hopscotch is owned by the Independent Weekly, and Music Editor Grayson Currin is its co-director.) —Bryan C. Reed