ATLRetro

Joe Gransden.

By Arla Lehtinen
Contributing Writer

Monday, August 5

Swing back to the golden age of jazz at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month for Big Band Night with Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra. Melvins bring punk rock to The Loft at Center Stage as their 30th Anniversary Tour with Honky rocks through Atlanta. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam featuring blues and southern soul singer Lola Gulley. Enjoy your BBQ with a side of Pead Boy & the Pork Bellies at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Tuesday, August 6

Adam Ant livens up Center Stage with his unique show and lets The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse and Prima Donna join in on the fun. See Zeppo Marx’s last role in a Marx Brothers film and let all four brothers delight you in DUCK SOUP (1933) at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern, as they continue their August retro cinema classic series of Classic Comedies! Kool Kat Calu Cordeira mixes tiki libations during Mai Tai Tahitian Tuesday starting at 9 p.m. at the Dark Horse Tavern. Grab your horn and head over to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session. Blues it down with Nathan Nelson & Entertainment Crackers at Northside Tavern. J.T. Speed brings the blues to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, and Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires up the blues at Blind Willie’s. Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs hosts a weekly Bluegrass & Hootenanny Jam led by Jason Koornick & Hank Weisman.

Wednesday, August 7

Head to The Earl to witness The Mar-Tans land in Atlanta as they play a gig with The Secondhand Swagger. Jazz it up with Frank Barham and his jazz quartet at Elliot Street Pub. For blues go to Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint and listen to the sweet sounds of Beverly ”Guitar” Watkins. Old enough to feel Retro? It’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck brings the Piedmont blues to Northside Tavern, and The Hollidays deliver some soul to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Greet the day with an 11:30 a.m. matinee of DUCK SOUP (1933) at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Retro Cinema series this week!

Andrew & the Disapyramids.

Thursday, August 8

Ghost Riders Car Club, featuring Kool Kat Spike Fullerton, bring their authentic honkytonk music to The Clermont Lounge. The Plaza Theatre welcomes you to a little flower shop featuring a bloodthirsty plant in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986), playing on the big screen at 5:15 p.m. and again at 7:15 p.m. Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. DJ Osmose presents an all vinyl selection of vintage records and modern edits from around the world. Relax with a cocktail while listening to the groovy sounds of Andrew and the Disapyramids, featuring Kool Kat Joshua Longino, at vintage tiki bar, Trader Vic’s. Tommy Brown joins The Shadows as they fill the night with blues at Blind Willie’s. Go to Northside Tavern to hear the classic 50s Chicago-style blues of The Breeze Kings. Get on over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack to hear the honkytonkin’ blues of Chickenshack. It’s 80s/90s Retro Video Night with free drinks ’til 10 at The Shelter. Yankee Dixie strum on down to Red Light Cafe for a Bluegrass Thursday with Holly Renee Allen. And it’s your last chance to see the four Marx brothers in DUCK SOUP (1933) at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern!

Jeffrey Butzer. Photo credit: Melissa J Butzer.

Friday, August 9

With just one more months to go before Dragoncon, Atlanta offers two dance party events in one night to get you into the cosplay spirit. This month RITUAL sets up a party for all things that go bump in the night. RITUAL’S Midsummer Night’s Mare invites all sorts of mosters to doll up pin-up style and take a spin on the dance floor at The Shelter. Starting just a little later, Middle Earth Fairytle Ball takes over Museum Bar in ”Renaissance Pirate Steampunk Superhero style.” There will be a costume contest and a fashion show by Doctor Madness Custom Creations. If dancing is not what you’re yearning for tonight, there’s plenty of live music to choose from. Go visit The Drunken Unicorn and hear Jeffrey Bützer & The Bicycle Eaters, featuring Kool Kat Jeffrey Bützer, as they take to the stage with The Octopus Project and The Purkinje Shift. Fancy a night of modern retrobilly, Americana rock and some coutry swagger? Head to Red Light Cafe and get a chance to listen to The Serenaders, Kris Youmans Band and Lauren St. Jane all in one night. Enjoy an evening of ”rumba Gitano” under the darkening sky when The Gipsy Kings wander to The Chastain Park Amphitheatre. Gregory Peck takes on the role of lawyer Atticus Finch, defending a black man under false charges in the cinema classic, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962), playing at Marietta’s art deco Earl Smith Strand Theatre at 8 p.m. The Breeze Kings sound their classic Chicago-style blues underneath the dinosaurs at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Eddie Tigner & Friends bring the blues to Northside Tavern for a B’day Bash, and Sanda Hall joins The Shadows to serve up the blues at Blind Willie‘s. Atlanta’s own trio Jigsaw Johnson bring their sounds to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. For a midnight movie delight, go to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and catch a few laughs with MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975). Do the Time Warp again at THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW with full costumed floor show by Lips Down on Dixie every Friday at midnight at The Plaza Theatre.

