ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor/Contributing Writer

Baby, it’s cold outside and the holidays are in full swing! Retro Atlanta is shakin’ with all the rockin’ shindigs your jilted jolly little hearts could ever want! So, baby, get off that couch and live la vida Retro!

Monday, December 1

Get jolly and festive retro-style at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center during their Vintage Coca-Cola Santa exhibit, featuring 14 original oil paintings by Haddon Sundblom in 1931 for The Coca-Cola Company, sleighing through Dec. 16! Get Hollywood historical with Dr. Matthew Bernstein of Emory’s Department of Film and Media Studies, as he holds a lecture detailing the GONE WITH THE WIND premiere in Atlanta at 7:30pm at Emory’s White Hall. Or spend the holidays with Chevy Chase at the Charles D. Switzer Library in Marietta with their screening of Jeremiah S. Chechik’s holiday classic, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989) at 6pm! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! And boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!

Tuesday, December 2

It’s a night of bluegrass and gypsy jazz at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Smokey’s Farmland Band! Or stomp over to Eddie’s Attic for a night with the Judge Talford Band! Chevy Chase-style holiday shenanigans go down at CineBistro at Town Brookhaven during their “Cineclassics 2014” screening of Jeremiah S. Checkik’s holiday classic, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989) at 6:30pm! Or get into a little holiday mischief during Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s “Home for the Holidays” screening of Chris Columbus’ HOME ALONE (1990) at 7:30! Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint gets the blues with Bob Page! Get jazzy with Kelley O’Neal at Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with KoolKat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, December 3

Rock out at The Earl with The Blind Shake, Wymyns Prysyn and Glen Iris! It’s a night of flamenco and bossa nova at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Cristian Puig! Emory Arts’ delivers their “Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series with their screening of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s BLIND CHANCE (1981) at 7:30pm in White Hall! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar as they get smokin’ during their Slim Chicken Honky-tonk Extravaganza,featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Get jazzy with Dave Koz & Friends during his Christmas Tour 2014 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center! Take a trip to the ‘40s with Ralphie and his coveted Red Ryder B.B. gun during Studio Movie Grill’s (Alpharetta/Duluth) screening of Bob Clark’s holiday classic, A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) at 7:30pm! Or make your way to the Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library in Decatur for their screening of Robert Iscove’s ROGER & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA (1997) at 6pm! Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint gets down and dirty blues-style with Lola! Boogie on down to East Atlanta’s Graveyard Tavern for their Graveyard Swing Night, held the first Wednesday of every month, promising an evening of swingin’ jazz and jive with the Savoy Kings! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! Get holiday-retro, ‘90s style at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s “Home for the Holidays” screening of Chris Columbus’ HOME ALONE (1990) at 7:30! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, December 4

It’s a night of rockin’ punk harkening back to the old-school at The Star Bar with Air Wolves, Cadillac Junkies, The Aggravated and The Sideburners! Or get your rock fix with a twist at Terminal West with the Adrian Belew Power Trio! Blues it up at Smith’s Olde Bar with TabBenoit and the AJ Ghent Band! It’s Santa vs. Satan with RiffTrax Live: K. Gordon Murray’s SANTA CLAUS (1959) screenings at Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta), Perimeter Pointe 10 and Hollywood Stadium 24 at 8pm! Spend the evening with Tiny Tim at the Shakespeare Tavern as the Atlanta Shakespeare Company presents Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, running through Dec. 23! Or experience the classic tale of loyalty, redemption and love at the Serenbe Playhouse with their world premiere production and Rachel Teagle’s adaptation of “Snow Queen” running through Dec. 21! Get jazzy with Chuck Loeb (Fourplay) at the SuiteFood Lounge! Join in on the hi-jinks at The Plaza Theateras their Cineprov group riff’s Richard Donner’saction classic, LETHAL WEAPON (1987) at 7:30! Tom Hill & the Midnight Suns rock out at the Clermont Lounge! Eddie’s Attic delivers an evening with Patterson Hood (Drive-by Truckers)! Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for a night of cool island tunes and a couple Mai Tais! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Delifor their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New-Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, December 5

Get rocked and shake it up at The Star Bar with the Legendary Shackshakers, Whiskey Shivers and Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah! Get revved up holiday-style with the one and only Brian Setzer Orchestra at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center with special guests, The RecordCompany! And then make your way to the Diesel Filling Station for Kool Kat Rev. Andy’s Unofficial Brian Setzer After Party with a rock ‘n’ roll throwdown! It’s a night of mischief and magical mayhem at the Masquerade with Markster Con’s Atlanta Wizard’s Ball, featuring rockin’ tunes by Radio Cult, aerialists and a whole lotta wicked shenanigans! Get nostalgic at The Plaza Theater with their screening of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, IT’SA WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), running through Dec. 11! Emory Arts’ delivers their “Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series with their screening of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING(1987) at 7:30pm in White Hall! David Benoit pays tribute to Charlie Brown with his jazzy renditions of Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas classics at the Ferst Center at 8pm! Or shake a holiday tail feather at The Strand Theatre during their “A Christmas Tradition” song and dance revue every weekend through Dec. 21! Make your way to the Ann Jackson Gallery in Roswell for their “The Art of Dr. Seuss” exhibit, featuring Ted Geisel’s unknown paintings and sculptures, with live appearances by the Cat in the Hat and The Grinch, through Dec. 12! For a night of dirty rock ‘n’ roll, make your way to The Earl for Nashville Pussy, Valiant Thorr and the Night Terrors! Get your southern-fried soul and funk fix and groove on down to The Family Dog for Secondhand Swagger! Shimmy on down to Center Stage for the Clubesque: A Modern Cabaretevent! Steve’s Live Music delivers a night of Americana and blues with Heather Luttrell! Get gritty at the Crimson Moon Café with Blue Roads! Blues it up at Smith’s Olde Bar with night two of TabBenoit and the AJ Ghent Band! Blues it up with Victor Wainwright at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Beverly “Guitar” Watkins gets down and dirty at the Northside Tavern! And as always, Time-Warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW(1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, December 6

