ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Perpetual Kool Kat and Daddy-O extraordinaire, Derek Yaniger, now officially official (Finally. He did create our retro-tastic logo after all!) helps dish out the terror this season of haints, haunts and horror with one of our favorite local haunted attractions, NETHERWORLD! Beginning this Friday, Sept. 30, you can feed the maniacal monster inside nightly, through Oct. 31, with a bloody encore weekend, Nov. 4-5! Get out, get scared, and spook it up!

Consistently ranked as the nation’s best Halloween attraction, our very own fangtastic homegrown haunt, NETHERWORLD delivers a terrifying 20th season, which kicked off this killer season on Sept. 23! Founders Billy Messina and Ben Armstrong and a dedicated team of designers, painters, sculptors and other artists, including Yaniger and his classic monster art created specifically for NETHERWORLD, deserve every kudo imaginable for crafting a Gothic wonderland in a Norcross commercial space. Every year it gets bigger and more creative and this year’s MONSTERS theme is no exception. Chock full of nightmare-inducing creatures, horrorific special effects and a sinister atmosphere, NETHERWORLD does not disappoint! NETHERWORLD also always features a second haunt, VAULT13: MELTDOWN that is more slasher/contemporary horror in its bent–read toxic waste, laboratories gone awry and chainsaws.

Yaniger, former artist for Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network has made a groovy name for himself locally and worldwide in the land of all things retro-culture (rockabilly, burlesque, beatnik, etc.) and has been the purveyor of ‘50s/’60s-style art since 2000. Yaniger has slung his brushes and gathered a gaggle of giddy fans at many a retro-culture event: Tiki Oasis (San Diego), Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend, Tales of the Cocktail (New Orleans), Spain Wild Weekend, DragonCon and more! And of course our brothers and sisters across the globe dig his work as much as we do, with pieces hanging at Italy’s famed MondoPop, Australia’s Outre, Mexico’s Vertigo, the UK’s Castor & Pollux, just to name a few!

ATLRetro gabbed it up with Yaniger and dished about his ‘50s/’60s kitschy art-style, his love of all things retro and spookin’ it up with one of our favorite neighborhood haunts, NETHERWORLD . While you’re eyeballing our little Q&A, why not take a gander and grab a piece or two of Yaniger’s rockin’ art here!

ATLRetro: We are huge fans of your art (obviously) and of Atlanta’s own spooktacular haunt, Netherworld, celebrating 20 ghoulish years this season of haints, haunts and horrors. Tell us about your partnership with Netherworld and what you bring to their terrifying table?

Derek Yaniger: I do dig me some spooktacular haunts! And Netherworld is claws down the best of the best! I am lucky enough to have a nice relationship with Billy Messina and Ben Armstrong (the cats what founded Netherworld ) and they are kind enough to invite me every year to create a few pieces of art for ’em! Just like me, they have been monster fans since their early days so they seem to dig my retro-inspired take on creepy stuff.

Atlanta’s fangtastic classic horror scene seems to grow larger every year, which keeps local haunts, such as our pals over at Netherworld alive (so to speak!) and kicking. In the spirit of Halloween, is there anything in particular about this season, about the idea of getting spooked that keeps you coming back?

The Halloween season has been my favorite time of year ever since I was a crumbsnatchin’ lil’ creepster! Those first autumn days when the steamy summer temperatures begin to drop and the leaves begin to fall instantly transports me back to my trickin’ or treatin’ days! Memories of my old CREEPY and EERIE magazines and my Aurora Monster Models flood my brain bucket and I can’t wait to head to Netherworld to see it all come to life!

Which classic monster would you say is your favorite?

It’s got to be the original Boris Karloff FRANKENSTEIN! That cat is the ding dong daddy of ‘em all! King of the Monsters! For some reason that film as well as the follow-up, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN really started it all off for me! I used all my lawn-mowin’ money back in my youth to purchase anything and everything Frankenstein…FAMOUS MONSTERS mags, Don Post Franky masks, Frankenstein model kits…Much to the disappointment of my Mom, I would wear that damn Frankenstein mask EVERYWHERE….even tried to wear it to church once!

You create some killer images, with just the right amount of kitsch, which we of course can’t get enough of, and neither can your fans. Can you tell us a little about your style, and how it differs from the work you did with Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network in the ‘90s?

My current style is deeply rooted in the cartoon art of the ‘50s and early ‘60s….all the stuff that flipped my switches as a child! When I worked for Marvel the requirement was to draw the “Marvel Way,” but after 5 years of that I decided I would rather draw the “Derek Way“. I transitioned into working for Cartoon Network which was closer to my natural cartoon style, but still not me dancin’ to the beat of my own bongos. After about 5 years of that I decided I wanted to commit fully to my first love, the mid-century modern cartoon.

