Local studio celebrates 25 years with nine bands, two stages
The music was going strong, the price was so right — and Main Street was still partying after the sun went down.
Columbia’s downtown turned up the volume this weekend with a celebration of local music that kept a large crowd rocking all day as the Jam Room Music Festival brought droves to the area.
The festival, which was centered around the 25th birthday of Columbia’s Jam Room Recording Studio, featured nine bands on two stages, from local Fork & Spoon Records artists like Say Brother, regional acts like The Woggles from Atlanta and headliners The Hold Steady, coming to Columbia all the way from New York City. Admission was free.
The tunes started at 2 p.m. with Columbia indie pop-rockers Those Lavender Whales, featuring Fork & Spoon founders Chris Gardner and Aaron Graves, on the Hampton Street Stage, sandwiched between the Columbia Museum of Art and the Wells Fargo parking lot. The group played a lively set for the earliest festival arrivals and set the tone for a fun-filled day of music.
For the majority of the day, there was enough time in between sets for festival-goers to check out acts on both stages without missing a single track. All musicians took the stage at their scheduled times and there wasn’t time to get bored or annoyed.
Fellow Fork & Spoon band Say Brother brought their electrified rockabilly tunes to the Main Street stage at 2:30 p.m., with frizzy hair blowing in the breeze and a raw energy that spread through the crowd. Parents and children danced with equal amounts of enthusiasm and college-aged patrons clapped along with the drums. The festival’s final Fork & Spoon act, Can’t Kids, brought the crowd back to Hampton Street for a set filled with bratty chants, haunting harmonies and beautifully unique instrumentation (more rock bands should have cello players, just saying). The crowd showed their love with claps and cheers and the band returned the favor.
“We love Columbia because it’s full of weirdos like you,” said Jessica Oliver, the fiesty vocalist and drummer of Can’t Kids.
There was an anime convention in full swing at the Hampton Street Marriott hotel, and wig-wearing, fluffy-tailed teenagers wandered into the streets, taking in the music and eliciting whispers, giggles and photo opportunities.
While 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. is a long day, festival-goers were clearly in it for the long haul, as many lounged in beach chairs they had set up on sidewalks or perched around the fountain at the Columbia Museum of Art. Local vendors lined the block and patrons chowed down on pizza from Village Idiot, stuffed wings from 2 Fat 2 Fly, organic frozen treats from Paradise Ice and Louisiana fare from J. Gumbo’s and sipped from Bud Light cans and plastic cups of red wine. Artists peddled merchandise and several attendees walked away with vinyl, CDs and T-shirts purchased on site.
The day stayed loud with sets from Dead Confederate, a grunge-rock quartet hailing from Athens, Ga. and B.O.A., a Columbia fixture featuring Jam Room founder Jay Matheson on bass in a big cowboy hat, stealing sips of PBR between tracks. The Woggles, dressed in identical grey soldier uniforms, got the crowd dancing and lead singer, The “Professor” Mighty Manfred, showed off his moves like Jagger. Edgy Savannah, Ga. rock group Cusses played to a smaller crowd but riot girl lead singer Angel still gave her all, panting at the end of songs and reaching out to various audience members.
There was a strong sense of community throughout the festival, between the musicians and the general public. Bands stayed all day, cheering and clapping for fellow acts. Old friends were reunited and new friendships were ignited as people of all ages came together to celebrate music.
The biggest crowd of the day huddled around the Main Street Stage as Nashville singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle brought the blues back to country music. With a casual smile and shaggy hair tucked into a blue baseball cap, the musician crooned into his microphone as many audience members stood on Main Street’s median and pushed closer to get a better look. Earle got serious several times throughout his set, and though some chatter could be heard during the slower songs, most people were captivated. The singer doled out advice about dating songwriters, mostly about putting girls’ names into songs, and shared a tender moment about his mother before launching into “Mama’s Eyes.”
As the wind got colder and the USC football kick-off time approached, several patrons cleared the streets and headed to The Whig or the Marriott’s bar to grab a beer and watch the Gamecocks. But the diehard music lovers hung on for the final band of the day, The Hold Steady.
The New York rockers played with a giddy energy that is usually only found in budding musicians, but it was as if the group was playing its first show ever. Songs like “Hurricane J,” “Girls Like Status,” “Rock Problems” and “You Can Make Him Like You” got the audience pumping their fists, air-drumming and swaying with or without dance partners. Some people crossed their arms, but they were trying to keep warm, not displaying disgust or disinterest. The band debuted a new track, “Cheap Dreams” and was the only band to get an encore, closing with “How a Resurrection Feels.”
The audience kept on singing as they walked to the bars and their cars.