After more than two years in town, art rock quintet The Story Of is closing the book on Athens for now. The band is playing its last show in town tomorrow at 10 p.m. at The Union, 24 W. Union St., before moving to Austin, Texas.
Opening for the band is local act Red Dahlia and Chicago band Troubled Hubble. The cover charge is $4.
Band members are moving to Austin in June, with the last members arriving July 1, said guitarist David McCully. They will split up their current living arrangement into pairs, and singer/keyboardist Christman Hersha will live with his fiancee.
They have not yet performed in Austin, but all have visited the city. Bassist Jeremy Gordon said it is necessary for the band to experiment with a larger scene.
It's just better to work out of a city than to work out of a place like Athens if you're trying to do it as a career and whatnot
because there's just a lot more opportunities to meet people and get more shows Gordon said.
After developing a following in Athens, they are going to start over again with audiences in Austin, using street teams and other promotions, Gordon said.
It will be a lot harder -a lot more ground to cover McCully said.
What has been familiar sight around the Ohio University campus, sidewalk chalk drawings promoting upcoming The Story Of shows, will continue in Austin.
We'll definitely chalk up some Austin
Hersha said.
Though Austin offers more musical options and job opportunities, it is still close to universities and has a similar atmosphere to Athens.
Austin's really down to earth; it almost reminds me of Athens
Hersha said.
The band members, most of whom have lived in Athens for four years, have been able to count on an audience for their shows, Hersha said. In Austin, they will have to work to prove themselves.
(In) Athens we can always count on some of our friends coming
no matter what
Hersha said.
There will also be more competition in Austin, said drummer Jonathan Gibbs. At Saturday's show, the band will sell a DIY unmastered EP, which includes three old songs and two new songs -one of which is an Enya cover, Gordon said. They also will use video, an idea that went over well at a previous show. It includes everything from home videos to old footage and government footage that's available on the Internet
McCully said. Even Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory will make an appearance.
We're just trying to have an all-around good last show
that's why we brought in Troubled Hubble and Red Dahlia; I think those are some of our favorite bands to play with
Gordon said.
During their time in Athens, The Story Of played most shows at The Union, as well as at the Smiling Skull Saloon, 10 W. Union St., Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., and Homegirlz Beautique, 79 1/2 E. State St., among others. McCully said they've had a lot of help along the way in Athens. They also have had the opportunity to play with a variety of bands in town, Gordon said.
We're just happy that we've had a great time here in Athens and we've met a lot of cool people and everything and we're excited to go and try something new
Gordon said.
They plan to come back to Athens in October, and on any tours in the future they would like to stop at The Union or Casa to play on the expanded stage.
We're going to miss it