What drew you to a life of creating art? Any riotous tales of your artistic journey?

Honestly, art is the ONLY thing I’m good at, and I really believe I was born to doodle! My life-long obsession with visual images, even before I actually started scribbling, made it clear to me at a young age that a life creating art was the only way to fly! I don’t know how “riotous” my journey has been, as it was mostly working for fat cats n’ bigwigs that micro-managed me to the point where I wasn’t really proud of the work I was creating. One example of the drag that was advertising art: I was commissioned by Kroger to create a deli-chicken waitress character. After the committee of ad cats had their say, I was forced to add big red lips to the beak and red fingernails to the feathered hands! It was uglier and creepier than anything I ever created for Netherworld!

Who would you consider to be your top three favorite retro artists? Where did you draw your inspiration from and how did they inspire you?

My all favorite would have to be the great Jim Flora! Such a great mixture of modern art, humor and weirdness! His album cover art for Columbia, RCA and Camden is so damned great it kinda makes my stomach hurt! Second on the list would be Ward Kimball. He was the Disney director/animator responsible for the majority of experimentally fantastic art seen in the early ‘50s Disney shorts. I sometimes watch those on super-slo-mo and have to repeatedly dab the drool from my dropped jaw! Last, but NEVER least would have to be Georgia-born, UGA-educated illustrator extraordinaire…Jack Davis. His work for EC Comics and Mad Magazine was the first real exposure I had to art as a wee one. Although my style doesn’t really borrow too much from Jack’s, he will always be an inspiration!

Which pop-culture artist would you say is the most neglected and what do you think makes him/her worthy of attention?

If we’re talkin’ present day here, I would say Mitch O’Connell. I dig his work the MOST! He uses heaps of vintage-inspired imagery in his work and as a technician, his skills are insane! AND he’s one of the nicest cats in the kingdom! He was a big inspiration for me when I finally decided to make the big dive into the retro art pool. If we’re talkin’ back in the day, I would have to say Cliff Roberts….kinda hard to find examples of his work. I was lucky enough to snag a copy of THE FIRST BOOK OF JAZZ off EBAY a while back. His B&W illustrations throughout the book swing like a well-greased gate! Who are your favorite local artists? Dave Cook is a local cat who is a very good friend and an even better artist. This Clyde can do it ALL! He’s known for his work on RollerGirls art and his “Cadavitures” (zombie caricatures that he scribbles at DragonCon), but I think he’s mostly known for all the Netherworld tees he’s created over the years. If you own a favorite Netherworld tee, Dave probably scribbled it!

Can you tell our readers how you got involved with Tiki Oasis, Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend, and our very own DragonCon?

Around the year 2000, When I decided to put all my eggs in the retro art basket, I burned CDs (remember CDs?) of all the retro art I created in my spare hours and sent them to anyone who published a retro-themed magazine (Atomic, Barracuda ) or held retro culture events. (Tiki Oasis, Viva Las Vegas, Hukilau) Otto Von Stroheim, the Grand Poobah of the Tiki Oasis in San Diego was the first to respond, and I’ve scribbled art for that gig every year for the past 15 years! Crazy! Thankfully I am now known as the retro art guy all over the world and have created art for heaps of events celebrating rockabilly, burlesque, cocktail culture, beatnik, etc. The DragonCon connection happened about 8 or so years ago. They were starting the Pop Artist’s Alley to give some attention to artists that don’t make with the comic book bit (more underground Lowbrow kinda stuff). At the time, I was growing in popularity in the Lowbrow world so it was a natural fit!

Your art spans the globe, being housed in galleries across the world, including Italy’s MondoPop, Australia’s Outre, Mexico’s Vertigo and the UK’s Castor and Pollux. What’s it like to know that your art inspires people the world over and what do you want your fans to take away from your work?

Yeah, the international response to my work was a coo coo nutty surprise to me! Them cats overseas seem to really dig the whole American kitschy ‘50s art scene. Just last May I had a sold out show at the La Fiambrera Gallery in Madrid! It was amazing how many people attended the opening and how damn nice they were to me! It was a solid gas! It is so rewarding to know that all this silly crap that pours from my coconut can be an inspiration to so many other artists around the globe. I seem to have a nice following among young artists who may just be discovering retro. I just want my art to make cats ‘n’ kittens smile….I love seeing people eyeball my work for the first time and get a nice wide grin goin!

What are you currently working on? Anything exciting in the pipeline?

