ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

It’s a Holiday Hootenanny in ATLRetro This Week! Take a gander at all the janglin’ shindigs we’ve found for you!

Monday, December 9

Experience the glow of the Atlanta Botanical Garden‘s annual electrical extravaganza shining nightly through Jan. 11! Rev it up as Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt goes solo for the night at Smokin’ Cues in Stockbridge! Catch a punk rock LGBTQ+ version of PIRATES OF PENZANCE at The Bakery! The Earl rocks out with Sailor Poon! Get jazzy with Peter White at City Winery! Rock out and tune into Kool Kat Rev. Andy Hawley’s Psychobilly Freakout Radio broadcasting on Garage 71 at 8pm, every Monday! Get your vinyl fix at Little 5 Points Corner Tavern’s Records of Mass Destruction, every Monday! Spend the night with Patterson Hood at Eddie’s Attic! 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 the blues with Larry Griffith at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!

Tuesday, December 10

Jingle on down to the Red Light Café for a night with Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and her burly-Q gals of Syrens of the South during Tease Tuesday Burlesque: Naughty or Nice! Spend another night with Patterson Hood at Eddie’s Attic! Eddie & the 9Volts get down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, December 11

WUSSY MAG Wednesdays return to The Plaza Theater with a screening of Tim Burton’s campy classic PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) at 7pm! Or get your holiday fix and catch a screening of Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) at CineBistro Brookhaven at 7pm! Spend the night with Michael Glabicki with Dirk Miller (Rusted Root) and more at Eddie’s Attic! Mmm bop on down to the Buckhead Theatre for a night with Hanson! Get some soul with Kenny Lattimore at City Winery! Americana it up at the Variety Playhouse with Robert Earl Keen! Get down with Michelle Malone at the Velvet Note in Alpharetta! Catch a Flashback Cinema screening of Michael Curtiz’s WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) at theatres across Atlanta [Northlake Festival Movie Tavern (Tucker); GTC Merchant’s Walk Cinemas (Marietta); Movie Tavern at Horizon Village (Suwannee); and The Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sandy Springs)! TCM Big Screen Classics presents a 75th Anniversary screening of Vincente Minnelli’s MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) at theatres across Atlanta [AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Perimeter Pointe 10; Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Regal Mall of Georgia Stadium (Buford); AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); AMC Avenue Forsyth (Cumming); Regal McDonough Stadium 16; and Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18]! Get the rockin’ blues with Samantha Fish and Nicholas Davis at Terminal West! Catch Studio Movie Grill’s (Marietta/Alpharetta)  screening of Jeremiah S. Chechik’s CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989) at 7:15pm!  The Highlander rocks out with their Punk/Metal/New Wave Karaoke Night, every Wednesday! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! Get your Americana fix with Bernadette Seacrest at Waller’s Coffee Shop! Get down with the Electric Blues Xpress at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern for a rockin’ night of blues with the Tyler Neal Band! 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 12

Kink it up at the Variety Playhouse with A John Waters Christmas – Filthier & Merrier! Or have a Honky-Tonk Holiday at the Clermont Lounge with Kool Kat Spike Fullerton and Ghost Riders Car Club! Spooky holiday delights invade The Plaza Theater with a screening of Joe Dante’s GREMLINS (1984) and a post-screening talk with Zach Galligan at 7pm! Get rocked at the Red Light Café with Physical Graffiti and their Led Zeppelin Jam! Get some soul with Tamika Scott at City Winery! Art rock it up with The Curls, Semicircle, Ben Absent and Matthew Danger Lippman at The Earl! Spend the night with Birds of Chicago and Anne Platt & the Honeycutters at Eddie’s Attic! Make your way to Notch8 Gallery for the Dope Girls & Dream Warriors Foundation Holiday Market! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! The Star Bar kicks it in the Little Vinyl Lounge with Karaoke Night, every Thursday! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack 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, December 13

