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>• V of a video game, in real time, projected on a big screen. The pro tagonist could be defeated at any moment, and there're no bullshit cheat codes here. This time, the guys are taking on Ninja Gaiden, renowned both for its gameplay difficulty and catchy music. Not to be missed. [JT] mmKmm, douras m David Dondero AthFest Second Stage 4:40 p.m. Carolina singer-songwriter David Dondero is a nomadic trou- „ badour who writes autobiographical songs about love, youth and self-discovery on the open road. His clear, compulsory voice wavers over cool strumming with simple, amiable folk pop tones, even when he's recalling hard times. Dondero is a rare example of the indie-rocker-turned-folk-singer who channels his pensive and personal fodder into narrative songs without beating you over the head with his personal demons and schmaltzy, confessional cathar sis. [Chad Radford] Allison Weiss & the Bandits AthFest Second Stage 6:40 p.m. The young Ms. Weiss is stilt in the process of paying her dues around town, but since the beginning of this year has started making double-payments. This set is her playing with a full band and not her acoustic-solo act. Her earnest, playful music is a thing to be heard and hopefully the volume of this show will draw the crowd's attention. [GL] The Cheshire Bridge Academy for the Musically Gifted Go Bar Caledonia Lounge 1:00 a.m. Southern Bitch has looked its setbacks straight in the eye and responded with a confident "piss off!" The Musicks (Adam and Wendy), Chuck Bradburn and Taylor Sproull are, fortunately, back to their old tricks of rocking houses like it's the last gig before a week of Sundays. Their latest is Strong Medicine. It will make you do the rock; so will this show. [MA] Zoroaster Repent 1:00 a.m. Georgia's best heavy rock acts—Jarboe, Jurifer, Kylesa, Harvey Milk—have much in common with Southern Gothic novelists. Both groups portray in gritty detail the depths of human depravity while mmmm, gDqjjk]@ m Georgia Guitar Quartet AthFest Second Stage 1:40 p.m. Sure, it'll be tempting to nurse the previous night's hangover 'til the Drive-By Truckers crank things up on the Main Stage at 7 p.m., but a performance from these local maestros might cure what ails ya. If not, at least you can bet it'll sound pretty damn good. Jason Solomon, Brian Smith, Kyle Dawkins and Phil Snyder recently celebrated their 10th anniversary together. The acoustic ensemble can do Bach, Zeppelin. John Cage and probably even Bjork if given the chance. Get off your ass and get your culture on, already! [MA] 9:00 p.m. The ukulele is the new glockenspiel. Adding something childlike (because it's so tiny?) and charming to any song, it was locally popularized a while back by Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and then, more recently, by the Folk Yous, neither of which is playing AthFest this year. Instead, the Cheshire Bridge Academy for the Musically Gifted, two friendly Atlanta guys, each with his own ukulele, will provide the teeny strumming that warms your heart, with songs geared perhaps a bit to the preschool set but also far better than one would have any reason to expect. These guys should be per fect in the small confines of the Go Bar. [HB] Down With the Woo Tasty World Downstairs 11:00 p.m. Down with the Woo is the second coming of Eric Friar and Mandy Branch, the duo who crafted the crystalline melodies and jarring angles of Athens' now-extinct Heros Severum. As DWTW, Friar (guitar, vocals) and Branch (guitar, keyboard, vocals), along with Winston Parker (bass, saxophone), shed the immediacy and terse punk leanings of their past for a spacey excursion into soul music, electro-pop and futuristic funk. Minimal rhythms and com puter-generated beats come together in each song to form a web of sophisticated production and dance music that's both slick and technology-obsessed without forgetting the organic ways of a hu man body on the dance floor. [CR] Southern Bitch holding fast to traditional ideas of craft and form, keeping us at once horrified and transfixed. And so it goes with Atlanta-based sludge metal trio Zoroaster. With its formidable