ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Contributing Writer

Hey all you retro-lovin’ kiddies! It’s that time of year again! The big jolly fella may be spying to see if you’re naughty or nice, so show ‘em how good you are by gettin’ out and seeing what Retro Atlanta has in store for you!  It’s a week of holiday cheer, retro-style, so whether you’re hankerin’ for a good classic flick or are needing to get your retro rockin’ fix, come see what’s on the menu!  Get off that couch and come on out (naughty or nice – we don’t discriminate) and see what Santa’s got for you!

Monday, December 23

Get jazzy holiday-style and swing on down to the Red Clay Theater and dance the night away to some holiday favorites at Joe Gransden’s Big Band Holiday Show with special guest Annie Sellick! Or slip on down to The Strand Theater and get nostalgic with Jimmy Stewart as they screen Frank Capra’s holiday classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) with a holiday pre-show and sing-a-long on the Mighty Allen Theatre Organ! Or get retro, Broadway-style at the Out of Box Theatre as they present ‘Side by Side Sondheim,’ the highly-acclaimed musical revue of the master Stephen Sondheim himself, at 7:30! Or groove on down to Café 290 every second and fourth Monday of the month for a taste of Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’ Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!  Head on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast with some finger lickin’ BBQ!  Or get revived with some holiday ditties at Blind Willie’s with a little Midnight Revival and their Holiday Bonanza! And it’s your last chance to catch some retro holiday classics; Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire at The Plaza Theater in Mark Sanrich’s classic holiday musical, HOLIDAY INN (1942) as well as Charles Dickens’ classic holiday fare, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, at the New American Shakespeare Tavern!  

Tuesday, December 24

Christmas Eve has finally arrived! And there’s plenty of time to get down and dirty before the big fat man comes a’ knockin’! Get the retro holiday spirit at the Center for Puppetry Arts as they present their adaptation of the 1964 stop-motion animated classic, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ live on stage through Dec. 29! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots! Or jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern! And get comfy and warm with Frank Capra’s classic holiday goodness, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their Home For The Holidays series at 7:30 pm!

Wednesday, December 25

It’s a retro Christmas, folks!  For those of you wondering, Retro Atlanta is alive and hopping today, so come on out and see what the jolly old fella has up his big red sleeve! The Plaza Theater opens at 3 today, so may all your Christmases be white and come get your fill of Michael Curtiz’s holiday musical, WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) in Technicolor starring Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney! And if you’re still needing some holiday hope and cheer, catch their screening of George Seaton’s holiday classic, MIRACLE ON 34^TH STREET (1947), starring Natalie Wood! It’s a ‘Festivus for the Rest of Us!’, so rock on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for a little southern rock and blues at Mark Michelson & Lefty Williams’ Festivus Fundraiser Holiday Jam! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck & Bill Sheffield fire it up at their Annual Christmas Acoustic Show! Or maybe splash on over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for some rockin’ blues, soul and funk with Georgia Flood! And don’t forget to catch Frank Capra’s classic holiday goodness, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their Home For The Holidays series at 11:30 am!

Thursday, December 26

Surf on down to Trader Vic’s for an evening of cocktails with Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier at his Holiday Cocktail Party! For an evening of gritty post-punk rock and gypsy garage grass, rock on over to The Star Bar for Baby Baby, the Junior Astronomers and Strung Like a Horse! Fiddle on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for an evening of bluegrass with the Randy Chapman Trio at their Thursday Bluegrass Jam! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for the soulful Americana tunes of The Cumberland Collective! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! Rock on over to the Crimson Moon Café for The Tom & Julie Show featuring tributes to tunes from the 60s to the 90s every Thursday! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner delivers some honky-tonk blues while the Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas while Blind Willie’s gets sweet and low-down with Sweet Betty & The Shadows! It’s 80s/90s Retro Video Night with free drinks ’til 10 at The Shelter. Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. And it’s your last chance this week to catch Frank Capra’s classic holiday goodness, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their Home For The Holidays series at 7:30 pm!

