Carpet Coats, Lovely Locks, and Curbdogs at Hang Fire – photos

Here’s what you need to know about the current status of Hang Fire:

• August 29th was to have been Hang Fire’s last day open to the public at 37 Whitaker Street, with 11 acts originally booked for the mega-Saturday.
• Hang Fire’s lease was expiring, and it had been decided months ago that it would not be renewed because of longstanding legal wrangling over sound disputes with the owner of the condo upstairs.
• Co-owner Heather Flagle issued a statement on the 8/31 confirming that Hang Fire could remain in its current location until the end of 2015.
• Hang Fire appears set to move in early 2016 to the same general neighborhood, but no address has been confirmed.
• So Hang Fire is open at 37 Whitaker Street through the end of 2015, and there’s little doubt that the club will schedule some great acts over the next four months.

Since many thought that 8/29 was Hang Fire’s last day in its current location, and since no new location had been announced, fans of the quirky bar turned out in large numbers for the “final” day and night. I especially liked the fact that the music started early — I’ve never understood why more Savannah clubs don’t book bands for weekend happy hours.

I hoped to see local legends Superhorse cap the early set of shows on 8/29, but the place was just too crowded. I wandered back by a couple of times later, but there was a long line for the rest of the night.

But I sure enjoyed the first three bands that played on that long Saturday: Carpet Coats, Lovely Locks, and Curbdogs.

Carpet Coats’ melodic indie rock samples a variety of styles — from rockabilly to garage — and the band wrapped their set with “Yellow Submarine”. Lovely Locks hadn’t played a show in many months, and I don’t think they’ve ever sounded better to me than they did at this show. Curbdogs’ loose and spontaneous psych/garage rock seems a perfect fit for Hang Fire’s vibe.

It’s really hard to get decent photos at Hang Fire — the stage is backlit during the day and way too dark at night — but I was able to tease some ok images out. Btw, we should have a couple of more posts soon with photos from Hang Fire shows in August.

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