array of rotgut riffs and monolithic amplifiers, these dudes can cause parts of your body that you didn't even know existed to rupture, and they'll wreak this havoc within the space of a memorable, logically-con structed song. If you ever thought local favorite Music Hates You would sound pretty righteous if it downed a steamshovel full.of barbiturates before taking the stage, you'll be more than thrilled with the bludgeoning that Zoroaster will dish out Saturday night. [PB] Dark Meat Tasty World Downstairs 1:15 a.m. Athens' indigenous freak-rock ensemble Dark Meat pushes the twisted and ecstatic soundscapes of Olivia Tremor Control into the outer reaches of warped experimentation. The group's debut recording, Universal Indians is dedicated to free-jazz sax man Albert Ayler, whose holy ghost resonates profoundly in the group's horn section. But for all intents and purposes. Dark Meat's twisted take on Southern rock has more in common with the Butthole Surfers' golden years. Or more ap propriately, the group's performances evoke the elated bliss/ horror films of the drug- addled '60s circa Ira Cohen's Invasion of the Thunderbolt Pagoda, where the limits of cog nition, social comfort, sanity and spirituality are tested, all in the name of art and rock. [CR] 2007 Flagpole Athens Music Awards Morton Theatre Thursday. June 21 • 8:00 p.m. Titans of Filth The traditional kick-off event for Athfest's many days of music, every year, the.flagpole Athens Music Awards delivers a.not-to-be-missed-a: ety she.-, fo using on highliqt.ts in lo : cal music. (But we would say that, wouldn't we?) The awards are intended to honor worthy achievement in local music over the past year,.and are vou What've we got in store for Athens this year.' 1 Peep this: • Hot Corner Coffee 9:00 p.m. AthFest's outdoor stages are free and open to all, but only two of the nighttime club crawl's venues are open to all ages: Hot Corner Coffee (before midnight, anyway) and Nugi's Space. So say you've got a younger friend, or sibling, or child of your own, and you want to show 'em just how swell and inspiring local music can be. Titans of Filth's earlier Hot Corner show might be just the place to convince anyone that all it takes to make droll, fun and uncomplicated pop music is a handful of friends, some instruments and a sure-let's-try-it-out attitude. Inspired by the relative ease and charmingly no-frills approach of the band, your young compan ion may need find her way to Camp Amped, Nugi's Space's summer music camp [see p. 31]. [CH] 1 S The Willie-T Express 1 Georgia Theatre 9:30 p.m. Whatever formation the rascally William Tonks brings to the stage, you can be sure it'll be led by a fella who's become syn onymous with his six-string, be it slide-coaxed or finger-plucked. Tonks has appeared with a long list of local who's whos, including Barbara Cue, Hot Burritos, Six String Drag and the Workhorses of the Entertainment/ Recreational Industry. Lately, he's been at the helm of The Willie T. Express, while selflessly upping the game of just about anybody with whom he shares the stage. [MA] • Awards 18 categories vorite solo peiforinm of the year? How about pop band? Rapper? Deejay? Country act? •Swing Grogus! • s Tin Cup Prophettei • The Empties their kinetic, upbeat pop roc*! • A fusi Bear Ben Stevens • • Cyclical. e t*a' . • m and ambit New Sound of Numbers tunes! • S* ter Jeff Fallis • Award presenratiof r local musicians: • The two winning . ideos from the Sprockets Music + Video show! • House music provided by jaunty and nimble jazz delights The Magictonesi • Stage assistance and mrre by the furious and fox*. .Classic City Rollergirls ■ oiler derby crew! See p. 19. • Surprises! And more!'. , Tickets cost $6 in advance and are available at the flagpole office, at SchoolKids Records and at the historic Morton Theatre Box Office. They cost $8 the night of, though with an AthFest wristband you .can get one for just $4 either at the sho w or in ad vance. Everything gets going at 8 p.m., and wraps up in time for the rest of the night's musical events. So come on down! NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS JUNE 20,2007 • FLAGPOLE.COM 27