by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor
Come see what’s happenin’ in ATLRetro This Week! Shake it up with a whole lotta jazz, some revved up rockabilly, and some old time nitty gritty sleaze-filled shakin’ shenanigans and so much more! We’ve got it all so come see what we’ve dug up just for you!
Monday, May 21
Boogie down New Orleans-style with The Messy Cookers Jazz Band at Hot Jam! Catch Studio Ghibli Fest
2018’s screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s PORCO ROSSO (1992) at theatres across Atlanta at 7pm [AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan); and AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow)]! Rock out with Nada Surf at Terminal West! 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! Matt Pendrick fires it up 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, May 22
Folk rock it up with Okkervil River and Benjamin Lazar Davis at Aisle 5! Or spend the night with Clay Harper (The Coolies) and The Sexual Healing Band at Avondale Towne Cinema! Reggae it up with Morgan Heritage at City Winery! It’s a garage rock revival with The Fratellis and Blood Red Shoes at Terminal West! The Fox Theatre presents HAMILTON, through June 10! Post-punk it up with Iceage, Empath and Material Girls at The Earl! Get old-timey with Ol’ GoForth at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Frankie’s Blues Mission gets down at Blind Willie’s! 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! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!
Wednesday, May 23
Rev on down to The Star Bar for a night with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & The Psycho-DeVilles, Sean K. Preston, and Skye Paige! Bernadette Seacrest dishes out a night of swing noir with Kris Dale at Eddie’s 
Attic! Get some soul with The Nightowls at Smith’s Olde Bar! “As if” your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series screening of Amy Heckerling’s CLUELESS (1995) at 2:30pm/7:30pm! It’s a Southern rock ‘n’ blues revival with the Allman Goldflies Band and the Melody Trucks Band at City Winery! Get tormented with Bloodlet at The Earl! Get down with Matthew Sweet and Young Antiques at Terminal West! Get the psycho blues with Lincoln Durham and The Ghost Wolves at Vinyl! Catch a double feature of Kevin Reynolds’ WATERWORLD (1995) and George Miller’s MAD MAX FURY ROAD (2015) at Noni’s Bar & Deli during their Cinema Paradiso film event at 10pm! Dance your way to Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) for a screening of Alan Parker’s FAME (1980) at 7:15pm! Catch Studio Ghibli Fest 2018’s screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s PORCO ROSSO (1992) at theatres across Atlanta at 7pm [AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan); and AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow)]! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down with their Blues Jam! Get the blues with Bob Page & The Boys at Blind Willie’s! Or blues it up with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! 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, May 24
Get rocked, revved and honky tonked with a weekend chock full of the hillbilly persuasion, murder ballads and more with Bubbapalooza 2018 killing it with four full days of rockin’ tunes, BBQ, raffles and fun at The Star Bar! 
Rock on down and kick off the weekend with Sash the Bash, Roadkill Debutante, Al Shelton and The Trouble Obscene! Rock on down to the Buckhead Theatre for a night with Everclear, Marcy Playground and Local H! Rock out at The Highlander with DJ Howiestein and Mister Wilson’s Over the Edge Record Party! Spend the night with Fairshake, Like Mike and Psycho Hill at the Red Light Café! Ruby Boots dishes out a night of Americana at Smith’s Olde Bar! Bluegrass it up with Carbon Leaf and Katie Rose at Terminal West! Yacht Rock Revue deliver their Led Zeppelin vs. The Who Rock Fight at Venkman’s! Nitty gritty it up with Kool Kat Spike Fullerton and Ghost Rider’s Car Club at the Clermont Lounge! Get some soul and spend the night with Jeff Bradshaw at ReVel! Cabbagetown brings you a taste of the Redneck Underground with their Cabbagetown Concert Series #3 featuring Rodeo Twister and Sweatin’ Bullets! Funk it up with Wasted Potential Brass Band at The Moonshadow Tavern in Tucker! Get rocked at The Earl with Steve Nebraska & The Bluestems, The Dround Hounds and The Stoplight Roses! 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 of rockin’ island tunes and killer island cocktails! Blues it up with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and The Atlanta Horns at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 25
Day 2 of Bubbapalooza 2018 at The Star Bar raises a ruckus with Rodeo Twister, Kool Kat Spike Fullerton and the Ghost Riders Car Club, The Sideburners, The Rocketz and Genki Genki Panic! Kool 
