ATLRetro

By Aleck Bennett
Contributing Writer

Monday, May 6

Joe Gransden brings the swinging sounds of his big band to Café 290, with special guests the Milton High School Jazz Band and Bob Reynolds. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam featuring blues and southern soul singer, Lola Gulley. And enjoy some BBQ with Pead Boy & the Pork Bellies at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Tuesday, May 7

Break your rusty cage and run to the Tabernacle as recently-reunited Seattle legends Soundgarden take the stage. Barren Girls bring their X and 45 Grave-inspired, punk-and-garage fueled rock’n’roll fury to 529. Head to The Shelter for the Southern Fried Fundraiser and Burlesque Show featuring reigning Southern Fried Burlesque Queen Lola Lesoleil, Tokyo Belle, Talloolah Love and many many more! Musical May continues as Howard Hawks directs screen sirens Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953), Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s retro cinema classic this week. 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 southern rock and blues with Crosstown Allstars.

Wednesday, May 8

Feeling outshined because you missed Soundgarden Tuesday? Catch ‘em for a second night at the Tabernacle! Shake your body to the best of italo, synth, disco, minimal wave, acid and post-punk with DKA Disco at Mary’s Bar in East Atlanta. Did catching Talloolah Love last night inspire you? Join her for her Beginning Burlesque class at Studio Burlesque. Catch Marilyn Monroe’s breakout performance in the second night of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) 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. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck brings the Piedmont blues to Northside Tavern. Frankie’s Blues Mission preaches the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Thursday, May 9

Grab your gold UO medallion and your crushed velvet jacket and head to the Tabernacle for the mighty, luxurious sounds of Chicago alt-rock pioneers Urge Overkill (opening for French rockers Phoenix). It’s 80s/90s Video Night with free drinks ’til 10 at The Shelter. Have a roaring night out with Madame Nocturne’s ElectroSwing Soirée at Gatsby’s Prohibition Night Club & Lounge in Midtown. ElectroSwing, circus performances, GREAT GATSBY-themed drink specials—the works! Event mistressmind lovely La Schaffer is our Kool Kat of the Week, so watch for that soon. Relax with a cocktail while listening to Tongo Hiti playing Retro-Polynesian luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, at vintage tiki bar, Trader Vic’s. 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. 8th of January takes the stage at Red Light Cafe‘s weekly Bluegrass Thursday. Catch the final night of the “Two Little Girls from Little Rock” with GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) at Northlake Festival Movie Tavern.

Friday, May 10

Gregory Alan Isakov brings his Leonard Cohen-meets-Bruce Springsteen brand of folk-rock to Smith’s Olde Bar. Guitar hero Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule) returns to Wild Bill’s in Duluth with his band Great Southern. Sail on to the Star Bar for  a punk night out with a variety of bands playing Bad Brains tribute show Banned in ATL. Head to the historic Plaza Theatre for a gorgeous restoration of Fritz Lang’s horror classic, M (1931), featuring Peter Lorre’s star-making performance. Watch for our Retro Review soon. Go Really Retro as RITUAL weaves a night of fairy tale-themed frolic with Fairy Tail at The Shelter. The Mar-Tans serve up heaping helpings of New Orleans funk, R&B, blues and jazz under the dinosaurs at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Enjoy BBQ with a side of Atlanta Boogie at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Sans Abri delivers bluegrass-influenced Americana alt-roots music at Big Tex. And over at the Northside Tavern, Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck brings the Piedmont blues both Friday and Saturday night.

Saturday, May 11

The streets of Avondale Estates turn into party central with Art-B-Que! Check out the BBQ Competition judged by Pine Street Market! Take in work from local artists and purchase their wares as the avenues of Avondale become the Artist Gallery! Enjoy BBQ from Burnt Fork BBQ and Community Q, and a vast array of food choices from many of Atlanta’s other great restaurants and food trucks! Dig music from Uncle Daddy & The Kissin’ Cousins, Floating Coats, The Joy Kills, Bas Clas, Unsatisfied, Ghost Bikini, Subsonics and Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel! It all kicks off on Franklin Street in Downtown Avondale Estates! Drive your vintage roadster, truck, bike or scooter to East Atlanta Roll in the East Atlanta Village 5/11 from 3 – 9 p.m. Cletis and his City Cousins will be performing along with others and Right Reverend Andy of Garage 71‘s Psychobilly Freakout will be spinning your rockabilly and psychobilly favorites! Surf’s up at Atlanta Food Truck Park & Market for Atlanta SurfFest 2013, featuring music from Kill, Baby…Kill, The Mystery Men?, Moonbase, The High Fidelics and Sexwax! (Read an interview with SurfFest founder and Kool Kat Wayne Foster!) If all that’s not enough variety for your blood, take in the wide range of music Atlanta has to offer at Crescendo: Old Fourth Ward Music Un-Fest, a free all-day event featuring acts performing at 24 locations in the O4W! Check out the vast lineup (ranging from the psychedelic country of Tedo Stone to the post-punk/new wave sounds of The Sexual Side Effects and so much more) at the event’s website. Searching for Sugar Man? Search no more! The elusive Rodriguez, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012), can be found at Variety Playhouse! Punk veterans Alkaline Trio take Center Stage. Dress in your finest Victoriana and pilot your airship to Grant Park as the Artifice Club hosts the Fourth Annual Steampunk in the Park outing. Julie Gribble returns to The Family Dog for a night of Americana/country. The Backyard Birds bring the beat to Big Tex. Fatback Deluxe deliver classic electric blues, soul, rock’n’roll, R&B and jazz at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Rolling Stones tribute band The Jagged Stones rock this joint at Guston’s Grille in Woodstock. 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, May 12

Day two of Art-B-Que brings more of the best of Atlanta’s food and music! Check out the Hot Mama Mothers’ Day contest and performances from Beauregard, Frank Zeno, Five Eight, Pelvis Breastlies, Ghost Riders Car Club, High Strung String Band and Heather Luttrell! Again, it all goes down at Franklin Street in Downtown Avondale Estates! The Trio jazz up The Family Dog. Check out some classic bottleneck acoustic blues from The Tony Bryant Blues Band at Fatt Matt’s Rib Shack. And do the Time Warp again as Cineprov takes a spoofy bite out of the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) at 7:30 p.m. the Plaza Theatre.

Frida Kahlo. Photo credit: Nickolas Muray

Ongoing

It’s your last week to 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.

EXTREME MAMMALS from sabertooth tiger skulls and wooly mammoth fur to contemporary creatures such as the duck-billed platypus invade Fernbank Museum of Natural History through August 18.

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

Do you have or know of a Retro event we should include in This Week in Retro Atlanta? Be sure to email us at atlretro@gmail.com!