ATLRetro

As I said at the start of the week, there are some tough choices this weekend, and a few additions not included in This Week to make it even harder. Whatever you choose, hope you have a ravishingly Retro good time!

Thursday Feb. 24

The Atlanta Opera presents the opening night of George Gershwin’s PORGY & BESS, a American folk opera about two lovers struggling to find happiness in Charleston’s Catfish Row. Find out more about the production at the Cobb Energy Centre which runs through March 6, in KOOL KAT OF THE WEEK spotlighting Costume Coordinator Joanna Schmink.

Good grief, CB’s an adolescent now, his little sister’s a goth, his ex-girlfriend’s in a mental hospital for setting too many fires, his friends are all drunk, and when his dog dies from rabies after killing a “little yellow bird,” he starts to question the existence of an afterlife.That’s the wacked-out premise of DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD, a black comedy inspired by the popular PEANUTS comic strip and performed by the new Fabrefaction Theatre Company, which premieres today and runs through March 13.

ATLRetro will finally be joining the Last Of The Red Hot Truc-ers as Ghost Riders Car Club celebrates Vietnamese New Year with classic ’50s honkytonk and rockabilly for the last of their February Thursday night free gigs at Pho Truc in Clarkston. For a sneak peek, read Feb. 1 ’s KOOL KAT OF THE WEEK with guitarist Spike Fullerton. Listen to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s. And Breeze Kings bring on the blues at Northside Tavern.

Friday Feb. 25

Get back to rock’s rockabilly, country and Western swing roots with Big Sandy & His Flyrite Boys, with special guests Caroline & the Ramblers and The Stumblers, at Star Bar. It’s a soulful night at Highland Inn Ballroom with The Soulphonics & Ruby Velle and George Hughley with Johnny & the Lakewood 5. The Nick Longo Band jazzes up Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis & IMAX. And go really retro with a futuristic twist at AnachroCon, a three-day steampunk convention, which kicks off today in grande style with The Gaslamp Gala, a concert extravaganza organized and presented by The Artifice Club‘s Dr. Q, at 7 PM. Performers include The Ghosts Project with Nathaniel Johnstone (Abney Park) and Play it with Moxie, a ballroom jazz band. Admission is included in your AnachroCon membership, with VIP seating available for $5. All festivities are at the Holiday Inn Select Perimeter, 4386 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.

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It’s a veritable luau feast for Retro activities in Atlanta this week, and ATLRetro has some tough decisions about what to do, especially on Saturday night.

Monday Feb. 21

Joe Gransden & his smokin’ 16-piece orchestra present another Big Band Night of jazz at Café 290, featuring Sinatra, Bennett, Basie and Joe’s originals.

Tuesday Feb. 22

The current incarnation of seminal progressive rockers The Church play their haunting melodies not just under the Milky Way but at Variety Playhouse. Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra are at Symphony Hall. Or if you live on the east side, swing dance to the Atlanta-New York Connection at the unlikely location of Northlake Mall’s Food Garden starting at 6 PM. Then head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM.

Wednesday Feb. 23

“If Elvis had been a woman, he probably would have sounded just like Kim Lenz,” says Rolling Stone. Decide for yourself when the scarlet-haired rockabilly queen brings her fiery voice to the Star Bar with her band The Jaguars. And if the night weren’t rockin’ enough, local faves Atomic Rockets and Junior, Dolan & Cash are also on the bill. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at The Glenwood. Catch Joe Gransden every Wednesday night at 8:30 PM at Jerry Farber’s Side Door. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays presented by Godiva Vodka, at Pub 71 in Brookhaven, starting at 8 PM.

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The weekend is so close you can almost taste it.  As usual, ATLRetro reminds you about what’s happening, including a new section at the end with ongoing events such as theater performances and exhibitions.

Thursday Feb. 17

Celebrate one of the most dynamic decades in pop music history when LIBBY’S AT THE EXPRESS PRESENTS THOSE FABULOUS FIFTIES, featuring songs made famous by Nat “King” Cole, Rosemary Clooney, The Mills Brothers, Buddy Holly, Hank Williams Sr., and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. The variety show stars local chanteuses Lisa Paige, Wendy Melkonian and Libby Whittemore, with musical arrangements by Robert Strickland, tonight through Sunday Feb. 20 at 7:30 PM at Actor’s Express in west Midtown.

Ghost Riders Car Club celebrates Vietnamese New Year with classic ’50s honkytonk and rockabilly every Thursday in February at Pho Truc in Clarkston. Listen to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s. The Joe Gransden Trio is at Atmosphere from 7-10 p.m. And Breeze Kings play the blues at Northside Tavern.

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OK, lovers, it’s back to the grind. It’s too late to check out ATLRetro’s top 3 picks for Valentine’s night, so let’s get right to the rest of the week.

Tuesday Feb. 15

Joe Gransden is back at Twain’s in Decatur for a jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. Or head back in time and over there to A NOVEMBER DAY: A WAR STORY, a timeless fable about friendship set against the backdrop of World War I, presented today by Thingumajig Theatre of West Yorskshire, England, today through Sun. at The Center for Puppetry Arts. Performers use hand, rod and shadow puppets, live music and a transforming set to tell the tale of a British soldier in WWI and his unexpected friendship with a stray dog. Suitable for ages 10 and up, with a teen and adult workshop on Sat. Feb. 19.

