Dollhouse Productions proved again on Thursday night that it can be a great space for live music.
Located in an industrial part of West Savannah, Dollhouse feels remote from downtown Savannah’s entertainment district, but it’s only 1.5 miles from City Market.
A slight expansion of Dollhouse’s recording studio has actually improved the performance space since the last time I was there — the new angled wall tightens up the stage area just enough.
Crazy Bag Lady kicked things off with one of their signature blistering sets, with front man Josh Sterno doing some contortions I’d never seen. For those of us who see the band a lot, it’s easy to get complacent about how good Crazy Bag Lady is. Seeing them at Dollhouse was a great reminder of the pace, power, and presence.
Breakers was playing their second public gig, but the four members all have plenty of experience. Lead singer Samford Justice was with Ritvals in Athens, guitarist Corey Hines also performs solo and with Black Water Choir, bassist Lucas Carpenter’s projects include Saint Corsair, and drummer Carson Sanders was once with Sauna Heat.
I was really impressed with Breakers’ compelling, well-constructed songs that evoked for me memories of various new wave acts. Really good.
Wet Socks set up fast and killed it, as usual. They seemed right at home on the Dollhouse stage — better lit and bigger than Hang Fire, closer to the crowd than The Jinx — and they ripped through songs like “Library Card” with energy and precision. This was one of Wet Socks’ last gigs of 2015 — they’re now on a lengthy U.S. tour, and then lead singer/guitarist Hunter will be headed out on tour with Triathalon.
There was a solid turnout — especially considering it was a Thursday night in a space that many people still don’t know — and the sound was really strong. Dollhouse was doing both audio and video recording of the entire show, so I hope we’ll have something to post in a few weeks. I liked the lighting, even if there could have been a little more on the edges.
Thursday’s show was also the launch of the latest edition of The Clambake zine.
I took a lot of photos, and I hope we might have some more pics to post later — my friend Bill Foster, an amazing Knoxville-based photographer, took some shots too.
Lots more photos after the jump:
Wet Socks:
Crazy Bag Lady:
Breakers:
More:
