ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor/Contributing Writer

Retro Atlanta is the bee’s knees! Come on down and see what we’ve got on the Retro Menu for you this week! From old-school garage rock to punk to blues to films of yore, you won’t want to miss out on all the vintage shenanigans we’ve dug up for you! So, get out and get Retro!

Monday, June 23

Punk on down to WonderRoot for a night with Kidbrat, JoySpent, Diamond Thief and Sunday Whiskey!  Get retro, kiddie-style at Pallookaville’s vintage 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 Chris Noonan’s farmtastic classic, BABE (1995)! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires up the blues at Blind Willie’s! Get funky and 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!  And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast and some finger lickin’ BBQ! 

Tuesday, June 24

Stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with the Mississippi Shakedown and Light Beam Rider! Or make your way to Eddie’s Attic for a foot-stompin’ good time with Sundy Best! For a little Celtic bluegrass, come on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for Kelli Johnson, Jason Bailey and special guest, Barry Waldrep! Make your way to Big Tex for a night with Moira Nelligan & The Dixie Jigs and their old-fashioned Americana! Blues on down to Blind Willie’s for Blues Station! 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.  Spend the night with a 3000-year old warlord at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986), during their Summer of Adventure series at 7:30 pm! And get your second helping of Kurt Russell in Carpenter’s flick at Diesel Filling Station during their screening after NerdCore Trivia!

Wednesday, June 25

Rock out grunge-era and garage rock-style at The Star Bar with Glen Iris, Dead Stars, Sharkmuffin and Blue Tower! Or punk on down to The Earl for Black Taxi, Vera Vera and Nobra Noma! Or maybe rock on down to The Drunken Unicorn for the Surrogates, Jail Weddings and The Merry GoRounds! It’s a Zydeco party at Smith’s Olde Bar with Cedric Watson &Bijou Creole! Blues on down to Blind Willie’s for a night of Chicago and West Coast blues with the Electromatics! 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.  Chill out with Kurt Russell at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986), during their Summer of Adventure series’ matinee screening at 11:30 am!

Thursday, June 26

It’s a night of outlaw folk and indie foot-stompin’ banjo at the Red Light Café with Brian Revels (City Mouse) & Luray and Them Wagoneers! Get your ‘70s rock fix at The Star Bar with Bigfoot and DiNOLA! It’s a night of adventure at the Fox Theatre’s Coca-ColaSummer Film Festival as they screen Steven Spielberg’s INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989), at 7:30 pm with their guided Fox Theatre Movie Tours starting at 5 pm (See our Kool Kat Interview with projectionist Scott Hardin, here)! Stomp on down to The Variety Playhouse for a night with Tommy Emmanuel and Antsy McClain! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of blues and funk with The Georgia Flood! Rock on down to The Earl for Band of Heathens and Waller! The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents their “Performance on the Promenade” event at Piedmont Park! 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! Blues on down to Blind Willie’s for Sandra Hall & the Shadows! Trader Vic’s delivers a night of swanky soul and rock n roll with Bogey & the ViceroyQuartet! Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.  And it’s your last chance to catch John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern, during their Summer of Adventure series at 7:30 pm!

