Your Oakhurst Porchfest Stories
Decatur Metro | October 19, 2015 | 9:47 am
So, first off – I hope everyone had a great time at the first annual Oakhurst Porchfest yesterday! The weather was darn near perfect and we were floored by the crowds, porch hosts’ hospitality and – of course – the sheer number of extremely talented musicians who shared the day with us!
But even after Black Sheep Ensemble wrapped up their set last night, the fun has lived on, because we’re now getting to read some great, individual stories from from the event. And since the residents of Oakhurst decided to set up 130 venues, none of us could truly experience the WHOLE thing. But we can still try to live vicariously through each other!
So, if you’re willing, we’d love to hear your stories from yesterday afternoon.
You can sort of get an idea of my day from my photo gallery. We probably took in fewer venues than planned because we kept stopping to chat with neighbors. And that was the whole point!
What fun.
Amazing day all around- fantastic music, perfect weather and so much of Decatur out and about in the streets. So fun to hear familiar local acts and discover new to us talent. Also loved running in to so many happy people! Thanks very much all the musicians, porch hosts, Oakhurst in general and most especially the organizers who took an idea and created something incredible we can all enjoy for years to come!
Such a fun event. Thank you to the organizers, musicians and generous hosts!
My only suggestion would be to encourage performers to amplify their sound. We walked a good way to see a band during the 5pm slot and were waiting on the sidewalk for them to begin, only to discover that they were already playing. They were up by the front door singing acoustically and they absolutely couldn’t be heard by anyone more than 5-10 feet away. Dozens of people were forced to move on- luckily other greats bands were nearby!
Thanks and…. we’re on it.
Because this was such new and uncharted territory, we kind of went overboard in advance in pushing the musicians to keep their amplification in check. There’s only so many ways to tell someone “loud but not too loud” and each of them is kind of subjective so we found a lot of range in how that request got interpreted by the performers.
May spend the next year thinking of ways to get more consistent volumes across the board but that’ll just bring out people asking what happened to the “tonal dynamics from last year?” 😉
Kudos to you and your team for the impressive planning, down to the last details. Pot-o-lets, locations with parking available, scheduling the musicians/porches so they don’t overlap sound-wise, smart social promotions, etc, etc, etc. I could gush on and on. Thanks you so much for creating such an amazing gathering for all of us to enjoy!!
My most heartfelt thanks to the organizers, the hosts, and the musicians who made this all possible. What a joy to wander down a street, sit on a lawnchair graciously placed, listen to some wonderful music, and to be joined during the day by a few thousand of my favorite neighbors.
What a fantastic place to live!
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what this Porchfest thing was going to be like, but the second we walked out our door you could just feel the great vibes. I felt really proud to live here. Great job to all the organizers and performers and hosts!
What a great event! It was such a happy, chill day! Thanks to the organizers, hospitable porch hosts (great home brew keg on Mead), and musicians.
This event was about perfect and I only have a couple self-serving suggestions:
1- have it on Saturday. It would allow for a longer block of time for music – perhaps would give people a chance to see more bands? And getting up for work today sucked.
2- throw some food trucks by the Dollar store.
Agree with Charlie on the food trucks. We attempted to take the kids out to eat after the last show and couldn’t find a seat anywhere and all the local restaurants were behind. We heard some waited over an hour for food.
Great event and will be gladly hosting again.
Counterpoints:
1- By going to a Saturday in the fall, you are going up against college football. GT and UGA both played home games this past Saturday. Judging by the number of college flags hanging on porches, there are a decent number of people who fall into the college football fans camp.
2- Let the girl scouts and DHS booster club sell burgers and brats. I can’t be the only one that found it mildly refreshing to be able to walk around a festival and not see $12 plates of something-something-fusion-food to eat in your lap being hawked on every corner.
I thoroughly enjoyed my $3 hot dog in front of the Oakhurst Market.
We really really loved having Porchfest the Sunday after Beer Fest– we had out of town guests that will be returning, especially if there is the return of the back to back greatness.
We just had the best time and loved the people and the music and the whole thing! It almost seemed as though Oakhurst was built for this kind of event. I have to give a great big shout out to Scott Doyon – gotta believe his low key version of genius was behind much of the success of this event – as well as DM and the others who helped do such a great job organizing all of it! Our faves included: The Soogs, The First Methodist Bell Choir and The Winnona Park Community Circle Band but we enjoyed so many of the acts as well as the generosity of the Porch suppliers and community at large. Thank you for a truly lovely Sunday!
