About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2011)
EARLY! SATURDAY. JULY 23 All Shows 18 and up • + $2 for Under 21 * Advance Tix Available at Schoolkids Records and Wuxtry Records M AdvanceTixSoldatwww.40watt.com BUBBA SPARKXXX NAPPY ROOTS ' ELITE THA SHOWSTOPPA THE GEORGIA GURLZ DARIUS WEEMS doors open at 8pm - -oo **8/6 KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS 8/10 GIFT HORSE RESIDENCY WITH COCO RICO, HANK SULUVANT, DJ 2 DOG **8/27 KEVN KINNEY BAND, THE HEAP 285 W. Washington St Athens. GA • Call 706-549-7871 foe Show Updates CHEAP DRINK SPECIALS EVERY NIGHT BEFORE 11PM • IB + UP THURSDAY. JULY 21 MATT KABUS THE K-MACKS • JUKEBOX doors open at 9pm FRIDAY. JULY 22 Yo Stuff lpm-6pm SATURDAY, JULY 23 LATE! CASPER & THE COOKIES CHRIS McKAY & THE CRITICAL DARLINGS doors open at 9pm r •TRADE RECORDS • CDs • POSTERS T-SHIRTS & MORE! just kind of came out of nowhere," says Derek Wiggs, the unassuming, punk-rocking founder of SlopFest. "I was just hanging out with some people and someone said, 'That's not the worst idea ever,' or something like that." Not a bad idea indeed; what started in 2009 as a one-day free-for-all became a two-day free-for-all in 2010. This year, SlopFest is slated to span three days, which either indicates that this event is a burgeoning success or that Wiggs is eager for more chaos. Either way, Athenians can expect another sloppy free-for-all in 2011. This year, the first night of SlopFest is free and it's intended to be sort of a "dance party kick-off with a few bands" fol lowed by an all-night set by DJ Mahogany. Wiggs "tried to get bands with more of a party atmosphere before the DJ goes on" for night one. An S8 wristband gets you in SlopFest the last two days, or you can opt to pay $6 at the door per night. In 2009, the economic crisis caused Athens's previous end-of-summer blowout, PopFest, to be put on hold, and it returned in 2010 as a fall event. So, for the past two years, SlopFest has filled the summer festival finale void that PopFest left behind. While the name "SlopFest" came about principally "because it rhymes" with PopFest, Wiggs explains why the fes tival's title is appropriate: "It is kind of sloppy—when I talk to bands from out of state, I have to warn them: you're going to have pretty quick sets, and it's going to be hot as hell outside. Some people get sloppy drunk. There's beer, there's barbecue... it's just a wide variety of... I don't know... [SlopFest] kind of came out of the ether and just keeps going." SlopFest '09 may have been Wiggs' first foray into running a festival, but it wasn't his first time putting on a show with only Mmself and a small group of friends helping out. "In high school we used to do big house parties," he says. "Maybe it was somewhere in my subconscious, percolating and waiting to come back." While the lineup is diverse, SlopFest features many bands in the punk-rock tradition. To get some idea of the SlopFest experience, one must appreciate a broad definition of the word "punk." The word might translate roughly to "chaos" or even "slop," and Athenians who dig this kind of music and environ ment don't often get to sate their anarchic hunger in such a concentrated burst. Festival attendee Winston Dangler was ecstatic when he discovered SlopFest in 2010: "It's the best environment to see all the punk bands you have heard of but never actually made the effort to go see," he says. "And the music and fun are constant. Last year I saw such a wide variety of music: from the loudest two-man metal band to soul-punk." Wiggs likes the fact that he's serving up a treat for those who brave Athens' calm yet sweltering summers, ending the off-season (interrupted only by the city-wide shindig known as AthFest) with a chaotic bang. "It's the end of the summer," says Wiggs. "It's hot as hell, and there's not much going on, especially before everyone comes back and football season starts. It's kind of the last little thing for people who stick around all summer and want to hang out." SlopFest isn't merely a musical event, as Wiggs explains: "Last year, [Jeremy Dyson, Wiggs' friend] came into a projec tor the week of, and orojected pieces of movies he had strung together, all while bands were playing. Some people wound up sticking around just watching his selections of movies... He syncs some stuff up with bands, but he recently started playing with Cars Can Be Blue, so there will probably something real sick going on while they're playing." Wiggs hopes that this year's attendees will remember SlopFest as something "fun and balanced," he says. "They'll get '.o see a lot of bands, inside and outside... If you don't like who's playing, you can just walk inside, and someone will be playing some records, and before you know it, something else you might like will be going on. You'll definitely get a chance to experience a lot of different stuff." Kevin Craig SLOrFEST SCHEDULE LITTLE KING5 5HUFFLE CLUB THUR5 9:00 p.m. Grape Soda. Tendaberry. FRIDA 6:00 p.m 6:30 p.m 7:00 p.m 7:30 p.m 8:00 p.m 8:30 p.m 9:00 p.m 9:30 p.m 10:00 p.m 10:30 p.m 11:00 p.m 11:30 p.m 12:00 a.m 12:30 a.m 1:00 a.m 1:30 a.m, DAY JULY d 1 Dance Party Kick-off with DJ Mahogany, Eureka California. Mr. Blank and 9 J Y july a a . Ye Ole Sub Shoppe . Danny the Looper . shehehe . Vespolina . Cloud Becomes Your Hand . Slaw n Order . Serenghetto . Ole Russ . Rat Babies . Fabulous Bird . Burgerthirst . Xavii Antlered Aunt Lord NEVER Incendiaries Manray SATURDAY. .JULY 3 6:00 p.m. Danger Bucket 6:30 p.m. Sea of Dogs 7:00 p.m. D Charles Speer 7:30 p.m. Shepherds 8:00 p.m. Cold Ones 8:30 p.m v Manger 9-.00 p.m.\Hidden Spots 9.30 p.m. Little Master 10:00 p.m. Gnarx 10:30 p.m. Hollows 11:00 p.m. Cars Can Be Blue 11:30 p.m. Dark Rides 12:00 a.m. Wade Boggs 12:30 a.m. Shaved Christ 1:00 a.m. Dead Dog 1:30 a.m. Future Virgins Schedule is subject to change, as is the nature of sloppy events. j 14 FLAGPOLE.COM JULY 20, 2011 LAURA O'LEARY MYERS
