by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor
Retro Atlanta is red-hot this week! Come see all the shakin’ shenanigans we’ve found for you! We’ve got all the ‘billy you could ever want; classic cinema on the big screen; rock in all varieties and of course a whole lotta’ down and dirty jazz ‘n’ blues! So get off that couch and come see what’s on the rockin’ Retro menu!
Monday, June 1
Start the month with a swingin’ good time during Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Make your way to the Lefont Theatre for their screening of George Sidney’s SHOW BOAT (1951) at 7pm! 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! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of rockin’ blues and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!
Tuesday, June 2
Make your way to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for their screening of Werner Herzog’s MY BEST FIEND (1999) during their “Werner Herzog Retrospective” series at 6:45pm! Movies ATL delivers Anthony Minghalla’s THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996), during their Carmike Cinemas Classics series at 7pm! Or get devious and criminal at the Diesel Filling Station during Nerd Film Mafia’s rescheduled screening of John Waters’ CECIL B. DEMENTED (2000) at 10pm following NerdCore Trivia! Or gump it up at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta during their screening of Robert Zemeckis’ FORREST GUMP (1994) at 12:30pm! Get some soul and rockin’ roots at the Red Light Café with Abby Wren & friends, Sailing to Denver and Donna Hopkins! Make your way to Margaritaville with Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band at the Gwinnett Center! Get to the root of it all, Texas-style with Lee Roy Parnell at Eddie’s Attic! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! 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! Or surf on downstairs to a hidden paradise, at the Little Vinyl Lounge, for Summertime Tuesdays with Poolboy Pietro and Chase the Chum-Man Taylor! 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, June 3
Walk the line at the Village Theatre during the SONG MISSING Presents: I Walk the Beltline event featuring performances based on Johnny Cash songs with Noel Stephen & The Darlings Named Sue and more! Rock on down to Mammal Gallery for a night with Onchi, The Dirty Magazines and Two Hour Drive! Or stomp on down to 529 to catch Caleb Warren & the Perfect Gentlemen, Lily & the Tigers, Avi Jacob and Brock’s Folly! Get old-time and rock out folk-style at Vinyl with Sugar & the Hi Lows and Elenowen! Blues it up with Mike Farris at Eddie’s Attic! 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! Catch Wolfgang Reitherman’s classic animated tale, THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta at 3pm! 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! 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, June 4
The Fox Theatre kicks off the 2015 Coca Cola Summer Film Festival with Richard Donner’s THE GOONIES (1985) at 7:30pm! You’re gonna need a bigger boat at Atlantic Station’s Movies in Central Park series screening of Steven Spielberg’s summer classic, JAWS (1975) at dusk! Rock on down to The Earl for a night with Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, the Shepherds, Nomen Novum and Hip to Death! Get folksy with Fruition and Dead Winter Carpenters at Smith’s Olde Bar! The Red Clay Theatre delivers a night with The Contenders! Get smooth with Barry Manilow at the Gwinnett Center! Bluegrass it up with Rust and The Wilhelm Brothers at the Red Light Café for Bluegrass Thursday! Get your ‘70s rockin’ jam fix at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Mark Michelson! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your island tunes ‘n’ cocktail fix! 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, June 5
Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a rockin’ night with Bad Friend, Bruce Joyner & The Atomic Clock, Kenny Howe’s The Wow!, 68-75, The Rainmen, the Chris Massey Band and The Skylarks! Or get psyched at The Drunken Unicorn with Echo Courts, Shampoo, Pamela_And Her Sons and Marion Walker! Get your garage rock ‘n’ blues fix at 529 with Low Cut Connie, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah and Uncle Van & the Buzzards of Fuzz! The Red Light Café delivers the Barrow Boys and Blue Blazes! Let Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles fire you up at the Deep South Deli & Pub in McDonough! Eighties it up at the Craze Tavern with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! Bluegrass it up with the Jeff Austin Band with Jim White vs. the Packway Handle Band at Terminal West! Rock out with