Bidding farewell to 2011... Here comes 2012!

2012 is upon us, my friends!

But before we welcome in the start of a new year, let's look back on our 2011.  Between all of the breakups, awesome shows, departing bands, and festival opportunities, this has been quite an eventful year in the scene!  Indeed, I'd say it's the perfect time to break it all down in another year end review...

Echoreyn of Athens: 2011

January 2011: We first experienced the awesome sound of Sam Sniper at a backyard party on one of the coldest days of the year.

April 2011: Rocking out with six bands in one night... Hey, it's just another night on the scene!

May 2011: People putting their lives on the line to party like animals?  At a Reptar show, you'd expect nothing less. These guys are hitting the big time!

May 2011: Echoreyn of Athens featured its first music video week!

June 2011: We caught tons of bands including Marcy Playground of Sex and Candy fame at Summer Side Show in Columbus, Ga!

June 2011: Yet again, Echoreyn of Athens goes wild at Athfest, capturing every insane moment and every unbelievable event!

September 2011: Of Montreal gives us a feast for our senses!

September 2011: Echoreyn of Athens miraculously nabs tickets to the rebirth of Music Midtown in Atlanta.  This year's festival featured the Constellations, the Joy Formidable, the Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, and Coldplay!

October 2011: We teamed up with Athens Music Junkie to seize the airwaves for a few hours at UGA's student-run radio station WUOG!

October 2011: Hitching a ride with the ever-awesome Misfortune500, Echoreyn of Athens gets a taste of the CMJ festival in New York!

December 2011: Hey, we can't forget the fourth annual Squidmas!

Also, don't miss our end of the year video wrap up above featuring live footage from tons of bands including never before seen shots of Coldplay at Music Midtown!

Wow, what a year 2011 has been! We bid our final adieu to one of Athens' most iconic bands, R.E.M., and waved goodbye to many others like blog favorite Bambara as they journeyed to their new homes outside of our town.  Indeed, I'd say that 2012 is ripe for the taking.  I hope you're listening, new bands and budding musicians!  Need some inspiration?  Well, this year saw Reptar blowing up the scene as well.  Maybe, if you're lucky, some of their magic will rub off on you too!

So what can we look forward to for Echoreyn of Athens in 2012?  Well, we're actually planning to bring the blog back to its intensely excited roots. This means we'll be dropping our structured publishing format in favor of returning to a more laid back form where we'll blog when we feel exceptionally passionate about something we've seen or heard.  If it's an unforgettable experience, you can bet you'll be reading about it here.  What about the monthly show picks?  Well, of course we'll keep that up!  We've got the details on all of the shows you won't want to miss this year.  And will we cover Athfest again?  Hey, you know there's no way we'd pass that up!  When June 2012 rolls around, we'll be your one-stop guide to Athfest before and after the massive festival just like last year.  We're simply keeping things fresh here and attempting to complete a few novels too in our off hours.  So don't hesitate to continue coming to visit us every once in a while.  We'll be here with all the most exciting details of the scene you know and love!

Enough looking back and thinking ahead...  Let's celebrate the here and now!  It's almost New Year's Eve, and that means it's time to party!  Not sure where to go?  We've got you covered!

Dying to jump right into the madness?  Then you can catch Reptar going wild on the Georgia Theatre stage! Is harder rock more your speed?  40 Watt will play host to the Whigs for the night as well!  But maybe you want to see the next generation of rockers before they hit it big.  Well, then Hendershots is the place to be when the Athens band and Tealvox ring in the new year! Aching for a bit of Of-Montreal-flavored excitement?  While the whole band isn't playing this year, you can party with the members of the band as Kevin Barnes DJs a dance set and Yip Deceiver and the Gold Party rock it out for the 21+ crowd at Go Bar! Or perhaps dancing through a cascade of money sounds like the perfect way to start 2012.  If that's the case, DJRX's set at Bad Manor will be your show of choice!

Whatever you choose to do, I hope you all have an incredible New Year's Eve.  Catch you in 2012, my friends!  

Out with 2010, Rockin' In 2011

I simply cannot wait for 2011! Time to start a brand new chapter in our lives. Next year's going to be amazing, you guys... I can just feel it!

But what about 2010? A lot of big things happened this year for Echoreyn of Athens and pals as we gallivanted through our favorite city. In fact, I'd say it's about time for another year in review...

Echoreyn of Athens: 2010

January 2010: Atlanta band Stellate starts off our year with some undeniably awesome pop tunes at Georgia's New Years Eve Peach Drop.

January 2010: Just a couple weeks later, Echoreyn of Athens gets its first taste of the jazzy punk dance music that is ska.

February 2010: Of Montreal takes over the city for two nights in a row, giving us a legendary series of shows.

April 2010: Adult Swim teams up with local favorite the Modern Skirts to throw an absolutely massive block party.

June 2010: Nothing rocks our socks off here at Echoreyn of Athens more than Athfest! For a second year in a row, we spill every little detail of the magic that is Athens' biggest music festival.

September 2010: The Beat Geeks, breakout stars of the year, rock their first show at the Caledonia for a crowd of over a hundred people.

October 2010: Maintaining their streak of memorable shows, the Beat Geeks treat Athens to a second helping of their tunes as they open for the unbelievably famous Ludacris.

November 2010: The music scene marks the end of an era for Echoreyn of Athens as Crumbling Arches plays their final show.

December 2010: What would the holiday season be without another merry little Squidmas?

Wow, that was quite a year!

In other news, 2010 saw the end of several more of our favorite bands including Deaf Judges, Leading Edge, and the current incarnation of Chris McKay and the Critical Darlings. Fare the well, dear bands! I know you all will continue on to do amazing things!

