4 ms·

An Unlikely Bohemia: Athens, Georgia, in Reagan's America (2020)

65 points by tintinnabula 4y ago

severine 4y ago
Wow, HN meets Team Dresch! I've lived 'mentally' in Athens as an European youngster, I'm eager to read some stories, if you were there, then, please share!
- eventualhorizon 4y ago
  i grew up in Athens and was in high school/college during this time (graduated hs in '83). Unfortunately I was not that involved in the music scene but still got to see some great bands. The article spends a good bit of time on the B-52's but they were long gone to New York by this time and didn't really come back for public concerts until 'Cosmic Thing'. The popular bands that I remember were Love Tractor, REM, Dreams So Real and Kilkenny Cats. The scene as I knew it from a distance revolved around a few venues. Foremost at the time was the 40 watt club. It started as a room off of a back alley (with a bare light bulb?) that had moved by the time I was old enough to go. Lot's of history there. Other venues I visited were the Uptown Lounge, the Georgia Theater and surprisingly house parties. My favorite memories of the time were seeing PYLON and REM with about 50-100 other people at 'teen night' at the I&I club, I didn't really know PYLON but the show blew me away. Easily the best performance that I've seen. The Hillbilly Frankenstein album release party was wild and a blast. I also got to see the Flat Duo Jets at a house party and several times at small venues. Dex and Crowe made an amazing amount of sound for two guys with simple instruments. It was definitely a fun time to be in Athens and I certainly enjoyed myself. In hindsight I wish I had gotten more into the scene but growing up there and being so young I had no idea that there was anything special going on there.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    I was a bit after your time, but the old Athens food too! I didn't appreciate how exceptional (and cheap!) it was. Wilson's Soul Food, Taco Stand, Mexicali, Peppino's, Last Resort, Inoko Express There used to be a place next to the 40 Watt. X-Ray Cafe? I remember hanging out with poor bands post-show, because they had a grilled-cheese with tomato for $2.50 or so. By the mid to late 90s, it was more Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, and Of Montreal, as REM had already graduated to super-stardom. The WP outdoor free concert (in the middle of downtown!) in '98 was something else. 100k happy people. https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/panic-in-the-streets-anniversary-widespread-panic/ https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/panic-in-the-streets-a... PS: Long live Jittery Joe's, fuck Starbucks. :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jittery_Joe%27s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jittery_Joe%27s
- quercusa 4y ago
  The Atlanta equivalent of the 40-Watt was 688, which was a cinder block building with maybe a 9 foot ceiling. It was always hot and full of clove cigarette smoke. The stage may have been 18 inches high. REM at 688 in early 1981: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAldqnBPz3Y&t=2077s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAldqnBPz3Y&t=2077s
echelon 4y ago
Atlanta is far from music starved (not counting this recent debacle that threatens our festival music scene for the foreseeable future [1]). Despite that, Athens still manages to pull a lot of great acts that never make it to Atlanta. Athens has it really good and truly lives and breathes its music scene. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/02/music-midtown-festival-georgia-gun-laws/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/02...
- the_only_law 4y ago
  Not too surprised… it’s a college town. I used to live in a college town you’ve never heard of in a state you don’t think about and it had a pretty solid music scenes, decent venues, etc. and could get some of the best shows, particularly for stuff sub-mainstream. I now live in a much larger area, that I expected to have many more amenities and the music scene is surprisingly terrible.
  - dfxm12 4y ago
    Real estate is a huge factor in this. How many different sized venues are there and who controls them? If they're all run by Ticketmaster, you're only going to get Live Nation acts. If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Colleges tend to always have a diverse set of buildings, small theaters/bars/basements, mid sized basketball arenas/clubs, big stadiums and can mostly book who they (or the students) want.
    - the_only_law 4y ago
      > If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Oh they exist, they’re usually just booked up by boring cover bands.
      - ethbr0 4y ago
        > only a football stadium To be fair, Sanford Stadium seats almost 93,000 (9th largest in US). ;-) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_capacity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_cap... PS: Game day parking and traffic sucked, as someone who lived there.
dhagz 4y ago
I lived in Athens (recently, not in the eighties) and it was almost overwhelming how much music there was at any given time. And not just "pop" music, but orchestral/wind band stuff. The music school at UGA is pretty damn good and so there's always a good concert available.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
snapetom 4y ago
The first "alternative" song I heard back in the 80's was Watusi Rodeo by Guadalcanal Diary out of Marietta. That song really struck a nerve with me and really guided my young music tastes.
ginkgotree 4y ago
I lived in Athens while working on a Phd in P Chem. Looking back on the two years I lived there before I dropped out to run my app business, I didn't realize at the time what a perfect city it was to live in. There was _always_ an interesting show or art performance. And the concentration of graduate students and researchers meant you'd have the most interesting conversations in passing at the farmers market, etc.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  The joke growing up there was that it was the only town where an undergraduate degree was required to work in food delivery (pizza, this was before apps), because the population was so academically overqualified. But on the other hand, it also spoke to the number of people who graduated and chose to stay there...