Elvis Royale. Photo courtesy of Kingsized.

Saturday, August 10

ELVIS ROYALE! brings back the King to Variety Playhouse for one night only. Big Mike Geier and his Kingsized Rock ‘n Roll Orchestra are joined by Dames Aflame as they celebrate the music of Elvis Presley. Come enjoy the Vegas glitz dressed up in you favourite Elvis style and enter the ”Getcha Elvis On” contest. Head south of the city for the Bible Belt Burlesque Birthday Barn Burner. It’s a full night of burlesque with Lola LeSoleil headlining the event and Talloolah Love gracing the stage as MC for the evening. Special guests include Persephone Phoenix, Rena Rhinestone and magician Chad Sanborn. Unfortunately though Kool Kat Fonda Lingue‘s The Jewel Box Revue  has been postponed and won’t be happening tonight. The Sexual Side Effects, a hard rockin’ neoglam band featuring Kool Kat Amber Taylor, is one of the many taking the stage at The Basement for the 2013 IMR Music Festival. Another Kool Kat shows her talents at Eddie’s Attic, when Kool Kat Amy Pike grabs the mic as Bonaventure Quartet celebrate the release of their new album. Rock out at The Highlander with Ledfoot Messiah, AM Gold featuring Kool Kat Joel Burkhart and Lightnin Ray & The Mystics, while Earl Smith Strand Theatre gets rocked back to the 70s when DEPARTURE: The Journey Tribut Band takes over the stage at 8 p.m. Ike Stubblefield brings the blues to Northside Tavern, and Big Bill Morganfield fires up the blues at Blind Willie’s. Mike Lowry and his band bring their guitar driven blues based rock toFat Matt’s Rib Shack. 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. If you missed it on Friday, there’s a second chance to catch a few laughs with MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975), playing at midnight at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

Rod Hamdallah

Sunday, August 11

Kool Kat Kitty Love celebrates the Goddess in every woman and throws an Empress Tea Party. Enjoy tea, tarot and dancing with special brunch menu items and become the Empress of your own life. Small admission includes unlimited hot tea. Blues man and Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah brings his sound to the stage at Smith’s Olde Bar among many others, on the last day of the 2013 IMR Music Festival. Have a bluegrass brunch at Big Tex starting at noon. Tony Bryant Blues Band bring on the blues style at Fatt Matt’s Rib Shack. Sample a spoonful of blues courtesy of Uncle Sugar at Northside Tavern.

Ongoing

STRAY DOGS by Matthew Myers and directed by Peter Hardy plays at The Essential Theatre through August 10 in revolving repertory as part of the 15th Annual Essential Theatre Play Festival with the unsettlingly provocative MYSTERIOUS CONNECTIONS by Hardy and directed by Ellen McQueen and SWIMMING WITH JELLYFISH by Katie Grant Shalin and directed by Bill Murphey.

Johannes Vermeer’s GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRINGvisits The High Museum of Art, along with other Dutch masterpieces, through Sept. 29.

EXTREME MAMMALS from sabertooth tiger skulls and wooly mammoth fur to contemporary creatures such as the duck-billed platypus invade Fernbank Museum of Natural History through August 18.

Every Tuesday night, Wednesday morning and Thursday night is Retro Cinema at Movie Tavern.

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.