Athfest 2013: Getting wild at Wired

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 
 Wired Electronic Dance Festival

There's no better place than Athfest to delve into new tune-filled experiences! For the first time in the five years that I've been attending the festival, I discovered Wired, New Earth Music Hall's all-day electronic dance party.  The venue was separated into two different dance areas that fed off of each other as DJs on both sides spun their creative beats and tunes for the crowd.  As I entered New Earth, I was enthralled by the spectacular mix of color and sound that surrounded me.  My friend Tatiana and I chose a prime spot in front of DJ Sorted, one of Atlanta's best, and immersed ourselves in the amazing music and the dance, forgetting everything else.  Too often, we miss celebrating all of the talented DJs in the scene, but truly, this adventure proved yet again that what they create is more than just layers of beats and tones.  It's an art form!

For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2013, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, click here! More entries on all the bands and madness of the festival will be posted daily, so be sure to check back often. Plus, soon you'll be able to check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well!

Aman Amun lights up the Athens stage once more

There's nothing like catching your old favorites in action once again! Experimental electronic artist Aman Amun took a break from his current digs in the NYC on Friday to give those of us here in Athens another taste of his deeply introspective tunes.

Aman Amun, musician Brian McGaw's alter ego, opted to begin the show with a few quieter songs that demonstrated a strength of sound and a certainty of action that he seems to have gained since his move up north. New melodies filled his set, each slow and dark song followed by a more upbeat tune. And the visuals integrated into the show were supreme as always. The screen behind him displayed his trademark bricks that grow and change according to the tunes he plays, and it seemed that even the colors of the brilliant light show that surrounded him altered with the rhythm of his sound. Quite a breathtaking sight! As his show approached its end, his flair for the overdramatic revealed itself as he jumped into the audience and guided the hands of various listeners to the iPhone attached to his chest. This time around, I got to be one of those listeners who had the chance to send him into a writhing collapse on the floor, leaving him looking rather convincingly like a broken down robot. This guy sure knows how to get the crowd involved! Then, to continue with this rather amusing act, he finished his short set by "disappearing" from view.

Truly, the Aman Amun experience was in the excellent form I've come to expect from his New Earth shows. How exciting it is to be able to witness the continuing evolution of his sound!

A plea to the venues

I've visited a massive number of venue websites since the beginning of the Echoreyn of Athens blog. As our regular readers know, every month we put out a Kristen's Concert Picks entry - a list, complete with descriptions, of exciting upcoming shows in Athens, handpicked for the sheer awesomeness of the bands that are playing them. Basically, if my friends and I have seen and loved a band live, we're sure to feature their shows here so that more fans of the scene can get a delicious taste of their tunes. And while checking out the websites, Facebook pages, and, yes, even the MySpace pages of some of our favorite local bands helps us to discover a few of these shows, most of the time the venue websites are our best friends in this matter.

So here's my plea, my call to action, if you will:

Venues, please make your websites cater to the fans!

After all, the whole point of establishing a venue is to create a space where fans can come and listen to their favorite tunes. If there are no fans in attendance (and trust me, I've been to a few of those shows before), then what's the point having the band rock your stage? And, let's be honest here, an empty venue does no favors for the bank account either.

See I've been on a bit of a website-building spree lately, and as such, I've found myself taking a critical eye towards the sites I come across. The venues that serve their fans best are those that post the key feature, the event calendar, right on the main page of the website for all to see.

Proving that a site need not be complicated to be the perfect venue space, the Caledonia Lounge tops the list of Athens venues with sites made for the fans. A single page (yes, just one) provides seekers and makers of rockin' tunes with all they need to find the place, book a show, and discover when their favorite bands are taking the stage. Everything you need to know in one glance... Now, that's awesome! Right up there with the Caledonia's site is 40 Watt's professional site. Their main page features three whole calendars of delectable music with upcoming big name shows listed in a simple breakdown up top and in more detail towards the bottom as well as a weekly show calendar to the side.

But, being one of Athens biggest and most famous venues, there's no way they would just stop there! They've also got a schedule tab which describes each show in great detail among other tabs that provide all sorts of useful information from directions to booking to even the rather fascinating history of how the club came to be. That is one solid website! Other examples of great venue sites built with the fans in mind include WUOG 90.5's site featuring shows for Live in the Lobby, New Earth Music Hall's site, and Nuçi's Space's site.

But what about the smaller venues, those that don't require a full site to keep their fans in the know? Well, Facebook is here to save the day! A well-maintained Facebook page can serve as a venue website too, provided that those who manage the venue's page include all location and contact info and update it regularly with event pages created for every show - a makeshift calendar of sorts. Best of all, Facebook is search engine optimized to be a top result whenever a fan searches for your venue which means that they'll easily find your page when they're dying to know exactly who's rockin' your stage next.

Now, once again, I've got to put in a short word against using MySpace as a website. I've noticed that venues that subsist solely on their MySpace pages tend to forget to update them regularly. Even worse, the site's new layout makes it difficult for fans to see the events listed anyway. At this point and time, I encourage venues to move beyond this site when establishing their web presence.

So, to sum it all up, is a quality website or a regularly updated Facebook page a must-have for venues? YES! In this day and age, nearly every fan who dreams of seeing their favorite band, whether it be a famous touring rock group or a fresh new indie singer/songwriter, will check the Internet first before heading downtown to catch a show. Venues, give these fans what they need: a chance to rock out to the tunes you provide!

New Earth Music Hall: Not quite deja vu

Blur? Detour? It seems like this place changes looks and names as often as Lady Gaga changes outfits. Well, maybe not that often. I've got to admit, though: I love this place's latest look! New Earth Music Hall has got a certain classiness to it that its previous incarnations lacked. Lovely murals adorn the walls, and the main room's shaded lighting sets the tone for a night of just about any type of entertainment. Regulars from this place's past will notice that a small slice of the former stage is now a starred room for performers only. Every venue needs a backstage area, after all! Never fear, though. New Earth's spacious dance floor still faces a rather large raised stage with a miniature thrust stage in the center, perfect for performers to get up close and personal with their fans. A towering DJ box that sits right beside the stage completes the performance space.

Time for a drink? New Earth's definitely got you covered as far as that goes. Its extensive full bar lines an entire wall of the venue! And, of course, after a while you'll be wondering about the restrooms. Well, fear not! The bathrooms here are some of the cleanest-looking ones I've seen in an Athens venue.

Want to just relax for a bit? You've got several choices at New Earth. Inside, they knocked down one of Blur's old walls to create a nice sitting area that provides an excellent view of the action onstage. And, if you make your way through the doors on the side of the venue and up some steps, you'll find yourself on a very large deck, ideal for dancing the night away outside or just chilling. As far as remodels go, I give New Earth two thumbs up.

New Earth Music Hall at a glance:

Ages: All ages events take place during the day!
18 to 20 are generally welcome at night; 21 & up usually get a cheaper price.

Cost: Varies depending on the band/event

Venue Website: http://newearthmusichall.com/

Venue Phone Number: 706-543-8283

Venue location & Google Map: 227 W. Dougherty Street, Athens, Georgia 30601


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Reviews of recent concerts/events at New Earth Music Hall:
Aman Amun

Have any thoughts of your own about this venue? Dying to know something specific that I didn't mention? Be sure to comment below! Also, to read about all of the venues I've reviewed, visit my venues page!