Aurora – Savannah Unplugged

First video from Savannah band Aurora: “Back to the Guns”

bill dawers — Tue, 29 May 2012 23:31:35 +0000

I first mentioned the young Savannah band Aurora in a post about a No Control show that included Triathalon and Cusses. Maybe it’s just because I’m old, but I hear all sorts of 80s New Wave influences in the music and in lead singer Jake Ellis’ voice.

Today Aurora posted its first video, “Back to the Guns”. It’s produced, directed, and mixed by Michael Winters.

Most of the band is graduating from SCAD on Saturday, June 2nd. Aurora plans to stick together for a while, do some more recording, and book additional shows.

But the last Savannah date for the foreseeable future is a party on Thursday night on a bill that again includes Triathalon.

The new video:

And here are a couple of other tracks:

And a few of the pics that I shot at that No Control show:

You can find Aurora on Facebook.

Parallels / Magic Places / Aurora – No Control – 05/17/12

bill dawers — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:20:37 +0000

Connect said this about Parallels:

The band was the brainchild of Crystal Castles drummer Cameron Finlay, who intended it to be a side project until he fell in with the unforgettable Holly Dodson, whose pixie-ish vocals recall the young Madonna. Parallels then became a full-time synth-dance project, with an acclaimed album (Visionaries), successful American club tours, and a big flag in Now Magazine as Best Electronic Act of 2009.

I covered Aurora a little in this post. Photos included.

Click here for the even listing on Facebook.

Cusses, Aurora, Triathalon, and homegrown Savannah rock and roll (photos)

bill dawers — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:06:54 +0000

Last week I checked out one of the private parties organized by No Control, which has put on various all-ages events featuring a wide range of Savannah bands — mostly young ones — and some really good bands passing through town too. I wrote about the No Control Festival in a Man About Town column in Do in the SMN in February.

I’ve mentioned before the DIY spirit of late in Savannah, and that energy was on full display.

My main reason for going last week was to see two bands — Cusses and Triathalon — that I’ve already seen a few times, and I got to hear the excellent band Aurora for the first time.

Cusses — a power trio of Angel Bond, Brian Lackey, and Bryan Harder — is a fast-rising Savannah band whose video “Worst Enemy” was recently picked up by MTV:

Get More: Cusses, Worst Enemy, Music, More Music Videos

I enjoyed Cusses’ set maybe more than any that I’ve seen before — the music was both more intense and more intimate in such a small setting. Simply put, lead singer Angel Bond has got it going on. Cusses will be playing at The Jinx on May 31st.

Aurora started the night. The band consists of Jake Ellis (Vocals/Guitar/Synth), Dominic Vega (Guitar), Matthias Hungler (Bass), and Jeff O’Neal (Drums). Older folks like me will hear an 80s new wave edge to the music — so it was just about perfect when they covered the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”. I’m honestly not sure how many in the all ages crowd knew the 1983 hit, although they probably know the much more recent Marilyn Manson cover.

Triathalon (Chad Chilton, Adam Intrator, Michael Younker, Hunter Jayne) finished up the night with a great set — I just love the surf rock influences and the bold rock anthems. I’ve previously written that they’re an emerging band worth watching. I’d suggest starting with “Teenager”:

Relationchips (REMASTERED) by Triathalon

I took some photos. Tough spot, no sightlines, red and blue lights and little else, guests sometimes inches from the bands. I had to play with the saturation and other settings on all of these. My apologies to band members who won’t see themselves here — I would have had to have gotten really pushy to get pics of some of them.