The Savannah Stopover was an immediate game-changer for the city’s music scene when it was announced in 2011.
The 2012 festival solidified the focus on up-and-coming indie bands headed to SXSW.
But the 2013 festival, which began last night and continues through the weekend, looks to be changing the game even more. What an incredible opening night.
I started out with a few hundred others at the glorious new North Garden at the Ships of the Sea Museum on MLK. Under the covered pavilion, The Last Bison ripped through their set with a kind of verve and joy that isn’t always associated with the indie scene. The incredibly talented Ben Sollee followed, after a brief intermission during which William Tyler plugged his guitar into the Third Man Records truck in the parking lot. If you haven’t heard William Tyler play guitar, you might want to add that to your list of life’s goals.
Then I headed to The Sparetime for more of Tyler, this time playing electric and acoustic, layering loops in ways that were simply crazy good.
The crowd was still building at 10 p.m. when Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires took the upstairs stage at B&D Burgers, but the band was electric and tight. Given the maturity and depth of their southern rock sound, I was expecting some older folks; the band might sound wise and savvy, but they sure look young.
And let me hear add one pet peeve: poor lighting! It bugs me as a photographer, for sure, but it bugs me as a patron too. Tough to get any shots at all of Tyler at The Sparetime or The Glory Fires at B&D.
So then I biked up to the magnificent — really — renovated hall at the Knights of Columbus on Liberty Street. It’s a massive room up above Mellow Mushroom that most Savannahians probably don’t even know exists.
There was a big crowd at the KofC for Thurston Moore’s new band Chelsea Light Moving. I’ll admit to being sort of a doubter about the Sonic Youth guitarist’s new project, but I loved the set. And I loved that it started with a song about New York poet Frank O’Hara.
And then I caught about half the excellent set by Delicate Steve at Club One, then a song each of Bronze Radio Return at B&D Burgers and Naomi Punk at The Jinx.
Then The Jinx started filling up for what turned out to be an energetic, really fun set by Mac DeMarco.
Followers of the indie scene will no doubt understand just how amazing it is to see that lineup in one night.
For Day 2, the Stopover offers a free all-ages show in Forsyth Park with of Montreal and opener Royal Canoe.
But there are plenty of other promisting acts on the complete schedule. The music gets rolling at 4 and there are six different acts playing at both 5 and 6 p.m. After the show in the park, I’m hoping to catch some combination that might include The Suzan, Jacco Gardner, HAERTS, Country Mice, Ambassadors, and Snowmine.
It’s going to take me a while to edit all my pics, but here’s a quick gallery of a few unedited ones (I also got a couple of not-completely-awful videos of DeMarco). First up is The Last Bison, then William Tyler, then Thurston Moore with Chelsea Light Moving, then Mac DeMarco: