ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Contributing Writer

Hey all you lovers and hep vintage romantics! It’s a week of love and lust and romance, oh my! So, if you’re searching for that Funny Valentine or would prefer to forget the day, we have everything your wretched little heart could desire! So, come on out and take a peek at what Retro Atlanta has in store for you!

Monday, February 10

Get funky and 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!’.  Get some soul at Blind Willie’s with Brandon Reeves!  Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!  Blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast with some finger lickin’ BBQ! And Valentine’s celebrations kick off early this week at the Woodfire Grill! It’s an evening of cabaret, wine and dinner with Georgia Shakespeare at their 6^th Annual ‘Fools For Love’ event at 7 pm!  Relax with your other half while cozying up to some sultry jazz standards and songs of love performed by the artists of Georgia Shakespeare!

Tuesday, February 11

What’s better that zombies, guns and kink?  Nothing! So, crawl on down to The Plaza Theater as Splatter Cinema gets gory with Michele Saovi’s dark comedy horror flick, CEMETERY MAN (DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE) (1994) at 9:30, preceded by horrifically blood-filled lobby shenanigans! (We know nothing can keep blood-thirsty zombies down! But due to inclement weather, this event will get back to creeping you out on Feb. 18th, same times!) Stomp on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for some bluegrass and honky-tonk with 8^th of January! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! Wipe those tears and dance the night away to the rowdy foot stompin’ Americana of the Boohoo Ramblers at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers gets bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern. It’s a full moon at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern tonight, so come on down and fall in love Brooklyn-style as they screen Norman Jewison’s MOONSTRUCK (1987) starring Cher & Nicholas Cage during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm!

Come celebrate love this week while getting swept away at The Plaza Theater during their Valentine’s Day Movie Event that’ll have you packing your bags and running off to Morocco in search of love as they screen Michael Curtiz’s classic Bogart-filled Hollywood tale, CASABLANCA (1942)! Or get lured into the bohemian underworld of Paris that’ll have you drowning in temptation at their screening of Baz Luhrmann’s extravagant and vibrant experience, MOULIN ROUGE (2001)!  Dames Aflame teases with a short pre-show and don’t forget, there’ll be plenty of sweets for your sweetie!  So, come on out and get your ‘cocktail, courtesan and Casablanca’ fix! (Due to inclement weather, this event will take your breath away on Feb. 18th, same times!)

And let Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and Syrens of the South seduce their way into your naughty little hearts at the Red Light Café at their Tease Tuesday: Valentine’s Day Edition where $10 gets you 10 sultry acts, featuring performances by Bella Entendre, Bubble Bordeaux, Ruby Redmayne, the mysterious magic of the Clark Gable look-a-like, Chad Sanborn and so much more! (Tease! Tease! Tease! Due to inclement weather, this event will promise to seduce on Feb. 18th, same times!)

Wednesday, February 12

For some raunchy rhythms and 70s-inspired fuzzed-out tunes, rock on down to The Star Bar for The Dirty Magazines, Madre Padre and The Johnny Rebs! Get your punk fix at the Drunken Unicorn with NOBUNNY, The Hussy and Dino’s Boys! Or for some ‘no-wave-tinged post punk’, rock on down to 529 for Georges Bataille Battle Cry, Designer, Twin Studies and Suffer Dragon! Get psychedelically folksy and groove on down to The Earl and spend the night with Ben Trickey, Madeline and Montanus (The Long Shadows)! Or get funky down at Big Tex as Jerry on the Moon delivers their southern folk and funky blues during their Widespread Wednesday event! Little G Weevil gets down and dirty at Blind Willie’s while Frankie’s Blues Mission takes you for a rockin’ blues voyage at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! It’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.  Get retro, global-style at Emory Cinematheque’s screening of Ousmane Sembene, the Father of African film’s LA NOIRE DE… (BLACK GIRL) (1966) with his short BAROM SARRET (THE WAGONER) (1963) for an evening of Sub-Saharan tragedy and drama during their Global French Cinema series at Emory’s White Hall! (‘When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie…’) It’s amore at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern as they screen Norman Jewison’s MOONSTRUCK (1987), starring Cher & Nicholas Cage in their Salute to the Oscars series’ matinee screening at 11:30 am!

