The 5th annual Savannah Stopover has announced the full lineup (well, almost all of it) for March 5-7, 2015. Over 100 bands — including 18 based in Savannah — will perform over Stopover V’s three days and nights.
As previously announced, the opening night event outside at Trustees Garden will feature Southern Culture On The Skids, and we had lots of other info about the initial lineup in our post from November with the first wave of 2015 Savannah Stopover bands. After SCOTS finishes up at Trustees Garden on 3/5, the music will begin in a variety of relatively tightly clustered venues in downtown Savannah. This year’s festival will have shows at Hang Fire, The Jinx, Club One, Congress Street Social Club, the Beer Garden at Moon River Brewing Company and — perhaps most interestingly — Trinity United Methodist Church. Another venue (or two?) will be confirmed soon.
The proximity of those venues is one of the most wonderful things about Savannah Stopover: you can grab a drink, listen to a band, and then walk around and check out other bands and venues. I’ve quoted hissing lawns’ contributor Tom Cartmel before; he thinks Stopover is all about “discovery”. Even if you haven’t heard of the bands — and there are always plenty that we haven’t heard of — you are certain to find some that you love, even if you don’t do any homework beforehand.
Of course,the Stopover team has done plenty of homework, and we’ll be doing a lot of homework beforehand, so keep checking hissing lawns for previews.
Here’s Savannah Stopover’s updated Soundcloud and Spotify playlists. The tracks here represent the vast majority of bands announced so far, but expect more to be added:
Stopover organizers had previously said that the total number of acts would be well under 100, but CEO Kayne Lanahan (an occasional contributor to this blog) told me a few days ago that they just had too many good submissions to cap the number so low. The final tally will be just over 100 after a few more stragglers are confirmed and after details are sorted out with bands selected via Sonicbids. That’s a heck of a lot of music in three days for not much money.
So here’s the almost-complete list of bands, with an * by those that were announced on 1/16 at The Jinx amidst a performance by Family and Friends (a Stopover selection), River Whyless (a Stopover alum), and A.M. Rodriguez (another Stopover V performer). Festivals in other cities might time their releases to coincide with a typical press cycle and the average work day, but Savannah Stopover — like the city itself — doesn’t follow conventions. This final announcement went live at midnight. So here you go, with some random notes in parentheses.
Savannah Stopover V touring bands:
Generationals
Southern Culture On The Skids
San Fermin
ASTR
Matthew E. White
*Computer Magic
Diarrhea Planet
*Reptar (Athens-based band just signed to Joyful Noise Recordings and has blown up big since their last Stopover appearance)
All Them Witches
French Horn Rebellion
*Donald Cumming (of The Virgins)
*Parlour Tricks
*Hiss Golden Messenger (already booked for Bonnaroo 2015)
Heavenly Beat
Gap Dream
*Rocco DeLuca
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
*ISHI
Bombadil
Rose Quartz
Family and Friends
Capsula
*Tall Tall Trees (thrilled the Geekend attendees at a Savannah show)
*Born Cages
Beach Day
Fat Tony
*Horse Thief
*Fly Golden Eagle
Mothxr
*Young Buffalo (the first band to perform at the first Savannah Stopover)
*Jack + Eliza
*SALES
Mainland
Christopher Paul Stelling
*Clear Plastic Masks (played Stopover’s 2014 community concert in Ellis Square)
Ryley Walker
*Buxton
*Fort Lean
Corners
PitchBlak Brass Band
Cobalt Cranes
*Alanna Royale (what a show she and the band put on at The Jinx last fall)
*Baby Bee
*Lilly Hiatt (yes, the daughter of John)
*this mountain (our friends from Johnson City always put on a great live show)
Dreamers
Reputante
*Caleb Caudle
Axxa/Abraxas
*Suburban Living
*Avers
*Amythyst Kiah + Her Chest of Glass (see *this mountain ^^^^^^)
Adia Victoria
Margo and the Pricetags
*The Prettiots (we’re glad we did not date any of these women in high school; they might have written a song about us)
Guthrie Brown & The Family Tree
ELEL
*Grounders
*BLKKATHY
Blank Range
*White Violet
What Moon Things
Fire Mountain
*Emilyn Brodsky
*Needle Points
Lace Curtains
*Music Band
*Las Rosas
*Semicircle
*Ruby the RabbitFoot
*Little Racer
*Bedroom (young act from Nashville returns as part of the Furious Hooves label showcase)
*Grand Vapids (Furious Hooves label showcase)
*Bond St. District
*100 Watt Horse
Savannah-based bands:
*CUSSES (power trio returns to Stopover)
*Triathalon (headed to SXSW)
*Velvet Caravan (headed to SXSW)
*Damon & The Shitkickers
*Wet Socks
*Crazy Bag Lady
*Sunglow
*COEDS
*Wave Slaves
*Beneath Trees
*Paving Gravy
*Nightingale News
*Saint Corsair
*A.M. Rodriguez
*Boy Harsher
*Blackrune (Furious Hooves label showcase)
*Black Water Choir (Furious Hooves label showcase)
*Heavy Boots (Furious Hooves label showcase)
It’s great to see CUSSES on the list — it’s the trio’s first Savannah Stopover appearance since year one.
And just a few more photos:
We’re really looking forward to theSouthern Culture on the Skids (Tom took these at last year’s Jam Room Festival in Columbia, S.C.):
this mountain:
Amythyst Kiah:
Alanna Royale:
Nightingale News:
Crazy Bag Lady:
Each year, Savannah Stopover presents an intoxicating mix of sounds and stage presences, of up-and-coming acts that will make big news next year and more established artists who aren’t afraid to keep taking risks.
We’ll have lots more Stopover coverage over the next 2+ months, including photos from the gig with Family and Friends, River Whyless, and A.M. Rodriguez and coverage of the fast-approaching Stopover-produced show at Hang Fire with King Tuff, Ex Hex, and Creepoid.
Check out the Savannah Stopover website for info on bands by day and on tickets. The detailed schedule should be released soon.
Check out the festival previews at Do Savannah and Connect Savannah.