Every October towards the end of the month, bands from all over the world make their annual pilgrimage to The Fest in Gainesville, Fl. Thankfully, most roads leading into Florida go straight through Atlanta. This means that we get a solid week of shows in the area that cater to all different types of music across the spectrum. On Sunday night, October 22nd, Against Me! stopped at Center Stage in Atlanta with The Dirty Nil and Bleached.
The Dirty Nil
The Dirty Nil are a Canadian alternative rock band. The 3-piece recently won the Juno award for breakthrough group of the year. They are currently touring in support of Minimum R&B, a compilation of early singles and EP tracks on Dine Alone Records.
The Dirty Nil
They brought a powerful presence and a frenetic energy to the stage. Their singer, Luke Bentham, often played to the crowd even with the large space between the stage and the floor. The Dirty Nil are a great band that the crowd was very receptive to, and a great warm up to the bands that followed.
Bleached
Bleached are an American pop punk band consisting of sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, formerly of Mika Miko, and Micayla Grace formerly of Leopold and his Fiction. They were formed in Los Angeles in 2011. They are currently touring in support of their EP, Can You Deal? on Dead Oceans.
Bleached
Bleached have a very distinct sound. Blending the melody of pop punk with a more punchy and raucous sound of pure punk. Very reminiscent of early L7 or current Atlanta staple, The Coathangers, Bleached were well received by the crowd, many knowing the words to their songs.
Against Me!
After Bleached ended, the main floor started to fill up quickly, as well as the stadium seating surrounding the stage. It was Against Me! time.
Against Me!
Against Me! played a blistering 90 minute set with songs off of every record in their discography. If you were to ask an Against Me! fan their top 5 songs, they probably played all of them that night. They played two surprise covers: Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream”, as well as an encore acoustic cover of The Mountain Goats “Going To Georgia”. Every person in the crowd shouted every word back to the band. This is what they came for. There wasn’t a single person that left the venue without a smile on their face and totally elated. And if they didn’t have that smile, they should probably check their pulse.
Written and shot by Peter Sigmund. Check out Peter’s photos from the show:
