ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Contributing Writer

Retro Atlanta is smokin’ ‘This Week’! Come on out and see what’s on the rockin’ Retro menu! We’ve got hootenannies, horrorific film festivals, a whole ‘lotta vintage Dixie, funk, blues, soul and all the shenanigans you could ever want! So rock on out into Retro Atlanta this week!

Monday, June 2

Get really retro and fulfill your blood lust at The Plaza Theater during their Bela Lugosi Film Festival screening of Jean Yarbrough’s THE DEVIL BAT (1940) (See our Bela Lugosi Retro Review here)! Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah delivers a night of rockin’ garage blues and old-time country at 529 with Think Never and Hot Gaze! For a night of vintage ‘70s rock, make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for the Atlas Road Crew and The Tarlatans! Today begins Pallookaville’s retro cinema extravaganza with The Polka Dotted Elephant Summer Cinema Club at 10 am, with their screenings of a DOGVILLE SHORT episode (1930), LANCELOT LINK episode (1970) and featuring Mel Stuart’s WILLYWONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971)! Brandon Reeves delivers a night of rockin’ roots and soul at Blind Willie’s! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month. 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 some finger lickin’ BBQ! 

Tuesday, June 3

Get ghoulishly comfy with Bela Lugosi at The Plaza Theater during their Bela Lugosi Film Festival with Joseph H. Lewis’ THE INVISIBLE GHOST (1941)! Or make your way to the Fox Theater for their presentation of “Evita” through June 8! It’s Mardi Gras in June at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs, so come on out for a night of Cajun blues and honky tonk with Hair of the Dog! Jump and jive with Atlanta Boogie at Blind Willie’s as they deliver a night of Kansas City and West Coast blues! The Bob Page Trio delivers a night of rockin’ blues at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Boogie on down to The Star Bar and get groovy at The Funk Godfather, DJ Romeo Cologne’s Funk Royale featuring DJ Quasi Mandisco every Tuesday! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern.  And get adventurous with the Dread Pirate Roberts at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern with their screening of Rob Reiner’s THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) during their Summer of Adventure series at 7:30 pm!

Wednesday, June 4

Get a few bloody laughs with Bela Lugosi at The Plaza Theater as they screen Allan Dwan’s THE GORILLA (1939) during their Bela Lugosi Film Festival! For a night of retro-inspired rock and blues, make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for Goldwing, Momcat and Glass Oaks! Nikki Lane delivers a night of smokin’ rockabilly and country reminiscent of Wanda Jackson at the Masquerade! Swing on by East Atlanta’s Graveyard Tavern for their Graveyard Swing Night, held the first Wednesday of every month, promising an evening of swingin’ jazz and jive with the Savoy Kings! Get old-school indie at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center with Morrissey and KristeenYoung! The Breeze Kings deliver a night of Chicago/Delta blues at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Kool Kat Scott Glazer’s Mojo Dojo rocks out with some blues, jazz and southern soul at Blind Willie’s! Join in on the hootenanny during the Slim Chicken Honky-tonk Extravaganza and live band Classic Country Karaoke at The Star Bar!  Or have a rockin’ rendezvous at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a night of blues and funk with The Georgia Flood and some finger lickin’ BBQ! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! It’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.  And let Princess Buttercup lead the way at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern with their screening of Rob Reiner’s THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) during their Summer of Adventure series’ matinee screening at 11:30 am!

Thursday, June 5

It’s a night of comedic horror at The Plaza Theater as they screen William Beaudine’s BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA (1952) during their Bela Lugosi Film Festival! Get your Dixie on with a taste of hot jazz and Americana West Coast Swing at Smith’s Olde Bar with Hot Club of Cowtown and The Jugtime Ragband! It’s Bluegrass Thursday at the Red Light Café, so come on down for a little bluegrass and gypsy jazz with Smokey’s Farmland Band! Get funky at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Richard Booher & the Soul Machine and Hannah Zale (Boomfox)! Shimmy on down to the Elliot Street Pub for a night with Kool Kat Talloolah Love and all things Burlesque at Atlanta Burlesque & Cabaret Society’s June meeting! It’s a night of honky tonk punk at The Earl with Lee Bains III & the Gloryfires, the Zoners and The Bohannons! Get old-school opera style at the Atlanta Symphony Hall as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra delivers Verdi’s tale of forbidden love, “Aida” with Maestro Robert Spano and Latonia Moore running through June 8! 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! Make your way 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 a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Gina Sicilia delivers a night of rockin’ soul at Blind Willie’s! Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for a couple Mai Tais and a rockin’ beach party thrown by Kool Kat Joshua Longino with Andrew & the Disapyramids! Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. It’s  your last chance to get adventurous at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern with their screening of Rob Reiner’s THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987) during their Summer of Adventure series at 7:30 pm!

