Fresh off their show at Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, Mutual Benefit brought their lush, orchestral pop/rock to Ampersand on Saturday night in yet another show from Savannah Stopover/MusicFile Productions.
Local acts Fare the Gap and mumbledust opened, which meant that all three bands had both male and female vocalist and that there was a certain ethereal quality to the whole evening.
Ampersand (the former Sparetime) got its permanent sound system earlier in the day on Saturday, and I’m thrilled to report that the sound was excellent. I look forward to seeing a lot more shows in that second floor space. The Stopover folks dressed up the stage for this inaugural show with Christmas lights and album covers, which combined for a beautiful effect in the room but didn’t translate as well to photos. I gather that Ampersand has plans to renovate the space later this summer — I hope so. We need some direct light on the bands and some insulation to mute the bass coming from the DJ below (or just turn it down).
The room was also set up for a sit-down show, but I wouldn’t call either Mutual Benefit or Fare the Gap sit-down bands. And there weren’t really enough chairs for everyone to sit anyway, so the standers ended up on the sides and in the back. So, the venue has a few logistics to figure out if they want to have a serious venue up there. I’m optimistic.
I love Fare the Gap and mumbledust, and it was sure good to hear them both in fine form opening for an up-and-coming act like Mutual Benefit.
A couple more pics and more after the jump:
