What makes Savannah Stopover different? For one thing, bands are given a place to stay with community volunteers during the festival, so hotels aren’t an issue. The small city has easy access to main highways in and out of town and the Atlantic Beach is a short drive away. Also, Dollhouse Studios holds recording sessions for Savannah Stopover bands during the day. The studio main room is roomy enough for bands to be comfortable with a smaller room behind it for drummers that can be kept open or shut. The recorded work is released as a compilation album representing the festival. The sessions are loose, open to VIPs and press inside the sound booth during recording. Artists and guests are provided with wine, beer, water, fruit and light snacks.
And QRO covered the festival, March 8-9th, in Savannah, Georgia:
The first full day of Savannah Stopover was held on the same day as a city running match, the ‘greening’ of the fountains for the next week’s huge St. Patrick’s Day festivities, making the small city full of people and excitement, including a small parade of green costumed revelers.
Sam Sniper @ B&D Burgers, 4:00 PM
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This Athens band chose their name ‘Sam Sniper’ because of its catchiness and consisted of two old friends who had played together for over ten years, Andrew Klein and Chris Barnett, who quit fighting over which type of music to make and decided to make all the genres of their interest – rock, blues, country, honky-tonk, and pop. Their set started with an alt-rock song about Atlanta with Barnett, a tenor, on vocals and electric guitar and Klein, a baritone on vocals and acoustic guitar. Barnett played lead guitar with varied styles from standard rock to hard rock riffs to funky leads. Klein later switched to a decorated electric and switched back and forth with Barnett on lead and backing vocals. Completing the harmonies was the drummer, Bill Bacon, on most as well as the bass player, Nick Mallis, on a few. Their best song was their closer, “The Best of Me”, from their 2011 CD release. They are recording for a new release in August or September 2013.
Filligar @ B&D Burgers, 5:00 PM
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Filligar, a three-brother and childhood friend band from Chicago, created soulful boogie-woogie and heavy rock music on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, respectively. The singer-guitarist and bass player alternated tempos while the keyboards were typically fast and the drums pronounced. Harmonies included the lead singer, keyboardist and sometimes bassist. Styles became varied throughout the set. One song had Native American rhythms while another started with stair stepped harmonies and became a quirky song with distorted organ and strong lead vocals. The band did one cover song, Tom Petty’s “Swingin’”.
Christopher Paul Stelling @ Sparetime, 6:00 PM
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Christopher Paul Stelling began by charming the audience with a story about listening to the audiobook of Old Man and The Sea on the way from Richmond, Virginia that morning and being so tired that he did not know which character he was, and passing the exit for Savannah, then turning around before arriving. Luckily, he arrived in plenty of time to perform his singer-songwriter act with a lot of passion and expression, with vocal rhythms sometimes similar to Dave Matthews’ singing. Stelling had complete control of the volume, fierceness and resonance in his voice and his acoustic classical six-string guitar, that showed loving wear, which was amplified further by playing in corner of venue. Most of his songs were mid-tempo but some were slow enough for sing-alongs, and one was bluesy and fast. He hand-picked and simultaneously thumped the guitar strings and body for maximum effect while many times keeping his face close to absorb the sounds and sing along with them. All the while, he joked and conversed with the crowd between songs.
Royal Canoe @ Forsyth Park, 7:00 PM
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The offbeat six-piece band Royal Canoe from Winnipeg, Canada who opened the show for of Montreal started out pop, then worked their way into synth pop, then drum and bass by the end of their set. The singer, who also played guitar or keyboards, used double distortion mic on about half the set. There was a full-time keyboardist who was kind of the cheerleader of the band when not playing, a bass player who also played keys, a guitar player, and a percussion section consisting of a drummer and percussionist who played in precision together. There were no audience sing-alongs because the band’s diverse melodies didn’t repeat enough to be memorized. Royal Canoe’s harmonies and odd rhythms proved to make them a good match with of Montreal’s style and sound.