I have a couple of gallery shows that I need to start slingin’ paint for. I’m working on a design for a Mai Tai decanter set for Tiki Farm, I’m going to be designing some fabric for Pinup Girl Clothing and I’m REALLY excited to be in discussions with a company to create some high-end 3-D collectible figures of my work! These days I’m jumpin’ like a Mexican bean on a trampoline!

How can our readers get their hands on your art?

Bop on over to https://www.misterretro.com/merchandise and snag somethin’ for your good self!

Anything exciting planned with Netherworld this year?

I created a new piece for Netherworld a couple of months ago. It’s my most favorite yet! Not sure how those cats are planning to use it, but it should show up in the Netherworld gift shop in some creepy form or fashion! Other than that, I’m just planning on falling by the haunts in early October with my good friend Dave Cook. Netherworld always delivers the CREEPS….and I do love it so!

All images provided by Derek Yaniger and used with permission.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Come see what’s shakin’ in Retro Atlanta this week!

Monday, September 26

Movie Macabre Mondays are back at Mary’s, so kick back, grab a killer cocktail and catch a screening of Tom Savini’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990) at 9:30pm! The Plaza Theater hops across the pond for a screening of Ron Howard’s documentary, THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, THE TOURING YEARS (2016), screening through Sept. 29! 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!” Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! 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 night with The Pork Bellies!

Tuesday, September 27

Geek it up at Diesel Filling Station for Nerd-Core Tuesday Trivia’s Saturday Morning Cartoon Trivia at 8pm! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s screening of Robert Zemeckis’ BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) at 7:30pm! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with their Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 28

Get the rockin’ blues with Kool Kat Brooks Mason and The Georgia Flood at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! It’s a night of old country with Dale Watson at Smith’s Olde Bar! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s encore screening of Robert Zemeckis’ BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) at 7:30pm! Or catch a screening of Robert Altman’s POPEYE (1980) during Emory Cinematheque’s Comics & Graphic Novels Series at 7:30pm! Jazz it up at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! The Star Bar gets down with their Okie Dokie Karaoke, every Wednesday at 9pm! Or rock on downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 29

Geek it up and celebrate Japanese culture, anime and manga at Anime Weekend Atlanta, running through Oct. 2 at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel! The Plaza Theater spooks it up with their screening of Lew Lehman’s THE PIT (1981)! Rock out with Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds at The Star Bar! Catch a little Rhythm & Soul with the Diamond Street Rhythm Machine in the Little Vinyl Lounge! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so hula on down to Trader Vic’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 30

Videodrome and JavaVino (JavaDrome) present another rare treat with a screening of Norman Mailer’s TOUGH GUYS DON’T DANCE (1987) at 8pm!Rock across the pond to Atlanta Symphony Hall as they present UK Rocks!, featuring vocal powerhouses Storm Large (Pink Martini) and Shem Von Schroeck (Rock Tenors)! Rock on down to The Star Bar’s Project Pabst Pre-Party with Cousin Dan, The Gartrells, Frosted Orange and Tiger! Tiger! Shake a tail feather with The Candybox Underground September Edition at Elliot Street Pub with Kool Kat Lola LeSoleil, music by DJ Doctor Q and more! Get horrorific as The Plaza Theater screens Robert Wise’s AUDREY ROSE (1977); David Harman’s PHANTASM (1979); and Stuart Gordon’s FROM BEYOND (1986)! Get the blues with Beverly “Guitar” Watkins at the Northside Tavern! Boogie under the dinosaurs with Platinum Band Atlanta at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! 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, October 1

The spook season has a killer kick off with Netherworld Haunted House’s horrorific 20th season opening haunting nightly beginning tonight, through Nov. 1! Get smokin’ with Garage 71 Radio (Kool Kat Rev. Andy Hawley) and Grease Inc. Magazine’s annual Hell on Wheels event revvin’ it up in Canton, featuring vintage/classic cars, pin-ups, carnies, venders and more! Catch some rockin’ tunes/entertainment with Kevn Kinney & The Chattahoochee Coochie Men, Uncle Daddy & The Kissin’ Cousins, JB Walker, Captain & Maybelle, Cold Heart Canyon, Phil Rocker and more! Catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Gerald Potterton’s HEAVY METAL (1981) at 11am! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, October 2

Get really retro and Victorian today at the Historic Oakland Cemetery as they present their 37th Annual Sunday in the Park Victorian Street Festival, featuring tasty food, fun and entertainment! Check out the artists’ market, living history demonstrations, storytellers, spooky mausoleums, Victorian costume contests and carriage tours. And you won’t want to miss their vintage musical line-up with Penny Serenade, Sweet Auburn String Band, The Glory Hounds, High Tea, The Ghosts Project and so much more! Stomp on down to The Pullman for a Bluegrass Brunch with Kool Kat Rich Desantis and Whiskey Belt! It’s your last chance to catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Gerald Potterton’s HEAVY METAL (1981) at 11am! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And get the rockin’ blues with Snake Legs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

7 Stages gets mischievous with their presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA, running through Oct. 2 (EXTENDED – LAST CHANCE!)