Wednesday Feb. 16

THE RED BALLOON takes flight at Theatre du Reve in 7 Stages’ Backstage Theater from Feb. 16-27. The stage adaptation uses puppetry and live original music to bring to life the classic 1956 French movie about a boy who befriends a shiny red balloon. Suitable for ages 4 and up.

Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at The Glenwood. Catch Joe Gransden every Wednesday night at 8:30 PM at Jerry Farber’s Side Door. Alice Cooper meets Kiss Southern-fried in Red Rocket Deluxe, headlining at Star Bar. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays presented by Godiva Vodka, at Pub 71 in Brookhaven, starting at 8 PM.

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Vampires, Vietnamese food & rockabilly, va-va-voom and vintage soul at the Star Bar, Valentine’s weekend promises plenty to do for lovers and anti-lovers…

Thursday Feb. 10

The Atlanta Ballet put the vampire into Valentine’s a few years ago with its seductive performance of DRACULA. Now it’s the Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra’s turn to go blood red with HAUS VON DRACUL, PART 1, an original rock opera by veterans of Atlanta’s underground music scene, opening tonight at 7 Stages Theatre in Little 5 Points and playing through Sun. Feb. 13. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out ATLRetro’s preview with Chris Love, aka Jonathan Harker here.

Also, Ghost Riders Car Club celebrates Vietnamese New Year with classic ’50s honkytonk and rockabilly every Thursday in February at Pho Truc in Clarkston. For a taste, see last week’s KOOL KAT OF THE WEEK with guitarist Spike Fullerton. Or listen to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s.

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From vintage Valentines to roses and chocolate, many of the romantic traditions that we take for granted now go right back to the early 20^th century.  And then there’s always the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. With both in mind, this week is dedicated to lovers, but there’s also plenty to do if you’re drinking alone or prefer machine gun etiquette.

Monday Feb. 7

Tonight is Big Band Night with trumpeter/vocalist Joe Gransden and a smokin’ 16-piece big band playing jazz originals and favorites from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Ray Charles and more at Café 290. Cover is just $10 and Joe’s special guest tonight is the Lovett-Ellington Jazz Ensemble.

Tuesday Feb. 8

It’s too very different nights at the movies at the Fox and the Plaza. First at the Fox, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival opens with JEWS AND BASEBALL: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY, a rousing homage to the national pastime which charts the historic and cultural contributions of great Jewish major leaguers such as Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg and Yogi Berra. Showtime is 7:30 PM, with a swanky preshow reception for Red Carpet VIP ticket buyers at 5:30. General admission tickets are $10, but kids 18 or under wearing a baseball cap or baseball or softball uniform. Or kids battle nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard when Splatter Cinema goes back to the ‘80s with THE GATE (1987) at the Plaza. The fun starts at 9 with a chance to get your free photo taken in a realistic recreation of a scene from the movie and to check out the merchandise table.  On the musical front, grab your horn and join Joe Gransden again in a jazz jam session starting at 9 PM at Twain’s in Decatur.

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Apologies that Wednesday Happy Hour and Supper Club has not posted yet. As I mentioned, last week Dante Stephenson, owner of Dante’s Down the Hatch, gave me a tour of some of this favorite artifacts which decorate the one-of-a-kind interior of his classic Atlanta restaurant. To be honest, there’s so much great material and photos that I just want to get it right, so bear with me. The piece may post this week or I may hold it until next Wednesday. In the meantime, without further ado, here are some ATLRetro picks for this weekend.

Thursday Feb. 3

OK, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901, but it’s not a stretch to say that his vibrant posters and prints of showgirls, nightclub stars and the café culture influenced the 20th century romantic view of Paris and still inspire today’s burlesque performers. Look for an ATLRetro review/preview soon of the High Museum of Art’s dynamic new exhibition, TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND FRIENDS: THE IRENE AND HOWARD STEIN COLLECTION, which opened last Saturday and runs through May 1. After night falls, catch Ghost Riders Car Club at Pho Truc in Clarkston celebrating Vietnamese New Year every Thursday in February with classic ’50s honkytonk and rockabilly. Don’t miss this week’s KOOL KAT OF THE WEEK with guitarist Spike Fullerton. Also, the Breeze Kings bring the blues to Northside Tavern. Or listen to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs.

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OK, get ready, get set for the second week of ATLRetro’s top picks of things to do this week. In some ways, it’s a pretty quiet one, especially for anyone looking to swing back to the ‘50s, or all the kool kats could just be lying low before a big Valentine week next week. But remember we’re just getting started, so if you know of a cool happening we’ve missed, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.

Monday Jan. 31

On a budget? Catch a free performance by Austin rocker extraordinaire Alejandro Escovedo at Decatur CD. And what’s more retro than a beer named Vinyl? The micro-brew by Magic Hat Brewing Co. is on tap, and according to them, it’s “a scrumptious spring lager that sails in on her shining wings as the spinning sun returns.” To say that spring is here two days before Groundhog Day may sound a tad optimistic despite the wonderful weekend weather, but ATLRetro thinks it sure sounds worth sipping. If the free show makes you want more, Escovedo plays the second of two nights of all ages gigs at Eddie’s Attic just a few blocks away tonight.

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By the clicking of these keys, something Retro this way comes… The first installment of “This Week in Retro Atlanta” won’t be as complete as I hope to make it. But everything has to start somewhere—or in this case, some time. So the time has come simply to just get the first installment of ATLRetro’s top picks of things to do this week posted.

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