And some bands just took their tunes in a brand new direction. Modern Skirts and Dead Confederate, I'm looking at you! More still, like Reptar, Oryx and Crake, and the Athens band, are just continuing to get all kinds of buzz around town. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on these guys!

But, hey, enough looking back... Let's look forward to the eve of a brand new year! Not sure how to celebrate? Well, my friends, you've got all kinds of choices!

First off, if you were lucky enough to be among those who got tickets, Of Montreal will be throwing a sure-to-be-INSANE sold out show at the 40 Watt for New Years Eve. Missed your chance for tickets? Well, don't fret! Over at the Caledonia Lounge, the Incendiaries will be playing with Free Mountain and Pride Parade too. In the mood for a free show? Well, blog favorite Venice is Sinking's got your back at Farm 255 where they will be rocking the night away with the Quiet Hooves. But what if you're in the ATL for New Years? Well, you're in luck, my pals! Big time blog favorites the Constellations will be taking over Smith's Olde Bar in the city as well.

Don't forget: for all your music news, reviews, and info in the new year, Echoreyn of Athens is the place to be! Raise your glasses, my friends. Here's to 2011!

Stellate Sings Us Into 2010

Layers. That's what you need to remember when you're going to the Peach Drop celebration in Underground Atlanta to ring in the new year. It was FREEZING! But once Stellate leapt onstage, I forgot about the cold. It just didn't matter anymore. I was fully and completely absorbed in the music!

Seriously. This was the second time I've had the chance to see this incredible pop rock band share their tunes, and, as far as I can tell, every Stellate experience tops the last. They were simply AMAZING! Their larger than life sound engulfed the crowd of people lucky enough to arrive early to hear their tunes, and the audience's cheers just kept getting louder with each song. Halfway through their set, my dad turned to me, eyes wide with awe, and told me that he was blown away by their talent. Best of all, they rocked tons of songs from old favorites to EP hits to brand new melodies. Afterwards, thanks to my new friend Charlie, I managed to find Stellate hanging out amongst the massive crowd, and I got to snag myself one freakin' cool band t-shirt. These guys are the best! I'll never give up hoping they make their way to Athens soon to rock out for all of my pals there.

Shortly after, Ben Deignan followed Stellate with a bit of his own soulful rock, and indie rockers Sun Domingo brought us a few of their tunes that I swear I've heard before as well some nice covers. What an unbelievable time. Altogether, it was the absolute perfect show to usher in a brand new year!

2009: The Year of Surprises

The lights at the 40 Watt blur to look like musical notes

Wow, can it be over already? But 2009 just started, didn't it? This year has been so incredibly spectacular! I really just can't believe how much has happened. I've gotten to rock out to 83 bands and acts I'd never seen before this year, and that's not to mention the countless other groups that filled my ears with an insatiable desire to hear them again and again. And wait, just think of it... Echoreyn of Athens only just started in April of 2009! That doesn't seem so long ago, but the unbelievable events of the past year say otherwise. This blog has grown so much since then! In fact, I'd say it's time for a little timeline. So here it is!

The Year in Echoreyn of Athens

April 2009: Echoreyn of Athens begins as a humble little blog about my adventures in the Athens music scene.

April 2009: EoA introduces Kristen's Monthly Concert Picks.

June 2009: EoA gets a YouTube channel filled to the brim with show footage.

June 2009: EoA joins Twitter and shares some instant tidbits about the scene. Thanks for following us!

June 2009: Athfest! I cover Athfest like it's my job with a 20 blog blitz of the massive festival.

July 2009: EoA reviews the music venues around town.

September 2009: The Constellations make my night when they rock Tasty World Uptown.

October 2009: Dead Confederate and Meat Puppets join together to blow me away in what may be the greatest show I've ever seen!

October 2009: EoA gets a facebook fan page. Feel free to be a fan!

November 2009: I celebrate my birthday with some of my Echoreyn of Athens pals at an absolutely incredible show with Crumbling Arches and the Ha's Neptica Atlas.

December 2009: Ho Ho Ho... What a Squidmas!

December 2009: New CDs are being released all over the place! It's time for the Echoreview.

Now that is quite something. I'm seriously excited to see what 2010 brings to this little blog!

On a darker note, not all was well in Athens in 2010. I must mention the terribly large number of amazing talents our town has lost this year. Because I am still pretty new to the Athens music scene, I never had the chance to hear or get to know any of these people, but Athens is such a tight knit community that you can't help but feel the profound impact of their loss. They will most definitely be missed. Randy Bewley, Jon Guthrie, Jerry Fuchs, Vic Chesnutt, and so many more... Rest in peace.

But remember, tonight is New Years Eve, and there's no better time to celebrate love, life, and music than the night of fresh starts and new beginnings. And, lucky for us, there are TONS of choices for those of us who want to ring in the new year with style.

Still in Athens? The Constellations will make your night shine at Tasty Wold Uptown with the Incredible Sandwich on the bill as well. In the mood to dance your winter hats off? Krush Girls and DJ Immuzikation will throwdown in Athens' Chase Park Warehouse tonight too. And Deaf Judges will rap it all up at the Caledonia Lounge.

Down in the ATL? Athens' darlings The Modern Skirts and Five Eight will be rockin' Smith's Olde Bar all night. For some hardcore insanity, don't miss the Black Lips' takeover of the EARL (if you can still manage to grab yourself some tickets, that is). Me? I'll be dancing wildly in Underground Atlanta to the tunes of the unspeakably awesome pop rock band Stellate. I can't wait!

Happy New Year, my friends! Check back often in 2010 for journals of rockin' new shows, reviews of brand new CDs, interviews with the most spectacular of bands, awesome concert videos, blogs coming at you multiple times a week, and so much more! See you in 2010.