I am one of the bell ringers with Decatur First United Methodist. We all really enjoyed playing and the atmosphere was perfect!
A little more about our music ministry at Decatur First:
In addition to an assortment of awesomely talented singing choirs, we have two bell choirs: Celebration Ringers and Carillon Ringers. We also have a youth bell choir for children starting as young as six! The bell choirs play periodically throughout the year during Sunday service at 8:45 am and 11:00 am in the main Sanctuary as well as during our CAYA (Come As You Are) service held in the Chapel on Sycamore. We will also be ringing again at our Celebration of Emmanuel Christmas Concert (along with all the other music ensembles). Performances will be Friday, December 11th and Sunday December 13th starting at 6:00pm.
You can check out DFUMC at http://www.decaturfirst.org
Also, here is a link to the Music Calendar so you can see when each ensemble is playing and when: http://www.decaturfirst.org/music-calendar/
Come join us to play, sing or just to listen. 🙂
i knew it was going to be good, but was pleasantly surprised by how awesome it turned out. the density of porches felt just right; i never had to go too far to see the next group of people gathered to listen to a performance. the weather was perfect, and the crowds impressive. can’t wait for next year.
In full agreement with Angelo above. Scott = the low-key genius. That’s really what made this work and stay cool with the Oakhurst flavor.
Great Event. Loved it. Can’t wait for net year.
I had 4 bands I wanted to see in one of the slots DOH!
My suggestion to reduce the odds of this next year is to have blocks also start on the 1/2 hour. That way one can catch 3/4 of two band that overlap by 1/2 an hour. Maybe it will help.
Sheeps want to give a warm thank you to the organizers and volunteers who made the First Annual Oakhurst Porchfest a great event. Many of our members hit the streets and were able to see some of the other bands. It’s fantastic to know that there is such great talent here in Atlanta. We had a blast rounding out the night in Harmony Park. The crowd was great. Love the energy a dancing audience gives us. The kids were so much fun, too – lots of young music lovers in the crowd! Cheers to a spectacular first year out of the gate. Can’t wait to do it all again soon. If you have photos or videos of our performance, please tag us, #blacksheepensemble
Thanks!
Can we go ahead and book the same weather pattern for next year, right now.
Yep, I’ve got you locked in for sunny and 60. If you need anything else, you can find me pretty much anywhere.
Great event! So many talented musicians! Many thanks to the organizers, musicians and porch hosts. I so hope this is done again. Two suggestions – maybe start an hour or two earlier, so we get too see more bands and ask PTA’s, Bull Dog Booster Club, Band Booster Club… etc, to provide concessions at a few central locations.
Some friends and I went on Sunday, and the whole neighborhood just seemed to be overflowing with good vibes. The music was fun, but honestly what made the biggest impression on me was the community. Everywhere we went people were introducing themselves, inviting us into their homes, sharing their food and drink, and just having a good time with their neighbors. It definitely made me wish I lived in Oakhurst.
Fantastic event! We live in Decatur, but had never quite seen Oakhurst at such eye level before. We thought the organizers did a great job, but the biggest props have to got to go to the attendees. Everyone was super chill, respectful, and happy to be there. You can’t pay for that type of vibe.
One highlight was watching a band finish at 5pm, and turning around to see a new one start up across the street. Not sure if this was intentional, but having multiple bands on the same street back-to-back created a block party mentality, which was awesome.
After just one Porchfest, it’s already my favorite fest of the year in Decatur.
Already counting down the days until next year.
Thanks so much to all of the bands and organizers who made this happen.
(And please don’t change the date. Porchfest+Decatur Beer Fest=Best weekend ever!)
The Owls had a wonderful time playing on Mead Rd. We’re an Oakhurst-based jazz band that was born right here in 1988. Of the many happy gigs we’ve had through the years, all over Atlanta, this inaugural Porchfest stands out as one of our very best musical experiences.
What a beautiful day! We were so lucky to be a part of it, and glad we got to share in it with so many old and new friends. Can’t wait til next year.
http://www.owlsjazz.com
Fantastic event! Only suggestion is to have the sets be 45 minutes with 15 minute travel time built into the hour so you can get to the next band without having to leave the current one early or arrive at the next one late.
