ATLRetro

Joe Gransden.

Monday, March 4

First and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Cafe 290 with 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. It’s a Dead Man’s Party at Monday Nite Resurrection at Mary’s in East Atlanta Village, featuring episodes of THE WALKING DEAD (8-10) and then DJ Wolf digging up the best in 80s new wave/pop/dance (10 – 2:30). Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam featuring blues and southern soul singer, Lola Gulley. Enjoy BBQ and Pead Boy and the Pork Bellies at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Tuesday, March 5

John Travolta disco-fest SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) is this week’s retro cinema classic  at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern. Kool Kat Calu Cordeira mixes tiki libations at 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 starting at 9 p.m., or you can blues it down with Nathan Nelson & Entertainment Crackers at Northside Tavern. Head over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for some old school R & B, rock ‘n roll and blues with Gray Sartin.

Wednesday, March 6

Self-described “rockabilly-porno-metal” band Fiend Without a Face headlines with Till Someone Loses an Eye, featuring this week’s Kool Kat Aileen Loy, and Ricer to make it not just another dark and interesting night at the Star Bar. Catch SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) for a second night at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern. 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. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck brings the gospel blues to Northside Tavern. Billy George blues it down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Thursday, March 7

Universal Horror meets funk when Here Come The Mummies unwraps their instruments at The Variety Playhouse. Give a rockin’ send -off to SXSW for the District Attorneys, featuring Kool Kat Drew Beskin, at 10 High. Also playing are Athens folk-pop singer-songwriter Ruby Rabbitfoot and more. The Atlanta Burlesque and Cabaret Society meets every first Thursday of the month at Elliot Street Pub. It’s a super alt-garage night with six bands headlined by Nashville via Memphis’ Useless Eaters and also including Abby Go-Go, Ghost Bikini and more at Star Bar, and best, of all there’s no cover – yup, it’s free! Ghost Riders Car Club, featuring Kool Kat Spike Fullerton, honkytonks it up at Atlanta’s favorite famous dive strip bar, the Clermont Lounge. Relax with a cocktail while listening to a live band or DJ playing Retro-Polynesian luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, at vintage tiki bar, Trader Vic’s, every Thursday night. 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. Culliton, Dean & Hall provide the strumming at Red Light Cafe‘s weekly Bluegrass Thursday.  SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) plays a final night at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern.

Friday, March 8

Mosey on down to the Star Bar to hear Brooklyn’s the Defibulators, who blend bluegrass, country, honky tonk, rockabilly, Dixieland jazz, punk and maybe a touch of anti-folk into an intoxicating, good-time mélange that reinvents the conventions of country music with a CBGB-meets-Grand Ole Opry feel. Also playing are Julea and Her Dear Johns, featuring singer-songwriter Kool Kat Julea Thomerson of The Bareknuckle Betties, and Canton gritty honk tonk band The Mighty Bison. It’s An Evening with the Cowboy Junkies at the Variety Playhouse. Cooper Tisdale moves from funky jazz to groovy pop with special guest vocalist Octavia Jones Samba under the dinosaurs at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-Devilles rockabilly it up at Cinema Tavern in Villa Rica. Little Joey’s Big Band blues it down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Head to Northside Tavern to hear Mudcat and his Piedmont Playboys. Terry Flynn Band honkytonks it at Big Tex in Decatur.

Saturday, March 9

Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-’60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies. Be sure to be there Saturday to see them Saturday night at Variety Playhouse. Carnivale strikes Red Light Cafe with a bonafide Southern Fried Sideshow featuring the incredible human feats of Atlanta’s own Captain & Maybelle; music by the lovely ladies of  all-female Elvis tribute band, the Pelvis Breastlies, as well as juggler extraordinaire Jamie Danger and ever-charming mustached hosts the Rose Bros. It’s Rockabilly Madness when Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-Devilles shake up Marietta’s Dixie Tavern, Truett Lollis brings old-school Southern rock to The Family Dog. Tommy Dean Trio jazzes up Big Tex. Legendary blues pianist Ike Stubblefield plays Northside Tavern. The Jumpin’ Jukes leap into Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. As usual, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, March 10

Support the horniest little performance art troupe in L5P and pick up some sweet and sinister eats at The Baphomettes’ Bake Sale from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club. Be sure to enter the raffle for a chance to win an ATLRetro T-shirt featuring our logo by DEREKArt, coffee from Coffee Shop of Horrors (co-owned by our wondrous webmistress Roxana Stan) and MANY other swell prizes! This week’s Kool Kat Aileen Loy sings again when Till Someone Loses an Eye launches the first of three monthly second Sunday concerts at The Corner Tavern in L5P. Recent Kool Kat Kitty Love‘s Cheeky Belles are back for a Spring Fling in this month’s Kitty Love’s Sultry Sundays at Red Light Cafe.  Francine Reed and The Trio jazz up The Family Dog. Join Uncle Sugar at Northside Tavern to wrap up your weekend or check out some down and dirty Snake Legs blues at Fatt Matt’s Rib Shack.

Frida Kahlo. Photo credit: Nickolas Muray

Ongoing

Make a date with FRIDA AND DIEGO: PASSION, POLITICS AND PAINTING, a blockbuster special exhibition showcasing the works of one of art’s most famous couples, at The High Museum of Art through May 12.

Learn about  a different side to the third American president and Constitution author in the Really Retro special exhibition Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: How the Word is Passed Down at the Atlanta History Center through July 7.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night is Retro Cinema at Movie Tavern. Check out classic movies on the big screen weekly at 7:30 p.m.