Heads are rolling at Synchronicity Theatre’s presentation of Howard Brenton’s ANNE BOLEYN, running through Oct. 16!

Netherworld Haunted House haunts through Nov. 1!

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm! Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.

Friday, September 23

The spook season has a killer kick off with Netherworld Haunted House’s horrorific 20th season opening this weekend (23rd/24th), and then nightly beginning October 1! SCADFilm presents a screening of Amy Heckerling’s ‘80s classic, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) at SCADShow at 6:30pm followed by a Q&A with Amy Heckerling! Heads will be rolling at Synchronicity Theatre during opening night of Howard Brenton’s ANNE BOLEYN, running through Oct. 16! Rock out with Yacht Rock Revue at Park Tavern’s 2016 Summer Sunsets Season Finale! Make your way to AMC Phipps Plaza 14 for a special “Quote-Along” screening of Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones’ MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) at 9:30pm! Get down and dirty with Whiskey Dixie and The Muckers at Red Light Café! Make your way to The Earl for a night with the Kansas Bible Company, Sidney Eloise & The Palms and more! Rock out with Veiny Hands, Black Linen and Mattiel at The Star Bar! Rock out with our upcoming Kool Kats Cowboy Mouth at The Loft! Reggae it up with John Brown’s Body and Roots of a Rebellion at the Masquerade! Gov’t Mule rocks out at the Tabernacle! Venkman’s gets ILLin-N-CHILIn with the music of the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Honkytonk it up with Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers, The Waymores and the 9:35’s at the Avondale Towne Cinema! Get down with the Rockin’ Dirty Revue at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Rock out under the dinosaurs with The Highbeams at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadows! 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, September 24

Slink on down to EAV for the 2016 EAV Strut, featuring local food, an artist’s market and retro-tastic tunes with Chelsea Shag, Zale, Future Babes, Netherglades, Book of Colors, Flamingo Shadow, Doesin, Cold Heart Canyon, DOT.S, Get Damned, Kool Kats Joy Kills, Midnight Larks and more! SCADShow presents a killer screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (1960) at 7pm! Make your way to the Center for Puppetry Arts for Jim Henson’s 80th Birthday Celebration, featuring tours and special screenings of his series THE STORYTELLER (1987) and FARSCAPE (1999)! Get mischievous and rock on down to the Masquerade for Slaughter QUE 2016, featuring sideshow shenanigans, a midway with games and prizes, a helluva lot of BBQ and rockin’ tunes with LAZER/WULF, Beitthemeans, Dusty Booze & The Baby Haters and more! Get experimental and electronic at The Earl with Clock DVA, Pyramid Club and Kool Kat VJ Anthony! Skank on down to City Winery for a night with Kool Kat Reverend Andy and the Southern Ska Syndicate! ATL Collective revives Dolly Parton’s “JOLENE” at Eddie’s Attic! Beer meets history at the Historic Oakland Cemetery with their Malts & Vaults event! Inch your way to The Plaza Theater for the first ever HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (2001) Pub Crawl at 7pm, ending with a screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s rock theatre hit, and so much more! Get your horror punk fix at The Pointe in Conyers with DDC and Kool Kats The Casket Creatures! It’s a night of fantasy and time travel at The Plaza Theater with their screening of Terry Gilliam’s TIME BANDITS (1981)! Or make your way to AMC Phipps Plaza 14 for a special “Quote-Along” screening of Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones’ MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) at 9:30pm! Mark Michelson & Friends presents their Muscle Shoals Jam at the Red Light Café! Get folksy with Raven and Red at Venkman’s, then stay for The REMakes, paying tribute to R.E.M! Catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Don Bluth’s THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982) at 11am! Get rocked ‘60s-‘70s-style with the Rainmen at Avondale Towne Cinema! Get your classic western fix with Back in the Saddle at the Red Clay Theatre! Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a night of rockin’ cover bands with Nameless Nameless, The Cherry Bombs and The Buzzards of Fuzz! Funk it up with Big Sam’s Funky Nation at Terminal West! Get down with the Juke Joint Jukes at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Blues it up with Selwyn Birchwood at Blind Willie’s! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, September 25

Rock out with the Violent Femmes at the Buckhead Theatre! Celebrate 20 years of The Righteous Room at their 20th Anniversary Party, from 11am to 5pm! Catch a screening of Phil Aldon Robinson’s FIELD OF DREAMS (1989) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 2pm! Get the blues with Bill Sheffield at Blind Willie’s! Get your ‘90s French death metal fix with Gojira and Tesseract at the Tabernacle! Get yer Gypsy Western Swing fix with Django Earnhardt at Venkman’s! It’s your last chance to catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Don Bluth’s THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982) at 11am! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And get the rockin’ blues with Snake Legs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

7 Stages gets mischievous with their presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA, running through Sept. 24 (LAST CHANCE!)

Heads are rolling at Synchronicity Theatre’s presentation of Howard Brenton’s ANNE BOLEYN, running through Oct. 16!

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.

By Geoff Slade
Contributing Writer

Cowboy Mouth hits The Loft on Fri. Sept. 23. The New Orleans-originated band got its start in the early ‘90s, and their biggest hit was released on a major label a few years later. But Cowboy Mouth ain’t just about turn-of-the-millennium nostalgia, as anyone who has seen them perform will tell you. They are, and have been from the beginning, an incredible and incredibly compelling live band. They have toured constantly, playing thousands of shows in front of millions of fans over the past quarter century.

Lead singer/drummer/wild man Fred LeBlanc says there is an energy from the audience that defines the band as much as the people on stage. Fans traditionally throw red spoons and Tootsie Rolls at the band on lyrical cues in the songs “Everybody Loves Jill” and “Hurricane Party,” respectively.

The current line-up consists of original members LeBlanc and guitarist John Thomas Griffith, and Matt Jones (guitar) and Brian Broussard (bass). ATLRetro grabbed Kool Kat of the Week LeBlanc for a few minutes last week to get the inside scoop on this week’s gig and what’s up with the band.

ATLRetro: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. How’s the tour going so far?

Fred LeBlanc: So far, it been going really well. But we’ve always been fortunate to have a healthy touring life. As any CM fan knows, the live setting is where we really shine. I like to think so anyway. I hope so!

It looks like you’re touring the Southeast throughout the Fall. Every performance is unique, of course, but will fans in Baton Rouge and Orlando see completely different shows than the ones here in Atlanta?

There are some similarities as far as energy flow and also, you have to play the songs that people want to hear. I’d probably be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t play “Jenny Says” or “I Believe.” Fortunately I still really enjoy playing those songs—not just for my own enjoyment but also for what those songs mean to our audiences and what they seem to get out of them. It really is still quite a buzz to see large groups of people howling out their frustrations or fears by singing “let it go, let it go!” But at the same time every show is its own unique experience. It HAS to be! You never really know what’s gonna happen at one of our shows. Hell, I don’t even know what’s gonna happen—and I’m the lead singer! As much as you try to guide the show in a certain direction, it has a life of its own ultimately. I just try to keep the joygasm that is one of our shows chugging along. I’m just as much of a rider on this train as anyone.

You’re from New Orleans. Did that city’s deep musical tradition influence your own work?
It’d be difficult for it not to. The influence of the city permeates every single aspect of this band; always has, always will. That’s not to say that that influence is limited to what the general public perceives New Orleans to be, per se. The character and vibe of the city is ever changing, and that’s not a bad thing at all. There have been many changes to New Orleans since Katrina 10 or so years ago, predominantly I believe for the better. It’s not the same place it once was, which was this awesome little secret that not many people paid attention to.

I saw an article recently that described modern day Nola as “hipster” central. Like I said, I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. The economic revitalization has been enormous and the older generations are always complaining about the younger and vice-versa, that’s just life. There’s so much to learn from all viewpoints, but I’m going off on a tangent… Simply said, there’s a joy of life that has always been a common thread through the experience of living in New Orleans and hasn’t changed in all the years that I’ve known and loved the city. It’s almost defiant, but in a very celebratory way. The defining musical and cultural aspects might change specifics every few years, but it’s the vibe and the feel that make it what it is. We could’ve never come from anywhere else.

Are you working on anything new? Any plans to?

We’ve just put out a “best of…” collection called THE NAME OF THE BAND IS… that I’m really proud of. The songs you know, plus a few new ones, all in one place. People seem to love it. You can find it online or at the shows. Also, I’ve got a children’s book called  FRED, THE NEW ORLEANS DRUMMER BOY coming out thru River Road Press in October. It’s kind of the attitude of a CM show, but in kids book form. I’m sure we’ll have a link through our social media. 

My friend and local musician Matt Mitchelson is an enormous Cowboy Mouth fan, so I asked if he had any questions I should ask you. “Uh…only 1,000,” he said. Here are a few:
Tell your friend Matt “hello and thanks for the questions.” 