Lou Gramm (Foreigner) and an orchestra at Chastain Park! Jazz it up with Joe Gransden and his 16-piece big band with special guest Charissa Gransden at Eddie’s Attic with two shows! The Contenders and Guthrie Brown & the Family Tree deliver a night of folksy Americana at Grocery on Home! Make your way to Union EAV for their Vinyl Potlock Party featuring vinyl, vintage video games and rockin’ tunes! Get your ragtime jazz fix with The HoboHemians while sippin’ a few cocktails under the dinosaurs at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Get groovy with Swami Gone Bananas at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Groove on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues for a night of old-time soul with Markey Blue! Catch Montana Skies at the Crimson Moon Café! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of Van Morrison tunes with Domino! 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, June 6
Today brings day one of Virginia Highlands Summerfest 2015, celebrating 30 years of art, food and rockin’ tunes, running through June 7! Come on down for performances by Sans Abri (pop roots), The Georgia Flood (rock/funk/blues), Cicada Rhythm (folk), Heavy Chevy (funk), The Halem Albright Band (jam) and The Southern Gothic (roots/Americana)! Get your fill of Orson Welles at the Lefont Theatre’s screening of Chuck Workman’s documentary, MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE & WORKS OF ORSON WELLES (2014) at 10:30am! Surf on down to Kavarna for Southern Surf Stomp featuring The Revomatics, The Compartmentalizationalists and Woven In! Swing on by Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with Johnny Boyd and Kool Kat Caroline & the Ramblers! Get terrified with the dinosaurs at Aurora Cineplex during their screening of Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK (1993) at 11:59pm! Rock down to The Drunken Unicorn for a night with Ringo Deathstarr, *Repeat Repeat and Weisshund! Make your way to Terminal West for American Aquarium and Radio Birds! The Sock Hops deliver a night of ‘50s and ‘60s tunes at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre! It’s your second chance to catch Wolfgang Reitherman’s classic animated tale, THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta at 3pm! Get some soul with Markey Blue at Red Light Café! The Fox Theatre screens Robert Zemeckis’ BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) during the 2015 Coca Cola Summer Film Festival at 7:30pm! Rev it up with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles at Shawn O’Brian’s Roadhouse in Jackson! Get jazzy acoustic style with Elgin Wells at the Crimson Moon Café! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Get crafty at the Georgia Freight Depot during the Indie Craft Experience featuring vendors of the vintage variety, including Kool Kat Chris Hamer of Urbnpop! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) at 10:30am, and his HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005) at 1pm! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! Get funky with the Billy Thompson Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of Sting and The Police tunes with The Blue Turtles! 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, June 7
It’s day 2 of Virginia Highlands Summerfest 2015, so come on down for a day with Nathan Angelo (delta blues), Sailing to Denver (folk), Dumpstaphunk (funk) and more! Celebrate with the Fox Theatre during their Fox Theatre Block Party from 12-6pm, featuring a parade and live music! Catch performances by the Deja Blue Grass Band (bluegrass), Orquesta MaCuba (salsa), Francine Reed (blues, jazz), Tribute (Allman Brothers tribute), Bogey & the Viceroy (swanky soul) and more! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema gives you a second chance to catch their “Ghibli Collection” 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) at 10:30am, and his HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005) at 1pm! Jazz it up with David torn at the Red Light Café! Catch some bluegrass, folk and western tunes with Michael Martin Murphey at Eddie’s Attic! Rock out at the Masquerade with GBH, Total Chaos and Antagonizers ATL! Get your old-school soul and R&B fix at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Maryline Blackburn! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And rock on down to the Crimson Moon Café for their Boomers Gone Wild event, delivering a night of ‘60s and ‘70s covers!
Ongoing
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! (LAST CHANCE!)
The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7! (LAST CHANCE!)
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.