Athfest 2012: Final take on the festival!

Wow, Athfest 2012 was just incredible!

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this Athfest was probably the best one I've ever attended.  And, to top it off, we've got tons of festival coverage from that one tune-filled weekend. I think it's ridiculously amazing that I was able to see 30 new bands in action that I'd never caught before as well as a bunch of old favorites.  What an awesome experience!  Let's break it down and crunch the numbers on this year's insane adventure...

Echoreyn of Athens' Athfest 2012 by the numbers

• 49 bands seen in concert
• 78 pictures
• 4 preparation guides
• 20 blogs
• 12 concert videos
• (At least) 13 new bands I'm dying to check out again!
• 3 more well-worn wristbands to add to my ever-expanding Athfest collection
• 1 glorious press pass
• 1 extremely enthusiastic vlog (see above)

Want another taste of the spectacular festival madness? We've got all of those rad pictures up on our Facebook page, videos galore of some of the most incredible live shows including footage of Emily Hearn, Stokeswood, Betsy Kingston and the Crowns, Holly Belle, Yip Deciever, Ruby Kendrick, Atlas Sound, and many more plus full vlog coverage on our YouTube channel, and a log of up-to-the-minute Athfest details on our Twitter page! 

You can also check out every bit of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, right here!

Hope you had as much fun at this year's Athfest as we did.  Can't wait to experience the craziness of Athfest 2013!

Athfest 2012: Betsy Kingston and the Crowns and Bloodkin finish the show

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Betsy Kingston and the Crowns & Bloodkin

By this time, I was pumped to be at Athfest regardless of the weather.  I had just seen some awesome acts on the Pulaski and Kidsfest Stages, and I was headed to the Hull Street Stage for Betsy Kingston and the Crowns.  Already in the middle of her set, Betsy and her talented band were passionately serving up some smooth, southern rock as I joined the crowd.  Immediately, I fell in love with her vocal style.  Throwing herself into every lyric, she and the Crowns put on a show that was deliciously intense and bursting with personality.  Basically, they rocked it out of the park!  Once their set had ended, I knew one thing for sure.  I had never had an Athfest Sunday more awesome than this one!

As I popped by the press tent for some sustenance before my trek back home, I caught a bit of Bloodkin's solid country rock.  The musicians milling around the press tent began dancing wildly to the tunes, to my utter delight.  Things like this make me fall in love with this town all over again. Then, walking out of the festival, I caught sight of a kid wearing a cardboard robot head.  Oh, the ridiculousness of Athens! It was just simply the perfect ending to Athfest 2012.

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well! 

Athfest 2012: Saint Francis and Sean VanMeter rock us into Sunday

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Saint Francis & Sean VanMeter

Athfest Sunday morning is always the hardest.  After two days of exposure to the harsh sun's rays, it takes some incredible motivation to get back out.  Truly, the lure of awesome tunes is the only thing that keeps me coming back for more.

Journeying to the festival, I headed straight for the Pulaski Street Stage to catch the first act on my list, Saint Francis.  Within minutes, the band's upbeat country rock sound had the crowd up and dancing despite the killer heat.  I even saw a little baby groovin' to the tunes.  These guys were definitely good at what they do.  It was great way to start off the day!

Then it was time to head up the street to see what the kids were up to.  A lot of people just walk on by the Kidsfest stage without a second glance, but sometimes you can find some real talent there.  After a rather adorable father-son group finished their set, piano prodigy Sean VanMeter and his band Death of the Peanut King took the stage. Man, that kid can play!  He started off with a bit of Chopin and then launched into a medley of upbeat and classical melodies.  He followed this by changing up the genre and giving us a wonderful cover of John Lennon's Imagine.  It was all just incredible.  Then his band Death of the Peanut King rocked an awesome cover of Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker.  I'm so glad I chose to check out the Kidsfest stage!

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well! 

