WELCOME: This is AthFest week, and with it comes crowds of out-of-towners, former residents, myriad travelers, et al. If this describes you, let me be the first to say welcome to Athens! We sincerely hope you have a great time here and enjoy much of what our town has to offer. Also, because some—not all—folks just have to be told, please be patient in lines, kind to your servers and bartenders, and polite and respectful to our residents. And for all you locals, remember that people get confused, dehydrated, lost, etc. Not everyone knows the whole menu or understands your bartender’s wacky attitude. Everyone just be cool, and have a ball. The news this week includes a bunch of non-AthFest events—take that as your cue to explore different things in between showcases.
HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH: Once upon a time near Athens, there was a band named Luxury. Then, there was a band all around Athens all the time named Luxury. Honestly, their story is seriously amazing, and that’s selling it really short. They played a peculiar form of muscular Southeastern U.S. Britpop, if you will. That’s just about all the story I know and/or remember, but that can be reconciled Thursday, June 20 at Ciné. That night will be the Athens premiere of the new documentary about the band, Parallel Love. Also of note, and not at all by coincidence, Luxury’s newest album, Trophies, came out last week. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with the director and band member Matt Hinton, as well as Chris Foley, Glenn Black, Jamey Bozeman and Athens writer and poet Alex Johns, who has a solid presence in the film. Make some time to see this if you can, and head to parallel-love.com for more information.
KINGS COURT: There’s a fundraiser happening for Project Safe at Little Kings Shuffle Club Thursday, June 20. The show starts at 9 p.m. and is billed as “Night of the Imago.” It’s a pretty swell bill, too, with featured acts including Daisy, Donny Knottsville, Scott Spillane, Tears for the Dying, Sarah Swillum, Cloud Powers, Stella Zine and Ultravisions. It’ll only run you five bucks to get in. For more information on Project Safe, see project-safe.org.
PARTY OVER HERE, PARTY OVER THERE: As is now tradition, the Caledonia Lounge will host its annual Dirty Athens Day Party Saturday, June 22. Doors open at 2:30 p.m., and music begins at 3 p.m. This event is free and unaffiliated with AthFest, so no wristband is necessary or observed. (If you’re under 21, it’ll run you $2.) That said, the venue’s evening show is indeed an official AthFest event, and you can dangle your wristband all you want, but the line is still first come, first served. At any rate, the Dirty Athens lineup this year, in order of appearance, is Avery Leigh’s Night Palace, Paper Matador, Vision Video, Waltz, Double Ferrari, Calico Vision, Monsoon, Five Eight,and David Barbe and Inward Dream Ebb. For nearly zero additional information, see caledonialounge.com and/or facebook.com/caledonialounge.
WAKE UP: If you’re poking around early in the day Saturday, why not head over to the annual Breakfast of Champions party at Creature Comforts? Sponsored and presented by New West and Normaltown Records, it runs from 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and featured acts are Sailors and Ships, Parker Gispert (The Whigs), Austin Darnell (The Darnell Boys), Oginalii and a reported “special guest” whose name wasn’t available at press time. But, if they do exist, I bet you they are indeed special enough to have a name, so maybe just show up and find out. For more information, see facebook.com/CreatureComfortsBeer and facebook.com/NormaltownRecords.
EASY LIKE SUNDAY AFTERNOON: Akeeme Martin (aka DJ BlaqueStarr) and Vega Studio will present the latest iteration of their ongoing series The Graffiti Sessions on Sunday, June 23. This creative live-music event will feature The Ain’t Sisters, Table for Two, Annie Leeth, Scott Streible and Grace Conley. Advance tickets are $5, and it’ll be $8 at the door. Doors for this afternoon show open at 1:30 p.m., and music begins at 2 p.m. For more information, see facebook.com/oe85ent.
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