Monday, June 27, 2005
So, AthFest '05... where to begin... How 'bout at the beginning?
THURS: Flagpole awards were pretty good. Didn't start on time (as usual), but so be it. Dragged in a few places, but overall the winners were more credible and the performers were on par or above expectations. Bob Hay & The Jolly Beggars were particularly great. Great music videos and a hilarious short by the Flick Skinny guys that centered around Hulk Hogan.
Afterwards, Popperfest was a rousing success. Met a few musicians I like who like our site, met a few writers I like who like our site, and heard an amazing performance by Nutria (in their new lineup). I love all types of music, but catchy t-shirt-n-jeans type rock n' roll is probably my favorite - and the Nutria guys have that down pat.
FRI: We Versus The Shark ruled the night. They kicked total but with a whole buncha' new tunes. They might be a little less "math + disco rock" and a little more just "rock", but it was right on for that time of night. I think the crowd agreed.
Before them, ContraBand was quite impressive. It involves the members of Cinemechanica performing the music to the videogame Contra as two other dudes (in full costume) play the game live on screen - all the way through. Sounds pretentious as hell, I know, but it's really cool to see.
Pylon shook off the rust off a shakey first half of their set to end up performing a great second-half. And they really saved their best songs to play all in a row at the end, and it was awesome. The balloons looked cool too - and I recognized the traffic cone shape!
SAT: Okay, think of some great CD's to play in between bands on the outdoor stage. Have a few in mind? Great - anyone think "311 would be awesome!"? No? Me neither.
Moving on, after a fun set by the always-great Chasers, the Stand-Ins, and Col. Knowledge & The Lickity-Splits made a great start to the evening. It was my first time seeing the Colonel and his ground and they didn't disappoint. I used to work with their singer - who'da thought he had a voice like that?!?
I was also really impressed as well with Heros Severum's new lineup. They sounded awesome, and I've never really been into them before. It's also the best I've ever heard upstairs at Tasty World sound (if they can make that place sound good - how come the outdoor stage can't?).
But the best show of the night was Ceiling Fan. Man, they rule. I felt really privileged to get to see them play a great set as it's "not their last, but close to it" according to them. Worth all the effort I put into arranging my entire night around it (missed Venice Is Sinking, who I was really looking forward to seeing again).
Afterwards, Don Chambers and Goat also shook off the rust of a shakey start to play a great second-half set. And the night ended with a birthday celebration for Southern Bitch's Wendy Musick.
Thanks to AthFest for another fun year. Thanks also to Jeff Montgomery and Chris Hassiotis for making it all possible.
Now, what'd y'all like? Send pics if you got 'em.
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