65 points by tintinnabula 4y ago

Wow, HN meets Team Dresch! I've lived 'mentally' in Athens as an European youngster, I'm eager to read some stories, if you were there, then, please share!

eventualhorizon 4y ago
i grew up in Athens and was in high school/college during this time (graduated hs in '83). Unfortunately I was not that involved in the music scene but still got to see some great bands. The article spends a good bit of time on the B-52's but they were long gone to New York by this time and didn't really come back for public concerts until 'Cosmic Thing'. The popular bands that I remember were Love Tractor, REM, Dreams So Real and Kilkenny Cats. The scene as I knew it from a distance revolved around a few venues. Foremost at the time was the 40 watt club. It started as a room off of a back alley (with a bare light bulb?) that had moved by the time I was old enough to go. Lot's of history there. Other venues I visited were the Uptown Lounge, the Georgia Theater and surprisingly house parties. My favorite memories of the time were seeing PYLON and REM with about 50-100 other people at 'teen night' at the I&I club, I didn't really know PYLON but the show blew me away. Easily the best performance that I've seen. The Hillbilly Frankenstein album release party was wild and a blast. I also got to see the Flat Duo Jets at a house party and several times at small venues. Dex and Crowe made an amazing amount of sound for two guys with simple instruments. It was definitely a fun time to be in Athens and I certainly enjoyed myself. In hindsight I wish I had gotten more into the scene but growing up there and being so young I had no idea that there was anything special going on there.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  I was a bit after your time, but the old Athens food too! I didn't appreciate how exceptional (and cheap!) it was. Wilson's Soul Food, Taco Stand, Mexicali, Peppino's, Last Resort, Inoko Express There used to be a place next to the 40 Watt. X-Ray Cafe? I remember hanging out with poor bands post-show, because they had a grilled-cheese with tomato for $2.50 or so. By the mid to late 90s, it was more Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, and Of Montreal, as REM had already graduated to super-stardom. The WP outdoor free concert (in the middle of downtown!) in '98 was something else. 100k happy people. https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/panic-in-the-streets-anniversary-widespread-panic/ https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/panic-in-the-streets-a... PS: Long live Jittery Joe's, fuck Starbucks. :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jittery_Joe%27s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jittery_Joe%27s
quercusa 4y ago
The Atlanta equivalent of the 40-Watt was 688, which was a cinder block building with maybe a 9 foot ceiling. It was always hot and full of clove cigarette smoke. The stage may have been 18 inches high. REM at 688 in early 1981: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAldqnBPz3Y&t=2077s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAldqnBPz3Y&t=2077s

echelon 4y ago

Atlanta is far from music starved (not counting this recent debacle that threatens our festival music scene for the foreseeable future [1]). Despite that, Athens still manages to pull a lot of great acts that never make it to Atlanta. Athens has it really good and truly lives and breathes its music scene. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/02/music-midtown-festival-georgia-gun-laws/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/08/02...

the_only_law 4y ago
Not too surprised… it’s a college town. I used to live in a college town you’ve never heard of in a state you don’t think about and it had a pretty solid music scenes, decent venues, etc. and could get some of the best shows, particularly for stuff sub-mainstream. I now live in a much larger area, that I expected to have many more amenities and the music scene is surprisingly terrible.
- dfxm12 4y ago
  Real estate is a huge factor in this. How many different sized venues are there and who controls them? If they're all run by Ticketmaster, you're only going to get Live Nation acts. If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Colleges tend to always have a diverse set of buildings, small theaters/bars/basements, mid sized basketball arenas/clubs, big stadiums and can mostly book who they (or the students) want.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    > If there's only a football stadium and few/no independent small or medium sized clubs, where are these interesting, but niche acts going to perform? Oh they exist, they’re usually just booked up by boring cover bands.
    - ethbr0 4y ago
      > only a football stadium To be fair, Sanford Stadium seats almost 93,000 (9th largest in US). ;-) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_capacity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._stadiums_by_cap... PS: Game day parking and traffic sucked, as someone who lived there.

dhagz 4y ago

I lived in Athens (recently, not in the eighties) and it was almost overwhelming how much music there was at any given time. And not just "pop" music, but orchestral/wind band stuff. The music school at UGA is pretty damn good and so there's always a good concert available.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

snapetom 4y ago

The first "alternative" song I heard back in the 80's was Watusi Rodeo by Guadalcanal Diary out of Marietta. That song really struck a nerve with me and really guided my young music tastes.

ginkgotree 4y ago

I lived in Athens while working on a Phd in P Chem. Looking back on the two years I lived there before I dropped out to run my app business, I didn't realize at the time what a perfect city it was to live in. There was _always_ an interesting show or art performance. And the concentration of graduate students and researchers meant you'd have the most interesting conversations in passing at the farmers market, etc.

ethbr0 4y ago
The joke growing up there was that it was the only town where an undergraduate degree was required to work in food delivery (pizza, this was before apps), because the population was so academically overqualified. But on the other hand, it also spoke to the number of people who graduated and chose to stay there...