Kristen's Concert Picks: Getting back to the August rock!

August is a time of change, so let our town's tunes be your rock in a sea of uncertainty.  Prepare your ears for this awesomeness!

Thu, Aug 1: Cicada Rhythm @ 8:30 PM @ Georgia Theatre

There's no better way to kick off the month than with Cicada Rhythm's unique lilting harmonies!

Thu, Aug 1: Brothers @ TBA PM @ Flicker Theatre

Old school-style rock with an indie pop angle, you'll love Brothers' sound!

 Fri, Aug 9: Lazer/Wulf @ 9:30 PM @ Caledonia Lounge 
Lazer/Wulf's noise rock melodies will blast your ears with joy!

Sat, Aug 10: Efren @ 7:30 PM @ The World Famous

Folk rock at its gritty and raw best, Efren is always worth a listen!

Tue, Aug 13: The Viking Progress @ 8 PM @ WUOG

Head on down to the WUOG student-run radio station at Tate Center on the UGA Campus or tune in to 90.5 FM to catch the sweet distorted rock of the Viking Progress.

Fri, Aug 16: Ken Will Morton @ 4:30 PM @ Georgia Theatre
If you're craving a bit of an americana sound, Ken Will Morton is your guy!  Check out this daytime show during the middle of the month.

Fri, Aug 16: Seven Handle Circus @ 8 PM @ Georgia Theatre

I've never heard another band like Seven Handle Circus.  Their bouncy, upbeat folk tunes are sure to put a smile on your face!

Fri, Aug 16: T. Hardy Morris and the Outfit @ 9 PM @ Caledonia Lounge
T. Hardy Morris is one of the most talented musicians in Athens, no doubt.  Get on over to the Caledonia Lounge for this show!

Sat, Aug 17: Dangfly! @ 10 PM @ Caledonia Lounge 

There's no doubt you'll love Dangfly!'s trumpeting folk rock sound!

Thu, Aug 22: Powerkompany@ 9 PM @ 40 Watt

Electronic and ethereal, Powerkompany's melodies will blow you away!

Thu, Aug 29: Emily Hearn @ 7 PM @ Georgia Theatre

Nothing is sweeter than Emily Hearn's voice.  If you haven't caught one of her shows yet, now is the time!

Thu, Aug 29: Feather Trade and Death on Two Wheels @ 10 PM @ Green Room

What a wild combination!  Feather Trade and Death On Two Wheels both have dark alt rock sounds that should complement each other perfectly.  Best of all, this show is free!  You won't want to miss this one.

School may be starting soon, but with this lineup of bands, the fun of summer is showing no signs of slowing down!  Pumped for another local show not on this list?  Be sure to comment below and tell everyone all about it. Hope you have a wild one, my friends!

Athfest 2013: Summing up the festival!

What an Athfest!

It's almost a month later, and I'm still recovering from the awesome insanity. So many incredible bands!    Best of all, we've got some intense Athfest 2013 coverage of nearly every angle of the festival to help you relive all of your favorite parts.  Let's break it down, shall we...

Echoreyn of Athens' Athfest 2013 by the numbers

• 25 bands seen live
• 54 pictures
• 4 prep guides for Athfest
• 13 blogs
• 10 videos of live show footage
• At least 7 new bands I can't wait to see again!
• 2 more well-worn wristbands to add to my ever-growing Athfest collection
• 2 awesome press passes
• 1 crazy fun, tune-filled vlog (see above)

Want to reminisce or catch something new that you missed? Well, we've got all of those wild pictures up on our Facebook page, videos galore of some of the most amazing live shows including footage  from the final shows of both Modern Skirts and National Anthem plus tunes from The Whigs, Lera Lynn, Quiet Hounds, Ghost Owl and many more. And don't miss all of our up-to-the-minute details on our Twitter page!

  

You can also check out every bit of our massive coverage of Athfest 2013, from preparation guides to articles on some of the best featured bands and shows, right here!

Hope your Athfest was as insanely spectacular as ours was.  Can't wait to to jump straight into Athfest 2014 next year!

Athfest 2013: A stormy but awesome grand finale with Lera Lynn and Dangfly!

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013 
 Lera Lynn
Dangfly!

Going to Athfest Sunday every year is like savoring a few sweet bites of dessert after a very filling meal.  That afternoon, I headed downtown to catch a couple bands I knew would not disappoint.  The first, Dangfly!, I had discovered during my forays into the thick internet jungle of local band websites, and I knew after sampling their online tunes that this band was one I just had to see.  Their quality rock entered my ears as I stepped over to the Hull Street Stage.  Fiddle and trumpet sounds soon joined the mix, and I've gotta say, I was just loving it!  Not much later, Betsy Franck, a singer whose powerful voice I've raved about ever since my first Athfest, stepped up to play a tune with the band.  What a combination!  The crowd, too, was fully enjoying the show, and one little girl up front was even air guitaring to the songs as if her life depended on it.  It was all just so good!

Heading back down to the Pulaski Stage, I weaved my way through the Sunday afternoon Athfest-goers, most of whom seemed to be with their families.  It's so awesome to see all these kids growing up with live music!  Seating myself in the shaded wristband area beside the stage, I saw a bit of Bloodkin's southern rock set and just had to smile as I watched one guy in the crowd dancing exuberantly to the music.