And it’s a night of kinky Kool Kats and saucy seduction at The Brickyard tonight as they get tease with a little kink at their ‘Valentine’s Burlesque at the Brickyard’ event!  Celebrate love and lust with an evening of striptease, tassels and feathers with performances by aerialist Sadie Hawkins, mysterious magician Chad Sanborn, Kool Kat Talloolah Love, Meredith Greer, ‘The Chameleon Queen’, Stormy Knight, Lola Le Soleil, Tora Torrid, Kool Kat Ursual Undress, Kool Kat Fonda Lingue, Sunny Midnight, Lala Leialoah and so much more! Proceeds go to support SOJOURN (Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender & Sexual Diversity), so shimmy on down and get saucy for a cause!

Thursday, February 13

And the blood-letting begins!  Let the Prince of Darkness rock you while draining your veins at the Dracula: The Rock Opera CD Release Party & Concert with The Little Five Points Rockstar Orchestra, at 7 Stages running through Feb. 15! Or for a dark and blood-filled pre-Valentine’s celebration, get industrial and rock on down to Mary’s for their ‘Goth Nite St. Valentine’s Massacre’ event! It’ll be a Goth throw down featuring classic Goth rock, synth pop, post-punk and even tunes from the New Romantic era!  And, bring a personalized Goth Valentine’s card to score some free swag!

For a night of fantasy and 80’s metal, rock on down to the Masquerade for a head-banging mythical evening with Manowar!  The Earl gets rebellious and rocks out with The McNifficent 7, The Johnny Rebs and Wicked Pretty! Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a night of swamp rock in the Music Room with 60s and 70s rocker, Tony Joe White (‘Polk Salad Annie’) along with Jonah Tolchin and the Scott Little Band! Or make your way to the Atlanta Room for the glam-rock stylins’ and electro pop experience of Jade Lemons & The Crimson Lust, Frisky Monkey and Evan Andree! Stomp on down to the Red Light Café for a night with Jason Kenney (Homegrown Revival and The Kenney-Blackmon String Band) at their weekly Bluegrass Thursday event!  Get psychedelic as Dave Mason’s (Traffic) ‘Traffic Jam Tour’ makes a pit stop and rocks out at the Variety Playhouse! For a night of 70’s-inspired euro punk, rock over to the Drunken Unicorn for GG King, the Zoners, Eel Pie and Wymyns Prysyn! The legendary Buddy Guy delivers a night of Chicago blues with Ana Popovic rockin’ it blues-style at Atlanta Symphony Hall! The Family Dog delivers a night of new-wave and post-punk with Start Making Sense, a Talking Heads tribute!  Steve’s Live Music gets bluesy with The UnUsual Suspects! Get swanky with some book learnin’ at the Clermont Lounge’s ‘No Camera: The Clermont Lounge’ Book Signing event, while rockin’ out with Swank Sinatra, Battlefield Collective and Blood on the Harp! Rock out with a night of tributes at 529 with Nameless Nameless (Nirvana), No Need for a Name (No Use for a Name) and Accident Prone (Jawbreaker)! Get folksy 60s-style at Eddie’s Attic with the Farewell Drifters! 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! Make your way to the Crimson Moon Café for The Tom & Julie Show featuring tributes to tunes from the 60s to the 90s every Thursday! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings while Deacon Bluz & The Holy Smoke Band get down and dirty at Blind Willie’s! 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! Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for a few cocktails with Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier and his Polynesian pop lounge band, Tonga Hiti! It’s your last chance to spend an evening with Cher & Nick Cage at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern as they screen Norman Jewison’s MOONSTRUCK (1987) starring Cher & Nicholas Cage during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm! And get Victorian at the Woodruff Arts Center as director Rebecca Frank presents ‘Whistling Psyche’, a 19^th century tale of redemption and reflection, running through Feb. 23!

Friday, February 14

It’s V-day Kiddies and you know what that means!  We’ve dug up a variety of rockin’ vintage shindigs taking place tonight, that we know will get your blood pumping and all set for that shot to the heart, so, keep your eyes peels for our top picks and comprehensive guide for all things Retro and Valentine-y!

For those who prefer alternate history to reality and Victorian-era lifestyles and fantasy, travel back in time to AnachroCon 2014, a 3-day event celebrating historical reenactments, Steampunk, science-fiction, classic horror, literature, fashion and a cornucopia of indulgences!  So, catch a train and head on over to the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, where you’ll catch informative panels discussing Steampunk as Victorian science-fiction, time travel, Gothic literature, vintage tales of terror (Lovecraft, Poe, Stoker), ghost stories and the classic monster flicks of Universal and Hammer!