PUJOL @ Third Man Records Truck, 7:45 PM
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While the audience was milling around or just waiting on of Montreal, with no introduction, DIY garage rock/punk act PUJOL played a short but lively super low-fi 3-song set in front of Third Man Records Truck. Daniel Pujol, the band’s leader, told the audience, between songs, PUJOL’s name, that of Montreal would play right after their set, and that they would play “a taco place” later. Their drummer didn’t bother with a drum kit, playing snare on his knee, and it’s highly possible that the guitars and bass shared an amp, as did the singers. The audience seemed quite receptive of their set.
of Montreal @ Forsyth Park, 8:00 PM
Photos of of Montreal at Miami Forum in Miami, FL on November 28th, 2012
Photos of of Montreal at Plaza Live in Orlando, FL on March 8th, 2012
QRO’s review of of Montreal at 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA on October 30th, 2011
Photos of of Montreal at 2011 80/35 Festival in Des Moines, IA
Photos of of Montreal at 2011 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain
Photos of of Montreal at The Ritz in Tampa, FL on January 15th, 2011
Photos of of Montreal at Firestone Live in Orlando, FL on January 13th, 2011
QRO’s review of of Montreal at Terminal 5 in New York, NY on September 18th, 2010
Photos of of Montreal at 2010 B.O.M.B. Fest in Old Lyme, CT
Photos of of Montreal at Highline Ballroom in New York, NY on January 26th, 2010
Photos of of Montreal at Santos Party House in New York, NY on September 16th, 2009
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Since Royal Canoe had a simple, rock setup, it was difficult to tell if Athens’ artsy glam band of Montreal would go for a rock set without theatrics, or a full-on theatrical set. What they delivered was something in-between, alternating between songs with just the wildly dressed band playing under beautifully weird projections and songs which brought out the theatrical group that performs with them while Kevin Barnes, lead singer for of Montreal, interacted with them while other members of the band played behind them. The band seemed to really do well on the large stage, making Savannah’s first show one worth waiting for, in a beautiful setting with perfect sound. Many hit songs were played: “Suffer For Fashion”, “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse”, “Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider”, as well as others, “L’Age d’Or”, “Forecast Fascist Future”, and “Plastis Wafer”, where Barnes rode out onstage atop a group of people from the theatrical group who formed kind of a caterpillar. A couple of songs couldn’t be identified, perhaps new ones.
PUJOL @ Taco Abajo, 11:30 PM
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Taco Abajo’s stage had a wooden pillar built in, leaving lead singer and rhythm guitarist Daniel Pujol of PUJOL in the dark except when he bobbed his head in and out of the shadows. However, he made up for his lack of physical presence. Pujol sang through a sore throat, creating hoarseness within the vocals that gave the high-energy garage band a major gritty edge to their act. Pujol joked and introduced songs and friends between songs, keeping the feel of the set loose while they played the majority of their full-length United States of Being. The set of songs included “Butterfly Knife”, “Psychic Pain”, “Reverse Vampire”, “Dark Knight in Shining Armor”, and the song that made Pujol shake his head full of black hair most… “Black Rabbit”: a potential southern punk classic with a serious hard driving beat. “DIY2K”, a lyrical stream of consciousness song about today’s world, became more of a jam than the recorded version, and there was a new song called “Problem”. The rest of the PUJOL band included Brett Rosenberg on lead guitar and backup vocals, Doni Shroader on drums, sometimes playing one-handed with the other stick in his mouth, and Clayton Parker on bass, who tapped his foot and bounced through the entire set. The audience finally danced in front of stage during the last half of the set after one guy started on his own. On the last note of the last song, Pujol took the mic in his mouth and held it until he threw it, by mouth, to the ground.
The sun was fully bright: it was the first nice weekend of spring in Savannah. Traffic was lighter than on Friday and spirits were upbeat and friendly throughout the festival, its staff and artists. The third year of Savannah Stopover was running smoothly and professionally, making it even more enjoyable than last year.
this mountain @ Dollhouse Studios, 12:00 PM
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Tennessean folk rock band this mountain, a sextet, was a little sleepy since they’d played the night before, but they were setup and ready to go at noon. Matt Martin would start off this mountain’s songs on lead vocals and acoustic guitar. Martin sang with a soulful, yearning inflection and a slightly higher note pattern than rock, creating country accented folk with precise phrasing. Patrick Taylor played like a pro on his beautiful gold-rimmed banjo and sang backup vocals. Cody Ledford bowed his cello with passion, helping give depth to the music. Zach Chandley was enjoying his first time as lead on electric guitar, using a wa-wa pedal and occasional electronic distortion. Chandley sang backup alongside the band’s third backup singer, bassist Taylor Green, who despite his young looks, blended his electric bass in perfectly with Andrew Gibbens’ dynamic drumming. It was amazing to hear this mountain’s four part harmonies either with music or a-cappella. The strongest songs recorded were “Abide”, “War”, and “Desert”, an excellent rock/folk hybrid with electric guitar lines reminiscent of The Outlaws before a tempo change later in the song.
