ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Check it out kool kats and kittens! This week in Retro Atlanta is chock full of rockin’ retro performances and shakin’ shenanigans! Boogie down at the Shaky Knees Festival! Spook it up at the 25^th Anniversary World Horror Convention! And you won’t want to miss out on all the rock ‘n’ roll shows harkening back to the 20^th century, a week full of jazz ‘n’ blues and the big screen full of old-school flicks! Get off that couch and live la vida retro!

Monday, May 4

Geek it up at Battle & Brew in Sandy Springs and may the fourth be with you during their STAR WARS Day celebration, featuring film screenings, tasty food and themed drinks! Join Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Bill Sheffield delivers a night acoustic roots and blues at Blind Willie’s! 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! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Make your way to The Plaza Theater as they screen Jeff Bredemeier’s documentary, DANTE’S DOWN THE HATCH (2014) about Atlanta’s landmark restaurant where you could dine inside an old pirate ship with live jazz and ferocious crocodiles (See our Retro Review here) at 7:20pm, through May 7! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the Pork Belly’s and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, May 5

Get rebellious at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Randal Kleiser’s classic, GREASE (1978) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Funk it up at Aisle 5 with EMEFE, Bird City Revolutionaries and Omega Level! Get rootsy at Terminal West with Mandolin Orange and Ryan Gustafson! Get really retro at the Shakespeare Tavern as the Atlanta Chamber Players present “Grand Finale” featuring Philip Glass’ “String Quartet No. 5” and more! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Blues it up with Andrew Black 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! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, May 6

Wishbone Ash delivers a night of old-school rockin’ Brit rock ‘n’ blues at the Variety Playhouse! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! 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! Dale & the ZDubs rock out reggae-style at Smith’s Olde Bar! Vogue on down to the Village Theatre for the SONG MISSING Presents: MADONNATLANTA event featuring performances based on Madonna songs with Noel Stephen & the Material Girls, Blast-Off Burlesque and more! Jazz it up at St. James Live! during their grand opening red carpet event, featuring a 16-piece band, and will deliver blues, jazz, R&B and classic soul throughout the week! It’s your last chance to catch Randal Kleiser’s classic, GREASE (1978) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Blues it up with Little G. Weevil at Blind Willie’s! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, May 7

Tonight begins the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and 25th Anniversary World Horror Convention (WHC) at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which runs through May 10 and promises to be weird and horrorificly pleasing! Spook on down for some blood curdling panels, spooky live entertainment and a whole lotta creepy shenanigans! Live long and prosper while celebrating Leonard Nimoy as Cineprov riffs his STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984) at The Plaza Theater at 7:30pm! Kool Kat Blair Crimmins & the Hookers fire it up with a little prohibition pandemonium in downtown Alpharetta during Taste of Alpharetta along with von Grey! Or get your garage rock ‘n’ blues fix with Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah with special guests at The Star Bar! It’s a night of glam rock ‘n’ pop at 529 with The Gooch Palms, Death Valley Girls, Coma Girls and The Marrows! Voltaire delivers a night of murder ballads with his skeletal orchestra with Ego Likeness and Finite Automata at the Masquerade! Blues it up with Roger “Hurricane” Wilson at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre! Rock on down to Union EAV for a night with Lux Noise, Killing Kuddles, Chandelier and the Drobotics! Boogie on down to the Rialto Center for the Arts for The Wonder Years – a dance tribute to Stevie Wonder! Blues it up with Andrew Black at the Buckhead Tavern! For a night of psyche-rock and dream pop, make your way to the Music Room at Smith’s Olde Bar for Houston in the Blind, Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden, Earl Burrows and Angela Wolff. Or retro rock on down to the Atlanta Room for Goldwing and the Kenny George Band! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your ‘50s and ‘60s surf and rock ‘n’ roll fix with Kool Kat Joshua Longino and The Disapyramids! Blues it up with Sweet Betty & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 8

Night one of the 3-day 2015 Shaky Knees Festival has arrived at Central Park, chock full of retro-inspired tunes spanning five stages! Rock on down and catch Surfer Blood (surf rock), Black Pistol Fire (rock/blues/punk), John Grant (The Czars; folk rock), the Wavves (surf rock/punk), The Kooks (post-punk revival), Manchester Orchestra (rock), TV on the Radio (retro rock), The Mountain Goats (folk), Mastadon (sludge metal), the Pixies (‘80s/’90s alt-rock), Brand New (Beach Boys/The Cars-esque), The Strokes (post-punk revival) and more! And for late night Shaky Knees shenanigans, rock on down to the Masquerade for Portugal. The Man and Small Reactions in Heaven; and The Dead Milkmen in Hell! Day 2 of the WHC is chilling with spooky retro-inspired lit panels, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith exploring the world of B-movie history and documentary filmmaking, the Lovecraft legacy, a screening of Kool Kat James Bickert’s DEAR GOD! NO! (2011), a Stephen King hour, a whole lot of horror, noir, weird fiction, a filmmaker’s lounge, a mass author signing (open to the public) and the night ending with Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. Prof. Morte and Silver Scream Spook Show’s Creepy Costume Ball! Crawl on down, if you dare! And stomp on down to Grant Park for the Pick’n Grant Park Atlanta BBQ Festival, running through May 9, with performances by Michelle Malone and more!

