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re: "A RIVER OF BOOZE... Inside one college town’s uneasy embrace of drinking"...
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:05 pm to Peter Buck
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:05 pm to Peter Buck
quote:
but in any case, I feel I can say with certainty that they were not really part the "Down Town" Music scene... in fact, they were the antithesis of it...
Athens music-snobbery is an interesting topic. There's people that share your opinion, but I know that there's also people that reminisce about the downtown Uptown Lounge days of Widespread Panic, etc in the same condescending way that you talk about your view of the "downtown" music scene.
This much is true though. IN the 90's, while the the B-52s were making videos for MTV.....and REM was making unlistenable songs like "Losing my religion" and that rap song with KRS1........the jam-bands were stealing the Athens music scene out from under their proteges noses. And they reigned supreme over Athens for many years. That's not an opinion. That's just what happened.
I know there were hipster pockets of resentment to this, and there was still an ecclectic mix that makes Athens special, but the jam bands were at the top for a while. With Widespread Panic considered the grand-fathers of the "scene".
And what's funny is that the appeal of it was that these jambands were something different. It was a new sound and different from the artsy fartsy oh-so-impressed with itself stale Athens sounds. I'm not defending or criticizing any kind of music. It's just how it was.
The bands that filled the GA theatre were all jam bands. The fraternity houses and small bars downtown were full of jambands hoping to play the GA theatre one day. The annual Athens music fest that came to be known as "Super Jam" out at the fairgrounds was jambands from top to bottom with Panic as the headliners. And then, of course, they played their free show downtown that brought a million people to Athens.
Must have really been infuriating for hipsters and protectors of the "Down Town scene" back then.
4
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:16 pm to Jefferson Dawg
Yea Panic's distinctly southern sound (as far as jam bands go) was a big contrast to a lot of the other big stuff coming out at that time. Not a huge Panic fan (I don't dislike them) but I definitely think of Athens when I think of them.
Music is also one of the most interesting things because everyone always wants part of it to be "theirs." It leads to interesting debates whenever bands start getting more popular or when people start claiming they were part of a certain "scene." It's especially true in the jam band world. Listening to people bitch about whether someone is a "real Dead fan" or whether they got to see the "real Phish" is hilarious.
Music is also one of the most interesting things because everyone always wants part of it to be "theirs." It leads to interesting debates whenever bands start getting more popular or when people start claiming they were part of a certain "scene." It's especially true in the jam band world. Listening to people bitch about whether someone is a "real Dead fan" or whether they got to see the "real Phish" is hilarious.
This post was edited on 12/12/14 at 2:19 pm
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:21 pm to Jefferson Dawg
fricking crazy
wasn't there a lot of rain around this time? One of my professors said a bunch of hippies got flooded in the middle of the night when they were camping out for a Panic show. They were camped over by the kudzu train trassels that REM made famous.
Also, you didn't like REM? Murmurs is fricking badass man.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:42 pm to Jefferson Dawg
quote:
........the jam-bands were stealing the Athens music scene
The late 80's early 90's were great IMO because you had a blend of the outgoing music scene coupled with the emerging of the jam bands.
You could see Drivin' & Cryin' at the Theatre, Dreams So Real and the Connells during the week....and then Widespread just about every weekend. With every type of music conceivable in between.
quote:
"Super Jam"
That was always a mixed bag for me. It always went from the "wow I've never been this high" euphoria of tripping and dancing to "oh shite, where are my people and how am I getting home" type thing we're you're climbing in the back of some beat up Jetta for a lift downtown by a bunch of lunatics.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 2:59 pm to Jefferson Dawg
quote:I
"A RIVER OF BOOZE... Inside one college town’s uneasy embrace of drinking"...
quote:
but in any case, I feel I can say with certainty that they were not really part the "Down Town" Music scene... in fact, they were the antithesis of it...
Athens music-snobbery is an interesting topic. There's people that share your opinion, but I know that there's also people that reminisce about the downtown Uptown Lounge days of Widespread Panic, etc in the same condescending way that you talk about your view of the "downtown" music scene.
This much is true though. IN the 90's, while the the B-52s were making videos for MTV.....and REM was making unlistenable songs like "Losing my religion" and that rap song with KRS1........the jam-bands were stealing the Athens music scene out from under their proteges noses. And they reigned supreme over Athens for many years. That's not an opinion. That's just what happened.
I know there were hipster pockets of resentment to this, and there was still an ecclectic mix that makes Athens special, but the jam bands were at the top for a while. With Widespread Panic considered the grand-fathers of the "scene".
And what's funny is that the appeal of it was that these jambands were something different. It was a new sound and different from the artsy fartsy oh-so-impressed with itself stale Athens sounds. I'm not defending or criticizing any kind of music. It's just how it was.
The bands that filled the GA theatre were all jam bands. The fraternity houses and small bars downtown were full of jambands hoping to play the GA theatre one day. The annual Athens music fest that came to be known as "Super Jam" out at the fairgrounds was jambands from top to bottom with Panic as the headliners. And then, of course, they played their free show downtown that brought a million people to Athens.
Must have really been infuriating for hipsters and protectors of the "Down Town scene" back then.
THough there is plenty of snobbery in the Music industry, it is fact that Wide Spread was not part of the down town Athens Music Scene in the 80s. They were a frat band making good money doing dead covers for rich frat kids who wanted to be in the Greatful Dead scene. They exploded on the national scene after the Greatful Dead dude died. It was bizzare how it went down. I am not a fan of the music, but have no ill will towards them other than one of them. Like I said, they were nice dudes. I guess it is just that they kinda want to hide their frant belonging and frat playing past...
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