a quick take on day 2 of Savannah Stopover 2014

Just a short post here with a few pics from my Friday at the 2014 Savannah Stopover. We’ll have some larger photo galleries and other posts coming up in the next few days.

I’m so glad I forced myself to get an early start on the second day of the festival. Christopher Paul Stelling did an intimate 4 p.m. set at Abe’s on Lincoln, a place where I don’t think I’ve ever seen live music. I’m kinda tall, the ceilings are kinda low, and I start feeling cramped in the historic bar pretty fast.

But who better to see in a such setting than Stelling, who seems to channel something spiritual with each performance. The last time I saw him, btw, was at Savannah Stopover a couple years ago in the rotunda of the Telfair Academy — this venue was really different, obviously, but he fit into both perfectly.

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And then I cruised over for the first two acts of the Soft Science record label showcase at Congress Street Social Club, which was running ahead of schedule. Good to see Michael Younker back in town and the Savannah-based Sauna Heat playing gigs again. I caught the end of Sauna Heat’s set, and all of Triathalon’s short but excellent set.

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And then I wandered down to Hang Fire for The Teen Age — one of the bands that hadn’t really been on my radar screen, but the crowd loved it and I’d see them again in a heartbeat.

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Los Colognes subtly channeled all sorts of styles and influences in their early set at The Jinx. Great stuff during this set and then later backing Caitlin Rose. They play again today (3/8) as part of the free community concert in Ellis Square.

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And then down to Moon River for this mountain. Man, it was cold out there — the temps fell to around 40 last night and a cold wind picked up. this mountain tackled their set with the usual skill and energy — they made it easy to forget about the cold. (Too bad there weren’t better lights hitting the stage.)

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And then a quick jaunt to Ampersand, the artist lounge, for the end of a set by Spires and most of the set by Each Other, who have a great new album out.

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Back to Moon River for most of Caitlin Rose’s set. As I said in my Unplugged column in Do on Thursday, Rose seems destined for stardom. So good.

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I squeezed in just a few minutes of Pile and like what I heard — but I didn’t really hear enough to have much to say.

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Then back to Hang Fire for Starlight Girls, another act that hadn’t been on my radar but that I’d love to see again.

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And then Big Ups at The Jinx — one of the highlights of the night for me.

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Next, City Coffee for Public Service Broadcasting, a fascinating melding of historic video footage and electronica.

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Then a few minutes of Speedy Ortiz at The Jinx . . .

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. . . and then off to Knights of Columbus, where I caught the final song of Matrimony (love them, saw and photographed them at Revival Fest last fall), and then the stellar set by Those Darlins, who are even better in person than on their excellent records.

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