ATLRetro

Friday, April 29

Inman Park Festival launches from noon to 4 PM with day one of its Tour of Homes, quite possibly Atlanta’s oldest ongoing annual peek behind the doors of private residences. The fun of this tour is not just the historic Craftsman and Victorian structures but the interior decor which often reflects that quirky artsy character of the neighborhood’s residents. Also launching today is the Druid Hills Tour of Homes (10 AM to 5 PM) which this year features houses built from 1918 to 1955 in the city’s first driving suburb originally designed by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Flashback to the ’80s with Brazilian heavy metal/death metal band Sepultura at Masquerade. Wauchope Krewe plays a mix of New Orleans funk and R&B, along with blues, jazz, Latin and original music, at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Joe Gransden and Kenny Banks jazz up The Mansion on Peachtree. Little G Weevil brings the blues to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack,and Electromatics fuse blues, jazz and soul at Northside Tavern.

Saturday April 30

The Inman Park and Druid Hills Home Tours continue, and the Inman Park Festival shows why it’s Atlanta’s most creative street festival from a bodacious artist and vendors market through the Victorian neighborhood to a one-of-a-kind parade at 2 PM. Plenty of live music, too, with today’s Retro highlights including Zydeco T at 1 PM, crime-fightin superhero Falcon Lords at 4:45 PM, 17-piece big band Usual Suspects at 5:30 PM, and ’20s ragtime-inspired Blair Crimmins & the Hookers at 6:45 PM.

In an extra terror-ific treat, Professor Morte and the guys and ghouls of the Silver Scream Spookshow screen the 1958 Ray Harryhausen monsterpiece THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD at the Plaza Theatre with a kids matinee at 1 PM and adult show at 10 PM. Read the review by Mark Arson here. Reviving another type of vintage performance, the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company presents Thomas Fuller‘s THE DANCER IN THE DARK, inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft mythos spawned in the 1920s and ’30s with a flavoring of New Mexico, at 2:30 PM at the Academy Theatre in Avondale Estates.

It’s Rockabilly/Redneck Underground heaven as Southern Culture on the Skids headlines the Star Bar with Ghost Riders Car Club opening. Brush up on your GRCC with ATLRetro’s Kool Kat interview with Spike Fullerton from back in February. TheBlues Barons play Fat Matt’s. DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno.

Sunday May 1

The Inman Park Festival offers up a final day of fun, including old-time-Western-inspired Cowboy Envy at 2:15 PM and Whole Lotta Dixie, a traditional Dixieland band with a knack for applying that sound to  ’60s and ’70s hits, at 3:30 PM. Six-piece string band The Groundhawgs fuses bluegrass, old-time, jazz and swing, poetry and blues, classic country and a little bit of Southern rock during “dunch” between 1 and 4 PM at The Earl.

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Monday April 18

Swing to Joe Gransden, trumpet player extraordinaire, and his 16-piece orchestra and celebrate the release of his newest recording this week during Big Band Night at Cafe 290 on the first and third Monday of every month. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam.

Tuesday April 19

Head back to the ’70s and ’80s with Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band at Philips Arena. Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. The Emory Jazz Ensemble is also playing tonight at the Schwartz Center.  J.T. Speed plays the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Notorious DJ Romeo Cologne spins the best ‘70s funk and disco at 10 High in Virginia-Highland. Catch Tuesday Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon, featuring live video mixes of ’80s, ’90s, and 2Ks hits.

Wednesday April 20

Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Deacon Brandon Reeves and Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck bring on the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and Northside Tavern respectively. 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.