Friday, June 6

Steampunk on down to the Red Light Café for DJ Doctor Q’s Atlanta Speakeasy Electroswing event, featuring jazz, Big Band, electronica and a little saucy cabaret courtesy of the Atlanta Burlesque & Cabaret Society, featuring Roula Roulette! Stomp on down for an old-time music, front porch pickin’ party at The Star Bar for a night with I want Whisky, HotHouse Peaches and The Tombigbees! It’s an ’80 British alt-rock invasion at The Variety Playhouse with World Party and Gabriel Kelley! Michelle Malone delivers a night of Americana and rockin’ roots at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Come on out to Diesel Filling Station for the opening reception of retro and pop-culture artist, Kool Kat Chris Hamer (Urbnpop) and his Room 138 collection of artwork, his only solo art show in Atlanta for 2014! It’s a night of tributes at Smith’s Olde Bar with The Lizardmen (mod/’60s era Brit invation), El Scorcho (Weezer), The Cherry Bomb (Joan Jett) and El Cheapo (classics)! Get retro jazzy at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre with Al Jarreau, Marcus Miller and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! Secondhand Swagger delivers a night of southern-fried soul and funk under the dinosaurs at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Rock out with the Rebel City Rockers at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get funky with Zydefunk at the Northside Tavern! Get your dark swampy rock fix at The Earl with The Rock*A*Teens and the Carnivores! Men of Motown boogie down during their song and dance revival at The Strand Theater! Honkytonk on down to Big Tex for Truckstop Confidential! Adron and Cicada Rhythm deliver a night of Brazilian Tropicalia and folk at the Crimson Moon Café! Gr8fll Dude delivers a night of Jerry Garcia tunes at The Family Dog! Rev on down to the American Tavern in Loganville for a rockin’ night with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-DeVilles! Get revived at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during their ‘Concerts in the Garden’ series featuring CreedanceClearwater Revisited!  Blind Willie’s delivers a night of rockin’ blues with House Rocker Johnson & the Shadows! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack gets bluesy with Billy George! Get your fill of your favorite MTV videos with Kool Kat VJ Anthony at his ICON 80s: Music Video Dance Night invading Famous Pub every Friday night at 10 pm! The Breeze Kings deliver a night of rockin’ blues at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! And as always, Time-Warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens 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, June 7

The Family Corndogorama invades The Family Dog at 3 pm to 1 am! So, rock on down for a swell vintage musical lineup featuring the Higher Choir, MammaBear, I Want Whisky, Kool Kat Aileen Loy and Till Someone Loses an Eye, Lily & the Tigers and Muleskinner McQueen! Get your geek on and check out thousands of comics at the 2ndAnnual My Parents’ Basement Comic Book Yardsale Extravaganza from 7 am to 5 pm! Or stomp on down to Diesel Filling Station for their Summerfest Barnburner 2014 featuring Whoa Nelly! Too Slim & the Tail Draggers rock out blues and Americana style at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Rock out with the ‘blues woman power’ of Beverly ‘Guitar’ Watkins at the Northside Tavern! Spend an evening with the greatest women in music at The Strand Theater during their song and dance revue, Diva! at 8 pm! Get funky at Big Tex with DeepBlue Sun! Get glamorously clueless at Mary’s for their ‘90s Prom event, featuring a ‘90s-themed drag show and dance party! Let Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-DeVilles rev you up at Jekyll & Hydes in Newnan! Lola delivers the blues at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Francine Reed & The Shadows deliver some down and dirty blues at Blind Willie’s! Kool Kat Amy Pike and the Bonaventure Quartet deliver a night of gypsy jazz and Parisian swing at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Vroom on down to the High Museum for their ‘Dream Cars; Innovative Design, Visionary Dreams’ exhibit, featuring forward-thinking auto designs from 1932 to the present, running through September 7! Blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for Frankie’s Blues Mission and some finger lickin’ BBQ! 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, June 8

Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers their Gypsy Jazz Brunch offering up a plate of Hot Club jamming and Parisian Swing with Kool Kat Amy Pike and the Bonaventure Quartet from 12:30 to 3:30 pm every 2^nd & 4^th Sunday! It’s a Jukebox Giants song and dance musical revue at The Strand Theater, featuring pop music through the ages, ‘50s to ‘80s! Rock on down to the Masquerade for a night with Black Star Riders (Thin Lizzy alumni), Gunpowder Gray and Grayson Manor! Stomp on over to Big Tex for their Bluegrass Brunch with Cedar Hill! The Boohoo Ramblers deliver a night of boot stompin’ Americana at The Family Dog! And get bluesy with Snake Legs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

Get medieval and really retro this spring in Lilburn at the 29^th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival running through June 8th (LAST CHANCE!)

The High Museum gets revved during their ‘Dream Cars; Innovative Design, Visionary Dreams’ exhibit, featuring forward-thinking auto designs from 1932 to the present, running through September 7!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Fueling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!

ICON 80s: Music Video Dance Night rocks out at the Famous Pub every Friday night with a different 80’s theme!

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

Steve’s Live Music’s Gypsy Jazz Brunch offers up a plate of Hot Club jamming and Parisian Swing with Kool Kool Kat Amy Pike and the Bonaventure Quartet from 12:30 to 3:30 pm every 2^nd & 4^th Sunday!

Boogie on down into Disco Hell at The Family Dog as DJ Quasi Mandisco delivers a night of classic funk, soul and disco the last Friday of every 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!

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.