by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor
Shake a tail feather and come see what we’ve dug up for you This Week in ATLRetro!
Monday, February 24
Swing on by the Georgia Ensemble Theatre & Conservatory for Joe Gransden’s Big Band Concert 
Series! Don’t forget to catch the tail end of the 20th Annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival running through Feb. 27 at venues across Atlanta! 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!” 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! 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 25
Make your way to Landmark Midtown Art Cinema as they continue another killer Classics Series with a screening of Bob Rafelson’s FIVE EASY PIECES (1970) at 7pm! Get your party on at Blind Willie’s at their Mardi Gras Party featuring The Atlanta Crawdaddy’s! It’s Mardi Gras Madness at The Vista Room with Funk Cake & Fermentable Friends featuring The Black Sheep Ensemble, Tray Dahl (Jugtime Ragband) and more! Get rocked with the Mikey Erg Band, The Slow Death and more at The Earl! Get the rockin’ blues with the Crosstown Allstars at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s! Hula on down to Waller’s Coffee Shop for a Ukulele Jam! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!
Wednesday, February 26
Get rocked at 529 with Wildstreet, Voltage, JONNY D and Heretica! Make your way to the Carter Center for a night with Erik Larson (THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY) discussing his newest book, THE SPLENDID 
AND THE VILE! Get down with the Francisco Vidal Band and Daniel Toole at Eddie’s Attic! Get psychedelic with Howlin’ Rain, Sunwatchers and A Tower to the Stars at The Earl! Get criminal and catch a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER (1972) 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)! Emory Cinematheque continues their African-Americans in American Film Series with a screening of Taylor Hackford’s AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982) at 7:30pm in White Hall 208! The Highlander rocks out with their Punk/Metal/New Wave Karaoke Night, every Wednesday! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern for a rockin’ night of blues with the Tyler Neal Band! Get the blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! 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 27
Take a walk down the “Dead Carpet” for the 4th annual Women in Horror Film Festival founded by Festival Directors Kool Kat Vanessa Ionta Wright (RAINY SEASON) and Samantha Kolesnik, killing it through Feb 29 at the The Earl Smith Strand Theater in Marietta. You won’t want to miss a horrorific lineup of shorts and feature-length films, vendors and special guests including Heather Langenkamp (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Amanda Wyss (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Adam Marcus (JASON GOES TO HELL), Marianne Maddalena (SCREAM; THE HILLS HAVE EYES) and more! Stomp on down to The Earl for a night with the Country Westerns, Teddy & The Rough Riders and Sunset Pig! Or Beer & Lounge it up at the Clermont Lounge with Chrome Castle and Metal McDonald! 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 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 28
It’s Day 2 of the Women in Horror Film Festival, so come on down and get your horror fix with a helluva line-
up of killer films! Haunt on down to The Highlander for a night with El Capitan, Kool Kats The Casket Creatures, Captain & Maybelle and more! Get rocked at The Earl during their Winter Weekender ATL through March 1! Make your way to the Out Front Theatre Company for In Vibrant Color: Celebrating Queer Black Cinema featuring a screening of Dee Rees’ BESSIE (2015), which explores the life of Bessie Smith, and more! Rock out at The Vista Room with The Spirit of Rush and Pink Zeppelin! Get the rockin’ blues with Joe Bonamassa at The Fox Theatre! Get on down to Buteco for FLASHBACK FRIDAY featuring a night of global 80s, 90s and 2o00s videos! Rockabilly it up with Slim & The Gems at Motorheads! Get funky with The Motet at Terminal West! 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 29
It’s your last chance to get terror-fied at the Women in Horror Film Festival, so come on out and get horrorfied with screenings of Stacey Palmer’s “Toothache,” Viva Tolar’s “Killer Kids,” (Kool Kat Dayna Noffke’s daughter) and more! Get rocked at The Earl during night 2 of Winter Weekender ATL through March 1! Just Roxie (formerly Roxie Watson) gets down at Eddie’s Attic! Get the rockin’ blues with Joe Bonamassa for a second night at The Fox Theatre! The Vista Room celebrates Capricorn Records with their Capricorn Record Revue featuring Chris Hicks (Marshall Tucker Band), Tommy Talton (Greg Allman Band), Bill Stewart (Greg Allman Band), Mike Veal and more! Get funky with The Motet for a second night at Terminal West! Boogie down to The Highlander for Destination Unknown – ‘80s New Wave Dance Party! Get adventurous and catch a matinee of Randal Kleiser’s BIG TOP PEE WEE (1988) at The Plaza Theater at 1pm! Blues rock it up with The Trouble Tones at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! 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, March 1
Get thrilled with a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) 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)! Beyond the Yellow Brick Road pays tribute to Elton John at The Vista Room! Get rocked at The Earl during day 3 of Winter Weekender ATL! Get the blues with Jet Black 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 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival celebrates its 20th Anniversary and kicks off tonight, running through Feb. 27 at venues across Atlanta! (LAST CHANCE!)
The Children’s Museum of Atlanta presents their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secrets of the Sewer exhibit, kicking tail through May 10!
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!
Have a deadly good time during Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s COFFIN CLASSICS: Goth Industrial Dance every 4th Saturday 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.
help now and see art later here! Get your vintage jewelry with Jezebel Blue and your retro style fix with 2the9s Retro! Check out our Retro Review of Dario Argento’s DEEP RED (1975), and stream it on Amazon Prime! Want some cool vintage art? Why not check out our Kool Kat Derek Yaniger, and creator of our ATLRetro logo! Or for some Weird words, check out author and Kool Kat Michael Wehunt! Check out our Retro Review of Frank Pavich’s JODOROWSKY’S DUNE (2013), and stream it at Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube and more! Or check out Kool Kat Daniel Griffith’s Ballyhoo Motion Pictures for his long list of DVD/Blu-ray extras and documentaries!
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