Thursday April 21

Not sure either of these bands is exactly Retro, but they certainly are wacky, making this perhaps the quirkiest night of the year in Atlanta concerts. At The Earl, forget Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots, Atlanta’s own crimefightin’ Falcon Lords face off in a no-holds-barred rock challenge against Captured by Robots promises Sci-fi fun with lead singer JBOT and the rest of his band robots built by him because he couldn’t get along with people. However, the crafty cyborgs have enslaved him by sticking a chip in his head, so they’re all robots now. Retro question, do they obey Asimov’s laws of robotics or are they more the Cyberdine kind? Nearby at the Masquerade, Japan’s Peelander-Z are well-known to Anime Weekend Atlanta attendees for their anime-inspired brightly-colored superhero suits, silly hats and their crazy antics which involve some serious audience interaction! Oh, and some dude named Charlie Sheen (I think he was pretty good in that movie PLATOON back in the ’80s but now he’s gone a little wild) is at the Fox Theatre tonight, too.

Cadillac Jones serves up some serious jazz funk at Atlanta’s tastiest new concert venue, Kathmandu Kitchen and Grill, formerly Pho Truc, in Clarkston from 8-10 PM. 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. Wayne K. Li, Oliver Professor of Practice in Design and Engineering at Georgia Tech, delivers a gallery talk on “Experience in Motor Design” and get a chance to catch the special exhibit PASSIONE ITALIANA: DESIGN OF THE ITALIAN MOTORCYCLE during MODA‘s Thursday night Drink in Design from 6-8 PM. Read ATLRetro’s Kool Kat piece on curator Joe Remling here. Party ‘70s style with DJ Romeo Cologne at Aurum Lounge.  Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.Johnny Roquemore & the Apostles of Bluegrass are on the bill for Bluegrass Thursday at Red Light Cafe.

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Last week was fairly quiet when it came to Retro-inspired activities in Atlanta, So ATLRetro took a bit of a rest. This week starts slowly, too, but once Saturday hits, even I’m not sure what to do. Let’s just say EVERYTHING happens all at once and ATLRetro revs back up, too, with a bunch of special features including a bedazzling look back at last month’s Southern Fried Burlesque courtesy of the tantalizing Talloolah Love, an exclusive preview of Saturday night’s The Chamber Reunion courtesy of Kool Kat of the Week Mon Cherie, the Dogwood Festival celebrates its 75th anniversary with two vintage amusement rides, and more.

Monday April 11

An acclaimed musician whom B.B. King says has “soul,” D.B. Rielly takes rock and country back to its roots at Smith’s Olde Bar, with back-to-the-basics, ’70s-rock-inspired Saturn 5 and alt-folk Little Brave also on the bill. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam.

Tuesday April 12

Splatter Cinema travels back to 1985 with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE at 9:30 PM at the Plaza Theatre. While ATLRetro reviewer Mark Arson admits the first sequel may not be the most creative of the Krueger movies, it still features a lot of fun scares, and you know the Splatter gang will dream up a photo op that will haunt your sleep.

Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. J.T. Speed plays the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Notorious DJ Romeo Cologne spins the best ‘70s funk and disco at 10 High in Virginia-Highland. Catch Tuesday Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon, featuring live video mixes of ’80s, ’90s, and 2Ks hits. Or go really retro with the Atlanta Opera‘s COSI FAN TUTTE at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. In Mozart’s comedic masterpiece, two Italian officers boast of their fiancees’ faithfulness, only to have a clever friend put it to the test.

Wednesday April 13

Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Deacon Brandon Reeves and Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck bring on the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and Northside Tavern respectively. 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.

Thursday April 14

ATHENS BURNING, a documentary about the history of the historic Georgia Theatre, a key venue in the college town’s famous music scene, screens at The Plaza Theatre at 7:30 PM. Cowboy Envy strums up some mighty fine traditional and original Western tunes at Atlanta’s tastiest new concert venue, Kathmandu Kitchen and Grill, formerly Pho Truc, in Clarkston from 8-10 PM. 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. Watch the classic Gregory Peck–Audrey Hepburn romance-on-a-motorscooter movie ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953), drink some wine, hear Free Poems on Demand, and check out PASSIONE ITALIANA: DESIGN OF THE ITALIAN MOTORCYCLE during MODA‘s Thursday night Drink in Design from 6-8 PM. Party ‘70s style with DJ Romeo Cologne at Aurum Lounge.  Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

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