It’s certainly been a bit of a whirlwind year. Savannah overall has had its share of ups and downs, but it seems like the music scene has been on a major rollercoaster itself this year. I’d thought about trying to do my usual year end list like I have for the past couple of years now (geez, two years with HL has flown by!), but then I realized that as busy as I was with life and my own musical endeavors, I’ve really missed out on some pretty rad events this year. So instead of a normal list, why don’t we stroll back and focus in on a few highlights from each month over the past year?
January
Ah, a fresh, new year. 2014 was a blast right? Shows like Perfect Pussy and Priests gave 2015 a pretty high standard to live up to. Luckily, 2015 started off with a bang. Besides our own Wet Socks taking their surfy-garage rock on a national tour, January also brought some stellar touring acts to Savannah as well. Bane? Ex Hex? Creepoid? King Tuff? Family and Friends? Not to mention some stellar performances by locals that we were already pretty familiar with like COEDS, The Anxiety Junkies, Sins of Godless Men, A.M. Rodriguez. The year started off pretty fantastically.
February
While most people may have been focused in on the lovey-dovey aspects of the month, the Savannah music scene kept things rolling hard. February brought about the 5th anniversary of Savannah’s own CUSSES as well as shows from some of our favorite local and touring bands like Old Flings, Crazy Bag Lady, Nightengale News, and American Hologram. Throw in a few surprises like a new video from Wet Socks, a fresh album from Murder By Death, and a slew of awesome bands at A-Town Get Down, and you’ve got a pretty solid month.
American Hologram
March
March means one thing around these parts. And I’m not talking about leprechauns. Stopover V took Savannah by storm and it was the biggest year yet for sure. Close the month out with a crazy set from Peelander Z and the upswing continues for 2015.
April
MusicFile Productions kept the ball rolling in April with a major show right off the bat. The Mountain Goats at the Jinx may have been one of my favorite shows of the year hands down. And meeting John Darnielle may be one of the highlights of my 20’s for me by far. Oh! And Dick Dale swung by the Wormhole. Pretty crazy, right?
May
May started the year’s trend of album releases from local bands. 2014 ended with the release of Drips from Wet Socks, and 2015 planned on raising the bar it seemed like. First up? Hunks from Crazy Bag Lady. Let’s not forget about more shows from Black Tusk, Kylesa, Creepoid, and The Slackers though as well!
June
The heat’s starting to pick up. Although, does the heat every really leave us here in Savannah? May saw the release of CUSSES new EP Here Comes the Rat as well as some awesome sets by J Roddy Walston and The Business, Generation Pill, and Wet Socks
July
Two Words. Fucked. Up. Okay, there were a ton of great shows this month actually, like more sets from our own Crazy Bag Lady and CUSSES as well as other acts like Creepoid and Thomas Wynn and The Believers, but Fucked Up was the highlight for me by far. It had been years since I’d seen them, and it’s not often you meet a big band like them who are so down to earth about everything. Speaking of awesome bands (which I suppose is the entire point of this post), let’s not just skip over an awesome all ages show that went down with one of the year’s biggest bands, Downtown Boys, the return of Bask to the Jinx, as well as a new release from Basik Lee.
August
The heat is still going strong, figuratively and literally. But August also brings about some pretty bad news as well. In the midst of great shows like The Dickies at The Wormhole and Weedeater at The Jinx, Savannah gets some major news in the form of Hang Fire having to relocate from 37 Whitaker. Of course, now we all know that Hang Fire thankfully got a bit of an extension, but the scare was a big one. Luckily, not only was Hang Fire’s “Last Hurrah” with bands like Superhorse, Triathalon, Red Sea, and Crazy Bag Lady an awesome one, but we also had other great shows like Valient Thorr and Whores. to keep the bad thoughts at bay.
September
Finally! It’s Fall! The weather cools (if only a bit) and there’s a brand new batch of bright eyed SCAD students exploring the mysteries of downtown Savannah for the first time. Luckily, they had plenty to look forward to. If Statts Fest wasn’t enough, Diarrhea Planet made their return to the Jinx after their killer set at Stopover 2015.
October
Geez, looking back, I didn’t realized how jam packed October was. If the usual Halloween extravaganza at the Jinx wasn’t enough, there was also the return of GAM, an awesome new video from COEDS, an EP release from Between Symmetries, and sets from Kylesa, Barb Wire Dolls, The Ghost Ease, Graveface’s 4th anniversary show, and Insane Clown Posse. Whoop whoop!
November
A new month, and a bit more heartbreak. It doesn’t seem like just a month ago that CUSSES announced their final show for the foreseeable future, but the news of the hiatus still stings. The blow was dampened a bit by shows from Amythyst Kiah and Her Chest of Glass, Triathalon, and Jason Isbell, along with new releases from Generation Pill and Niche, and a new video from our own Kylesa, and an awesome new festival in the form of Dad Joke’s Punk Mess.
December
It’s still December guys. Hopefully, you’ve kept your ears to the ground, or this blog rather, and have seen all the excellent shows going down recently! Baroness! Quintron and Miss Pussycat! Nana Grizol! Family and Friends! Jeff Two Names and the Born Agains! Wait, that last band is terrible. At least the bass player looks good though. Anyway, it’s been a great year and here’s hoping that 2016 will exceed what we’ve gotten so far!
