It’s time for another highly-anticipated year end tally from the Magical Music Tour. For those of you that don’t know me, I am the really old long haired dude that has a big smile while listening to bands around town. If you go out and see music, you have probably seen me somewhere. Feel free to stop by and say “hello”, I am usually very friendly. Unless you are one of those asshole karate-in-the-pit dudes, then you can fuck off.
I am pretty OCD, and I keep a record of the bands that I see since about 2010 (and earlier), so a while back I started listing my most seen bands throughout the year on this site. A couple of people liked it, so I keep on doing it.
We have had alot of changes in music venues in Savannah since the pre-COVID days. Of course, the closing of the Jinx continues to be a major loss for the music scene in Savannah. El Rocko has done a great job of filling in for downtown shows. We also now have shows in Starland area with Wormhole, Over Yonder, Victory North, and Starland Yard. Another new venue is Graveface Lodge Of Sorrows on Boundary Street. And we can now begin to look forward to the day the Jinx is scheduled to return.
On to this year’s numbers. The venues that I have seen the most bands at are:
El Rocko – 97
Lodge Of Sorrows – 48
Over Yonder – 41
Starland Yard -27
Wormhole – 18
Service Brewing – 14
Victory North – 10
Two Tides – 10
The total number of shows I saw this year:
417 bands
Not too bad, but nothing will ever beat my all-time total of 777 in 2019.
The most seen bands this year were:
Swamptooth – 16
Matt Eckstine – 10
Manarovs – 9
Damon & The Shitkickers – 9
Anders Thomsen Trio – 8
Jus B – 7
Maxines – 6
Pink Peugeot – 6
Donna Savage – 6
Basically Nancy – 6
Swamptooth is a psychedelic bluegrass band. You can catch them every Friday at Service Brewery from 6-8:30p.
Matt Eckstine is a local singer songwriter. He frequently shows up on this list. You can see him at various locations from Tybee to Beaufort.
Manarovs are a Ramones-punk band that you will usually find playing at El Rocko or Wormhole.
Damon & The Shitkickers are an outlaw country band that makes this list most years. They play at various locations around town, including many Saturday afternoons at Over Yonder.
Anders Thomsen Trio are one of the more popular bands around town. This town is full of great guitarists, Anders is definitely one of the best. You can see them at various locations around town.
Jus-B is a newer Savannah punk band. I am not sure if they are still together.
Maxines and Basically Nancy are two female punk bands. They are great examples of our talented new bands. You will usually find them at El Rocko or Wormhole.
Pink Peugeot is a two piece math-rock band. I was glad to see they made the list. They are another band you will find at El Rocko and Wormhole and other locations around town.
Donna Savage has a more classic rock sound. Their shows often turn into dance parties. They play at many locations around town.
There were many other bands that I saw several times this year but did not make the top 10. They may have just not made the list because I did not have the chance to see them at regular intervals. Chances are you won’t see Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir playing a lunchtime gig at Sea Wolf. The runner-up list:
Klept
Jason Bible
Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir
Bastardane
Calico MD
Chipper Bones
Fauvely
Little Gracie
Lyn Avenue
Small Talk
Soap
Susanna Kennedy
Swing Del Sur Trio
Bugmeat
Black Hat
Beneath Trees
Jon Lee & The Apparitions
I would recommend trying to see any of these bands this year. Many are new local bands an a good example of our next wave of bands. I hope to see you around somewhere soon.