Athens Musicians Perform in Los Angeles Ahead of Historic UGA National Championship Win

By Max Stewart

Congrats to the Georgia Bulldogs on a well-deserved National Championship win in Los Angeles last night, with the largest margin of victory in bowl game history! On the eve of the game Sunday night, a benefit show for Nuçi’s Space went down at the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood to get the Georgia folks in California pumped with a full serving of tunes from various Athens bands. It was a hell of a good time.

The cast of musicians included Mike Mills of R.E.M., Athens music producer legend David Barbe (Sugar, Mercyland), Craig McQuiston of The Glands, Thomas Johnson, Carter King and Daniel Womack of Futurebirds (as well as former drummer Payton Bradford), Trent Allen, TJ Mimbs, Stephen Taylor, Drew Dixon and others.

It was such a fun party and fantastic way to celebrate Georgia music in Los Angeles in such a historic venue. We really dug seeing songs by The Glands, The Whigs (including “Staying Alive” and “Violet Furs”), Drive By-Truckers, Futurebirds (who played most of their first David Barbe-produced EP) and R.E.M. (including Carter King singing “Finest Worksong,” Barbe singing “Pilgrimage,” and Mills singing “Superman” and “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”).

The show wrapped with an all hands on deck cover of Drivin ‘N’ Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue” (with Mills on lead vocal) and a raucous rendition of “Baba O’Riley” (with Johnson on lead vocal). They then encored with “Buttholeville” by Drive-By Truckers with King on vocals and “Yur Not Dead” by Futurebirds.