ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

This Week in Retro Atlanta is the Kat’s Meow! Come see all the shakin’ shenanigans we’ve found for you! From honkytonk hootenannies to rockin’ garage, glam ‘n’ punk, we’ve got you covered!

Monday, May 16

Smith’s Olde Bar goes ‘70s vintage with Thelma & The Sleaze, Midnight Larks and Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah! Celebrate 30 years of Tony Scott’s TOP GUN (1986) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 7:30pm! Or make your way to the Alpharetta Branch Library for their screening of Fred Zinnemann’s HIGH NOON (1952) at 10:30am! Kink it up sci-fi style at The Plaza Theater with their screening of Howard Ziehm’s FLESH GORDON (1974), screening through May 18! Joe McGuinness delivers a night of roots ‘n’ Americana 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! Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! 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, May 17

Get your old-school psyche-electronica fix with Silver Apples and Zombi at The Earl! The Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” film series with a screening of Bernardo Bertolucci’s LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1973) at 7pm! Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm! Rev it up at Steve’s Live Music with Rockabilly Kitty Rose! Get a kick with Riff Trax Live’s presentation of David Giancola’s TIME CHASERS (1994) at theatres across Atlanta [Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Perimeter Pointe 10; Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16; and Georgian Stadium (Newnan)]. Or catch a screening of Howard Hawks’ SERGEANT YORK (1941) at the Decatur Library at 10am! Blues it up with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 18

Celebrate 30 years of skipping school with TCM’s Big Screen Classics screening of John Hughes’ FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986) in theatres across Atlanta [Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16; and Georgian Stadium (Newnan)]. Rock on down to The Drunken Unicorn for a night with Cadillac Junkies, The Sideburners and Wolfspider! Spend the night with Indiana Jones at Studio Movie Grill’s (Alpharetta/Duluth) screening of Steven Spielberg’s classic, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) at 7pm! Funk it up with the Lightning Orchestra Band at Aisle 5! Lola gets down and dirty at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Get the blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! The Electromatics dish out a night of West Coast/Chicago blues at Blind Willie’s! Jazz it up with The Gordon Vernick Quartet at the Red Light Café! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! It’s Chicken Picken’ Wednesday at Venkman’s, so come on out for a night with Honeywood! 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! 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 19

The Earl gets old-timey with Old Salt Union and The Muckers! Bluegrass it up with Russ Still & The Moonshiners and The Brookses at the Red Light Café! Get your rockin’ roots fix with Donna Hopkins at Steve’s Live Music! It’s a night of rockin’ blues at Avondale Towne Cinema with Kool Kat Brooks Mason and The Georgia Flood! Make your way to Lakewood Amphitheatre for a night with Hall & Oates! Vinyl dishes out a night of folk rock with The Roosevelts and the Best Brothers Band! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so surf on down to Trader Vic’s for a helluva beach party! Venkman’s delivers a night of acoustic Prince vs. Bowie with Nick of Yacht Rock Revue! 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! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 20

Rock on down and rev it up at the Elliott Street Pub with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt (acoustic), The Punknecks, Russ T. Nutz and Kool Kat Spike Fullerton’s Russian Roulette Band! Electric Avenue delivers an epic ‘80s MTV battle with Prince and Bowie at Park Tavern! The Star Bar gets beachy with Kool Kat Joshua Longino and The Disapyramids! Or swing on by the Red Light Café for DJ Doctor Q’s Atlanta Speakeasy Electro Swing event! Funk it up with Dumpstaphunk and Quaildogs at the Variety Playhouse! The Earl delivers a night of fuzzed out garage rock with Shantih Shantih, Tiger! Tiger! and Thayer Sarrano! Stomp on down to Avondale Towne Cinema for a night with Underhill Rose, The Rondo Riggs and the Georgia Mountain String Band! Jazz it up with the Masterly Quintet at the High Museum! Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson invade Chastain Park! Rock out with The Howling Tongues at Vinyl! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Stoney Brooks fires it up with his rockin’ blues! Nick of Yacht Rock Revue dishes out some acoustic Beatles at Venkman’s! George Hughley & The Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! It’s Salsa Dance Night at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event, so cha-cha under the dinosaurs with the Salsambo Dance Studio while sippin’ a few cocktails! 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 21

Fire it up with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles at Dixie Tavern! Rock out at The Highlander with Antagonizers ATL, DDC, Dirtbag Love Affair and Cadillac Junkies! Shake and shimmy wizard-style at the Shakespeare Tavern for Sexpelliarmus: A Whimsical, Wizarding Burlesque Revue at 11:30pm! The Atlanta Rollergirls get down with their May bouts featuring today’s double header at the Yaarab Shrine Center! Hula it up at Trader Vic’s during their Tiki Fashion Seminar from 5-6pm! It’s a battle of harmonicas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Groove on down to the Northside Tavern for a night with Swami Gone Bananas! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for night one with Paula Cole! Gypsy jazz it up with The Hot Club of Atlanta during brunch at Venkman’s, then come back for Yacht Rock Revue’s Unplugged and Smooth Dance Jams! Glam it up at Twinkledome 24: Bowie Worship at Club Famous! Pay tribute to ‘90s rock bands at Smith’s Olde Bar with Nameless Nameless (Nirvana), Stone Tribute Pilots (STP) and Rusty Cage (Soundgarden)! Get down with Beverly “Guitar” Watkins at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 22

Get revved and rock out for a cause at Smith’s Olde Bar during their Sloan Rainwater Benefit featuring The Downtown Executives, The Rainmen, Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers and the Chris Massey Band! Chickens & Pigs dishes out the 10th Annual Bob Dylan Birthday Bash at The Earl! It’s your second chance to spend the day with Indiana Jones at Studio Movie Grill’s (Alpharetta/Duluth) screening of Steven Spielberg’s classic, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) at 2pm! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for night two with Paula Cole! Make your way to Piedmont Park for World Goth Day in the Park! Steve The Blues Dude gets down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

MacGillivey Freeman’s 2013 documentary, NATIONAL PARK ADVENTURE, commemorating the U.S. National Park Service’s 100th anniversary at the Fernbank Museum’s IMAX screens through June 16!

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm! (On hiatus as of May 16 until further notice)

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.