GATHER TOGETHER: The AthFest Music & Arts Festival may have been denied a permit this year, but anyone super interested in still getting together in a huge crowd to rock out can calm down. Aubrey Entertainment has stepped into the breach and scheduled the September Days Festival to take place at Southern Brewing Sept. 24–26. Fully 20 acts will play including Elf Power, Monsoon, Modern Skirts, Grassland String Band, Grand Vapids, Wanderwild, Fishbug, Heffner, Five Eight, Wieuca and more. Organizing this so quickly was a huge undertaking that should be recognized. Tickets for the whole weekend are $35, and individual day tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For tickets and all relevant info, please see facebook.com/AubreyEntertainmentAthensGA.
AND THEN THERE’S THIS: Not mentioned in the above announcement is a return, of sorts, for old Athens band Hazel Virtue. Band leader and primary songwriter Eric Britt has made a solid name for himself as a now-Savannah-based artist. The band came back together recently and recorded a new album named Full Circle. Hazel Virtue was one of a handful of Athens bands during the heyday of alt-rock that was just on the cusp of this thing we call “making it,” and when you think of formerly regional bands and artists who did—Collective Soul, John Mayer, et al.—it’s a serious head scratcher why they didn’t. That said, they did way more than tons of other bands and played many big stages. They’ll play September Days Festival on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. For more information on Britt and the band, please see ericbrittrocks.com.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT: If you’re still itching to get up and go out later on Saturday night, Sept. 25, you can head on over to the 40 Watt for Strokin’. That’s The Strokes tribute band that plays the entirety of the band’s 2001 album Is This it?. Band members include Phillip Brantley, Matt Martin, Taylor Cotton, Reagan Byrd and Jesse Lafian. The whole show is kind of a family affair, with Brantley’s band Palace Doctor playing second and friend to all and tireless coordinator Drew Beskin opening the show with his band. The show is also being presented by Philthrottle (@philthrottle on Instagram), which is Brantley’s hyperlocal meme account. Doors are at 9:30 p.m., music starts at 10:30 p.m., and the whole thing should be over before 1 a.m. Visit 40watt.com for tickets.
SWEET OBLIVIOUS ANTIDOTE: Perpetual Groove is among the notable and high-profile Athens-based artists getting back out there, re-digging in their heels and trying to make a go of things. They’ll be back on tour basically continually between Sept. 23 and Jan. 1, 2022. You can find the full list, but the ones most important locally are the ones happening Dec. 30–31 at the Georgia Theatre. In other news, that New Year’s Eve show will be the last with drummer Albert Suttle, whose seat will henceforth be occupied by Darren Stanley, who is already a known quantity in the loosely-described jam band scene. Earlier this year, the group recorded an EP of covers and named it self-deprecatingly C’mon. Covers? which is a move I can appreciate. On it, they take on The Go-Go’s, The Cars, Johnny Cash and Peter Gabriel. I spun it a few times, and it’s nothing too mind-blowing, but does a pretty good job of making these fairly unique versions whereas a lot of bands would have done consciously whacked out versions or been way too faithful to the originals. This was released a couple of weeks back, but it felt more timely to mention it while I was busy already mentioning the tour, so there ya go. For all other information please see pgroove.net.
SMOOTH GROOVES: Athens visual artist and vocalist Trvy just released his new single, “Arm’s Length,” and it’s a really nice, introspective tune supported by a solid beat from 24o1 Beats, who also has several projects under his belt. “Arm’s Length” is pretty short, clocking in at a mere 2:27, but gets its point across just fine. If this single does it for ya, then you’d probably do well to check out the rest of his stuff over at trvyf.bandcamp.com.
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD: While it’s still a little while away, and occurring during a flurry of cancellations, it feels relevant to mention that the wildly popular Porchfest, presented by Tweed Recording and coordinated by Historic Athens, is still a go. The event is all-outdoors but safety protocols are still in place concerning masking, distancing, etc. This year’s Porchfest, featuring 105 performances, happens Sunday Oct. 10th, 1–8 p.m. in the neighborhoods of Pulaski Heights, Newtown, Boulevard, Buena Vista, Normaltown and Cobbham. For more information, please see historicathens.com.
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