Have some killer holiday cheer at The Plaza Theater’s screening of Rene Manzor’s DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS (1989)! Rock out for a cause at The Star Bar’s annual two-night Toys For Tots show starring Kool Kat Spike Fullerton and Ghost Riders Car Club, Bully, Kenny Howes, The Channel Three, Slim Chance, The Wheel Knockers, Bad Friend, Twin Trances, Kool Kat Sen. Artie Mondello and more! Get rocked with The Nixons at the Masquerade! Or spend the night with Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah at The Earl, with special guests Massive 45 and Motor Exploder! Catch a screening of Midge Costin’s documentary MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND (2019) at The Plaza Theater! The BadAsh Allstar Team rock out with their Super Stones Holiday Show at Varanda Atlanta! Stomp on down to the Crimson Moon Cafe for a night with Chuck Mead & the Grassy Knoll Boys! Get down with Mike Cooley at Eddie’s Attic! Get your Big Easy fix with the Rebirth Brass Band at Terminal West! Eighties it up with Saved by the Band at Venkman’s! The Chi-Town Transit Authority pays tribute to Chicago at The Vista Room! Have a Holiday Hootenanny at Waller’s Coffee Shop with Evan Stepp & The Piners! Get the blues with Blonju & Friends at the Northside Tavern! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack dishes out a night with The Groove Rockets! Time-Warp it up 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, December 14

Smithsonian (Smiths Tribute) and alter ego Roxonian (Tribute to Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music) present a double set at The Earl! Have a Haunted Holiday at Netherworld! Catch an 80th Anniversary screening of Victor Fleming’s GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre at 1pm! Stomp on down to the Crimson Moon Cafe for a night with Seth Walker! Get some soul with Herman Hitson at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Spend the night with Anthony Hamilton at State Farm Arena! Folk rock it up with Collins Drive at Waller’s Coffee Shop! Experience Celtic Woman with the ASO at Atlanta Symphony Hall! New-Wave it up with Kool Kat VJ Anthony during an 80s New Wave Music Video Dance Party every 2nd Saturday of the month at Amsterdam Atlanta! Get down with the Charlie Wooten (Zydefunk) at the Northside Tavern! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Kwasi Mandisco transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, December 15

Swing on by City Winery for a night with Squirrel Nut Zippers! Get naughty at Junkman’s Daughter for their Family Portraits with Krampus event! BadAsh Allstar Team brings you A Charlie Brown Christmas and more holiday classics at The Vista Room! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Johnny’s Hideaway! Grunge it up with Buzzard Cult at Smith’s Olde Bar! Catch a punk rock LGBTQ+ version of PIRATES OF PENZANCE at The Bakery! Hilarity ensues with a Flashback Cinema screening of Jeremiah S. Chechik’s CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989) at theatres across Atlanta [Northlake Festival Movie Tavern (Tucker); GTC Merchant’s Walk Cinemas (Marietta); Movie Tavern at Horizon Village (Suwannee); and The Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sandy Springs)! Get the blues with 10,000 Pontiacs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Funk it up with Risky Biscuit at Tin Roof Cantina! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The Aurora Theatre rings in the season with their Christmas Canteen, through Dec. 23!

Get your diner fix this holiday season with Horizon Theatre’s production of WAFFLE PALACE CHRISTMAS, running through Dec. 29!

Experience the glow of the Atlanta Botanical Garden‘s annual electrical extravaganza shining nightly Nov. 16 – Jan. 11!

New-Wave it up with Kool Kat VJ Anthony during an 80s New Wave Music Video Dance Party every 2nd Saturday of the month at Amsterdam Atlanta!

Geek it up as NerdLanta presents their Back to the ‘80s Movie Night, every third Thursday of the month, at Mother Bar+Kitchen!

ATL CRAFT presents a magical occult Movie Night every second Friday of every month!

My Parents’ Basement goes old-school with their monthly Pinball Tournament, every first Wednesday of the month!

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!

The Highlander rocks out with their Punk/Metal/New Wave Karaoke Night, every Wednesday!

Get your vinyl fix during Little 5 Points Corner Tavern’s Records of Mass Destruction! event, every Monday!

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.