Eighties it up at the Craze Tavern with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! The Marcia Ball Band gets rowdy with some roadhouse blues at the Variety Playhouse! Kool Kat VJ Anthony delivers his The 80s: New Wave Music Video Night at Famous Pub! Stomp on down to the Red Light Café for a night with Grits & Soul and Rye Baby! Get funky with Earsight, Heavy Chevy and The Space Time Travelers at Smith’s Olde Bar! Retro rock on down to The Basement for a night with Olivia Jean! Or funk it up with Funky Bluester at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Catch Adam Carolla and Nate Adams’ documentary, WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (2015), screening at The Plaza Theater at 5pm! Get your heavy classic rock fix at The Earl with Graveyard and Brother Hawk! Folk it up with Dar Williams for two shows at Eddie’s Attic! Get groovy with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern! Get some rockin’ soul with The Rockaholics at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Red Head Diamond gets mellow ‘70s-style at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Funk it up and boogie under the dinosaurs with The Mar-Tans at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Blues it up with Houserocker Johnson & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! The Shuffle Junkies deliver a night of rockin’ blues at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! 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, May 9

Rock out for Day 2 of the Shaky Knees Festival with Hey Rosetta! (indie folk), Field Report (folk), Mariachi El Bronx (punk, mariachi), The Whiskey Gentry (bluegrass punk), Palma Violets (garage), Viet Cong (post-punk), The Devil Makes Three (bluegrass), The Black Lips (psych-garage), Fidlar (garage/surf), Flogging Molly (folk/punk), Built to Spill (‘90s indie), Interpol (post-punk revival), Neutral Milk Hotel (psych-folk), Social Distortion (punk), Milky Chance (psych-folk), Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (rock), Wilco (folk rock), ZZ Ward (blues rock), The Avett Brothers (roots folk) and more! Shaky Knees late night will be held at the Masquerade with Diamond Rugs and New Madrid in Purgatory and Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls in Hell! Day 3 of the WHC brings a horrorific good time with Jason Brock’s THE ACKERMONSTER CRHONICLES (2013), with a Q&A to follow with the filmmaker and William F. Nolan (“Logan’s Run”); panels discussing Flannery O’Connor and more, readings by Jack Ketchum and more; Kool Kat Blake Myers and the Buried Alive Film Festival crew screenings; along with Kool Kat Eddie Ray’s SATANIC PANIC 2: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (2014); and so much more! Day 2 of the Pick’n Grant Park Atlanta BBQ Festival brings you Yes Ma’am, the Front Porch Session Players, Jimmy Galloway, Lowdive, Grant Green Jr., the Wasted Potential Brass Band and more!

Surf on down to Kavarna for Southern Surf Stomp featuring Kinky Waikiki, The Mystiki Men? (The Mystery Men?) and The Barrow Boys! Rock on down to 529 for the Swingin’ Utters, The Warning Shots and Antagonizers ATL! Get some rhythm and soul with The Hollidays at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Geek it up at Battle & Brew for their STAR WARS Cosplay Night! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola! Get folksy with Marc Cohn with two shows at Eddie’s Attic! Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a night of psychedelic space rock with Strange Planet, GreyMarket and Bearknuckle in the Atlanta Room! Or rock on down to the Music Room for a night with The Kinky Aphrodisiacs and Satsuma! Get funky with a night of rockin’ blues and rockabilly at the 120 Tavern and Music Hall with David T & Friends, Atlanta Boogie and The Sparkletones! Get revived with John Fogerty (Credence Clearwater Revival) at the Gwinnett Center! Blues it up with Frankie’s Blues Mission at The Family Dog! It’s a Harmonica Blowout at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a Led Zeppelin Tribute Jam with Mark Michelson & friends during their “Classic R&R” series! Sandra Hall & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! It’s your second chance this week to catch Adam Carolla and Nate Adams’ documentary, WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (2015), screening at The Plaza Theater at 5pm! 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, May 10

It’s Day 3 and your last chance to rock out at the Shaky Knees Festival with Matthew E. White (rock/jazz), Nikki Lane (modern Wanda Jackson/rockabilly), The Damnwells (indie), the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (N.O. jazz), the Old 97s (garage), The Mowglis (rock, doowop, ‘60s), The Sheepdogs (old-time rock), Best Coast (‘50s/’60s pop), Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls (folk/punk), the Heartless Bastards (blues rock), Dr. Dog (psych-rock), Spiritualized (space rock), Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (funk/jazz), Ryan Adams (folk rock), Xavier Rudd (Aboriginal folk), Old Crow Medicine Show (roots), Minus the Bear (indie), Tame Impala (psych rock) and more! It’s your last chance to get your fill of horror literature and weird fiction at the WHC! ZZ Top and Jeff Beck will rock you out retro-style at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre! Get your afro-beat fix at the Variety Playhouse with Lagbaja! For a night of Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz, make your way to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for the Rhythm Future Quartet! Stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for their Bluegrass Brunch with Johnny Campbell & the Bluegrass Drifters! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The Fabrefaction Theatre Company presents the timeless Broadway musical, PETER PAN, running through May 10! (LAST CHANCE)

The Alliance Theatre presents Pearl Cleage’s BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY through May 10! (LAST CHANCE)

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7! The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7!

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

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

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

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling 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 Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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.