Victory Hands – Rad/ATL

Multi instrumentalist Che Arthur is a Chicago-based artist touring in support of his fourth and most recently released solo album, Describe This Present Moment (Past/Future Records). Having recently wrapped up a month-long European tour doing live sound and opening for Bob Mould, Arthur brings a modern take on raw hardcore velocity, and intense punk songwriting to Waller’s Coffee on Wednesday, January 28.

For this show, Arthur is joined by Athens indie rock stalwarts Five Eight and Atlanta post-punk statesmen Victory Hands.

Five Eight is still riding high after touring the Southeastern U.S. from Austin to Asheville to Tampa with their critically-acclaimed feature length documentary film, Weirdo: The Story Of Five Eight. The group’s ninth studio album, Help A Sinner, is due out in March via Static Era Records.

Victory Hands is prepping to record their upcoming release, a “watergatefold” double LP titled Cavett. The album builds upon VH’s theme of crafting lyrics using transcripts taken from disgraced former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon’s nefarious recordings of conversations about his enemies in the media—journalists! The release date for Cavett (as in Dick) remains TBD, as the album is currently being recorded. Come get a sneak peek at the songs.

If you can’t make it out for the the show at Waller’s, you can catch Che Arthur in Athens on Jan. 30 at Normal Bar with David Barbe of Sugar and Mercyland.

Check out Sugar’s latest single, “Long Live Love” below.

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Corndogorama: The Musical. Photo by Sam Feigenbaum

Corndogorama is back!

It’s been eight years since our friend David Railey—a veritable Vanna White to Atlanta’s indie rock scene—hosted the Corndogorama. The DIY summer music festival is known for its casual community-oriented atmosphere and marathon of local bands on stage.

This year’s resurrection may have seemed like a Record Plug event to the uninitiated. The magazine was a key sponsor and a curator of this year’s lineup, as we sought out and rallied the bands to play all three days—June 21-23, 2024. But make no mistake, Corndogorama is the brainchild of—and the birthday party celebrating—Railey’s decades-long tenure in Atlanta’s music scene. Remember his bands? American Dream? Ancient Chinese Secret? Casionova? Day Mars Ray? Jesus Honey? The list goes on. Corndogorama has endured countless ups and downs since it kicked off at Dottie’s on Memorial Drive way back in 1996.

This year was wrought with an equal number of ups and downs. But hey, we raised $2,515 for Upbeat: The Tigerbeat Foundation for musicians, a non-profit organization dedicated to getting struggling independent musicians back on their feet via an emergency grant program.

Over the years, my [Kip’s] bands (Haricot Vert, Freemasonry, Chocolate Kiss, Clemente, Victory Hands, et al) have played various benefit shows. Oftentimes I never heard how the numbers turned out, so I wanted everyone to know what their collective efforts raised.

The attendance for Friday was decent, Saturday turned out great, and Sunday was a bust. But that’s okay. Three days in the June heat is a big ask. But the bands played on, and we appreciate every one of you who came out, said hello, and watched the show.

It was three days of musical triumphs and logistical catastrophes: No Corndog eating contest? No vendor tents? No flip-flop parade, no ass-kissing booth? No Topo Chico! That sucked! Oh well. It’s been nearly a decade since the Corndogorama went down, and some skills have to be relearned. We’ll be back next year stronger than ever.

Saturday’s crowd warmed our hearts, and it helped cover the whole weekend’s production costs. I [Kip] personally want to thank Amos, Van, and the whole A Rippin Production crew for keeping everything running smoothly, despite Saturday’s murderous heat. They put in the work and kept the costs low to raise as much as possible for Upbeat. Thanks are also due to Shane Pringle, Tim Song, and Boggs Social & Supply, who selflessly took no money from the ticket sales. They worked the full weekend, relying on bar sales alone to cover their end. It’s a good thing y’all drank so much.

Shane’s band Bad Spell tore up the outdoor stage on Saturday.

Pabst Blue Ribbon was an excellent sponsor, donating kegs and money, and Music Go Round saved our tails by loaning us the outdoor backline. Topo Chico! Where were you? We waited for you with bated breath and hope in our hearts, but you left us hanging.

Ups and downs. Maybe we’ll see you next year.

A sincere and exhaustive shout-out goes to all the bands that performed throughout the weekend; those who gave their time and delivered stellar performances reminded us of why we’re in this in the first place. And we know it’s a labor of love to practice even a short set, haul yourselves and your equipment across the city to the venue, put on a show under the squelching summer sun, and then break it all down, load it up, and lug it all back to the practice space.

Absolutely 100%, Corndogorama would not have been able to raise a single penny for Upbeat without your time and energy. We’re sending the most sincere thanks to all of you. There were too many bands to name here, but we see you, and we love you. All of you. Thank you for sticking by Corndogorama (see what we did there?). See you next year! Until then, check out Alexa Kravitz and Sam Feigenbaum’s photos from Corndogorama: The Musical. — Kip Thomas (with some help from Chad Radford)