first time to visit Athens but we had been wanting to for a long time. The music scene in Athens is world class and extremely user friendly. If you grew up on B52s, REM, pylon, etc like I did then you have to go to Athens. The vibe is amazing

Anyway, 2 shows at the brand new Akins Ford Center right downtown. This is possible the most hassle free arena we have ever been to, and we’ve been to a lot of shows. Great sound, great sitelines, no bad seats, super friendly staff with zero (and I mean zero) hassles. And the crowd was the loudest we’ve ever experienced, anywhere. Everyone was stoked. Billy did his part for sure but the crowd lifted that place up and put it into orbit. 10/10 on Akins

We stayed at hotel abacus right down the street so once we parked at the hotel we never got in the car again. After the shows the downtown are was wild. We went to after shows at Georgia Theater and the Live Wire, both classic old school music venues. During the day on Saturday we hung out at Paloma Park where they had bands, vendors and excellent food and drink. The downtown area is easy to navigate on foot and a whole lot of fun.

All in all a perfect music weekend. Go to Athens if you are into live music, way better than Nashville and even New Orleans. Safe, fun and friendly with incredible music options

This post was edited on 2/15/26 at 11:24 am

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Posted by cgrand

HAMMOND

Member since Oct 2009

47695 posts

Posted on 2/15/26 at 11:39 am to cgrand

first time in Asheville for any kind of stay, we had only stopped for lunch a few years ago driving thru. Arrived TUE 2/11 and checked in to a beautiful apartment rental on Patton and Biltmore right downtown, 5 minute walk to the arena. Shows were TUE, WED, FRI and SAT. The old Civic Center is now called Harrah’s Cherokee Center, it’s about the same size as the new place in Athens but obviously much older and a lot less comfortable. TUE and WED we had seats adjacent to the stage which was a very cool experience looking down on the players but the rows are super narrow and it’s hard to get your boogie on. FRI and SAT on the floor which was a lot of fun. Like Athens very little in the way of adult supervision you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you aren’t bothering anyone. Crowds were stoked and very loud.

Late shows FRI and SAT at the Orange Peel with Shadowgrass and Lindsey Lou, great old school venue that gets a number of well known acts. We also caught some daytime music at the One Stop and Asheville Music Hall.

Weather was cold mostly but the sun was out and the downtown area is walkable and has lots to do. Great bars and many many casual food options most of which were excellent.

Asheville is another exceptional live music town, they rolled out all the stops for Billy Strings’ annual run here and the mayor even came out last night and gave him a key to the city. Everyone is friendly and engaged with the scene it was a wonderful visit. If your band is playing in Asheville you should go.

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Posted by Geauxzilla

Member since Feb 2026

33 posts

Posted on 2/15/26 at 3:00 pm to cgrand

Good write up. I saw some
Dates leaked this year for Nola in early December and also Billyween in Chicago this year. I would love to catch that billyween show.

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Posted by cgrand

HAMMOND

Member since Oct 2009

47695 posts

Posted on 2/15/26 at 4:15 pm to Geauxzilla

quote:
Dates leaked this year for Nola in early December and also Billyween in Chicago this year

hopefully true both would be awesome. I may be biased but Billy at UNO is a full on good time.

we have st Augustine coming up in April which is also incredible fun.

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