ATLRetro

Rod Hamdallah

By Zohra Yaqub
Contributing Writer

Monday, Oct. 15

Ramp up your Monday night at 529 Bar in East Atlanta Village!  Reverend Andy Presents: A night of blues, swamp music, and Americana featuring Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah, Lone Wolf OMB and Whiskey Belt.  Monday night is Big Band Night at CAFE 290! Come join Joe Gransden and his Smokin’ 16 piece Big Band at 8 p.m. for a swingin’ evening of jazz. You’ll hear arrangements from the songbooks of Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Wes Funderburk and others along with Gransden’s originals. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam featuring Lola Gulley. Head over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a hearty serving of BBQ and Dry White Toast.

Bernadette Seacrest

Tuesday, Oct. 16

Head up to Eddie’s Attic to hear the sweet vocals of recent Kool Kat Bernadette Seacrest & her Kris Dales with special guest, Alex Maryol. Film Love presents: 2 films by Robert Drew at the Plaza Theater.  Starting at 7:30 p.m., the first documentary, PRIMARY (1960), takes a close look at John F. Kennedy’s campaign for presidency during the first week in April 1960. The second, THE CHILDREN WERE WATCHING (1961), examines school desegregation in New Orleans.  Recent Kool Kat Calu Cordeira mixes tiki libations at Mai Tai Tahitian Tuesday starting at 9 p.m. at the Dark Horse Tavern. Grab your horn and head over to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 p.m. J.T. Speed rocks the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack or you can blues it down with Nathan Nelson & Entertainment Crackers at Northside Tavern.

Ruby Velle and the Soulphonics

Wednesday, Oct. 17

Check out very Kool Kat Ruby Velle at Smith’s Olde Bar at 8 p.m. for some Georgia Soul. Grab some Shovels and Rope at The Earl at 8:30 p.m. This South Carolina-based duo gives raucous performances throughout the country and will be stomping through Atlanta this Wednesday.  Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern.  The Hollidays make it a soulful night at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern.

Thursday Oct. 18

Call him what you will, but come to Variety Playhouse and engage in some “provocative chit-chat” with hardcore punk provocateur Henry Rollins at 8 p.m. Just in time for Halloween, don’t dress too nice because blood is sure to flow as GWAR promotes their latest album BLOODY PIT OF HORROR in Heaven at Masquerade.  Also performing are DevilDriver, Cancer Bats and Legacy of Disorder. Drive over to Twains at 9:30 p.m. to watch the soul and rock-driven funk machine that is Abby Wren and What It Is.  No one has to feel lonely when you decide to rock out at The Loft with Grammy-winning musicians, Los Lonely Boys. It’s a dance off! Come down to Hand in Hand for the famous Midnight 80s and 90s dance contest. Eat, drink and play a classic game with an adult spin every Thursday night as Mon Cherie presents Mad Lib-Ations, Atlanta’s newest Retro weekly pastime, starting at 7 p.m. at the Corner Tavern in Little 5 Points. The fun-filled night includes games and prizes from some of the city’s most fun Retro retailers, Psychobilly Freakout and punk faves spun by The Right Reverend Andy and a raffle. Relax with a tropical cocktail at vintage tiki bar Trader Vic’s where Tongo Hiti plays Retro-Polynesian luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, every Thursday night. The Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.  Danny Barnes plays Bluegrass Thursday at Red Light Cafe starting at 9 p.m., but come early and bring your own instruments for a locals jam at 7 p.m. Mike Z Trio honkytonks it up at Big Tex.

Lon Chaney as Phantom of the Opera (1925).