Cowboy Mouth’s live show sets the standard for me and many of my friends. Who set that kind of standard for you before the band?

I guess my main performing influence came from the black gospel churches I knew of from my youth. Growing up Catholic, and dealing with all the crap from that, I was always attracted to spiritual experiences that were as much cleansing and uplifting as they could be spiritual. When I saw how the Baptist black experience was a lot more of a cleansing celebratory thing, I decided then and there that that was what I wanted to do. Everything else extends from that.

Which artifact of your fans’ rowdy adoration has generated a better story—perhaps when one or more of those artifacts ended up in an inexplicable place—a red plastic spoon, or a tootsie roll?

Every once in a while somebody will show up with a giant oversized red spoon. I’m always hoping that they won’t throw it, but they usually do. And usually at me. In fact, ALWAYS at me!

The lineup has changed a good bit over the years, and I think we’re coming up on 10 years since the split with Paul Sanchez (damn…still so hard to believe!). But you and Griff have been in it together from the beginning. What have your collaborations with other bandmates brought out in you two, and what remains unchanged in the band?
The ENERGY is constant. Always has been, always will be. That’s what the show stems from, and that’s what I think the fans have been responding to most of our entire career.  People leave our show feeling great, and that’s exactly what I wanted to do, both as a person and a performer. You ‘re always responsible for what you put out to the world and how it comes back to you. I just wanted to make sure that whatever I did with my life, my tiny insignificant corner of the world could potentially be a little better off simply because I was here. A lofty goal, but why not?

Is there one venue that stands out above the rest, where the show has a little extra energy every time (so I can book my ticket now)?

Not a specific venue as much is a vibe; Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest are my two favorite times of the year. Being from New Orleans, how could they NOT be? We do a giant New Year’s Eve event every year now in New Orleans as well called “Big Night New Orleans” that is becoming a huge deal every year that passes. Folks should make the road trip, it’s totally worth it. Basically, anytime I get a chance to play New Orleans, I’m happy.

What’s the most pleasantly surprising gig you’ve ever played? Has there been one that you’d thought couldn’t go well but did?

We played over 3000 gigs in the entire history of this band. I always try to make whatever the next gig is a surprise or challenge in some way, just to keep it interesting for myself as well as the band. You don’t want the experience to grow stale from any perspective on any level. It’s never about the last gig, or any past show, it’s always about the next one.  

Which one is a greater challenge: a night when you have to dig deep for enthusiasm and energy in yourself, or when you come up against an unexpectedly flat audience? (trick question: neither has ever happened!)
I can honestly say that no audience we have ever played for has ever been flat. I just can’t remember that, if it did happen. As much as anything, it’s a matter of perspective. I want an audience to give everything it can, but at the same time you can’t expect things from them that they’re just not capable of giving. Appreciation from our perspective leads to enthusiasm from them, and vice versa. That’s one of the many secrets of doing what we do, and doing it hopefully well.

Anything else we should be sure to mention?

I think we covered it all! If you can think of any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks again for your time. We’ll see you guys Friday at The Loft.

It’s going to be a fucking ball!

Doors at 7, show at 8. Click here for ticket info.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Come on down and see what killer shenanigans we’ve found for you This Week in Retro Atlanta!

Monday, September 19

Kick off the week with a rock ‘n’ roll ruckus with Sadie Hawkins’ Electric Glitterland Rock ‘N’ Roll Cabaret at Smith’s Olde Bar, featuring performances by Kool Kat Lola LeSoleil, Nikki Nuke’m, Annette Coquette, Kool Kat Katherine Lashe, Kool Kat Persephone Phoenix and more! Get your Gene Wilder fix at The Plaza Theater with a screening of Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES (1974), and hop across the pond for a screening of Ron Howard’s documentary, THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, THE TOURING YEARS (2016), both screening through Sept. 22! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! 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 night with The Pork Bellies!

Tuesday, September 20

It’s a night of Americana ‘n’ blues with Norman Frank and Liz Brasher at Eddie’s Attic! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up at Blind Willie’s! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with their Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Flamenco it up with Marija Temo and friends at the Red Light Café! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 21

Get the rockin’ blues with Kool Kat Brooks Mason and The Georgia Flood at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get down and dirty with Kool Kat Scott Glazer’s Mojo Dojo at Blind Willie’s! Rock out at the Tabernacle with Alice in Chains! TCM Big Screen Classics presents a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) at theatres across Atlanta at 2 pm and 7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee), Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); and Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan)]! Or catch a screening of Mike Hodges’ FLASH GORDON (1980) during Emory Cinematheque’s Comics & Graphic Novels Series at 7:30pm! Or catch a screening of Phil Aldon Robinson’s FIELD OF DREAMS (1989) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 7pm! Jazz it up at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! The Star Bar gets down with their Okie Dokie Karaoke, every Wednesday at 9pm! Or rock on downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 22

