Atlantis Music Conference 2004 Wrap Up
By Angeline Vuong

For Atlantis Music Conference photos, click here.

Wednesday night: The slow hum of excitement turns into a frenzy at Cosmopolitan in Midtown as people leave the 99X/Brash Bash at eleven50 seeking for more. Hordes of bands and industry types all converge into the small yet comfortable lounge for 730 Atlanta’s exclusive ‘The Devil Stole The Beat’ party. By midnight, there’s no chance moving without spotting a familiar face in the music industry, from showcasing artists, managers, and everyone in between. www.thedevilstolethebeat.com

Local band Y-O-U is spinning crazyness – They start their DJ stint off with The Postal Service and then move on to Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight,” followed by The Clash and Motley Crue. The cock rockers are loving it. The hipsters don’t know what to think. Stacy Jones, the lead singer of American Hi-Fi takes over the decks and spins Brit Pop a plenty. The band is in tow with Butch Walker, as they get a brief taste of Atlantis before they head out on the road the next morning. The energy is high. The people are buzzing. By 3:00 AM, I can barely hold myself together, and it is blatantly obvious that Atlanta’s “drinking conference with a music problem” has begun.

Thursday morning, the Atlantis Music Conference attendees and panelists dragged themselves out of bed, some quite hungover, and all of them just plain exhausted. Welcome to Day One. The best part of Atlantis still remains at night, when the showcases and parties are in full force. Early in the night, I went to The Masquerade to see The Warm Gunns perform their blend of 80’s inspired arena rock. The band features musicians from several local bands including doubleDrive, The Enigmatics, Blacklight Posterboys, and Brand New Immortals. The band’s guitarist, Mark Dannells, has been in every local band known to mankind, and lead singer Chris Cox makes me realize I still have a lot to learn about strutting my stuff in leather. www.thewarmgunns.com

The wonderful Michelle Gilzenrat told me that the turnout at the Hard Rock Café was quite impressive as well. Many of the industry people at the Kickoff Party stayed to watch The Californias, who may possibly be the happiest band in Atlanta. With stage names like Summers, Flowers, June, Blue, and Wilde, the boys had plenty of young girls dancing around giddily as the band radiated joy in their matching suits and Chuck Taylors. www.thecalifornias.tk

After their set, most of the herd (including myself) headed over to Smith’s Olde Bar for what was definitely the showcase of the night. The Atlantis ASCAP Showcase featured some of Atlanta’s local darlings – Clay Cook, Red Letter Agent, Trances Arc, along with Athens based The Whigs, and Nashville’s Laws Rushing. The venue was extremely close to selling out, and moving around Smith’s was not an option.

The Whigs were wonderfully quirky and talented as always, and despite all the hype (which I normally do not appreciate), I thoroughly enjoyed their set. Laws Rushing were good - at least what I can remember of their set. With the lead singer’s shoulder length blonde hair in his face the entire time, I became easily distracted. I don’t remember them being bad, but at least they stood out from the other acts with their Puddle of Mudd meets Jet sound (Is that even possible?) and were the only non-Georgia band. www.whigs.net | www.lawsrushing.com

Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing Red Letter Agent. I found them to be as entrancing as the rest of Atlanta has already discovered. The band had the venue in the palm of their hands. As the crowd sang along to their set, a screen behind the band flashed celestial images that made for one beautiful scene. Trances Arc ended the night perfectly. Their songs are practically arranged, which can make the band’s music seem mundane at first listen. However, a more thorough inspection uncovers lush arrangements, unique, heartfelt lyrics that are far from trite, and sincere passion in their live show. All in all, it was a highly enjoyable night – kudos to all the bands, ASCAP, and local rep Jennifer Owen for a great show. www.redletteragent.com | www.trancesarc.com

Friday night, I found myself at The Masquerade again to catch Midtown perform. Heaven, the upstairs portion of the venue, was halfway crowded for them, Eighteen Visions, and the Brits of Lostprophets. Midtown put on a solid show; the band only played songs off of their recent release, Forget What You Know. Although I really liked their set, the audience dampened the atmosphere. There were too many androgynous hipsters in the crowd desperately trying to ooze coolness with their passe’ mullets, sideways haircuts, and 80’s clothing. Apathy is overrated. Kids - music is meant to be enjoyed, not to be scoffed at. Why these people would pay $16.00 to look bored is completely bewildering to me. www.midtownrock.com

Saturday night, I walked in the Hard Rock Café/Velvet Underground knowing that the 99X Showcase would be packed. I unfortunately didn’t get to see Homeroom, who were the winners of the 99X Online Band Contest, but once Avenge Vegas played, I could tell this wasn’t going to be a normal local rock show. Bright, intensely colorful lighting flooded the stage, accompanied by the band’s neon pink sign. Front woman Lauren McGinnis sported an impressive faux-hawk, and Avenge Vegas kicked out their brand of alt-rock with the perfect amount of attitude. It's about time girls started rocking in Atlanta again.
www.ilovehomeroom.com | www.avengevegas.com

Around 10pm, the rockers in Y-O-U took the stage. The band has gone through some major line-up changes, namely them being a three piece instead of a five piece. The band known for its quirky image is gone, but that’s not a bad thing. At all. The new Y-O-U is a little darker, a little angrier without being angsty, and a lot better with tighter instrumentation. The band's new songs are much more dynamic as well. Lead singer Nick Niespodziani’s vocal range is daunting with powerful falsettos and unyielding screams. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next for them. www.pleaserock.com

By the time Second Shift played, the Hard Rock Café was sold out. The place was packed wall to wall with long time supporters and new faces, all eager to see the band that performed on 99X earlier that week. Even music critics and major label talent scouts had to wait in the line of approximately 75 people that had formed outside the venue.

Second Shift has impressively gained a solid fan base and steady buzz throughout Atlanta within the past year, and when the band assaulted the stage with their single ‘Bethany’, the packed crowd sung along to every word. Absolute chaos. Lead singer Jonathan Baker twirls around in a mad fit while guitarist Wes Hoffman head bangs with that massive ‘fro of his. Twelve year old girls are freaking out. People who don’t attend local shows are jumping up and down. The band plays on in a fervent manner unparalleled to any of their previous shows. I think they’re on to something here. www.secondshiftmusic.com

After their set, the crowd dies down a little bit, more people are let in, and Linger rocks. In fact, they rock hard and well. I didn’t think a three piece could make that much noise, but they manage to do it. Their set was veracious – they are a solid band that plays their brand of Muse and Radiohead inspired music just right. To Whom It Concerns ended the night at 1:00am. If you turned around and didn’t look at the band, you’d be completely oblivious to the fact that they weren’t Incubus. They were very much a band that 99X listeners would enjoy, complete with a Rage Against the Machine cover and all. www.lingermusic.com | www.towhomlive.com

By the end of their set, I was ready to say goodbye to Atlantis, but not before the Late Night Breakfast at Vinyl. Yay for food. Congratulations on making it through my long diatribe. All in all, I think one thing Atlantis proved is that Atlanta is desperate for a local rock act to ‘make it’ on the national scene. I can’t help but feel that something magical is about to happen this year, with this combination of talented artists. But if I’m wrong, you can all point and laugh.