The Monday Night Brewing company hosted what it says was the first iteration on a new annual tradition with the Over/Under Music Fest. With the arrival of a new festival on the Atlanta music scene comes a lot to unpack.
The Music
The lineup was small, by festival standards, but fair, given that Over/Under is in its first year, and Monday Night has never really done anything like it before. The complete lineup included a well-curated selection of indie rock performers, including Tennis, DJ Windows 98 (Win Butler of Arcade Fire), Of Montreal, Neighbor Lady, Kebbi Williams & The Wolfpack, Quiet Hounds, Controllerise and Troup Band. The bands played two stages at alternating times in the Monday Night Garage (more on that in a moment).
The music was good. It was a rare chance to see the mysterious local indie folk act Quiet Hounds perform in a more normal “show” setting. With an expansive new album in tow, Everything Else Is Noise, the Hound’s set didn’t include the theater performances or a full dinner from local celebrity Chefs (Dinner Bell ATL) that so many of their past shows have included. Yet their set showed (even without a drummer) that the music itself is more than enough for an unforgettable performance. Tennis, the ostensible headliner of the festival, put on a memorable show of groovy tunes from the always in love Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. As did the rising darlings of Athens/Atlanta, Neighbor Lady. Their brand of indie-western music is just well served by the jangling guitars and soaring vocals of Emily Braden and Jack Blauvelt , by the rambunctious drums of Andrew McFarland, and by the newest addition to the band (on this night) on keys and support vocals, Rose Hotel frontwoman Jordan Reynolds. Poke around the Atlanta music scene media, and you’ll find Neighbor Lady near the top of almost every “most likely to succeed” list, and it’s no surprise why.
Perhaps the wildest sights and sounds of the evening, though, came from the raucous performance of another Athens band, Of Montreal. Theirs is a brand of live show that is as much performance art as music. It’s wild. Absurdist even. At various times there were dancers. Dancers dressed in weirdo masks. Dancers combining to form the many legs of some kind of giant snake. All of that to the backdrop of music that somehow makes more sense on account of the pandemonium surrounding it. The point is this: if you see Of Montreal on the bill, go to that show, and wild shit will happen.
At the end of the night, Win Butler took the festival home with his DJ Windows 98 set, and he is a legend of rock and roll. Butler was surely the biggest star on the bill, and it was exciting to see his take on a DJ set, which illuminated the influence of world music on his craft and perhaps by extension the sounds even of Arcade Fire.
Venue
The Monday Night Garage on the westside beltline, and the whole surrounding area is so ahead of its time. Shows sure do seem to increasingly pop up on the West End at places like Monday Night, The Bakery, and Food Court. That trend is for sure going nowhere, and it’s only a matter of time, one gets the sense, until that western arm of beltline trail by Monday Night begins to resemble something like the eastside trail at Ladybird.
The venue doesn’t really lend itself to a multi-staged event like this because there wasn’t really room for anything but the music; the space felt pretty full, with two stages and a handful of bars, a couple food options and a smattering of firepits outside. But it also didn’t suck catching shows there at all. The garage is definitely a serviceable venue for a two stage show like they put on. If the more mature 420 Festival is a good model for comparison, it’s probably just a matter of a few years until the Over/Under festival grows out beyond the walls of the brewery too. Just a guess.
Vibe
The vibe was decidedly chill. The costs were reasonable. The lines were short, and the stages were within reach. For Monday Night, the event was hopefully viewed as a success. They attracted a decent subsection of the Atlanta arts and music scene to the brewery, and the shows went off without a hitch.
The only question that remains is what Over/Under II will add to this successful festival launch, come the autumn of 2020. ~ Written by Adam Kincaid
Check out more photos from Over/Under Music Fest at Monday Night Garage in Atlanta, GA on 11-23-19 by Mike Gerry:
