A short review and a few pics of The Queers, The Wild, and Free Candy in Savannah

There was already a solid crowd at The Wormhole on Thursday night when a friend and I rode up on our bikes at about 10.

The Queers are a legendary punk band, founded in 1981, and Joe Queer is still going strong, but I really had no idea if Savannah was going to turn out for it. But we did — with lots of kids in their 20s and plenty of us a generation older.

Free Candy, a local trio with a great surf rock sound, was already nearing the end of their set by the time I paid the bargain $12 cover. I think they get tighter and sharper every time I see them.

I only had a moment to try to get some pics of Free Candy, but I didn’t come up with much decent. [Word to all music venues in Savannah: if you want people like me to get halfway OK pics without an annoying flash, take some of the gels out of the stage lights and bump up the brightness.]

The “folk punk” band The Wild from Atlanta were up next, and I just have one question: why has this group been together for over 3 years and never made a trip to Savannah?

I don’t know how to use the word “punk” anymore, but The Wild’s sound is passionately intense, with an electric banjo and occasional harmonica that feel just right, plus beautiful and sometimes vulnerable vocals from Witt Wisebram and Dianna Settles.

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve been listening to The Wild’s latest record Set Ourselves Free from Asian Man Records. That’s The Queers’ current label and the record was even co-produced by Joe Queer. It has a few great tracks, including the “Set Ourselves Free” and “Burn Up In the Setting Sun”.

Joe Queer is based in Marietta these days so maybe he’ll bring the band back again as he promised from the stage on Thursday. The Queers played for about 50 minutes I guess, a great set of infectious hits like “Punk Rock Girls”. I like The Queers surf sound better than some of the angrier stuff, but I thought Thursday’s playlist was just right.

The same pics in two different formats. If you use the CoolIris one, click on the icon to go widescreen, then it’s easy to scroll, click, use the arrows on the keyboard, etc.