The non-profit Bragg Jam — which was founded in honor of Brax and Tate Bragg as a Macon community event and fundraiser for the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail — has grown dramatically in recent years. The 2015 concert crawl on Saturday began at 2 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m. Over those 12 hours, over 80 bands played in 21 venues, most within walking distance in Macon’s historic, somewhat-resurgent, somewhat-dilapidated downtown.
Considering that day passes sell for as little as $20 and considering the incredible diversity in genres and venues, I can’t recommend Bragg Jam highly enough. I’m already looking forward to next year.
The sheer scale of Bragg Jam makes it impossible to see more than a fraction of the bands on the schedule. I approached the day with sort-of-a-plan, but left plenty of room for impulse decisions. Most of my friends did the same, so we had the thrill of making “new to us” discoveries as well as revisiting acts that we already loved.
The Cox Capitol Theatre reached capacity for headliner Moon Taxi — it was 1-out, 1-in for a while — but we had no trouble getting into other venues. One of the best spots for music was new to this year’s schedule: the Revival Fest stage at Fresh Produce Records hosted 9 bands for the festival, but sight lines were tricky when the place filled up for acts like Wreckless Eric and Chief Scout.
Macon embraces a Savannah-like to-go cup policy for Bragg Jam, which makes the day even more civilized and inviting.
Here’s a gallery of about 30 photos by Tom and me that gives a taste of the variety of bands and venues. We’ll have a lot more photos soon either in posts here on the blog or in album on the hissing lawns Facebook page (likes appreciated!). By the way, even though lots of Savannahians made the trek to Macon this year, there weren’t any Savannah bands in the impressive 2015 lineup. Lots more photos after the jump:
Cale Tyson at Gallery West:
Chief Scout at Fresh Produce Records:
Robert Lee Coleman & the Night Owls at Grant’s Lounge:
Fake Flowers at Fresh Produce Records:
Natural Child at The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom:
Susto, acoustic at Gallery West and full band at The Brickhouse:
T. Hardy Morris & The Hardknocks at Grant’s Lounge:
Wreckless Eric at Fresh Produce Records:
The Apache Relay at The 567 Main:
The Delta Saints at The Hummingbird:
Andrew Combs at Cox Capitol Theatre:
Sumilan at Roased Cafe & Lounge:
Kevin Devine at 567:
Futurebirds at Cox Capitol Theatre:
