It was just a two-show weekend, but honestly, sometimes that’s all it takes. Between a packed warehouse and a second-floor dance floor downtown, the same thing kept coming up in conversation: there’s a ton of talent around here, and the people making it all happen definitely know it.
Swanson's Warehouse
Zion Zacheaus of Celadon put together a serious lineup at Swanson's Warehouse this weekend, bringing together Abrevity (Charleston, SC), Blindstrike (Greenville, SC), Celadon (Greenville, SC), and Jest (Greer, SC) for one night under one roof. Talking with Zion about why he pulled this show together, he put it simply; "You know, we got some talents that have been playing for a long time. I just wanted to showcase them and show that, like, everybody's still here and everybody still support the music, the originality and the creativity and the process."
No other way to put it, that quote pretty much sums up the whole vibe of this show. The scene isn’t slowing down, and the people in it are still showing up for each other. We’ve got more from this show coming next week, plus a look back at our time with Celadon over the last few weeks, so stay tuned.
Cats Pajamas at Draper Purveying Company
From there we headed downtown to Cats Pajamas, tucked into the second floor of Draper Purveying Company, to catch our friend Kenny behind the decks. Kenny brought in support from Anderson, SC Thomas Cochran, and the two of them delivered a night of deep tech house grooves and dance remixes that kept the floor moving.
Thomas opened the set, then linked up with Kenny for a back-to-back before Kenny closed out the rest of the night solo. The set came on the heels of Kenny's debut event, "Kenny's House," and it showed. Kenny summed up the night, and the bigger picture, well; "It's awesome to see the amount of talent that's in this city. We've got reach all the way from Charlotte to Charleston, obviously Greenville." Big shoutout to Brandon Cashion for taking some pictures from the set, check out some of his shots from the night below.
The Bigger Picture
Two shows, two completely different corners of the music scene. A warehouse lineup of bands built on years of grinding it out, and a dance floor powered by a DJ just getting started on his own event series. Different sounds, different rooms, same message; the Upstate has the talent, and the people running these shows are making sure everyone knows it.
More from Swanson's Warehouse and our time with Celadon coming next week. Until then, get out and support a local show, there's clearly no shortage of reasons to.
