AthFest: Lazer/Wulf, Bambara, Shehehe, Double Ferrari, MammaBear (25 June 2016)
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AthFest Day Two: 6/25/2016
AthFest 2016 was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Athens’ stellar music and arts festival, and there was a lot to celebrate. To sum up AthFest, I am going to quote Jace Bartet of Athens’ own Double Ferrari, a band whose performance I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing at the Caledonia Lounge on Saturday:
He is so spot-on about that. When this beloved festival comes, summer has just begun and it’s already scorching hot, but AthFest washes away my wintertime blues and makes me feel gloriously human again.
This year several downtown bars threw day parties for people who needed a break from the heat. Little Kings Shuffle Club hosted several bands playing short sets during this time. The standout performance in this lineup was Atlanta band MammaBear.
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MammaBear at Little Kings Shuffle Club (06/25)
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MammaBear began as the brainchild of lead singer/guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Gordon, which evolved into a full band for live shows and then for subsequent recordings.
I was told that MammaBear puts on a terrific live show, and I was not disappointed. I’m looking forward to seeing them play a full set at The Caledonia Lounge on August 18th. Their new album Chocolate will be released this October.
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Shehehe at Caledonia Lounge (06/25)
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On Saturday night, The Caledonia Lounge was packed to the gills with guitars and math rock, as well as Athens punk favorites Shehehe and the hard to define noise-rock of Bambara, a band that started in Athens and currently resides in Brooklyn.
If My Bloody Valentine and Ministry could come together to conceive a dark and brooding child, that child would be Bambara. They take you down a shadowed path and drown your brain in cascading loops of sound. Lead singer and guitarist Reid Bateh combines about 16 different effects pedals with his spellbinding voice and guitar and uses these elements all together as if they were one instrument. He’s got a fierce and moody charisma onstage that belies his offstage down-to-earth demeanor. Reid’s fraternal twin, Blaze Bateh, smashes his drums with such fierceness that it’s nearly impossible for a humble smartphone camera to capture him as anything other than a blur of motion. I have not witnessed such amazing drumming since the last time I saw Ed Livengood of Jucifer play, and that was a long time ago. Bambara’s haunting soundscapes are rounded out by the pounding bass lines of William Brookshire, who also happens to be a sound engineer.
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Bambara at Caledonia Lounge (06/25)
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All of the songs Bambara played were amazing, but my favorite was An Ill Son from their newly released album Swarm. In spite of all the complexities of their sound, Bambara still manages to sound just as good live as they do on their records. This is no small task given the fact that they do not rely on any pre-recorded material during their live shows.
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Double Ferrari at Caledonia Lounge (06/25)
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The Saturday night lineup for The Caledonia went in this order: Art Contest, Shehehe, Bambara, Double Ferrari and Lazer/Wulf. I got my hair blown back by how much I like Art Contest now that I’ve seen them live. There is so much talent in that duo. This was my first Shehehe show and now I see what all the fuss is about. Bambara was brilliant and left me reeling. Then we got some straight-ahead rock in our faces when Double Ferrari took the stage. Frontman/guitarist Jace Bartet rocked our world with his sparkling blue and white Dean guitar.
Then our Saturday night headliner Lazer/Wulf took the stage. This Atlanta band plays a drum-tight style of math rock with punk and metal sensibilities. These three guys play their instruments with an unrivaled speed and precision. Their hard, driving music features minimal vocals and super positivity which instantly connected with this crowd and drove them into a mosh-filled frenzy. We all left The Caledonia that night feeling pleasantly exhausted and totally exhilarated.
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Lazer/Wulf at the Caledonia Lounge, Athens (25 June 2016) |