I recapped the entire event in my glowing Unplugged column last week in Do in the Savannah Morning News, so here I’m just going to make some random observations and attach an album of the photos that I’d say are my favorites from the weekend.

But first, a taste of Paste’s writeup:

Canadian Mac DeMarco was one of [the highlights], posturing like a crazed frontman and mixing 80s metal covers into his original material, inciting moshing, screaming and stagediving from a packed crowd at The Jinx. Brooklynâ€s Christopher Paul Stelling had a more intimate show, arriving just seconds before his set but still managing to beguile those in attendance. His awe-inspiring guitar fingering and arresting voice, which was simultaneously smooth and guttural, was worth the trip alone. But the crown jewel of the festival for me, and likely for most, was seeing of Montreal play beneath a makeshift band shell in Forsyth Park on a warm, star-filled spring night.

Of Montreal is from Athens, Ga. just a few hours away, but this was their first time playing a set in Savannah. Based on the enthusiastic—borderline chaotic—response from the crowd, I think theyâ€ll be back. A heavily danceable set had everyone, from diehard fans and local families to curious passersby, moving with the music.

For the record, here are the acts that I saw — anywhere from a single song to the entire set:

Thursday:
The Last Bison, Ben Sollee, William Tyler, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Chelsea Light Moving featuring Thurston Moore, Delicate Steve, Naomi Punk, Mac DeMarco

Friday:
Sam Sniper, Filligar, Heyrocco, this mountain, PUJOL, of Montreal, Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, The Suzan, Country Mice, BRAIDS

Saturday: this mountain, Field Report, Blessed Feathers, The Wild Feathers, Autumn Owls, Little Tybee, Bear Fight!, Royal Canoe, Fine Peduncle, Filligar, Dent May, Roadkill Ghost Choir, Jonathan Toubin’s Soul Clap & Dance Off

Sunday at the VIP and band brunch: Jamison Murphy, Lovely Locks

And there are so many more I wish I had seen.The venues this year were well chosen for their proximity, but I still couldn’t be as many places at once as I would have liked.

I took pictures — at least one or two — of each of the bands I saw, but a few of the venues were really not suitable for quality photography unless you’re sporting some super pricy equipment (and maybe not even then). I’m in love with the fact that Hang Fire has music again, but there no lights on the band. None. B&D Burgers’ stages — both inside and out — are poorly lit, and the stages at Congress Street Social Club are only a little better. Taco Abajo has enough light, but the cartoonish backdrop and structural pillars are problematic. I hope the lighting is something the venues themselves might address sooner rather than later — they certainly won’t see many appealing shots of bands at their venues if they don’t address the lighting problems. More importantly, I think the average music lover prefers venues that have more light on the band than on the audience . . .

Of course, the Savannah Stopover is all about the music, not the lighting, and one of my few complaints would be that we need even more music. Few folks turned out for early Saturday afternoon shows a year ago, so it made sense to wait and start the music this year at 4 p.m.. But I think crowds will eventually support sets from noon or 1 p.m. onward. And I hope that next year we’ll see Friday and Saturday night sets that run right up till last call. With all the venues seeming to run more or less on schedule — a rare feat in Savannah — I sort of ran out of music before I ran out of energy on the last two nights.

I also haven’t quite wrapped my head around the fact that so many young Savannahians in the Stopover’s target demographic don’t seem to quite know what the festival is yet. The Savannah Music Festival has had some similar issues. But it’s hard to blame the festivals. Both the Savannah Morning News and Connect Savannah had extensive coverage in advance of the Stopover; the Stopover has a robust social media game; people like me with literally thousands of social media contacts were routinely posting about it. But on the Friday afternoon that of Montreal was scheduled to play in Forsyth, a Facebook friend of mine — a young, intelligent, gay college student who would obviously be interested in that performance — updated his status with shock and surprise about the show. How did he miss that crucial news for so many weeks? How can people like him be reached? Will it just take a few more years to get the festival ingrained in the local culture?

By the way, rather than rely on my press connection, I bought a VIP pass for the event — just $120 — which included a significant number of free drinks, plus access to the Stopover recording sessions at Dollhouse Productions, to the artists’ lounge above The Sparetime, and to the final brunch on Sunday afternoon at one of the best party houses in town.

What. A. Bargain.

If the Stopover is ever forced to restrict photography as some festivals have been, I might need to go for the press credentials, but I’m happy to support such an amazing event and I prefer the freedom that comes with paying my own way.

I’ve already done separate posts about some of the acts that I caught: Mac DeMarco, The Suzan, Chelsea Light Moving, Filligar, Little Tybee, and The Last Bison. But there were plenty of others that excited me.

Among the standouts that I was seeing for the first time were Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Field Report, William Tyler, Filligar, and The Suzan.

I’ve seen both this mountain and Heyrocco multiple times, but they never cease to impress.

I’m going to post a much larger collection of photos to the Savannah Unplugged Facebook page in a day or two, so please like that page if you want to see that update and others.

So here are some of my favorite shots from the 2013 Savannah Stopover. Click for larger versions or open using Cooliris. If you hover over a pic, you can see the act and the location.

For these and more pics — many of dubious quality — click here for a Facebook album.

In an inspired bit of programming, The Suzan ended up performing at Club One. With a stage set up on the dance floor with mirrors on all sides, the room had sort of an electric energy at the shows I saw there over this past weekend.

From The Suzan’s Facebook bio:

The Suzan are a pop-rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Formed in 2004 by sisters Rie (keyboards and vocals) and Saori (guitar and vocals). Soon they added school friends Nico (drums) and Ikue (bass) where their sound has been variously described as riot-grrl, pop and punk, and also incorporates elements of jazz, soul, surf and dance music.

Like so many other Stopover acts, The Suzan is on the way to Austin for SXSW.

The poppy surf sound is enhanced the by the sheer presence of the four band members, who all seem like there’s no place they’d rather be than onstage playing for you. I mentioned The Suzan in my Stopover recap in my Unplugged column in Do for the Savannah Morning News.

I shot a video of one of the songs. This is my first time posting a video taken at a show, so be nice. I typically don’t like shitty club videos like this, but this is somewhat less shitty than many that I see . . . so what the heck. I hope what the video lacks in quality is mitigated by the band’s awesomeness.

Given the great lighting and the band’s dynamism, the photos were easy to take. (Click the pics for larger versions or view via CoolIris for some fun.)

I pretty much want to see every single act that’s playing in the time slots from 9 p.m. on tonight. So much talent.

Of course, there’s no reason to wait that long for great music. Christopher Paul Stelling, Pree, and a number of local acts kick things off at 4 p.m. at various downtown venues.

And it sure looks like a gorgeous day.

Yesterday was as tremendous as I hoped it would be. It’s very difficult to estimate crowds in Forsyth Park, but I’d say there were at least three thousand — that’s really conservative — for the free all ages show with headliner of Montreal and opening act Royal Canoe. In between those sets, Pujol played a few typically tight tunes in the parking lot next to the Third Man Records truck.

So here are a few pics from yesterday. These are unedited. I will be posting more pics and maybe even a couple of videos once I have time really to sit down and go through the shots I’ve taken, and then maybe clean a few of them up a little.

So here are some shots that include Filligar at B&D Burgers, Heyrocco at Taco Abajo, Pujol and of Montreal in Forsyth Park, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks at The Jinx, The Suzan at Club One, and Country Mice at The Jinx.