Friday, Oct. 19

Get your scare on this Halloween and join the cast of DRACULA THE ROCK OPERA and their ghastly fiends as they throw their second annual Spookhuis ($7 for entrance, $5 if you come in costume).  Get in the Halloween spirit as Plaza Theatre‘s Universal Monster Month continues with silent classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), starring the Man of 1000 Faces, Lon Chaney, playing all weekend. Tav Falco & the Unapproachable Panther Burns are performing at Star Bar with The Delusionaires at 9 p.m. Get groovy to a group led by former Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart Band, at Variety Playhouse. Flock to Terminal West at King Plow to watch iconic Goth band Swans take flight again at 9 p.m.  From the Athens bluegrass scene, Packway Handle Bar will be joined by High Strung String Band at Smith’s Olde Bar at 8 p.m.  Or head over to Northside Tavern if you are looking for a night of blues with Stoney Brooks.  Get down and country with Micky & The Motorcars and Old Southern Moonshine Revival at Peachtree Tavern at 9 p.m.  Spice it up with some Latin flare under the dinosaurs with Salsambo Dance Studio at Fernbank Museum of Natural History Martinis & IMAX.

Saturday, Oct. 20

‘Tis the season to be scary! March down to Little 5 Points and indulge your inner monster at the 12th annual L5P Halloween Parade and Festival featuring street performers, artist’s market, and two music stages. Scheduled bands include Ghost Bikini; Gun Party; Death of Kings; Walk From the Gallows; The Casket Creatures; Randy Michaels and the Sharp Dressed Lads; Volume IV; The Evils; Sex BBQ; Wasted Potential; Wet Rainbow; Til Someone Loses An Eye; Andrew and the Dispyramids; The Wayward Family Band; Jeremy Ray and more. Concerts start at noon, parade starts at 4 p.m.  Charlie Mars will be promoting his fifth album, LIKE A BIRD, LIKE A PLANE, at Smiths Olde Bar at 8 p.m.  Scat on down to Big Tex Cantina in downtown Decatur at 7 p.m. to check out the Tommy Dean Trio as they play favorites from The Rat Pack, classic soul, and great American songbook standards.  Make it a date night at The Buckhead Theater by supporting iconic Atlanta-based new wave band, The Producers.  Opening acts include another Atlanta favorite, Angie Aparo, Gareth Asher & The Earthlings, and Deb Bowman. It’s Pandemonium!  Dance it out at the Glam and Glitter Rawk Dance Party at The Shelter. The Athens music scene comes to The Earl this weekend with Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs and Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer.  Head over to the Tabernacle at 7 p.m. to see Rufus Wainwright, Ingrid Michaelson; and Lucy Wainwright Roche or moonwalk your way over to Variety Playhouse to see Yacht Rock Revue perform THRILLER and PURPLE RAIN in their entirety!! Catch a rare screening of the prison noir feature BRUTE FORCE (1947), directed by Jules Dassin and starring Burt Lancaster, part of the ongoing Saturday MOMA AMERICAN INDIES series at the High Museum of Art.    Northside Tavern, Atlanta’s home to the blues, and the Wayback Band at Shorty’s Pizza in Tucker.  And as usual, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Alejandro Escovedo

Sunday, Oct. 21

Find out what country-punk sounds like when you head over to Variety Playhouse to watch Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys at 8 p.m. Rock duo based out of Austin, The Ghost Wolves, will be opening. Big Tex Cantina  is trying to make every Sunday a bluegrass Sunday. Come out and support the cause with Whoa Nelly. Fat Back Deluxe rock the blues at Fat Matt’s, and Uncle Sugar blues it down at Northside Tavern. Faithless Town plays dunch at 1 p.m. at The Earl.

Ongoing

Every night is The Night of the Living Dead at the Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, now in its own third season and expanded to include two different walking attractions, Curse of the Undead and ZWar and a zombie shoot at Safety Wolf, the paintball combat complex offMoreland Avenue, just south of I-285.  The Apocalypse happens every Thursday-Sunday all month.

Netherworld, Atlanta’s favorite haunted house for the past 15 years, is open every night from October 5-November 3.  Ticket prices range from $22 per person for the main haunt, Banshee, to $50 for a speed pass to see both haunts, Banshee and The Hive, and cut to the front of both lines.

Visit the High Museum of Art to see the Fast Forward: Modern Moments exhibit featuring artistic development from the past 100 years, 1913-2013. Artists includeHenri Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jeff Koons. Closes January 10, 2013

Take retro to another level at the Genghis Khan special exhibition at Fernbank Museum of National History.  Closes January 21, 2013.

If you know of a cool happening coming up soon, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.