ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Hey all you lovers and hep vintage rockin’ 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 8

Make your way to the Alpharetta Branch Library for their screening of Daniel Petrie’s classic, A RAISIN IN THE SUN (1931) at 10:30am! Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! Blast-Off Burlesque starts your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia, Country Music edition, at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club at 8:30pm! 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! Bill Sheffield dishes out his acoustic roots and blues at Blind Willie’s! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, February 9

The Landmark Midtown Art Cinema delivers their “Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road” series with a screening of THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977) at 7pm, with an intro and Q&A after the screening! Let Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and the burly-Q gals of Syrens of the South spice up your evening with their Tease Tuesday: Hearts & Heartbreakers edition getting’ naughty at the Red Light Café! Paul Leder’s documentary, GOIN’ TO CHICAGO (1991), chronicling the migration of African Americans from the rural south to northern cities after WWII, screens at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center at 4pm! Catch the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s 40th Anniversary screening of Martin Ritt’s THE FRONT (1976) at the Lefont Theatre at 7:20pm! Get funky Big Easy style on Avalon Avenue in Alpharetta during their Mardi Gras Pub Crawl! Or get your Cajun fix and Mardi Gras it up with Hair of the Dog at Steve’s Live Music! Get funky with The Mar-Tans at Blind Willie’s! Lola gets down and dirty at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with their Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, February 10

Get cinematic with “La Nouvelle Vague” at Emory Cinematheque’s screening of Francois Truffaut’s THE SOFT SKIN (1964) during their “French New-Waves: Classics & Rediscoveries” series at 7:30pm! Catch a screening of Jerry Zucker’s GHOST (1990) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta) at 7:3opm! The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival presents its second 40th Anniversary screening of Martin Ritt’s THE FRONT (1976) at the UA Tara Theatre at 11:30am! It’s Chicken Picken’ Wednesday at Venkman’s, so come on out for a night with Sans Abri! Stomp on down to Blind Willie’s for a night with the Boohoo Ramblers! Jazz it up with The Gordon Vernick Quartet at the Red Light Café! The Star Bar gets to twangin’ with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes with Dry Gulch! Or rock on downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! Get the blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Fat Matt’s! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, February 11

It’s a night of murder ballads made popular by Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Nirvana and a whole lotta’ bloody maniacal mayhem at The Earl with their second annual Bloody Valentine’s event, featuring Kool Kat Aileen Loy with Till Someone Loses an Eye; circus shenanigans with The Thimberling Circus and more bloody romantic fun! Blackhearts and anti-V-day miscreants, rock on down to The Highlander for their Broken Hearts & Bloody Valentines Art Show, delivering a night of multi-media art! Or, for the black-hearted, make your way to Mary’s for their Goth Nite St. Valentine’s Massacre dance party featuring classic Goth anthems!

Mark Michelson & Friends pay tribute to The Eagles at Steve’s Live Music! Joe McGuinness and Bill Sheffield get down and dirty at Eddie’s Attic! Rock out with Wilco at the Tabernacle! It’s a night of gypsy jazz and bluegrass with the Jon Stickley Trio and Control Burn at the Red Light Café! Rev it up with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles at The Pointe (Conyers)! Sweet Betty & The Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so surf on down to Trader Vic’s for a helluva beach party! Fatback Deluxe dishes out a night of blues at Venkman’s! It’s a night of Texas country and old-time shenanigans at Smith’s Olde Bar with Kinky Friedman, Brian Molnar and The Jugtime Ragband! 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! 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, February 12

Valentine’s Day Eve-Eve is chock full of retro shenanigans! Swing on by The Earl Smith Strand Theatre for Douglas Cameron’s 17-piece Big Band! The Famous Pub gets kinky cabaret-style with RITUAL’s Moulin Rouge Valentine’s Day Party, featuring The Black Sheep Ensemble! Get smooth and make your way to Park Tavern for an evening of silly love songs with Yacht Rock Schooner! Or get sinfully seductive at 7 Stages for Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and the burly-Q gals of Syrens of the South’s 9th Annual Vixen’s Valentease Vaudeville & Variety Show! The Highwire Comedy Co. presents their Happy Valentine’s Day Mr. President comedy show at the Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge! The Red Light Café presents THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES benefit performance for V-Day’s One Billion Rising at 8pm!

