Highball ATL kicked off with a picture perfect day on Saturday, and then the second and final day brought the same with another absolutely beautiful day on Sunday. You couldn’t have asked for a better weekend for the inaugural Highball.
Check out our Highball ATL 2023: Day 1 Review here.
The Sunday edition of Highball started off slightly earlier than Saturday, with an earlier end time so patrons could get back home and ready for the work week. If that was really possible anyways after another killer day of music and good vibes. Once again, there were five bands lined up for one stage.
First up for the day was another Athens, Georgia band Hotel Fiction to start. Looking back, this is the only band on the lineup that I had never previously seen live prior to Highball, and well, I’m very glad to say I’ve seen them live now. The five piece band led by best friends Jade Long and Jessica Thompson brought the energy immediately and never stopped throughout their set. The band was in sync together and having fun on the stage showing off their diverse mix of rock and pop that had the crowd dancing and singing along. Great opening set.
Next up was Western Kentucky’s own S.G. Goodman. Like Wednesday, who played on Saturday, this was an artist I had already seen once this year already, an absolutely out of this world show at The EARL back in March. After that show, S.G. was high on the list to catch at this fest, and see her and the band under a different setting. S.G. Goodman has already proved over with her first two albums to be one of the best up and coming songwriters around, and that showed me it’s also pure rock ‘n’ roll. Then again Jim James produced her first album, so I kind of knew that. Still, live, S.G. Goodman rocks, and once again at Highball show that applies true in every setting. As the crowd started filling in early, S.G. and band tore it up on stage with some old timey rock ‘n’ roll. Even for those who didn’t know her music beforehand, it was easy to look around the crowd and see that they had already won them over. There was one slight lineup change as the guitarist from that show at The EARL, who was stellar, wasn’t with them for Highball, and instead they moved the bassist over to guitar and had a new bassist. That led to some fun banter between S.G. and the “new” guitarist where she challenged him on a Waylon song and he absolutely went off with some blues solos. S.G. Goodman is a name you need to know if you don’t already, and live is where it’s at. So, so good.
Speaking of family reunions, which this whole weekend felt like. That was taken to the next level as The Whigs prepared to reunite on the Highball stage. And with the Futurebirds next. Yeah, the crowd was already packed in at this point with hugs being thrown all around the grounds. The Whigs are Athens legends at this point. It’s been a hot minute since the band has played a show together, only playing sporadically the last few years as members are off doing their own thing including frontman Parker Gispert’s 2022 solo album Golden Years. And really, this was the perfect spot for this reunion.
The stage was set with a wonderful, American Flag, red white and blue, The Whigs backdrop, and The Braves tomahawk chop music playing, while drummer Julien Dorio came out in a Braves jacket with a glove and ready to toss some baseballs into the crowd. That of course led to frontman Parker Gispert playing a little batting practice with Julien giving the pitch towards Parker’s guitar ready to hit homeruns. You knew this was going to be good.
The Whigs ripped through 14 songs like they were all the college kids playing together with the joy they had in those heydays of Athens. Of course, touring the world gives you plenty of experience to take that college show to the next level, and at this point, they were pros playing together and know how to push the crowd’s buttons. Really though, you could just see how excited the boys were to be back together with this crowd full of so many friends and family, clearly thankful to the Futurebirds for putting this together. It was all love at Highball once again. As far as future indications, the band had a whole bunch of new merch printed up for the first time in years (including new hats!), so, I suspect this won’t be the only time to catch The Whigs live in the near future, at least that’s the hope.
Now with the crowd already revved up after The Whigs, and the sun now set, Futurebirds came out for their second and final set of the weekend. Different from Saturday’s set, yet, what else can you say, the band is so consistently good live and it’s just impossible not to have a great time with these birds. Sure they are a college party rock band, but with different members taking lead vocals per song, and each good songwriters on their own, it gives their set some diversity whilst being again, consistently, the Futurebirds. And damn this set was another good time! Well done on the inaugural Highball ATL all around Futurebirds.
Up last and ready to close out Highball with a bang was The Head and the Heart, who were a huge part of the indie folk explosion in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s. Now with five studio albums to their name, and playing bigger and bigger venues, the band has continued to explore new sonic territory outside of “indie folk”. And while that’s certainly continued their ascent in to more radio type play, it’s those classic, foot stomping songs that make their live set so compelling. The newer songs fit within their set just swimmingly, but songs like “Sounds Like Hallelujah”, “Rhythm and Blues”, “Lost in My Mind”, “Down in the Valley”, and set closer “Rivers and Roads” had the crowds arms in the air and singing along one with the band. The Futurebirds even joined in on the celebration, joining The Head and the Heart for an epic “Lost in My Mind” where Futurebirds members grabbed instruments, tossed hats into the crowd, danced with the skeleton originally set in front of the drummer, and generally just showed their appreciation for both The Head and the Heart and the crowd that joined them for the first Highball fest.
