Monday, June 26, 2006
AthFest continues to be one of my favorite events of the year. So many bands, so little time.
Friday: Started out late due to the rain. Caught the last bit of Five-Eight-lots of jumping around on stage per usual. I was pleased to notice that, unlike last year, they had someone working the sound board at the main stage who didn't have his head up his ass (and didn't play crappy music between the bands - anybody remember them playing 311 last year? what gives?). Ducked into the Caledonia to check out Garbage Island, which was interesting. I think I liked it, but for some reason it made my tummy hurt. Scooted over to check out Summer Hymns on the Hull St. stage, a band I've really grown to like recently. The beginning of their set, however, was plagued by the annoying girls in the Verizon booth next to that stage, which seriously pissed me off. I want to hear the bands, not teenage girls doing bad karaoke renditions of Beyonce songs. Hung around to check out this phenomena called the Modern Skirts and felt like I was in a bad episode of The O.C. (the one on t.v, not the one I lived in). While it was catchy, their carefully crafted hipster image and their obnoxious ratty ball-cap/polo-shirt/khaki shorts wearing fans grew thin on me quickly. Plus, it seems most of their fans are around 15 years old, so I think it's time Athens instituted a curfew (or a limitation on the number of douchebags allowed downtown at one time). Cut out of there quickly and met Mailclerk for drinks to decompress. Jetted over to catch the tail end of Colonel Knowledge and the Lickety Splits at the 40 Watt, who were jammin' out in the place. Headed to Caledonia to see Music Hates You. Primal, fierce, energetic and scary. They cut the stage lights and put spotlights onto the audience and proceeded to blow my ass away. I'll definitely be seeing these guys again. Skipped over to the Watt to see We vs. the Shark. These guys always kick ass at the Watt, and this time was no exception. Sweaty, danceable fun. Ended the night with the always fun Contraband. Makes me wanna play Nintendo.
Saturday: Things didn't really get started until Don Chambers + GOAT hit the main stage, who were great of course (so good, in fact, I ditched my plans to catch part of Murder Beach's set at Caledonia - a friend later told me they did a cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" - Hillary has more on that here). Swooped over to watch the lovely Liz Durrett on the Hull St. stage and was once again annoyed by the Verizon booth and some a-hole shouting at the front of the crowd (he garbled out something like "play a f'ing" something-or-other and eventually threw a water bottle toward the stage-he took off right as I was near my breaking point, which was lucky for us all, since I was contemplating beating the living crap out of him-and if you're reading this buddy, next time give us a f'ing break why dontcha?). Hightailed it back to the main stage to watch a polished set from Now It's Overhead. How such a huge voice comes from such a tiny boy is beyond me. Getting ready to hit the clubs, Mailclerk and I mourned the lack of our usual AthFest Sat. night lineup of Southern Bitch and Ceiling Fan. Jumped over to Caledonia and caught a couple songs by Jackpot City, but I wasn't digging it and I needed some A/C relief so we ducked into the 40 Watt to catch Casper & the Cookies. A new lineup seems to have invigorated their songs, as they put on a tight show with more rockish numbers, and a special appearance by Casper's mom, who's a super cool lady. Hopped back to the sweltering Caledonia for a sweat-soaked, ass-kicking set by Nutria. Scored a free t-shirt and an early copy of their upcoming double-album (they only got 40 advance copies so you better hurry if you want one!). These guys never disappoint me, and you can't convince me that there are two better songwriters (or nicer guys) in town other than Bob Spires and Jay Gonzales. But the true revelation and high point of my AthFest came next with a fiery set by Producto. I'd never seen this band before and am kicking myself for not hitting one of their shows sooner. It was 100 degrees in the 'Donia but I had chills. Ane's voice is an exquisite instrument, and her stage presence is unmatched by any other vocalist in this town. Powerful and captivating stuff - I will not rest until I get a copy of their record. I knew nothing could top this set for me, so I headed home and left Mailclerk to wander around town. A shower never felt so nice.
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