Kat Rich Desantis and The Street Fighting Band pay tribute to The Rolling Stones at The Vista Room! The Plaza Theater kills it with a screening of Dario Argento’s DEEP RED (1976)! Shimmy on down to City Winery for a night with Wasabassco Burlesque! Spend the night with Radford Windham at the Crimson Moon Café! Blues rock it up with Brother Hawk, The Artisanals and Blis at The Earl! Get old-timey with Rooster Cogburn & Cougar Sweat, Raps Moran, Zephaniah Ohora and Andrea Colburn & Mud Moseley at Eddie’s Attic! Or rock out with The Mids, Magoo’s Heros and The Reserves at The Highlander! On the Border pays tribute to The Eagles at MadLife Stage & Studios! Folk it up with Josh Rouse at Terminal West! Rock out with Appetite For Destruction as they pay tribute to Guns ‘N’ Roses at the Variety Playhouse! ATL Collective relives Sade’s LOVER’S ROCK at Venkman’s! Catch a screening of Randal Kleiser’s GREASE (1978) at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre at 8pm! Blues it up with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and The Atlanta Horns at Northside Tavern! Blues it up with George Hughely & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Get down with Groove Rocket 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, May 26
Time travel with Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. ghost host with the most, Prof. Morte and his Silver Scream Spook Show at The Plaza Theater with a screening of George Pal’s sci-fi classic THE TIME MACHINE (1960) at 12:30pm and 10pm! The Star Bar and Bubbapalooza 2018 get jangled ‘n’ sleazy with Day 3’s rockin’ lineup with Dusty Booze & The Baby Haters, AM Gold, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah, Gravy Boat, Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause, Andrea Colburn & Mud Moseley, Kool Kat Rev. Andy Hawley and Southern Ska Syndicate, Kitty Rose & The Rattlers, The Disasternauts, The Mystery Men? and Kool Kat Sen. Artie Mondello with The Mondellos! Make your way to the Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival through May 27! Get folksy and artsy during the annual Finster Fest celebrating Howard Finster in Summerville through May 27! The Plaza Theater kills it with a screening of Dario Argento’s DEEP RED (1976)! Haunt on down to Amsterdam Atlanta for Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s COFFIN CLASSICS: Goth Industrial Darkwave Music Video Night featuring Goth, dark 80s and more! Boogie down to The Basement for a night with The Atlanta Disco Society! Jazz it up at Piedmont Park during the Atlanta Jazz Festival featuring a killer line-up including Dianne Reeves; the Tia Fuller Quartet; The Ingrid Jensen Collective; Jane Bunnett & the Maqueque; the Yoko Miwa Trio; Jazzmeia Horn; the Anat Cohen Quartet; Terri Lynn Carrington & Social Science; Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek & Tomas Fujiwara; the Linda May Han Oh Quintet; Shayna Steele; Camille Thurman; Sasha Berliner Escapades and more! ATL Collective relives Sade’s STRONGER THAN PRIDE at Venkman’s! Get some soul with Vivien Green at City Winery! Bluegrass it up with Pickled Holler at the 
Crimson Moon Café! Psyche-rock out with Michael Rault at The Earl! Get down with Alex Guthrie, Cody Matlock and Kristopher James at Eddie’s Attic! Purple Madness pays tribute to Prince at MadLife Stage & Studios! Rumours pays tribute to Fleetwood Mac at the Variety Playhouse! Funk it up with Zydefunk at The Vista Room! Get intergalactic and jam it up with The Jauntee at Smith’s Olde Bar! Blues it up with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and The Atlanta Horns at Northside Tavern! Venkman’s screens Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989) during their Princess Brunch! Get old-school with The Way Back Band at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Spend the night with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 27
Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order) & The Light rock out at the Variety Playhouse! Get the rockin’ blues 
with Robert Finley at The Earl! Swing on by The Vista Room for Joe Gransden’s Big Band Sunday Dance Party! Who’s Bad delivers The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience at City Winery! Stomp on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues for a night with Pistol Hill! Get folksy with Alex Guthrie at Eddie’s Attic! Jazz it up at Piedmont Park during the Atlanta Jazz Festival featuring a another killer line-up with Jon Batiste with the Dap-Kings; The Bad Plus; M.F. Productions’ Latin Jazz All Stars; The Russell Malone Quartet; The Lao Tizer Quartet ft. Eric Marienthal; Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles; Sidewalk Chalk; Richie Goods & the Goods Project; The Georgia Horns; Matthew Whitaker; Morgan Guerin; Antoine Roney Trio ft. Kojo Roney and more! Celebrate 31 years rockin’ out at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club! Bubbapalooza 2018 brings you Mark “Porkchop” Holder, The Barnstormers and more at The Star Bar! Make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with Kool Kat Rev. Andy Hawley and Southern Ska Syndicate, Control This, The Duppies and Kitty Rose & The Rattlers! Get funky with Risky Biscuit at Tin Roof Cantina! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series screening of Randal Kleiser’s GREASE (1978) at 2:30pm/7:30pm! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar with Eddie Tigner! And get the rockin’ blues with Garrett Collins at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!
Ongoing
Noni’s Bar & Deli hosts their Cinema Paradiso film event, screening two films beginning at 10pm, through May 31!
Get really retro at the Georgia Renaissance Festival, jousting through June 4!
The Fox Theatre presents HAMILTON, through June 10!
Emory Arts presents their exhibition The Dream Machine: The Beat Generation & the Counterculture, 1940-1975 in the Schatten Gallery, through June 17!
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.
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