Hey Daddy-O! Let Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-DeVilles have you up and dancin’ all night at Motorheads in McDonough!  It’s night two of the Prince of Darkness rocking you while draining your veins at the Dracula: The Rock Opera CD Release Party & Concert with The Little Five Points Rockstar Orchestra, at 7 Stages! Get psyched with The Casket Girls dishing out some David Lynch-inspired rock kicking off the Graveface Roadshow 2014 tour, along with The Stargazer Lillies and Dreamend at 529! Trey Anastasio (Phish) delivers a night of alt-prog rock and funky bluegrass at the Tabernacle! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack slings a little roots and blues with the Johnny Scales Trio! The Northside Tavern has Stoney Brooks dishing out the blues! Blind Willie’s gets down and dirty with the “Empress of the Blues” herself, Sandra Hall & The Shadows! And do the Time-Warp while spicing things up with some naughty and 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, February 15

It’s Day 2 of Victorian-era fantasy, so make your way to AnachroCon 2014!  Get a taste of the green fairy at their Tea & Absinthe tasting event, or join the Mad Hatter at his Tea Party! And you won’t want to miss the Toulouse Lautrec-inspired, chanteuse and punk rocker, Frenchy & The Punk, Kevin Spivey’s time-lord rock group, the Steampunk rock of the Extraordinary Contraptions, the dandy Gin Rebellion and a darkly seductive cabaret show with  Veronique Chevalier!

The Drunken Unicorn offers a night reminiscent of the rockin’ old-school punk with Cinema Nova, From Where I’m Standing and Cathedral Ring! Rock on over to the Tabernacle for a night of folksy punk with Flogging Molly! Terminal West gets swampadelic and old-school with Larkin Poe, The Shadowboxers and Rosco Bandana! Catch Five-Eight slingin’ their punk-inspired alt rock since the early 90s at The Star Bar with James Hall (Pleasure Club) & The Futura Bold and the Replacements & Hank Williams-inpired sounds of Sodajerk! Get nocturnal at the Masquerade because it’s Nocturnia in Hell Goth & Industrial Dance night with a ‘Post Valentine’s Cardiac Ablation Party’! Holly Golightly on over to The Strand Theater for Blake Edwards’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s glamorous classic, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961) with a pops pre-show at 7:30 pm! Get a taste of Little G Weevil for a second time this week at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Stomp on over to The Family Dog for a night of Pioneer Chicken Stand’s mountain folk rock guaranteed to make you move! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack rocks out with The Sly Dog Band while Delta Moon delivers some bluesy Americana and roots rock at Blind Willie’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.  And it’s your last chance to experience The Little Five Points Rockstar Orchestra rocking out at 7 Stages for their Dracula: The Rock Opera CD Release Party & Concert!

Sunday, February 16

It’s day 3 and your last chance to get your fill of Victorian-era shenanigans at AnachroCon 2014!  Rock on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for a good cause and a gluttonous amount of retro-inspired tunes during their Boba Bene-Fett – Help for a Friend event, featuring The Bitteroots, Nine Times Blue, Battle No More, Sodajerk, House of Cards and The Johnny Rebs! Cedar Hill gets stompin’ at Big Tex’s Bluegrass Brunch from 11:30 to 2:30 pm!  Rick Harris hosts Crimson Moon Café’s Boomers Gone Wild event, slingin’ tunes of the 60s and 70s! The Earl gets bluesy with Os Ossos during their weekly hangover-friendly ‘dunch’ event!  Big Band Atlanta dishes out some madcap swing and classic jazz during their Jazz Brunch at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Or make your way to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the blues with Tony Bryant! And get the Grateful Dead concert experience at the Variety Playhouse as they get groovy with the Dark Star Orchestra performing complete Grateful Dead shows in their entirety!

Ongoing

New American Shakespeare Tavern presents ‘Romeo & Juliet’ until March 30^th!

Woodruff Arts Center gets Victorian with ‘Whistling Psyche’, a 19^th century tale of redemption and reflection, through Feb. 23!

The Star Bar gets groovy with The Funk Godfather, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Quasi Mandisco every other Tuesday!

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

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.