Come celebrate the best of Atlanta, including our pals, Blast-Off Burlesque (Best Burlesque Act) at Creative Loafing’s Best of Atlanta Party at the Georgia Freight Depot, featuring performances by The Imperial OPA Circus, Kool Kat Blair Crimmins & The Hookers and more! Stomp on down to Avondale Towne Cinema for a night with the Villain Family and I Want Whisky! Get hot with the Squirrel Nut Zippers at City Winery! Get some rockin’ soul with The Gartrells, Dusk, Tenement and The Suitcase Junket at 529! Or get down with the classic soul of The Suffers at Aisle 5! Catch a little Rhythm & Soul with the Diamond Street Rhythm Machine in the Little Vinyl Lounge! Get jazzy with The Matthew Kaminski Quartet at Eddie’s Attic! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so swank it up with Bogey & the Viceroy at Trader Vic’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Venkman’s delivers a night of old-school Jamaican soul with Lloyd’s Rocksteady Revue! Boogie down with Beverly “Guitar” Watkins at Blind Willie’s! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 23

The spook season has a killer kick off with Netherworld Haunted House’s horrorific 20th season opening this weekend (23rd/24th), and then nightly beginning October 1! SCADFilm presents a screening of Amy Heckerling’s ‘80s classic, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) at SCADShow at 6:30pm followed by a Q&A with Amy Heckerling! Heads will be rolling at Synchronicity Theatre during opening night of Howard Brenton’s ANNE BOLEYN, running through Oct. 16! Rock out with Yacht Rock Revue at Park Tavern’s 2016 Summer Sunsets Season Finale! Make your way to AMC Phipps Plaza 14 for a special “Quote-Along” screening of Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones’ MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) at 9:30pm! Get down and dirty with Whiskey Dixie and The Muckers at Red Light Café! Make your way to The Earl for a night with the Kansas Bible Company, Sidney Eloise & The Palms and more! Rock out with Veiny Hands, Black Linen and Mattiel at The Star Bar! Rock out with our upcoming Kool Kats Cowboy Mouth at The Loft! Reggae it up with John Brown’s Body and Roots of a Rebellion at the Masquerade! Gov’t Mule rocks out at the Tabernacle! Venkman’s gets ILLin-N-CHILIn with the music of the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Honkytonk it up with Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers, The Waymores and the 9:35’s at the Avondale Towne Cinema! Get down with the Rockin’ Dirty Revue at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Rock out under the dinosaurs with The Highbeams at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadows! 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, September 24

Slink on down to EAV for the 2016 EAV Strut, featuring local food, an artist’s market and retro-tastic tunes with Chelsea Shag, Zale, Future Babes, Netherglades, Book of Colors, Flamingo Shadow, Doesin, Cold Heart Canyon, DOT.S, Get Damned, Kool Kats Joy Kills, Midnight Larks and more! SCADShow presents a killer screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (1960) at 7pm! Make your way to the Center for Puppetry Arts for Jim Henson’s 80th Birthday Celebration, featuring tours and special screenings of his series THE STORYTELLER (1987) and FARSCAPE (1999)! Get mischievious and rock on down to the Masquerade for Slaughter QUE 2016, featuring sideshow shenanigans, a midway with games and prizes, a helluva lot of BBQ and rockin’ tunes with LAZER/WULF, Beitthemeans, Dusty Booze & The Baby Haters and more! Get experimental and electronic at The Earl with Clock DVA, Pyramid Club and Kool Kat VJ Anthony! Skank on down to City Winery for a night with Kool Kat Reverend Andy and the Southern Ska Syndicate! ATL Collective revives Dolly Parton’s “JOLENE” at Eddie’s Attic! Beer meets history at the Historic Oakland Cemetery with their Malts & Vaults event! Inch your way to The Plaza Theater for the first ever HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (2001) Pub Crawl at 7pm, ending with a screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s rock theatre hit, and so much more! Get your horror punk fix at The Pointe in Conyers with DDC and Kool Kats The Casket Creatures! It’s a night of fantasy and time travel at The Plaza Theater with their screening of Terry Gilliam’s TIME BANDITS (1981)! Or make your way to AMC Phipps Plaza 14 for a special “Quote-Along” screening of Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones’ MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) at 9:30pm! Mark Michelson & Friends presents their Muscle Shoals Jam at the Red Light Café! Get folksy with Raven and Red at Venkman’s, then stay for The REMakes, paying tribute to R.E.M! Catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Don Bluth’s THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982) at 11am! Get rocked ‘60s-‘70s-style with the Rainmen at Avondale Towne Cinema! Get your classic western fix with Back in the Saddle at the Red Clay Theatre! Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a night of rockin’ cover bands with Nameless Nameless, The Cherry Bombs and The Buzzards of Fuzz! Funk it up with Big Sam’s Funky Nation at Terminal West! Get down with the Juke Joint Jukes at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Blues it up with Selwyn Birchwood at Blind Willie’s! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, September 25