Thanks to all involved!
What can we say? Oakhurst Porchfest 2015 was hands down one of our favorite shows! The night before, we had our EP Release Party to a full house at Kavarna and the next day, Brian Smith (along with his lovely wife and kids) had us as their guests right inside his garage. The crowd was amazing, the weather was fantastic, and a cool breeze blew through our hair as we played our folk rock ditties to anyone and everyone who stopped by. There was definitely a very loving, caring, and fun vibe in the air and we were so happy to have been a part of it. Let’s do it again next year! Brian, if you’re reading this, keep that garage cleaned out! We’re coming back!!!! 😀
-Don de Leaumont
Collins Drive
http://www.collinsdrive.com
http://facebook.com/collinsdrive
Fantastic idea! My favorites were the Fresh Start Band and Megan Schepps. Totally different sounds and both excellent. It’s hard to get the volume right, especially for a contemplative folk/indie performer like Schepps. On one side of the yard you could hear fine and on the other side you could hear very little.
Kudos to Oakhurst and the organizers.
As a performer, gosh it was amazing. Loved the crowds that ebbed and flowed. I saw someone was concerned about missing artists. I’m not sure how most porches worked, but we easily could have done a set at 2 and another at 4 if needed. Maybe some of your bigger names could do a couple of sets (and lesser knowns like us could do one I’d porches are a problem)
My suggestion to build on this is have it more than once a year. I’ll offer my porch up for a Spring Porchfest on the Northside of Decatur!
Ponce Porchfest anyone?
We loved this event and agree this may now be the best festival Decatur has to offer. I must admit that I was so jealous that we do not live in Oakhurst!
My favorite 2015 memory will be the porch my group passed that had a handful of 3-5 year olds who got into the PorchFest spirit with a startup band on mom’s porch.
We are looking forward to the next one. Please tell us the official date soon because vacations will be planned around it!
No volume problems on Madison Ave with the awesome Atlanta Taiko Project! A dozen Japanese drums definitely drew a crowd and the performance was amazing. Thanks again for organizing – we moved here three months ago and this past weekend proved it was the best decision ever!
If you live on Madison Avenue, I would hope that *last* weekend proved it and *this* weekend simply double-proved it. 🙂 #soapboxderby
Simply an amazing afternoon! Even though I haven’t been to the beer festival in a number of years, I agree that having the two events on consecutive days is a great plan. Kudos to Scott and all of the artists who shared their talent with us. A couple comments and a question.
– I agree that extending the time by an hour or two would be great.
– Shortening the sets to 30 or 45 minutes would enable folks to explore more of the neighborhood and hear more music.
During the 4pm set at 118 Leyden, I noticed someone with what appeared to be more than an amateur camcorder. Is there some kind of semi-official video in the works?
This was an awesome event. We put our kids on bikes and scooters, and were able to make it around to hear a song or two from several bands. The organization was impressive, and the weather could not have been more perfect.
I have two suggestions for next year:
1. Road closures – we were out early, and so the crowds were thin around the edges. I was very concerned about the speed of some of the cars.
2. Paper maps and pdf versions online – by the time we got to the festival, the downtown businesses were out of paper maps. The Google Map had the locations, but I could not find a way to get the key on my smartphone to show what times the bands were playing at those locations. Fortunately, we didn’t have to walk far to see the next band playing.
Overall, it made us want to move to Oakhurst.
It was an amazing event. The scope, the range of music, and the overall festive vibe were way beyond what I was expecting. As a seasoned performing musician, I was impressed by the quality of sound at many of the venues.
My favorite band (and I didn’t get to see too many, but I still think they would have been my favorite, even if I’d seen every performer) was Hot Pants. A group of high school kids with crummy gear playing original rock music. Honestly, I was worried it was going to be all folk and Americana (great if you like that kind of stuff, but there’s a glut of it these days), and was psyched to see other genres.
The only two things that would improve this event in the future would be:
1. figure out better ways to keep people out of the streets. I know that the organizers had at least one person driving around and politely asking people to do just that, but more are needed. Maybe folks on bikes with official T-shirts, or little flags or signs to put by the curbs. The best thing would be some of those green-shirt Popo Helpers slowing down cars at key points and ushering the clueless out of the roads.