A while later, it was time for yet another musician I've heard and loved during Athfests past, Lera Lynn!  This singer always knows how to rock, and her strength of tune knows no bounds. Although I was totally pumped to see her, I couldn't help but experience a bit of trepidation as storm clouds rolled in overhead.  People who've been on the scene for a couple of years will remember that the last time she played Pulaski Stage, her tunes were punctuated by a lighting strike that hit a local restaurant just a few yards away.  Sure enough, it soon began to rain on her Athfest 2013 set, but nothing could stop her band this time around.  Wind rustled through her hair like it was meant to happen as the band rocked through the storm, the pattering rain melding beautifully with their sweet, twangy sound.  Despite the raindrops, the crowd refused to seek shelter, not willing to miss a second of their tunes.  Cheering on the crowd for being such incredible fans, Lera Lynn declared "you guys deserve some whiskey" as she and the band launched into the second half of their set. And wow, their songs just kept getting better and better.  No one has a voice like hers!  As the rain slowly eased away, members of the crowd began to groove.  Among them, a couple beside the stage started swing dancing and a little girl wearing pink headphones and holding a banana, went spinning across the sidewalk in time with the music.  Young and old alike, the people of Athens weren't going to let a little thing like rain stop them from basking in the beauty and joy of Lera Lynn's set.

It was truly a perfect finish for Athfest 2013!

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!

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!

Athfest 2013: Rockin' the noise at the Caledonia with National Anthem and Powder Room

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013  
 National Anthem
Powder Room
Hot Breath

The madness at the Caledonia on Athfest Saturday was just beginning.  Since the lineup that night looked positively incredible, I made myself comfortable at the venue and settled in for an evening of thunderous noise rock.  Hot Breath was up first, and they definitely fit the bill as far as decibels were concerned.  These masters of doom headbanged their way through a set rife with screaming garage rock and heavy sound.

Then National Anthem, a band I've been dying to see for quite a while, took the stage.  Throwing themselves energetically into an insane set of instrumental rock, these guys had the crowd with them from the very beginning.  Jace Bartet, best known as the member of Reptar who went totally hardcore and rocked his way through a monstrous face wound at last year's Athfest, brought the same famous enthusiasm to the table in this set.  And wow, the band's talent was purely incredible.  Every tune twisted through soundscapes with wild abandon, never veering off course but always venturing into the realm of the unexpected.  Often a solely instrumental band feels like it is lacking a singer, but in National Anthem's case, the music spoke for itself.  Several other members of Reptar were going crazy for their style in the front row, and they certainly weren't the only ones.  Fans packed into the venue, diving straight into their fun sound, and I was about ready to declare this band one of my new top favorites.  Of course, continuing my streak of having rather terrible luck with picking favorites, almost immediately after I made this decision, the band announced that this was actually going to be their final show.  Oh so tragic!  I've gotta to say though, even if it was their last, I'm so pumped I got to hear them before the end.  This, you guys, was one of the very best!

Up next, Powder Room, quite possibly the loudest of the bunch, followed with a serving of their darkly melodic trance noise. Drum beats shook the fans to their cores as the band's yells echoed in their ears.  The crowd responded with almost animal joy, going nuts for those up onstage. Then, as is fitting for a night of the loudest of rock, top favorite band Bambara finished out my Caledonia spree with what can only be described as a thrilling explosion of metaphorical death.

Truly, it was an unforgettable ear-blasting evening!

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!

Athfest 2013: Maserati draws in the crowds

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 
 Maserati

You know something amazing has got to be happening when a venue hits capacity before the official evening shows even start.  As the grand finale for their Dirty Athens day party, the Caledonia Lounge brought in much-buzzed-about band Maserati, and the crowds poured in.  By the time I arrived, the line wound through the gate and halfway across the parking lot.  Luckily, gates and crowds couldn't hold in Maserati's hard, driving rock.   Their high quality noise engulfed us all in an incredible blast of sound.  Truly, even from outside of the Caledonia, their show was nothing short of an explosive experience!

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!

Athfest 2013: Ghost Owl scares up some awesome tunes!

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 
Ghost Owl

Ghost Owl was up next, and I've got to say, I've already heard tons of buzz about these guys. Composed of former members of Perpetual Groove, this new incarnation has only been around for a few months, but you'd never know it.  These guys were all set to blow us away!  As they prepped for the show, blasts of noise issued from the stage giving me little doubt that what to come was going to be quite an experience.  And what an experience it was!  Massive and commanding beats joined the keys and some rare, awesome vocal harmonies to create a rad bit of an electronic jam vibe. My friend Andy remarked that these songs would be perfect to intro a video game, and I totally agree.  Their tunes just oozed power, and the crowd ate it up.  Some of their fans were so immersed in the music, they even seemed to enter into an enthusiasm-fueled trance.  But they weren't the only members of the crowd who fell under Ghost Owl's spell.  One of the band's songs had a bass track so intense, the whole audience just had to groove along.  What a wild show!  I can't wait to catch these guys in action again.

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!