ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Contributing Writer

‘This Week’ in Retro Atlanta promises the jolt you’ve needed to kick Old Man Winter’s tail and spring into action like the good little misfits and miscreants you are! So come on out, make a little mischief and rock out with the rest of us! From juke joints to musicals to tantalizing burlesque, Retro Atlanta has it all!  So, get out and get hep while the gettin’s good!

Monday, January 13

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!’ Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!  Pork on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for an extra helping of the rockin’ blues with Pead Boy & The Pork Bellies!  And blues it on down to Blind Willie’s for a little classic and 60s rockin’ blues with Blues Station!

Tuesday, January 14

Shimmy on down to the Red Light Café and get tempted with a taste of Burlesque and a little debauchery and ballyhoo!  Spend the night with Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and her saucy Sirens of the South as their Tease Tuesday event feeds every fantasy, with special guest, Paco Fish, exposing his tantalizing ‘boylesque’ fervor as part of his Burlesque Vanguard Tour! You can’t beat 10 acts for 10 bucks, so, come on out and get sultry with a little Vaudeville, a little variety a whole lot to savor!

Boogie on down to The Star Bar and get groovy with The Funk Godfather, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Quasi Mandisco every other Tuesday! Get your fill of some rockin’ Americana with Howe Gelb with special guest Tracy Shed at Eddie’s Attic! If you’re craving some old school rockin’ blues, come on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for the JT Speed Band and some rockin’ BBQ! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues or maybe hit up Blind Willie’s for an evening of rockin’ blues with BooHoo Ramblers! Get your dancin’ shoes on and boogie on down to Steve’s Live Music for The Georgia Polka Connection with Don Erdman, Marty Martin and Matthew Kaminski! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers gets bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern. And go on the lam with Carey Grant at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern for a thrilling night of mystery and suspense in Alfred Hitchcock’s, TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm!

Wednesday, January 15

Get zombified and rock out at the Elliott Street Pub with The Living Deads and their psychobilly horror punk! Or get some moody psych rock and post punk at The Earl with Hip to Death, The Hotels, the Lowbanks and Plague of Pilgrims! For some retro pop, stroll on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for Will Mitchell, Ghostrain and Willie & The Giant! Get folksy at the Variety Playhouse with the Jefferson Airplane spinoff, Hot Tuna with their lively acoustic show and the bluesy rock of Leon Russell! Catch The Hollidays slingin’ their 60s soul and rock n roll at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues while the John Sosebee Band delivers some country blues and old-timey Appalachian juke joint rock at Blind Willie’s! Or get funky at Big Tex at their Widespread Wednesday with Confunktion Junktion! It’s Ladies Night at
Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.  And take a trip to the French Riviera as Northlake Festival Movie Tavern screens Alfred Hitchcock’s, TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ matinee screening at 11:30 am!

Thursday, January 16

Power Pop icon Paul Collins’ Beat (the Nerve) gets raucous and riles it up at The Earl along with Parasite Diet, Dinos Boys and Vito Romeo! For a night of psychobilly and honkytonk, rev on down to the Clermont Lounge and get down and dirty with Kool Kat Phil Stair with Grim Rooster, the Pelvis Breastlies and their all-female Elvis tribute band along with The Living Deads! Get your fix of authentic roots and reggae and rock out at the Masquerade with The Wailers and British Dependency! For some Americana with a twist, head on over to the Red Light Café for Laura Monk & High Cotton! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! Rock on over to the Crimson Moon Café for The Tom & Julie Show featuring tributes to tunes from the 60s to the 90s every Thursday! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with The Breeze Kings while Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials offers up their foot stompin’ blues at Blind Willie’s! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs gets rockin’ as Donna Hopkins spreads her swampy funk with a dash of John Lee Hooker!  Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for the groovin’ island sounds of the Volcanauts with Tracey Wolfe! It’s a party at PinUpGirls! Cosmetics, a Pure Romance Party! So, be a doll, get saucy and schmooze with the best of ‘em! And it’s your last chance to get mysterious and spend the night with Carey Grant and Grace Kelly at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern in Alfred Hitchcock’s, TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm!

