Hey Origen...What are you doing on this Friday, 4-20? Come see my band play. I\'ll draw 150+ to Woodstock (40 minutes from downtown Atlanta)
http://www.myspace.com/myfriendiansbandhit me up, kid.
I was just in Athens this past weekend playing @ the Boar\'s Head (a downtown college bar) and a frat party, and I\'m playing a Widespread after party @ The Boar\'s Head downtown on Tuesday. Athens could be a good scene for the boys, but they would need at least a few very popular (around campus) and dedicated fans to really bust their ass and spread the word. There is so much music going on for free / cheap that it is quite tough to convince college kids to come pay $10+ to see a band they have never heard of. Fortunately for me, frats pay out the ass and I play covers so bars will pay me.
Bring the boys to Atlanta and I will make them some new fans. I promise.
BTW...other than Smiths they would kill @ Mike & Angelo\'s. its run by the old manager / booking agent of the Brandy House. Also there is Club 29 (used to be Jake\'s) Cotton Club, Vinyl, Earthlink Live, and especially the 5 Spot in Little 5 Points. There are tons of places to play and tons of people to see them.
I would guess that they had bad experiences in Atlanta not because of the town, but because of bad business, poor dates and shitty promo.