AURA FEST 2024 DAY 1 @ SOUTHBOUND BREWERY
FRI MAR 1 | 12:30 PM
The onslaught has arrived. AURA Fest, two days of vicious metal beatings, one after the other, gets off to an auspicious start. Savannah’s premier annual heavy music event offers a slew of metal genres to get all sweaty to, so you’re bound to find a new favorite to soundtrack your future antisocial behavior. The lineup is a rogue’s gallery of hammer-anvil-stirrup-destroying brutality. Brace yourself for Slingblade, Common Enemy, Backslide, Second Death, Balmora, Bonginator, Psycho-Frame, Hazing Over, With Blood Comes Cleansing, Through the Eyes of the Dead and The Last Ten Seconds of Life. Those 11 bands will leave you dazed, confused, and grinning from ear to ear before headliner ZAO (pictured) drops a western Pennsylvania metalcore MOAB on your face. Props to those with the stamina to take on both days. You give us hope for the nation’s future.
AURA FEST 2024 DAY 2 @ SOUTHBOUND BREWERY
FRI MAR 2 | 12:30 PM
Because the 12 bands on Day 1 weren’t enough, strap it on and settle in for 13 more on Day 2. AURA Fest 2024 continues with more unreasonable volume, guttural screaming and literally giant vats of beer. It’s no accident this fest takes place in a brewery. Like Day 1, things start off early because the lineup is massive. Find a clean black t-shirt and shake that ass to Corrupted Empire, Gutter, Omenkiller, Manhack, Somnuri, Your Spirit Dies, The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir, Mouth For War, Capra, Escuela Grind, I AM and Orthodox. That’ll be hours of poser-mincing before headliners Darkest Hour (pictured) attempt to finally cleanse the world of false metal. A noble cause if there ever was one. Don’t show up in a Winger shirt.
SUPERBITCH + RUBBER UDDER + JUS B + BEERPISS @ EL ROCKO
FRI MAR 1 | 9 PM
AURA Fest might be dominating the heavy music scene this weekend, but if your tastes are more hardcore and punk-inclined than testosterone-soaked metal, and you are totally into absolute mayhem, you have an alternative. Tampa, Florida, noise rockers Superbitch churn out grinding, feedback-laden sludge when they aren’t burning through sub-two-minute cacophonies. They self-describe as anarcha-feminist punk and/or whore core. You want to argue with that, go for it. Fellow noise rockers Rubber Udder and Beerpiss, both from Athens, and crunchy punk rockers Jus B from Savannah round out the bill.
NICK SHOULDERS AND THE OKAY CRAWDAD @ VICTORY NORTH
TUES March 5 | 7:30 PM
The Fayeteville, Arkansas, product is more than just a country music troubadour. His style leans toward folk and “Ozark hill music” with stories that’ll make you smile, cry and think. He’s got the natural Southern twang and the almost-yodel vocal style made popular by Hank Williams and the old school peers of that era. Shoulders started out playing drums in local punk band Thunderlizards before a profound change to harmonica and banjo with Shawn James and the Shapeshifters. He started releasing solo material in 2017 and has four albums and an EP under his belt. He’s also a professionally trained illustrator, lending his talents to beer can art for local craft breweries Fossil Cove and public art murals in his hometown. The poly thing is bigger than you thought.
SAMPLIFIRE @ ELAN SAVANNAH
SAT MAR 2 | 10 PM
Raised in a suburb of Paris, young Samplifier (née Samy Beyou) was lucky to have a dad that was into techno and let the kid tag along to shows. He learned piano at 15 and went on to producing his own music from there, starting with techno before moving on. He had a moment at a Rusko show where he realized bass and dubstep was what he wanted to do. Now 10 years into his career, phases and eras become identifiable. He adds what’s trending to his own style and delves into sounds from far outside the genre. The early exposure and piano lessons paid off.
