My first stop last Saturday was Graveface Fest in the courtyard and one of the adjacent buildings at Southern Pine Company near East Broad and 35th streets. The aging urban commercial space has the character and the scale to host a wide range of public gatherings.
Apparently there were a number of issues involved in planning Graveface Fest because it was always intended as an all-ages event, but it was also intended as one where beer could be bought by the cup (by those 21 and over, of course). That’s allowed at city-sanctioned events in Forsyth Park and at the civic center, but the city bureaucracy is deeply mistrustful of private planners.
I sure hope a few different city departments sent representatives to Graveface so that they could see the low-key, creative time that various audiences experienced
There were skaters — some over 21, some under — from Woody’s Skatepark on the half-pipe. There were painters, a photobooth, a couple of food vendors, a few other display tables, Halloween decorations.
And of course there were all the bands playing in an old shop with brick walls and a slightly slanted wood ceiling. I detailed in a preview of the event and posted some pics of No Control fest a few weeks ago.
I caught Dreamend, Deep Search, and The Winter Sounds before heading home for a while and then to the opening night of the Savannah Film Festival. Then I went back to Graveface for the full after-dark effect. I caught the back half of CUSSES’ high-energy set, plus Creepoid (too dark for decent pics), and some of the headliner Black Moth Super Rainbow. (I missed The Casket Girls at the festival, but took a few shots of them a couple of days earlier at Marc by Marc Jacobs.)
Graveface Fest was organized by Graveface and by No Control. Congrats to Ryan Graveface, Angel Bond, and everyone else who made the event a success.
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