Really you couldn’t ask for a better first edition of Highball ATL. The weather was perfect, it was a beautiful setting, with a well curated lineup, and it seemed like both the artists and the crowd truly had a great weekend together. Rumors through the crowd late in the weekend were that they are already talking about future editions, with those Futurebirds still involved, so you have to be excited to see where Highball goes from here.
Things to like from Highball 2023:
- The lineup. Well curated. Even if you weren’t big “into” every artist, there was a good chance if you loved one artist, you were going to enjoy yourself with the rest.
- Small. While everyone loves a huge festival with all your favorite gigantic artists, and every buzz worthy new indie band you could possibly want to catch, there’s just something about a one stage, not overly packed, small festival. There’s just a community throughout, you get to enjoy yourself, catch up with long lost friends, explore the grounds, and eat some good food, while also still being able to be into the music on the actual stage. Plus artists were walking around throughout VIP and General Admission throughout the weekend, catching up with friends and meeting fans, something you don’t always get at bigger fests.
- The setting. It was a beautiful setting with the stage tucked in between two historic buildings. Honestly, the hope is that this stage stays put right there for future events at Pullman Yards, whether that be other big time artists, or how about live music Thursdays featuring some great local bands and food trucks. I’d come out for that all the time in this space and setting.
- The different color tarps covering the stage area from hard sun and giving an extra nice aesthetic to an already beautiful setting.
- The thought put into the details. From the food selections, to Georgia Hemp Company, Tarpon Cellars, Bulleit, to a tent for breast feeding mothers, TVs inside with SEC football and more, and even merch stations in both General Admission and VIP; it’s like Futurebirds and the festival organizers knew exactly who this crowd would be, and they made sure to prepare for everything needed on every side of the spectrum.
- The sound. Everything sounded good, really didn’t experience any sound problems.
- Never saw bad lines form, whether you are talking alcohol sales, food, bathrooms, getting into VIP, waiting never really seemed to be much of an issue.
- The views. Overall, it was easy to find a good viewing spot, and on each side of the stage was a lifted concrete walk way that created some extra stadium type viewing spots.
- The music. Again, well done on the lineup, buzz worthy up and comers, bands already with great fanbases, a few with huge followings already over their career, and the next up like Hotel Fiction.
- Ease of getting to. If you live in the city, Kirkwood and Pullman Yards isn’t hard to get to through ride share. There was also a parking lot right in front of the venue at Pullman with plenty of parking it seemed. Easy to pull up and get out.
Things dislike/could be better at Highball?
- $40 parking. Easy, right in front of the venue, love it. $40 seems steep. But welcome to Atlanta I guess. Plus let’s be real, living not too far, ride share would have probably cost me the same or more there and back.
- The poles in front of the stage. Sure, loved the colored tarps, and in reality it wasn’t really bad at all, but the huge wooden poles created some viewing challenges at times. Not sure this is a real complaint though because ultimately these didn’t hinder TOOOO much, just something you had to work with.
- The sand in the air. The ground below the stage was basically sand, and with the sun beams poking through the tarps above, you could see how much dust and sand was floating in the air in front of the stage, and it wasn’t pretty, at least for breathing purposes. It was pretty tho I guess.
- Atlanta. Okay, I know Futurebirds are Athens, and really Athens/Atlanta share so much, including the fact that a lot of the “Athens” artists that are no longer in college, probably live in Atlanta, or are sort of considered Athens/Atlanta these days. So Futurebirds curating this, putting it together, found a great lineup, up and coming Athens bands like Hotel Fiction, a beloved by all Athens musicians type like T. Hardy Morris, and then of course were able to get a reunited The Whigs, which is like Athens gold, and putting them with others that made this such a perfectly curated lineup. But at the same time, your cousins in Atlanta need a little love on future Highball lineups. There are some really talented artists here in the city that could also use that exposure to this type of crowd, and honestly would fit in well. Don’t throw in Atlanta just to throw someone in, but let’s share that Athens/ATL love here in the city also.
That’s really about it. The first iteration of Highball ATL was relax, chill, fun, exhilarating, and really just a great time all around. Well done on Year 1. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for Highball.
All photos by Mike Gerry
