It’s just a few short weeks until AthFest (Athens, GA), which always marks a high point of the summer for me.
While the outdoor market and stages are awesome, the real gems of the weekend are often found in the Club Crawl. The Club Crawl spans a variety of historic Athens venues, including the incomparable 40 Watt Club and the Georgia Theatre. All outdoor stages are free admission throughout the weekend, and the Club Crawl shows are a spectacular value–admission to all shows is free with purchase of a wristband.
An interesting note about this year’s lineup: three of the headlining acts, Pylon Reenactment Society (playing on the outdoor main stage on Sunday), of Montreal (playing at 40 Watt on Saturday), and The Whigs (playing at Georgia Theatre Friday night at midnight) are all Athens natives. AthFest always features a great variety of music, and this year is no different–everything from rap (local rapper + politican Linqua Fraqa is always a pleasure to see live!) to heavy rock (Double Ferrari was one of the coolest festival shows I saw last year) to the alt rock that Athens is well-known for.
Additionally, there’s always unique acts that you won’t find anywhere else, like the Athens Cowboy Choir (they’re exactly what it sounds like) and Klezmer Local 42 (a super fun local group that combines traditional Jewish music with swing, rock, and sea shanties).
AthFest is held in downtown Athens, Georgia the weekend of June 21-23. Club Crawl wristbands can be purchased at www.athfest.com . Proceeds help support AthFest Educates, a non-profit supporting music and arts education for local youth.