Just a short post here with a quick take on day 1 of Savannah Stopover. I managed to catch all or part of 9 shows last night, and I’ll likely have more to say about all of these later — and probably have more pics to post too.
Good Graeff from Sarasota opened the kickoff party at Knights of Columbus. That even was originally scheduled to be outdoors in the beer garden at Moon River Brewing Company, but nasty chilly and wet weather has been lingering in Savannah for most of the week. The space filled up more quickly and more fully than I anticipated, and the crowd for the most part seemed taken by the twin-fronted pop folk sound.
And then the Birmingham-based soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones blew the roof off. A full set of photos and more thoughts coming later.
Next I headed to City Coffee to hear Spires, but the venue was running really late. So I headed on over to Congress Street Social Club to chat for a minute with and then listen to the four members of The Silver Palms, the young band from Kingsland, Georgia. They’ve definitely honed their sound since they last played Savannah a couple of months ago (opening for Jake Bugg and The Orwells can’t hurt a band’s development). The sound was really good all night at Social, but the lighting was terrible for photos. Awful. Maybe one of the photographers using flash was able to get some decent shots. I’ll have a few more to post later of all three bands that played there last night, but none of them are up to my own relatively low standards.
But here’s a shot of The Silver Palms’ super-talented guitarist Adam Drury:
Back to City Coffee for a really polished set by Savannah-based Triathalon, who had three backup singers and J. Zagers performing with them for this show.
And back to Social for The Black Cadillacs from Knoxville — a flat out awesome live band. More to come on them later too.
I didn’t want to miss Wye Oak, so I hopped on my bike and headed back to Knights of Columbus. A really beautiful, rich sound — not necessarily a style that I gravitate toward, but it’s easy to see why the Baltimore band is in such demand and draws such high praise.
I did not know what to call Wye Oak’s sound, but it’s apparent that they play “makeout music”:
Yes, back to Congress Street Social Club for J. Roddy Walston and The Business, who took a really long soundcheck before ripping into their set before a packed house.
Future Islands at Club One. What can you say? I don’t know when I’ve seen the nightclub so packed, and lead singer Samuel Herring — who has been something of an internet sensation since the band’s appearance last week on Letterman — made the room his own. Here’s the deal: every aspiring lead singer should contemplate the risks that Herring and Paul Janeway from St. Paul & The Broken Bones are taking on stage.
Sometime after 1:30 a.m., a friend and I made it over to The Jinx for the end of Kylesa’s set. The crowd had thinned a little by that hour, and Kylesa was the 4th act in the showcase for their own Retro Futurist label. But the hard-driving sound made a great way to end the night.
