Throwing an indie-rock summer music festival in Columbia, SC is a scary thing to do. Downtown Columbia turns into a ghost town in the summer, with students gone, the legislator out of session, and the stifling heat keeping people indoors. Kudos to the brave Recess Fest folks and to Jessica Oliver (Hauswerk, Can’t Kids, People Person) for taking this on.
Similar to the West Fest setup of two weeks ago, Recess Fest takes aim at State St. in West Columbia as the central hub of the Fest. West Fest seemed marginally successful, but Recess has a little more magic.
Recess in Columbia is a branch of the popular summer Recess Fest that takes place over a weekend in July in Charlotte, NC. That lineup is filled with the cities most popular alternative bands, also bringing in a handful of bands from SC and other states. Originally Recess in Columbia was going to be a smaller event to promote help promote the Recess Fest brand, but Jessica Oliver got a hold of it and ran with it, and made it something really awesome. Five venues, nineteen bands staggered over one night, it has the potential to be something magical if Cola-Yeah shows up the way they can and bounces from venue to venue. Hopefully this turns into a regular event in Columbia, and grows into a full weekend like the Charlotte version. Worst case scenario? Charlotte’s only a little over an hour away.
What bands should you be sure to see? Bo White Y Su Orquestra, Late Bloomer, Octopus Jones, Jordan Igoe, One Another, The Luciferian Agenda, Dumb Doctors, you know, the out-of-town bands that don’t play here as much.
Recess Fest Schedule
Conundrum Music Hall
626 Meeting St.
Sandcastles: 7:45 p.m.
Late Bloomer: 8:30 p.m.
Roomdance: 9:15 p.m.
Happiness Bomb: 10 p.m.
Hunter-Gatherer
900 Main St.
Bo White Y Su Orquestra: 11:15 p.m.
Fat Rat da Czar & Grand Royal: 12 a.m.
New Brookland Tavern
122 State St.
One Another: 8:30 p.m.
Elim Bolt: 9:15 p.m.
Modern Man: 10 p.m.
Octopus Jones: 10:45 p.m.
State Street Pub
136 State St.
Silent Spring Ensemble: 8 p.m.
Blossoms: 8:45 p.m.
Jordan Igoe: 9:30 p.m.
Dumb Doctors: 10:15 p.m.
Let’s Go, Coyote!: 11 p.m.
Red Door Tavern
134 1/2 State St.
Bell-Power: 8:10 p.m.
Magnetic Flowers: 8:50 p.m.
Luciferian Agenda: 9:30 p.m.
Dear Blanca: 10:10 p.m.