Athfest 2012: All the madness of Manray and Bit Brigade

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012 (late)

Manray and Bit Brigade

The tale of my Manray adventure begins with a line... a long line stretching all the way across the Caledonia parking lot.  After popping over to Flicker to watch Boycycle's set, I was eager for another delicious taste of noise rock.  Apparently, everyone else felt the same way. I always liked Manray's style, and many of my friends are huge fans as well, but I had no idea just how popular these Flagpole Award winners had become until now.  You know a band is a success story in this town when even the press pass holders can't get inside because the venue's already far over capacity!  Finally, after about half an hour of waiting, I achieved victory and stepped through the gates.  Not a moment too soon, either. I managed to catch about two rockin' songs infused with hardcore melody before their set ended.  Filled with satisfaction from the sheer insanity of their noise, I grabbed a seat in the courtyard to wait for the next set to begin.

Once I heard a new note struck, I made my way back inside for the final show of the night. Cutting through the darkness and illuminating the whole stage, a massive video screen displayed early 90s game graphics.  And then the real fun began.  Bit Brigade, not content to merely serve up some rock like most of their fellow bands, showed off their utterly unique talents as they jammed their way through pitch perfect renditions of the soundtracks to the classic games Contra and Megaman while they were being played live.  I've got to admit, it was captivating to watch.  All the gamers in the venue were going wild as they made their way through the different characters and levels, a rather impressive feat in its own right.  The whole show was really just surreal.  It was almost like watching your friend from elementary school master his favorite games while a live band plays in his living room.  I can truly say, I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Crazy? Yes.  But there's no doubt, it was awesome as well!

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well! 

Athfest 2012: The ever-changing band Boycycle

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012 (late)

Boycycle

After seeing Bambara and Life Coach at the Caledonia, it was the perfect time to take the decibel level down a notch and head over to Flicker for a bit.  Once I arrived, I quickly seated myself in a cozy corner, narrowly inching out the small crowd that soon filled the room.  The band that I later found out was Boycycle started off their set as a solo act with their lead singer pounding away on the drums.  Then it slowly morphed into a full band with an ever-changing slew of talented members creating soft, indie tunes and wonderful arrangements.  The drum-heavy melodies, threaded together by the lead singer's unique and often ethereal vocals, simply touched my soul.  Not far into the set, they whipped out an accordion, adding yet another layer to their tunes.  I just loved what I heard!  As Boycycle finished their set, the crowd called for an encore, a testament to their awesome performance.  Unfortunately though, seconds into the first song, a really talkative drunk man had sat beside me and had begun narrating the whole set and having a conversation with himself which was extremely distracting. Hopefully, sometime soon I'll be able to see this band again and absorb their beautiful music without interruption!  

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well! 

Athfest 2012: Bambara and Life Coach blast us with sound

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

Bambara and Life Coach

So how did this blog's favorite noise rockers Bambara do at Athfest 2012? Oh, they sucked.  Just kidding, you guys! Of course, they were awesome as always. After they ironed out a few technical issues (I've always felt that they sound their best indoors rather than outdoors where they played this year), they gave us the show we all desired. With the pure manic force of their performance, Bambara absorbed all sound in the world and then shot it back out at us in a blast of pure distorted essence. It was a beautiful assault of every one of our senses, no doubt, but it was all too short. Despite bassist William's claims that the band's set was actually longer than usual, those of us in the crowd were left desperately craving for more. Luckily, though, it seems we'll only have to wait a few more weeks for them to return: they'll be rockin' at Little King's annual Slopfest this year on July 21st, with heavy-hitters Manray no less.

And speaking of luck, I was quite happy to find the band Life Coach up next as well.  I had never actually seen them before this, though their name sounded rather familiar to me.  After a bit of research, I realized that I had just missed catching them a couple of months ago, so the time was ripe to see them in action this go around.  I've gotta say, I liked what I heard.  Pairing them with Bambara was a quite a genius move as they had a similar eardrum-bursting, rock sound.  I definitely hope I'll get to catch them again sometime!

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well! 

Athfest 2012: Pictures, bands, and a dancing banana

We caught all sorts of wild sights at Athfest 2012, and now we've got pictures of all of 'em up on the Echoreyn of Athens Facebook page!  You can see some of our favorites below:

Like Totally intros the Flagpole Awards

Stokeswood lights up the night

Emily Hearn sings so sweetly

Reptar puts on an insane show

Betsy Kingston belts it out during her set

Want to see more?  Check out the full album on our Facebook page!

  For all of our massive coverage of Athfest 2012, 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, check out our show footage and Athfest vlogs up on the Echoreyn of Athens YouTube channel as well!