Pree @ Congress Street Social Club, 4:00 PM
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The bouncy pop band Pree from Washington, D.C. took the stage right on time at this small outside courtyard venue right off the street. The female singer coaxed surf style reverb rhythms out of her SG style guitar while she sang quirky, off-kilter melodies in a fairly high voice. The lead guitarist added flair to the sweet pop flavors by using vibrato and short lead lines. An energetic bassist and drummer made up the rhythm section, and the drummer sang backup. Although a good band, their presentation was a bit stiff in the daylight and the lead vocals overwhelmed the music.
Wild Feathers @ The Jinx, 5:00 PM
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Crossover folk-country-blues quintet The Wild Feathers from Nashville boasted three singers with three different ranges and singing styles who would either take turns, sing in three-part harmony (sometimes a-cappella) or provide counterpoint polyphony for each other. There were three guitarists as well: one on acoustic, one on hollow body electric and one on solid body electric. They also had a bassist who played steel guitar and sometimes sang backup and a solid drummer. They seemed to be creating a new form of honky-tonk music, with one song sounding a bit like an old song from The Rolling Stones. Song themes included songs about relationships and life from a country music perspective. With their complex, varied sound, they did a good job of keeping the audience at The Jinx entertained.
Young Buffalo @ Hang Fire, 6:00 PM
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Young Buffalo packed out Hang Fire, for good reason. The young pop rock quartet had two youthful voiced, clear sounding vocalists who created beautiful harmonies reminiscent of Nada Surf, Weezer or The Beach Boys. They used power chords, strong drums with lots of snare, funky bass and sparkly keyboards to achieve their fun, energetic sound. On top of all that, the organ parts duplicated vocal range and melodies to add more depth to the harmonies. And the keyboardist played a side drum with mallets when he had free time. The band made good use of tempo changes and complex melodies like the band Phoenix.
Whaleboat @ Knights of Columbus, 8:00 PM
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The Knights of Columbus venue is a beautiful restored 1800s building. The namesake comes from a fraternal order within the Catholic religion, which meant they had a full bar. It was the first venue upstairs, and its wooden floors vibrating and echoed the sound around the room, making it warm and full.
Whaleboat started quietly in the room with their singer-guitarist creating tension and atmosphere with a repeating high guitar note. But by the end of the second song, the trio had built up so much momentum that the audience was dancing. The singer’s voice soared with singable melodies as he played delicate, high pitched guitar strums over the cacophony created by the rhythm section (the drummer was so strong that during sound check he was told to quiet down by the soundman because he hit the drums so hard). This variance in playing styles created an interesting contrast with the bassist running interference, playing rhythm guitar parts while he danced, bobbed and jumped around so much that he rarely sang backup. The overactive drummer was placed up front on the left of the stage similar to the setup of The White Stripes or Secret Machines.
VietNam @ The Jinx, 11:00 PM
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Returning after a five-year hiatus, Brooklyn band VietNam performed their semi-psychedelic rock on the way to SXSW and Austin Psych Fest. The five-piece created slow, thick bluesy music with an occasional upbeat. The singing was very laid back, almost drunk sounding. The violinist played with reverb and noise effects similar to The Bad Seeds’ Warren Ellis. The moog player was so still that he was almost missed onstage. The drummer kept his eyes closed nearly the entire time, feeling the groove and playing with mallets a lot. The guitarist was the most energetic, bouncing up and down with the beat of the music as he played. The placement of the tall violinist up front was strange since he only sang and played part of the time. The singer was on the right side of the stage, watching the band, the reverse of Brian Jonestown Massacre’s setup.
Dent May @ Hang Fire, 12:00 AM
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Usually a solo act, former “Magnificent Ukulele” player and singer Dent May changed to electric guitar and brought a keyboard player, bass player and drummer onstage. The venue was full, being one of the last of the festival open at that time. The audience was spilling onto the street and practically onstage with the band at the front. Dent May sang midrange and falsetto to his smart, lovely pop songs. His rhythm section had a little trouble syncing up at first but after two songs, the bassist caught the beat and used a lot of higher notes to create a back melody while snare and heavy beats were predominant for the drummer. The keyboardist played melodies that were punchy yet smooth. Dent’s fantastic guitar work used a range of effects pedals made the music groove.
