This week was hard. I didn’t even really want to do this. I thought about just posting the gallery, typing “the band did a good job,” and calling it a day. Not out of duty. Not for any noble purpose. Just out of exhaustion. It’s been an onslaught since before Savannah Sunday even showed up to load in. First the pundits I probably watch too much. Then the self-anointed pundits, who I probably read too much. And last week was different. It was the anniversary of 9/11. The

If you want to know where Aiken’s heartbeat can be felt loudest, you only had to be in The Alley last Thursday night. Chairs lined up before sound check, anticipation building with every passing hour until Heart & Soul returned to the Bud Light Stage. By showtime, the crowd was alive, dotted with bright red Randa’s Roadies shirts—a surprise fan club from Randa Berry’s church that cheered every note she sang.

Blues isn’t a relic — it’s a current. It runs through generations, and by the time it reaches us it carries the echoes of everything it’s passed along the way. Last Thursday, Edward & The Blue dropped us into that current, right here in Aiken. Their set list was a hall of echoes — Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and “Sweet Home Chicago,” Son House’s “Death Letter Blues,” Elmore James’ “Shake Your Money Maker.” Songs born in the Delta nearly a century ago, but carried forward

Last October, we thought we were finally getting Trae Pierce & The T-Stones on the Bud Light Stage. The weather had other plans. Hurricane Helene carved a wide path across the Southeast, canceling not just that week’s show (Low Country Locals, 9/26/24) but also the following week’s (OGR, 10/3/24). By the third week, we were finally getting back to business with Trae & The T-Stones on the calendar for October 10, 2024 — and the skies even looked like they might cooperate.

It's felt like some cruel joke as I've started writing this and it is 68° outside! I immediately mowed the lawn and started a bonfire anticipating the rubberband snap of nature that seems to have us wondering every week if we will be victims of some solar revenge or some mythic flood that sunk Atlantis. Also, I'm in my office typing instead of being outside an enjoying it. It's probably a smart move so that I'm not too spoiled yet... but it's coming. Cool air, football, h

Alright, I owe Tom Reed & The Tandem an apology. Last week, I said it was their first time playing Amp. It wasn’t. They played here back in 2018—before I was writing these blogs, before I was even really involved with the series. Which is probably why I didn’t remember. I was too busy helping open Whiskey Alley to notice what was happening just outside the front door. But looking back now, that version of The Alley feels like a different lifetime entirely. Davoirs wa

These three don’t need big intros anymore. Ruskin, Cam, and Brannon have been playing Amp for years—in King Size and every other local supergroup worth its strings. You’ve seen ‘em at full volume and in different costumes, but what never changes is the way they land with this crowd. King Size didn’t just play a show. They upcycle memories into new ones. From a boombox being held over your head, to detention with the brat pack, anarchy symbols written in white out on a bla

Sometimes the most electric shows come in the most unexpected packages: a three-piece band in a barbecue joint during a thunderstorm. Sometimes, the best way to support downtown isn’t by planning perfectly—it’s by adapting relentlessly. Because at the end of the day, it's not about the weather—it’s about who’s willing to pivot, hustle, and make it happen anyway. That’s what happened last Thursday when we moved Amp the Alley indoors to Southbound Smokehouse. The radar

We Know. We Talk About the Weather a Lot. At this point, you could set your watch by it: Thursday rolls around, and we start nervously refreshing radar apps like they're stock tickers. The truth is, we second-guess the skies just as much as you do. Probably more. Every week, it’s a fresh round of “Will it? Won’t it?”—and every week, the safe bet is showing up anyway. Because even when the forecast says chaos, Amp delivers connection. And this past Thursday? No rain. Ju

There are songs you didn’t know you needed until you heard them live—melodies that stir something up, lyrics that feel like they were written just for this moment. That’s exactly what happened Thursday night in The Alley. A performance so dialed in, it didn’t just entertain—it affirmed why we show up week after week.

AMP IS BACK!!! This year we tried something new and kicked it off with a full week of music for the coveted Masters Week! Despite being from Florida and growing up around golf, I'm not sure if I've lived where there was a giant PGA tournament, so I don't know if anyone else has A WEEK - but in the CSRA, it's a thing.