V23|NO26
IN MUSIC
Little Bar, Big Sound
It goes without saying that downtown Augusta has the best music scene in the CSRA. That’s just plain and simple. From the same bands that play every week to the national rock acts to unknown hidden talents, you never know what you’re going to find on Broad Street. This does include homeless people and prostitutes; didn’t want to leave anything out. While some bars like The Loft, Sky City and 1102 Downtown Bar and Grill have a big room for music, there are a lot of bars that you think wouldn’t be able to fit full bands. Well, I was proven wrong again this past weekend at Stillwater. Thanks to the powers of Facebook, I caught eye of a video of the band that was performing Friday night. After watching the video and being very impressed, two thoughts came to mind: this band is awesome and there’s no way that they are going to fit inside Stillwater. Blair Crimmons and The Hookers is a six-piece band including a trombone, trumpet, clarinet, stand-up bass, full drum set and lead singer/banjo player. Now that’s a lot of music put onto a 10 by 10 foot stage, and I think I’m being generous. One of the best things about Stillwater not being big is that the sound is huge. These six musicians blew the crowd away, in a good way. My highlight of the night was when the lead singer was singing through a megaphone. Not quite Scott Weiland singing, but it came off nicely. I remember ordering a drink from Adrian, one of the bartenders, and her saying, “Wow, I’m already yelling at 9.” Besides yelling for a drink, the music experience at Stillwater was awesome. Whether it’s an acoustic set or a six-piece band, the stage at Stillwater is packed with tons of musical talent each week. I highly recommend it. Some great shows are coming and one I was looking forward to was Those Darlins at Sky City on Saturday, July 7. The reason I say “was” is because I’m going to be out of town. But I would put it on my to-do list if I were you. Those Darlins go on 11:30 p.m., but don’t miss the opener, Baby Baby, at 10. Let’s get to some national news. Former punk band Green Day has revealed that “Oh Love” will be the first single released from their upcoming album trilogy ¡UNO! ¡DOS! ¡TRÉ! You can download it for yourself on July 16 and it will be the first taste of Green Day’s enormous project. I’m excited for a new Green Day album, but three albums? ¡UNO! will be released September 25, with ¡DOS! following on November 23 and ¡TRÉ! on January 15, 2013. I guess when you’ve made as much money as Green Day you can do what you want. New releases in store this week. Linkin Park released “Living Things” and Offspring released “Days Go By.” In these cases, Linkin Park is good now, and Offspring still sounds like they’re in the ’90s. That’s not a complaint. R. Kelly also put out a new album. I’m not sure if he sings tales about urinating on people or not, but it’s at least worth investigating. And last, a lesson to all businesses: you have to get the approval from artists before you use their songs in your ads. And for breaking that rule, The Black Keys are suing Home Depot and Pizza Hut. It seems the Black Keys weren’t thinking about power tools and cheesy bread when they were writing their latest album, “El Camino.” What shows are coming to Augusta that would blow people away? Who nationally is making moves in your CD player and not on the charts? Those are the bands I want to know about. Email me at matt@ themetrospirit.com.
MATTSTONE can be heard weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 95 Rock. 34 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989
28JUNE2012