August 4 - 7, 2004
Athens, GA
Athens Popfest: Live at Tasty World and the 40 Watt Club
Much
thanks goes out to the folks at Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records: Mike,
Eric, Leslie and all other that organized the first annual Athens Popfest
- a fantastic job in bringing the fest together with so many bands/artists
in the independent music scene - from fine acoustic folk, twee pop, to fuzzy
guitar pop, to pure rock and roll rock styles, a wide variety of music was
heard from August 4-7th - And we at Planting Seeds were glad to be a part
of it. Some of our favorite performances from the 4 day fest were (We probably
missed a few that we are sure were remarkable!): Wednesday, August4: Linda
Draper (NYC very talented folk/pop singer/songwriter), Keith John Adams
(British Acoustic folk), Thank God For Astronauts (indie rock from Denver),
the Rickenbacker jingle jangle of Breezy Porticos, the soothing sounds of
the Marshmellow Coast and Athens very own Bugs Eat Books; Thursday August
5 performances that stood out: San Diego's Red Pony Clock, Astropop 3's
rock n' pop set which featured their college/indie radio classic "Lost in
A Dream" and their rock anthem "Forget Tomorrow", The Visitations' very
political acoustic folk rock set, and the rock n' jam of The Late B.P, Helium,
especially their rocking cover of the Wings classic "Jet." Friday August
6: After two full days of checking out bands from all over, it was nice
to check out more acousitc (ie: quiet) pop from XP, who this time out featured
some acoustic songs of Dan Villanueva - especially the new arrangement of
"You're the One", and the very bouncy "No Time For Me."
The
Snow Fairies showcased their sugary sweet sound with an impressive tight
set - Neal and Co. popped it out!! San Francisco's Scrabbel was another
band that took us all by surprise; led by singer/songwriter Dan Lee, the
band presented a great blend of 60's inspired pop ala The mid period Byrds,
Kinks with hints of 1990's Britpop - impressive indeed! Poison Control Center's
rock and Roll stage act brought the 40 Watt Club down and Boyracer played
some cool feedback driven classic indie pop...wow those ears were ringing
at the end of the night! Saturday August 7: Michael Barrett kicked things
off with a great set that started with a Beck cover "Lost Cause" and closed
with R.E.M.'s "Wendell Gee" In between Michael along with Anna Jaysane-Darr
(CONGRATULATIONS To Michael and Anna on their recent marriage!!)played classic
tracks from 2001's "Couches and Carpet" as well as the Sixths Great Lake's
track featured on "Sunsets and Silhouettes", "Everything Is White" - Michael
and Anna are also expecting a child in about two months - once again Congratulations
Michael and Anna! The last band we were able to catch before the trekback
to Virginia was the Orchid Pool, whom you may also remember from PSR/bumbleBEAR's
Christmas comp a few years back. Tony and Kimberly put on a great show from
The Orchid Pool's catalogue as well as music from Bellhouse. Overall the
experience was great - finally meeting Mike and Leslie Turner, Eric Hernandez,
and the various bands and indie/underground role players whom we've met
recently and in the past...we truly hope we get the chance to do it all
again next year! Here's to many more Athen's Popfest!
