ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

ATLRetro jingles into the holiday season This Week! Come see what we’ve found for you!

Monday, December 18

Get some soul with Avery*Sunshine and Coriology at City Winery! Catch a screening of Arthur Hiller’s THE IN-LAWS (1979) at the Alpharetta Branch Library at 10:30am! Boogie on down to The Vista Room for Christmas Crooners Karaoke! Get old-timey at Avondale Towne Cinema with their Folk Roots event! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Cody Matlock gets the 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! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack as they dish out The Pork Bellys and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, December 19

The Fox Theatre presents their free 12th Annual Mighty Mo & More holiday event, featuring a screening of George Seaton’s holiday classic, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) at 6:30pm! Northlake Festival Movie Tavern continues their Retro Cinema series with a screening of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at 7:30pm! Get some soul with Avery*Sunshine and Paula Champion at City Winery! Rock out with The Drownd Hounds, Willess and Jackwagon at Smith’s Olde Bar! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down with the Poverty Level Band! Blind Willie’s gets down with Frankie’s Blues Mission! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Little 5 Points Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack dishes out a night of rockin’ blues with Gray & the Bad Boys! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, December 20

Videodrome and John McClane dish out an adventurous holiday matinee with a screening of John McTiernan’s DIE HARD (1988) at 529 at 4pm! Stomp on down to Terminal West for their 7th Annual Holiday Hootenanny featuring Jim Lauderdale, Lary Keel, Jeff Mosier, Johnny Knapp, Ralph Roddenbery, Count M’Butu, Yonrico Scott, Gaurav Malhotra, Bill Fleming, Nick Disebastian, Kevin Thomas, Donna Hopkins, Bobby Miller, Fiddlin’ Faye, Zebulon Bowles, Richie Jones, Jared Womack, Matthew Williams, Evan Sarver and more! Get countrified with Moonshine at The Vista Room! Northlake Festival Movie Tavern continues their Retro Cinema series with an encore screening of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at 7:30pm! Get the rockin’ blues with The Cazanovas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! Catch a screening of Jeremiah Chechik’s holiday classic, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 7:15pm! Get down with Art Holliday at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! The Electromatics dish out a night Chicago/West Coast blues at Blind Willie’s! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! 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, December 21

Cross the pond for the Red Light Café’s Beatles Holiday Jam! It’s XXX-Mas with Metal McDonald at The Star Bar, or get old-timey and stomp on down to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night with The Waymores! Or catch Deck the Hall & Oates Holiday Special with Mike Veal and Ganesh Lee at The Vista Room! Or make your way to Center Stage for a night with Puddles Pity Party, a.k.a. Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier! Get some swampadelic soul with Larkin Poe and Cicada Rhythm at Terminal West! Get your Americana fix at Eddie’s Attic with Joshua Fletcher and Casey Harper! Ed Roland dishes out his Winter Wonder Bash at the Buckhead Theatre! Get countrified and make your way to The Earl Smith Strand Theatre for their Strand Ole Opry Country Christmas event! Jingle on down to Venkman’s as David Ellington jazzes it up with his Charlie Brown Christmas! Cody Matlock & the Mothership get down at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s so hula on down for a night island tunes and some killer cocktails! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! Blues it up with The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, December 22

Big band it up and get some holiday cheer with two helpings of the Joe Gransden Christmas Special with Francine Reed at Eddie’s Attic! ATL Collective presents James Brown Funky Christmas with Bernard Purdie, Fred Wesley, Marcus King, Kool Kat Ruby Velle and more at the Variety Playhouse! Or make your way to Center Stage for a melancholy holiday encore with Puddles Pity Party, a.k.a. Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier! Spend the night with Kitten Fontaine and The Rainmen at Avondale Towne Cinema! The Highlander presents Christmas with The Crush, Bleach Garden and Hot Ram! Royal Johnson & Natchez Tracers get down at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Rock out with New Madrid at The Earl! Funk it up with Wasted Potential Brass Band at the Northside Tavern! Retro rock out with Banks & Shane at the Red Clay Theatre! Folk it up with The Brookses at the Red Light Café! It’s a night of rockin’ tributes at Smith’s Olde Bar with Flannel Nation, Running With the Devil, Shake Your Money Maker and Stone Temple Pirates! Or get down with The Sundogs at The Vista Room! Jingle on down to Venkman’s as David Ellington jazzes it up with his Charlie Brown Christmas! Blues it up with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Willy Jackson gets the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Time-Warp it up at The Plaza Theater The 17th Annual Rocky Horror Holiday Show featuring THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) and the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at 11:30pm!

Saturday, December 23

It’s a Kool Kat holiday hootenanny with Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer and his trio’s 10th Anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas with Kool Kat Chad Shivers & the Silent Knights at Kavarna! Have a horrorific holiday season with a screening of Joe Dante’s GREMLINS (1984) at Regal Theatres across Atlanta as part of their Holiday Classics Series at 12pm [Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18; Regal Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford); and Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough)]! Big band it up and get some holiday cheer with two helpings of the Joe Gransden Christmas Special with Francine Reed at the Red Clay Theatre! Rock on down to Terminal West for The New Stew with Jimmy Hall: Reimagining The Rolling Stones in Concert  1970! Haunt on down to Amsterdam Atlanta for Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s COFFIN CLASSICS: Goth Industrial Music Video Dance Party featuring Goth, dark 80s and more! Get the blues with the Mike Lowry Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Garage rock it up with The Pink Spiders and Killing Kuddles at The Earl! Spend the night with William Kimbrough, Skinny DeVille & Fish Scales, Jade Passion and more at Eddie’s Attic! Tribute dishes out a night of The Allman Brothers tunes at the Northside Tavern! Jingle on down to Venkman’s as David Ellington jazzes it up with his Charlie Brown Christmas! Boogie down with the kiddies at Aunt Yvonne’s ‘Lil Misfits Dance Party at Avondale Towne Cinema! Jam it up at The Vista Room with Captain Trips & The Sunstroke Serenaders! Get down and dirty with Sana Blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Blues it up with George Hughley & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Catch a free screening of Jon Favreau’s ELF (2003) at Venkman’s at 10:30am! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night!

Sunday, December 24

The Earl Smith Strand Theatre presents a merry holiday marathon with screenings of Frank Capra’s classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) from 1pm – 7pm! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar with Eddie Tigner! And you won’t want to miss 10,000 Pontiacs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

Aurora Theatre – Lawrenceville presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL, bah humbugging through Dec. 23! (LAST CHANCE!)

Boogie down to The Earl Smith Strand Theatre for A Christmas Tradition, their holiday song and dance revue, jingling all the way through Dec. 23! (LAST CHANCE!)

OnStage Atlanta performs A CHRISTMAS STORY, through Dec. 23! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Alliance Theatre dishes out a holiday classic and presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, through Dec. 24! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Atlanta Ballet presents the NUTCRACKER at the Fox Theatre, through Dec. 28!

Center for Puppetry Arts presents your favorite traditional seasonal reindeer tale, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, jinglin’ through Dec. 31!

Geek it up and get to bowlin’ at The Comet Pub & Lanes’ Comet Cosplay, getting nerdy the first Monday of every month!

Dad’s Garage’s Big Boozy Nerdy Game Night brings out the kid in you, every first Monday of the month at 7pm! 

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!

Get your reggae fix with Rub-A-Dub gettin’ down at WildPitch Music Hall, every second Sunday of the month!

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.