Get ‘80s retro at Vinyl with Pop-Up X-Mix 2014 featuring Electric Avenue, The Love Willows, Goldwing, Aerobics Cube and James Hall! It’s a night of rockin’ electro-industrial nostalgia at the Buckhead Theatre with founding alumni Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly (FLA), Haujobb and Youth Code! Or get your early ‘80s thrash metal and shock rock fix at the Masquerade with GWAR, Corrosion of Conformity and American Sharks! For a night of ‘60s garage rock and punk, make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for The White Animals and Lions & Liars! Stomp on down to the Variety Playhouse for the 6th Annual Y’All Tide Celebration with The Whiskey Gentry, The Dappled Grays and Seven Handle Circus! Skate on by the DooGallery for their 10th Annual Deck the Walls event at 9pm featuring skate deck art with proceeds going to The A-Skate Foundationfor Autism, and a rockin’ musical line-up with the Moreland Wrecks, The Salts, 30 Year Old Women from Mars and more! Rock out at The Star Bar with the El Caminos, M.O.T.Oand Pretty Vacant! For a night of Dixie jazz and old-time country western swing, honky-tonk on down to the Red Light Café for The VaudeVillain’s Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and CD Release show with Lindsay Petsch and 9 String Theory! Frankly my dears, we do give a damn, so make your way to Emory for the Department of Film Studies’ screening of Fleming, Cukor and Woods’ classic, GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) at 1pm! Or head over to the Charles D. Switzer Library in Marietta for their screening of Emile Ardolino’s THE NUTCRACKER (1993) at 3pm! The Powder Springs Public Library screens Alexander Hall’s Shirley Temple classic, LITTLE MISS MARKER (1934) at 3pm! It’s a night of rockin’ blues with Michelle Malone at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs. Get jazzy roots-style with The Blind Boys of Alabama and special guest, FrancineReed at Atlanta Symphony Hall! It’s a night of Cramps-inspired punk at Kavarna with Air Wolves! Get your ‘90s alt-rock fix at the Tabernacle with Weezer! The Gwinnett Ballet Theatre presents “The Nutcracker” at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center through Dec. 21! It’s a night of mountain folk rock and Americana at The Family Dog with Pioneer Chicken Stand! Groove on down to Hottie Hawgs BBQ ‘cause it’s Disco Night! Get your Australian blues and roots fix at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues with Harper &Midwest Kind! Blues it up with Albert White at the Northside Tavern! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, December 7

Hey all you miscreants and mischievous souls! Rock out at the Masquerade with the Misfits, Kool Kats, TheCasket Creatures, The Attack, Burns Like Fireand Dasher! Get your flamenco fix at the Red Light Café with Antonio Granjero, Francisco Orozco, Cristian Puigand Julie Galle Baggenstoss! Ben Watt delivers a night of folk jazz at Eddie’s Attic! Nothing says it’s the holidays like cookies and homes on wheels! So make your way to the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club (EAYC) for their 9th Annual Gingerbread Trailer Park competition at 6pm! Stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for their Bluegrass Brunch with Rye Baby! And rock on down to the Crimson Moon Café for their Boomers Gone Wild event, delivering a night of ‘60s and ‘70s covers!

Ongoing

Ann Jackson Gallery in Roswell exhibits “The Art of Dr. Seuss” through Dec. 12!

Callanwolde Fine Arts Center’s exhibit, Vintage Coca-Cola Santas, featuring 14 original oil paintings by Haddon Sundblom in 1931 for The Coca-Cola Company, sleighs through Dec. 16!

The Strand Theatre’s Lumiere Piano Bar & Lounge, featuring classic silent films quietly flickering in the background, accompanied by a live pianist and tasty cocktails, runs through Dec. 20!

Serenbe Playhouse presents their adaptation of “Snow Queen” through Dec. 21!

The Strand Theatre’s “A Christmas Tradition” song and dance revue runs through Dec. 21!

The Gwinnett Ballet Theatre presents “The Nutcracker” at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center through Dec. 21!

Shakespeare Tavern’s Atlanta Shakespeare Company presents Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, running through Dec. 23!

The Alliance Theatre gets retro Dickens-style with their “A Christmas Carol”, getting Scrooge-y through Dec. 24!

Center for Puppetry Arts adapts Larry Roemer’s classic, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1964) through Dec. 28!

Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) exhibits 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair through Jan. 4!

The MariettaMuseum of History gets Victorian as they present their “Peeling Back the Layers: Victorian Wedding Ensembles” exhibit through May 2, 2015!

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every first Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at theDiesel Fueling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!

ICON 80s: Music Video Dance Night rocks out at the Famous Pub every Friday night with a different 80’s theme!

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Nightat 10pm, every Tuesday!

Steve’s Live Music’s Gypsy Jazz Brunch offers up a plate of Hot Club jamming and Parisian Swing with Kool Kat Amy Pike and the Bonaventure Quartet from 12:30 to 3:30 pm every 2^nd & 4^th Sunday!

Boogie on down into Disco Hell at The Family Dog as DJ Quasi Mandisco delivers a night of classic funk, soul and disco the last Friday of every month.

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW(1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.