Max McNown Georgia Theatre Athens

Georgia Theatre is a music venue and event space that is located in Athens, Georgia. The venue has a seating capacity of 800. Several prominent national and local acts relating to various genres have been performed on the theatre’s stage. This includes country, indie, alternative, rock, folk, hip hop, and electronic. Georgia Theatre is on the Athens Music History Walking Tour, sponsored by the Athens Convention and the Visitors Bureau. The theater was opened as a music venue in 1978 and spent its early years as a movie house. In 1989, the venue was reopened as a live music space, and since then, it has hosted countless major touring acts.

Pylon performed the first show at the Georgia Theatre. Later, the venue hosted the Athens band Widespread Panic, J.J. Cale, David Byrne, Black Lips, Beck, Warren Zevon, Umphreys McGee, Dave Matthews Band, and members of R.E.M. In 2004, the album entitled Live at Georgia Theatre by Derek Trucks Band was recorded at the theatre. The video of John Mayer’s 2002 song “No Such Thing” was recorded at the venue.

Georgia Theatre was sold to local physician Randy Smith and Wilmot Greene in November 2004. They renovated the venue and completely restored the building. Later in 2004, the venue was sold to Agon, the Variety Playhouse owner in Atlanta, GA.