2. More rock and Hip-Hop.
Indeed. Lots of buzz around these young Hot Pantsers. Which leads to this request: If anyone shot any photos of this band, could you please email them to [email protected] ? Include whatever info is required if you need us to credit them in the future.
As for the flow of humanity through the hood, we’ll definitely be focusing on this for next year. The primary consideration is this: Should effort be put into educating attendees to better stay out of the street; or should it be put into better educating motorists that, for that one afternoon, they should readjust their expectations and proceed through the ‘hood with greater care? Or avoid it altogether. Curious what folks think. Many voiced that the “rebalance of power” taking place on streets like Mead and Fayetteville was a big plus.
Yes on rock and hip-hop. We had a lot of genres represented — from jazz to folk to blues to rock to punk to choirs of both voices and bells to international drums and more — but we will always benefit from even more. Will be putting more thought into how we best articulate the invitation next year to encourage more, more, more.
Thanks to everyone for these stories and comments. You’re the real key to the success of the day.
More Bikes, fewer cars! Let the pedestrians have the streets.
Could the streets be closed to non resident cars during the fest?
OP asks:
Should effort be put into educating attendees to better stay out of the street;
WB Says: NO WAY
or
should it be put into better educating motorists that, for that one afternoon, they should readjust their expectations and proceed through the ‘hood with greater care?
WB Says: YES, or close a couple streets all together. Mead, comes to mind, based on this year’s crowd.
Yes to more hip hop. Maybe some active recruiting would generate interest. Overall awesomeness abounded.
In addition to all the congrats above which I am firmly in agreement with, I felt this event of all the things we do in Oakhurst and Decatur really highlighted the positive features of the neighborhood and its inhabitants. Truly a special day in the 10+ years of me living here.
A few observations, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it, resist the urge to expand too greatly, and add more elements such as food trucks etc. The strength of the event is the intimacy and ability to get to better know your neighbors and share in communal nature (kids lemonade stands, homebrewed beer and bbq) experiences.
Event Operations suggestions – look at closing Mead or severely limit it as a cut through to Village, force people to park at Oakhurst Elementary as an alternative. Look at other “cut through” streets to implement this as well. Safety issue
Huge congrats!
I second all the complimentary things said here. I, too, was expecting it to be good, and I, too, was blown away at how great it was. It was such a relief to attend a festival that simply celebrated something and wasn’t trying to turn it into a fund raiser for some organization.
I agree that the sets should have 10 minutes or so travel-time built into them. It was a tough decision leaving a newly-discovered excellent band for an anticipated-excellent band. My concern about closing Mead or some streets is that it may cause the festival to congregate there; part of the appeal was that the entire neighborhood was involved.
Definitely looking forward to the next one!
I agree that staggering start times on the 1/2 hour would be a good idea for next year, but otherwise thought it was extremely well organized and perfect just the way it was (no food vendors unless local please).
Thank you so much to our neighbors who opened up their homes, the talented musicians and all who donated their time to creating an entirely new festival in our city.
We so thoroughly enjoyed this day. As a host, it limited us a bit on what we could see, but that’s the role of a host. Our keg of beer (thanks Ale Yeah!) was killed within an hour and that made me very happy. I would look forward to firing up my own grill next year and I love the idea of putting out donation buckets to support local Oakhurst things like the Garden. I would discourage formally closing streets, but signs throughout the hood simply saying something like, “Local Event Today–Be A Patient Driver” would be enough in my book. I’ll bet the local restaurants will automatically be more ready the next time around now that they understand the demand. Grills outside of U-Joint, Steinbecks, etc. will be more ready for the throngs next year. I’m on the fence about food-trucks, because I think keeping it as Oakhurst-centric as possible is a right goal. Lastly, leaving it as an annual event is the best move in my mind. Going for the Spring version would dilute the event, and I think the Sunday event is the right call.
Well done Scott and DM. Seeing how this all came together in such a short period of time was the best part of this entire thing.
Loved, loved, loved Porchfest. In the aftermath, what I heard over and over was “it needs to be longer.” Either start earlier – like 12 pm, or perhaps make it a 2-day event. My preference would be for a 6-hour Porchfest on a Sunday but see what the people think. This was such a success on so many levels. Bravo to everyone who played roles, large and small. I love Oakhurst!