by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor
This Week in ATLRetro is the bee’s knees! Come see all the retro shenanigans we’ve dug up for you!
Catch a screening of Mika Kaurismaki’s MAMA AFRICA: MIRIAM MAKEBA (2011) at The Plaza Theater, through Feb. 22! Bossa Nova it up with Bebel Gilberto at City Winery! 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! Blues it up with John Paul Barry 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 for a side of Dry White Toast and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!
Tuesday, February 20
Rattle & Roar with the Earls of Leicester and Early James & The Latest at City Winery! Get jazzy with Aubrey Logan and The Sabor! Brass Band at Eddie’s Attic! Make your way to the Red Light Café for a night with The Laymen, Marla Feeney and more! The Fox Theatre presents the RENT 20th Anniversary Tour, through Feb. 28! Get witchy at Fado Irish Pub during their Harry Potter TriWizard Pub Quiz at 8pm! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! Stomp on down to Blind Willie’s for a night with the BooHoo Ramblers! 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! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!
Wednesday, February 21
New Wave it up with Howard Jones and get haunted with Rachel Sage at City Winery! The Plaza Theater kills it with a screening of Lau Kar-leung’s 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1979)! Catch a screening of Victor Fleming’s classic, THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) during Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series at 2:30pm/7:30pm! Emory Cinematheque continues their “Black Lives on the Small Screen” series with a screening of Marlon Riggs’s PBS documentary, BLACK IS…BLACK AIN’T (1995) at 7:30pm! Get countrified with Chris Knight at Eddie’s Attic! Spend the night with Chuck McDowell, Michelle Malone, John Cable and Julie Gribble at the Red Clay Theatre! Get retro-inspired with Elizabeth & The Catapult, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards and The Good Graces at Smith’s Olde Bar! Madame Company pays tribute to Bad Company while The Damn Truth relives the tunes of the past at The Vista Room! Get the blues with Ike Stubblefield at Avondale Towne Cinema! The Electromatics dish out a night of Chicago/West Coast blues at Blind Willie’s! Make your way to Turner Field for the UniverSoul Circus! TCM Big Screen Classics presents a screening of George Cukor’s THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/7pm [AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); and AMC Avenue Forsyth (Cumming)]! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! Or blues it up with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get the rockin’ blues with The Cazanovas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! 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 a night of acoustic 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, February 22
Get intergalactic as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra delivers their STAR WARS – A New Hope in Concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Rock out with KICK – The INXS Experience at City Winery! Tom Hill dishes out some rockin’ blues at the Clermont Lounge! Howiestein and Mister Wilson dish out their Over the Edge Record Party featuring punk, soul, ‘70s glam and more at The Highlander! Jazz it up with Kyshona Armstrong at Venkman’s! Get folksy with Josh Garrels and Wilder Adkins at Terminal West! Make your way to the Red Light Café for the BadAsh Allstar Team’s Eagles Jam! Get down and dirty with Sweet Betty & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Cody Matlock & the Mothership get down at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get countrified and rock out with Chris Knight and The Steel Woods at Eddie’s Attic! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s so hula on down for a night of rockin’ tunes with the Knotty Boys and some killer island cocktails! 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! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.
Friday, February 23
Honkytonk it up at The Star Bar with The Wheel Knockers, Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers, Heather Luttrell, and Alan Shelton & Bar Community Stars! Kink it up with Kool Kats galore during CandyBox’ February Underground Burlesque Show at Elliot’s Street Pub with Kool Kat Roula Roulette, Kool Kat Talloolah Love and more! Eighties it up with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch with Denim Arcade at Wild Wing Café in Dunwoody! Interstellar Echoes pay tribute to Pink Floyd at The Vista Room! Rock out with a night of tributes at Smith’s Olde Bar featuring Freebird (Kool Kat Rich Desantis), Led Zeppelified, Back Yardbirds and Solar Lunartic! Rockabilly it up with Hillbilly Casino at Dixie Tavern! Modern folk meets old-school soul with Sam Burchfield, Nathan Angelo and Chris Ayer at Eddie’s Attic! Rock on down to Hell and get mischievous with The F@cking Pantera Cover Band at the Masquerade! Stomp on down to the Red Light Café for a night with Brian Revels & The Heat Lightning, Five Shot Jack and Papa Jack Couch! Americana it up at the Tin Roof Cantina with The Ain’t Sisters! Rock out with Bas Clas at Avondale Towne Cinema! The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra delivers an intergalactic encore of their STAR WARS – A New Hope in Concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Geek it up with Dad’s Garage as they present Improvised Dungeons & Dragons! Spend the night with Zabadodat at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! The Andy T. Band with Alabama Mike gets the blues at Blind Willie’s! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with the Atlanta Horns at the Northside Tavern! Get down with Beverly “Guitar” Watkins at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! 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, February 24
Rock, rock, rock ‘n’ roll high school on down to The Star Bar for the 3rd Annual Rock –N- Roll High School Tribute to the Ramones featuring Little Leslie & The Bloodshots, Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & The Psycho Devilles and more! Rock on down to The Earl for a night with Gunpowder Gray, Silver Tongue Devils, Sash the Bash and Adam Anzio! Folk it up with The Indigo Girls at the Red Clay Theatre! Get intimate with Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier and the Kingsized 3 at The Vista Room! Mark Nelson & Friends present Songs in the Key of Stevie at Venkman’s! Get funky and spend the night with The Revolution at the Tabernacle! Learn some history with the Gwinnett Parks Foundation’s Historic Walking Tours every Saturday through April 21! The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra delivers an intergalactic encore of their STAR WARS – A New Hope in Concert at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Kool Kat Rich Desantis and the Street Fighting Band pay tribute to The Rolling Stones at MadLife Stage & Studios in Woodstock! Smith’s Olde Bar dishes out another night of tributes with el scorcho (Weezer), Runnin’ Down a Dream (Tom Petty Revue) and M.E.R.M.E.R (REM)! The Rainmen dish out a night of ‘60s and ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with the Atlanta Horns and Ross Pead at the Northside Tavern! Get down with The Vipers at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadows! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, February 25
Spend the night with funk granddaddy, George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic, at the Buckhead Theatre! Get old-timey with J.D. Wilkes, Nikki & The Phantom Callers, and The Waymores at Smith’s Olde Bar! Get some soul with Martin Sexton at City Winery! Universal Pictures Presents a screening of Jim Henson/Frank Oz’ THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/7pm [AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18; Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford); AMC Dine-In North Point Mall 12 (Alpharetta); and AMC Avenue Forsyth (Cumming)]! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for a night with Francine Reed! Shimmy on down to the Red Light Café for Super Happy Funtime, a live band burlesque circus troupe! Make your way to Venkman’s for Harrison 75, an acoustic tribute to George Harrison! Join the manhunt and catch a screening of Henry Hathaway’s TRUE GRIT (1969) during Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series at 2:30pm/7:30pm! Get the blues with Garrett Collins at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar with Eddie Tigner!
Ongoing
7 Stages presents THE FOLLOWERS: A RETELLING OF THE BACCHAE, running through Feb. 25! (LAST CHANCE!)
The Fox Theatre presents the RENT 20th Anniversary Tour, through Feb. 28!
The Historic Oakland Cemetery offers free guided tours of African American Grounds, throughout Black History Month!
Get the blues with Ike Stubblefield at Avondale Towne Cinema, every Wednesday until March 28!
Learn some history with the Gwinnett Parks Foundation’s Historic Walking Tours every Saturday through April 21!
My Parents’ Basement goes old-school with their monthly Pinball Tournament, every firsts 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!
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.