Friday, December 27

After 40 years of seclusion, the Tease from Tennessee has finally arrived! It’s the BettieFest! So, shimmy on down to The Plaza Theater and dominate with the notorious Queen of all Pinups!  It’ll be whippin’ good time, featuring the screening of BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL (2013), a feature documentary about Bettie Page’s life, narrated by the ever-seductive Ms. Page, followed by a Q & A with Director Mark Mori and Illustrator Greg Theakston.  And that’s not all!  There will be live music with Aneles debuting her song, “Bettie Loved” which will be featured on her upcoming LP, a burlesque tribute to Bettie by Kool Kat Ursula Undress of the Atlanta School of Burlesque and to top it all off drawings for Bettie-themed prizes!  So, for the love of bondage and the beauty that is Bettie Page, shake it on down to The Plaza Theater!

The Earl gets Bowie-fied with the Wham Bam Bowie Band, rocking out to the tunes of Hunky Dory and The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust, playing both albums in their entirety!  Don’t be a beast of burden and rock on over to the Variety Playhouse as Satisfaction pays tribute to the Rolling Stones!  Get funky in ‘Disco Hell’ at The Family Dog with DJ Quasi Mandisco! Or have a 70’s power pop-inspired evening with The Illiterates and The Head at The Star Bar! Rev on down to Motorheads Bar & Grill and get rocked with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and his Psycho-DeVilles! Houserocker Johnson & The Shadows gets bluesy at Blind Willie’s! Get a taste of some Sweet & Salty blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack while Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets rockin’ with Nathan Nelson & The Entertainment Crackers! And the Northside Tavern fires up the blues with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck!

Saturday, December 28

Get a retro 50s and 60s soulful vibe at The Earl with Kool Kat Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics and get funky with the Bird City Revolutionaries! For an evening of some Delta blues and soul, get down and dirty with the North Mississippi Allstars and Lightnin’ Malcom at the Buckhead Theater! For an evening of Americana, honkytonk on over to the Red Light Café for Migrant Worker and Across the Wide! Or come on down to Eddie’s Attic as Delta Moon rocks out with some Americana and blues! Rock on over to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs as they bring you Glenn Phillips, founding member of the legendary Hampton Grease Band! Blind Willie’s gets sultry with Sandra Hall & The Shadows while Northside Tavern fires up the blues with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck! For a lesson on the History of the Blues, make your way to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! The Chattahoochee Chain Gang and The Western Sizzlers get old school and honky tonkin’ at Smith’s Olde Bar! And you won’t want to miss Michelle Malone rockin’ out to some blues and Americana at the Crimson Moon Café! 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 29

Start your day with a Bluegrass Brunch at Big Tex with Duane Cliatt!  Or groove on down to Smith’s Olde Bar as they get funky with Jerry on the Moon! Slither on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and rock out with Snake Legs! The Family Dog gets bluesy with Jez Graham Trio featuring Joe Gransden!  And it’s your last chance to experience the Fox Theater’s Holiday Tours with Kool Kat Scott Hardin, The Fox’s projectionist since 1978 as well as the Alliance Theater’s production of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’!

Ongoing

The Plaza Theater gets musical with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as they screen Mark Sanrich’s classic holiday film, HOLIDAY INN (1942), featuring Irving Berlin’s classic holiday tune, “White Christmas” written for the film, running through Dec. 23! (LAST CHANCE!)

Fox Theater Holiday Tours with Kool Kat Scott Hardin, the Fox Theater’s projectionist since 1978 and all sorts of goodies runs until Dec. 29! (LAST CHANCE!)

Alliance Theater presents Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL which spooks through Dec. 29! (LAST CHANCE!)

New American Shakespeare Tavern presents Charles Dickens’ classic holiday fare, A CHRISTMAS CAROL Scrooging through December 23. (LAST CHANCE!)

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.