eventualhorizon
Joined 14 years ago
Joined 14 years ago
The article spends a good bit of time on the B-52's but they were long gone to New York by this time and didn't really come back for public concerts until 'Cosmic Thing'. The popular bands that I remember were Love Tractor, REM, Dreams So Real and Kilkenny Cats.
The scene as I knew it from a distance revolved around a few venues. Foremost at the time was the 40 watt club. It started as a room off of a back alley (with a bare light bulb?) that had moved by the time I was old enough to go. Lot's of history there. Other venues I visited were the Uptown Lounge, the Georgia Theater and surprisingly house parties.
My favorite memories of the time were seeing PYLON and REM with about 50-100 other people at 'teen night' at the I&I club, I didn't really know PYLON but the show blew me away. Easily the best performance that I've seen. The Hillbilly Frankenstein album release party was wild and a blast. I also got to see the Flat Duo Jets at a house party and several times at small venues. Dex and Crowe made an amazing amount of sound for two guys with simple instruments.
It was definitely a fun time to be in Athens and I certainly enjoyed myself. In hindsight I wish I had gotten more into the scene but growing up there and being so young I had no idea that there was anything special going on there.
This of course did not survive after he passed and Walmart employees are not well off today. The quote about Unions above does seem to fit his philosophy but rings hollow with the changes that occurred after his death.