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events

Savannah Stopover 2017

I did Friday night of this year’s Savannah Stopover, and it was a blast.  Savannah Stopover is a three day music festival featuring bands from all over. Many of the bands stop over in Savannah before heading to SXSW in Austin.

I first stopped by the secret show at West Elm. Christopher Paul Stelling performed an acoustic set.  His new album, ‘Itinerant Arias’, will drop on 05/05/17.  After his set, I grabbed some dinner from the Chazitos Latin Food Truck.  The empanadas and plaintains are delicious.

Chazitos

Then I went to see Becca Mancari play at Trinity Church. She’s originally from Staten Island, but plays country music. Listening to secular music in a church is pretty cool.

Becca Mancari Later on, I saw Gracie and Rachel play.  Their sound is orchestral pop. Their choral acoustic cover of Kreayshawn’s “Gucci, Gucci’ is the best cover I have heard this year.

Gracie and Rachel

Alanna Royale is an authentic soul singer. She has so much stage presence that it is imperative that you see her live.  She is a great complement to Lee Fields and the Expressions who performed in the most handsome shiny suits.

They played baby-making music with an old school vibe,  and it felt so good.  However, seeing Alanna and Lee actually reminded me of Sharon Jones which made me feel a little melancholy. It was time for me to change venues, so I walked to Club One to see Floco Torres. Floco Torres is a hip hop artist from Macon, Georgia.  His flow reminded me of 90’s hip hop.  Next up was Deantoni Parks who used to be the drummer for Mars Volta.  Wearing a  first ‘Batman movie era joker t-shirt and playing drums, Deantoni was like if The Art of Noise met up with Prince and early Can.  He was great!  Last but not least was the dj collective, A Tribe Called Red.  They are a Canadian first nation group.  I saw all of the amazing music for less than $40.  The three-day passes are more, but I highly recommend coming to Savannah for Stopover next year.

 

 

 

 

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savannah

My Taste Of Savannah Stopover

Savannah Stopover

The Thursday before last, I went to the first night of Savannah Stopover to see some of the up and coming bands.  It was fun! I couldn’t go the other nights because I went to visit family last weekend.  Other than Ra Ra Riot,  I had never heard of the bands I saw. However, they were good. Ra Ra Riot headlined a show with two other bands at Ships of The Sea Museum.

First up was local Savannah band, Breakers,  who sound like what would happen if surf rock met up with Joy Division and Depeche Mode. Lead singer Samford Juice has such confidence on stage.  He reminds me of the lead singer of The Liars, Angus Andrew. [BTW, I saw The Liars perform at the Siren Music Festival back in either 2002 or 2003.] Anyway, the band’s pretty good.

Next up was Sun Club.  Sun Club is a band from Baltimore, and the music is pop meets punk.  Listen to them on Sun Club.

Then I went to Club One to see DEGA perform. With only two people, DEGA is like a downsized version of Dirty Projectors. Asyln and Kalen are based in Athens, GA.  They just did a showcase at SXSW.

I did see a little bit of T.Hardy Morris at Congress St. Social Club, but not long enough. The music is alt-country rock. After the stopover, he was part of an “Athens in Austin” music showcase.

The last act I saw that night was PWR BTTM at Ampersand. PWR BTTM is a queer punk duo who do witty banter like Kiki and Herb but they play guitar and drums.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
savannah

Savannah Stopover: The Alternative To SXSW Music

Are you going to SXSW?! I’m not but this year I get to experience some of the best up and coming bands here in Savannah. The Savannah Stopover music festival is like pre-gaming for SXSW. From March 10-12th, there will 100 bands playing in 3 days at 10 venues in downtown Savannah. This is a great showcase of indie music featuring from all over the United States and a few acts from the UK and Europe.

The best thing is that the  Savannah Stopover is only $79 for a three-day pass.

Who’s playing?! When I first looked at the list, I only recognized Ra Ra Riot, Blitzen Trapper and French Horn Rebellion.  Then I listened to the Savannah Stopover playlist on Soundcloud, and I realized that I have listened to some of the bands before.  [Too bad I can’t fit the Shazam app on my phone.]