Jade Lemons hosts “We Can Be Heroes” celebrating the life and music of David Bowie at Smith’s Olde Bar! Rock out at The Star Bar’s Leather Jacket Night featuring performances by M.O.T.O, The El Caminos and The Go Nowheres! Jazz it up with Anat Cohen and the Gary Motley Trio during the Emory Jazz Fest at the Schwartz Center! Cannibal Corpse invades the Masquerade! Rat Pack Now croons on down to the Red Clay Theatre! Catch the premiere of MacGillivey Freeman’s 2013 documentary, NATIONAL PARK ADVENTURE, commemorating the U.S. National Park Service’s 100th anniversary at the Fernbank Museum’s IMAX! Kool Kats, The Head rocks out at the Drunken Unicorn! Make your way to Center Stage for a night with Todd Rundgren! ‘80s it up at Wild Wing Café in Dunwoody with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! Get old-timey with Kool Kat Caleb Warren & the Gents at Nik’s Place! Funk it up with the Atlanta Funk Society at the Elliott Street Pub! Bluegrass it up with the Yonder Mountain String Band at Variety Playhouse! Get to the root of it all with The Donna Hopkins Band at Steve’s Live Music! Blues it up with George Hughley & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Ralph Ellis and The Breeze Kings deliver the blues at the Northside Tavern! Pay tribute to Tom Petty as Refugee rocks out at Venkman’s! Get folksy under the dinosaurs at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event with Lilac Wine! Get some soul with Dark Water Rising at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! 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, February 13

Shake a tail feather this Valentine’s Day Eve! Boogie down at The Star Bar’s Blackheart’s Ball, featuring The Midnight Larks, Shantih Shantih, Coma Girls, and Emily Marie Palmer & Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer! Find some goodies for your sweet/blackheart and make your way to My Parents’ Basement for The Valentine’s Day Bizarre Bazaar featuring 13 local artists and designers, including Kool Kat Chris Hamer of Urbnpop! Ghosts and love collide at the Historic Oakland Cemetery with their Love Stories of Oakland tours running through Feb. 14! Catch a screening of Michael Curtiz’ CASABLANCA (1942) at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre at 8pm! ATL Collective presents Sade’s “Love Deluxe” at Venkman’s! Shimmy on down to the Shakespeare Tavern for Hearts Ablaze Production’s Pantheon of Divini-TEASE with Kool Kat Talloolah Love, Kool Kate Persephone Phoenix and more! The Center for Puppetry Arts presents their Valentine’s Date Night (adults-only) with puppet shenanigans and complimentary desserts! Get funky and boogie on down to Aisle 5 for their Funky Good Time Valentine’s Dance! The Red Light Café presents a second performance of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES benefit performance for V-Day’s One Billion Rising at 8pm!

It’s a night of avant-garde and experimental film with Film Love Atlanta’s (Kool Kat Andry Diztler) Jane Wodening in Person event at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center at 7pm [Keep your eyes peeled for our Kool Kat interview with Jane Wodening (Brakhage’s first wife)]! Surf on down to Kavarna for Kool Kat Chad Shivers’ Southern Surf Stomp! featuring performances by the Beech Benders, Blacktop Rockets and Gemini 13! It’s Big Band Night with the Gary Motley Trio at the Schwartz Center! Catch a screening of John Singleton’s ROSEWOOD (1997) at the Scott Candler Library at 1pm! Rat Pack Now croons it up at the Red Clay Theatre! The Park Tavern presents Oysterfest, featuring live performances by the Shawn Spencer Band, Secondhand Swagger, Kool Kat Blair Crimmins & the Hookers and Moontower! Get jazzy New Orleans-style with Ruby Red’s Band at Venkman’s, during their Bottomless Mimosa Brunch! Bluegrass it up with the Yonder Mountain String Band at Variety Playhouse for a second time! Get the juke joint blues with The Scissormen at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! The Dirty Bourbon River Show delivers New Orleans gypsy brass circus rock with Rodeo Twister at The Earl! Get folksy with Tom Rush at Eddie’s Attic! Beverly “Guitar” Watkins gets down at Blind Willie’s! Blues it up with Ike Stubblefield at the Northside Tavern! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, February 14

It’s V-day folks 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 peeled for our top picks and comprehensive guide for all things Retro and Valentine-y!

Celebrate 30 years of Howard Deutch’s ‘80s classic, PRETTY IN PINK (1986), screening at several local theatres, including AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16; Georgian Stadium in Newnan and Regal Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee) at 2pm/7pm! Get really retro and catch the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s 85th Anniversary screening of Sidney M. Goldin’s HIS WIFE’S LOVER (1931) at Lefont Theatre! Get funky and rock out with Meshell Ndegeocello at Terminal West! Get the blues with Steve “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 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center transforms into a Parisian bohemian cabaret as the Atlanta Ballet presents “Moulin Rouge: The Ballet”, shaking a tail feather through Feb. 13! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Actors Express murders with their presentation of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at 8pm, killing through Feb. 28!

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

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.