Friday, June 27

It’s a night of old-school rock n roll at The Star Bar with Blake Rainey & His Demons’ record release show along with Clashinista and Anchor Bends! Get glam at The Plaza Theater as they screen Jason Miller’s documentary, THEPAST IS A GROTESQUE ANIMAL (2014) for a sneak peek into the life of Kevin Barnes, front man of the ‘90s indie pop band, of Montreal! Groove on down to the Red Light Café for gr8FLdude & frenz and Maynard Hicks & Co.! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of rockin’ folk with Alex Guthrie and Jesse Tyler! For a night of psychedelic junkyard roots and Americana, stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for Rolling Nowhere and Migrant Worker! Get gritty with a little Americana and cow punk at Eddie’s Attic with Alejandro Escovedo (The Nuns) and Betty Soo! Punk on down to The Highlander for The Mids, Magoo’s Heros and Space Coke! Back onthe Freakout rocks out at Big Tex! Get folkadelic at the Red Clay Theater with Trappers Cabin, The Law Band and special guest Varney Watson! Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-DeVilles get revved at Motorheads in McDonough! Get your rockin’ punk fix at The Earl with WhiteMystery, Dinos Boys and Zoners! Or 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! Blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of Fatback Deluxe! Rock on down to Blind Willie’s for DeltaMoon! Get funky at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event with Cadillac Jones! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck delivers his Big Dang Band event featuring Lil’ Joe and The Atlanta Horns at the Northside Tavern while Darwin’s Burgers & Blues has Marty Manous! Spend an evening with the greatest women in music at The Strand Theater during their song and dance revue, Diva! Get legendary at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre with The Temptations and The Four Tops! Make your way to 529 for their ‘Movies Your Parents Like’ event at 3:30pm! Get the blues at Hottie Hawgs BBQ with Men in Blues! Get funky with Kool Kat VJ Anthony at his Funkin’ Disco event, invading Famous Pub with a little funk, soul, Disco and Pee-Wee from 10pm to 3am! 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 28

It’s day one of the 2nd Annual Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival presented by the Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy! Stomp on down and help celebrate the arts and rich history with Midnight Risers, BattlefieldCollective, Adam Klein and Faithless Town! Or make your way to the Luckie Street Gallary for Chris (Beat) Buxbaum’s wicked art and multi-media show, featuring his sassy subject, David Richardson! You won’t want to miss the photography, live performances, film, music and more! (Keep your eyes peeled for our Kool Kat Interview with David Richardson this week!)

Get some soul at the Red Light Café with Gareth Asher, Niko Moon and special guest, Chelsea Shag! For a night of retro power pop and garage rock, make your way to The Star Bar for Blasting Cap, Kenny Howe & the Wow! and Bruce Joyner & Atomic Clock! The Red Clay Theater delivers a night of retro-inspired indie folk rock with Griffin House! Throwing Muses delivers their ‘80s alt rock at Terminal West! Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo bring their 35th Anniversary Tour to the Chastain Park Amphitheatre with Rick Springfield! Get funky at the Elliott Street Pub with Georgia SoulCouncil! Bluegrass it up at The Family Dog with Copper Into Steel! Stomp on down to Big Tex for The Cohen Brothers! The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents their ‘Celebrate America’ concert at the VerizonWireless Amphitheatre playing patriotic favorites from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture to Gershwin’s Summertime and more! It’s a Jukebox Giants song and dance musical revue at The Strand Theater, featuring pop music through the ages, ‘50s to ‘80s! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack gets the Dixie blues with Seminole Jackson! Rock out blues-style with House Rocker Johnson & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! The Jeff Jensen Band delivers some blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get your second helping of Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck’s Big Dang Band event featuring Lil’ Joe and The Atlanta Horns at the Northside Tavern! It’s Black Out: Goth/Industrial Dance Night with Kool Kat VJ Anthony at the Famous Pub, dispensing a little Goth, ‘80s, post punk and industrial from 10pm to 3am! 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 29

Stomp on down to Big Tex for their Bluegrass Brunch with David & ValerieMayfield!  Or follow the yellow brick road to the Fox Theatre for their Coca-ColaSummer Film Festival screening of the 1939 classic, THE WIZARDOF OZ at 2 pm with their guided Fox Theatre Movie Tours starting at 11:30 am! It’s day two of the 2nd Annual Old Fourth Ward Arts Festival, so come on down for the rockin’ tunes of SenoritAwesome, Truckstop Confidential and Sabbatical Year! Blues on down to The Family Dog for a night with Francine Reed & the Jez Graham Trio! Get your punk rock fix at The Earl with Merchandise, Ukiah Drag and The Pinecones! Shimmy on down to the Red Light Café for a night of Motown shenanigans with Sadie Hawkins and her “Burlesque Battle of the Babes”, Last Pasties Standing: Motown Showdown event! Men of Motown boogie down during their song and dance revival at The Strand Theater!

Ongoing

The Atlanta Lyric Theatre spams it up during their presentation of Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’ with music and lyrics by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, running through June 29! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Center for Puppetry Arts presents Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Cat in the Hat’, running through July 20!

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.