Friday, January 17

Rock out at The Star Bar tonight with a little power pop and glam with Cheap Time, the Priests, GHB and a little sci-fi punk with Onchi! Or cross the pond and make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar as they present Yacht Rock Review’s Beatles Tribute band, Please, PleaseRock Me! The Red Light Café gets rockin’ with some bluesy Americana with Alex Guthrie and Drew Davis! Stomp on over to the Crimson Moon Café for a night of bluegrass with Sally Barris with special guest, Mark Garrison of Bluebilly Grit! The High Museum gets jazzy with the Laura Coyle Quintet at their Friday Jazz event! Rumble on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for some rockin’ blues with Rumblefish! For a taste of Americana and a little rockabilly, rev on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for the Charlie Sheets Band! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues delivers a night of high-energy roots and blues with the Piedmont Playboys, headed by Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck! The Northside Tavern gets bluesy with Stoney Brooks! Blind Willie’s gets down and dirty with the “Empress of the Blues” herself, Sandra Hall & The Shadows! And cha-cha under the dinosaurs at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX for a cocktail or two and little salsa featuring the Salsambo Dance Studio! And get bourgeois at The Plaza Theater as they screen Vincente Minnelli’s classic, GIGI (1958)!

Saturday, January 18

Put on your dancin’ shoes and get your fill of three decades of classic musicals at The Plaza Theater tonight!  Dance the night away with Gene Kelly in Stanley Donen’s, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952)! Or get a grammar lesson with Eliza Doolittle in George Cukor’s spectacular, MY FAIR LADY (1964). And don’t forget to follow your heart instead of getting married away in Norman Jewison’s classic, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)! “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)!”, so come on out and get elegant at the Atlanta Lyric Theater as they present, ‘Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies’!  You won’t want to miss the musical legacy of Duke Ellington in their stylish and brassy retrospective featuring tunes from the Speak Easy era of the Cotton Club and more!

For a night of rockabilly, American and swingin’ blues, stomp on down to the Red Light Café for an evening with Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers, the Barrow Boys and Divorce, Inc! The Earl gets psychedelic and rocks out with the Mood Rings, Small Reactions, Factory and Boating! Eddie’s Attic gets root rockin’ and funky with the Freddy Jones Band and the Bitteroots! Or make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for an evening with the Rebirth Brass Band, gettin’ funky since 1983! Jam on down to the Variety Playhouse for The Grapes as they celebrate 28 years of rockin’ out southern-style! Get twangy at the Crimson Moon Café with the bluegrass tunes of Red June! The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra along with the Georgia Humanities Council hosts the Georgia Roots Music Festival from noon to 6:30 pm, at the Woodruff Arts Center, featuring the tunes of McIntosh County Shouters, the Georgia Crackers and Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck! Catch The Hollidays slingin’ their 60s soul and rock n roll at The Family Dog! The Cazanovas deliver some rockin’ blues at the Northside Tavern! Francine Reed belts out the blues at Blind Willie’s while Gracie Curran & The High Falutin Band delivers a night of blues, classic R&B and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, January 19

The Red Light Café gets wildly frisky and risqué as they host the madness that is Freaksheaux to Geaux, the live musical and Vaudevillian extravaganza of debauchery that hails from the Big Easy and will be dispersing their twisted brand of flair! Their show will feature Thugsy Da Clown, Kitty Kaos (the Mad Mistress of Ceremonies), Sam Aquatic (the magical and brilliantly bendy contortionist), Mistress Kali, Atlanta’s very own award-winning Burlesque performer, “The Chameleon Queen”, Meredith Greer and a rockin’ cornucopia of music and circus sideshows with a southern gothic twist at 8pm! It’ll be a shocking night of shenanigans you won’t want to miss!

Or make your way to the Masquerade as Captain & Maybelle host the Sowell Rebuild Benefit bringing Atlanta together in all its coolness for one of its own!  This raucous rockin’ event will be held club-wide and will feature a surplus of tunes from bands channeling influences of the past, featuring Obsidion Sky, the Atlanta Funk Society, The Locksmyth, Dark Room, Charlie P., Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck, Joe McGuinness, Maggie Smith, The Six Shot Revival, Awaken the Ancient, Moon Goddess Cotillion, Dead Rites, Blackwater Creek, The Wheeler Boys, Kickin’ Valentina, Flat Rock Swing, Waking the Bates, Harvester-Band, Avenue of the Giants, Beitthemeans, the Villain Family, Daniel Burdette Moll of 1978 Champs, Radio Birds and the Garrison Blagg Band!  So, get rebellious and get your retro rock fix while dancing the night away for a good cause!

Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs gets jazzy with a little madcap swing at their Big Band Atlanta Jazz Lunch!  Or get a taste of the blues and a little Brazilian jazz as Os Ossos headlines The Earl’s ‘dunch’ show!  And it’s your last chance to get your classic musical fix at The Plaza Theater at their screenings of Gene Kelly in Stanley Donen’s, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN  (1952) and Norman Jewison’s classic, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)!

Ongoing

The Strand Theater gets carnivorous with, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ through Jan. 19! (LAST CHANCE!)

The ARTStation shimmies with their Trolley Stop Cabaret through Jan. 18! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Star Bar gets groovy with The Funk Godfather, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Quasi Mandisco every other Tuesday!

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.