I didn’t take many photos at this year’s party hosted by Connect Savannah for the winners of the 2013 Best of Savannah readers’ poll. That was mainly because Connect decided to dispense with the traditional (and lengthy) welcoming of each winner to the stage — those brief speeches presented natural photo ops. (I was a repeat winner of best local columnist and a first-time winner of best local blogger, which I blogged about already.)
Instead, Connect had some live entertainment from winners of various categories, including the cast of the Bay Street Theatre production of Rent, Ben Tucker, City Hotel, KidSyc@Brandywine, and Cusses. I was so slack that I didn’t even manage to get decent pics of all the acts.
But I did take a couple of photos as requested of the entire staff of The Jinx.
How does a bar with a staff of nine win nine awards?
Susanne Guest Warnekros’ Congress Street establishment won Best Downtown Bar, Best Hook Up Spot, Best Bar Staff, Best Overall Bar, Best Bartender (Tony), Best Bar to Spot a Celebrity, Best Live Music Club, Best Live Music Bar, and Best Happy Hour. (In case you’re wondering about the certificate that Gil Cruz is holding in the pic below, it’s the one for metal band Black Tusk, which was on tour at the time.)
Ok, we could probably combine a few of those awards.
Well, maybe.
In many cities, you’d end up with different winners of Best Live Music Bar and Best Live Music Club, however duplicative those two awards may at first seem. And live music venues certainly aren’t always thought of as hook up spots or good sites for celebrity watching. And just because a bar is voted the best one downtown, that’s no reason it should also be voted best overall.
But there you have it — The Jinx has won most if not all of those awards before, and will likely win most of them again.
In part, this is a straightforward matter about lack of competition. Since the closing of Live Wire, we have even fewer live music venues devoted to hosting touring acts routinely. If Savannah were a bit larger, we’d have more focused demand for live music and more venues would be stepping up to the plate.
Also, it’s worth noting that The Jinx has found a kind of sweet spot with its combination of Americana and metal acts. Both those genres have large followings in Savannah, and there’s lots of crossover between them. For example, at happy hour on Saturday for Damon and the Shitkickers, I ran into Andrew from Black Tusk and Angel and Brian from Cusses.
On top of that, The Jinx has hip hop nights, has become the key venue for indie rockers in town for Savannah Stopover, and so forth and so on.
It’s a model that’s been thriving for years — and one that seems likely to thrive for years to come.
So here’s the staff of The Jinx, plus a pic of City Hotel and two of KidSyc@Brandywine.