Rock out with the Violent Femmes at the Buckhead Theatre! Celebrate 20 years of The Righteous Room at their 20th Anniversary Party, from 11am to 5pm! Catch a screening of Phil Aldon Robinson’s FIELD OF DREAMS (1989) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 2pm! Get the blues with Bill Sheffield at Blind Willie’s! Get your ‘90s French death metal fix with Gojira and Tesseract at the Tabernacle! Get yer Gypsy Western Swing fix with Django Earnhardt at Venkman’s! It’s your last chance to catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Don Bluth’s THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982) at 11am! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And get the rockin’ blues with Snake Legs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

7 Stages gets mischievous with their presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA, running through Sept. 24 (LAST CHANCE!)

Heads are rolling at Synchronicity Theatre’s presentation of Howard Brenton’s ANNE BOLEYN, running through Oct. 16!

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.

The wedding of Macheath (Aaron Strand) and Polly Peachum (Stephanie Lloyd) with cinematic insert of Mack’s trio of cohorts (Jed Drummond, Tad Cameron and Evan Hynes) Credit: Stungun Photography.

THE THREEPENNY OPERA; directed by Michael Haverty and Bryan Mercer; Play by Bertolt Brecht; Music by Kurt Weill and translated from German by Marc Blitzstein; Starring Aaron Strand, Stephanie Lloyd, Kevin Stillwell, Don Finney. 7 Stages. Sept. 9-25, 2016 (EXTENDED TO OCT. 2!). Tickets here.

Atlanta doesn’t have the theatrical reputation of many comparable American cities, but with THE THREEPENNY OPERA (Sept. 9-25), 7 Stages proves once again that this city can and does produce innovative, provocative performances of the sort one expects to see Off-Broadway. This production, envisioned and co-directed by Michael Haverty and Bryan Mercer, is quite simply a must-see if you like Brecht and Weill, value drama that provokes, disturbs, and makes you laugh like Hell, and/or don’t believe Atlanta produces theater at the level of New York.

Set in working class Victorian London, THREEPENNY tells the cautionary tale of MacHeath, aka “Mack the Knife,” a brutal but charming thief and murderer, as well as the many women who love him. The rest of the cast of characters include beggars, criminals, whores, and corrupt police officers. First performed in Berlin in 1928, it was Brecht’s attempt to adapt and update John Gay’s 18th century BEGGAR’S OPERA into a socialist satire of both the profit motive and the mode of musical theater itself right down to a perhaps (or perhaps not) unexpected ending.

From the moment Nicolette Emanuelle (read our Kool Kat of the Week interview with her here) emerges, dressed almost only in an accordion, and belts out the eponymous song, “Mack the Knife” in deep, guttural tones, the visceral, unrelenting tone is set. Let’s say definitively that this ain’t Bobby Darin’s homogenized hit. One can’t help but be reminded of CABARET though that was written much later,. The comparison is appropriate given that while the setting is London, Brecht conceived THREEPENNY in Weimar Germany with a jazz-influenced soundtrack. And thanks to subversive drama such as THREEPENNY, in 1933, Brecht and Weill would have to flee their home country in the wake of Hitler’s rise to power.

Polly Peachum (Stephanie Lloyd) and Macheath (Aaron Strand). Credit: Stungun Photography.

This THREEPENNY shows more spunk and further establishes its 1920s setting, along with embracing Brecht’s expressionistic theory of theater, by mimicking silent film at various points, including a cast titles segment at the beginning. The characters parade live in front of a period-consistent unsteady camera with the resulting black-and-white footage projected onto the rear stage wall. THREEPENNY works better with a minimalist set and lower production values (vis-a-vis the abject failure of the big-budget 1989 Broadway revival with Sting which I unfortunately saw but mercifully remember nothing about). In this case, the camera is used a number of times during the show not only to compensate for a limited budget but also to enhance the theatrical experience in creative ways. I won’t divulge the details so as not to spoiler.

While the cast was consistently strong in the preview performance I saw, several actors stood out. THREEPENNY can be made or broken by who plays Mack the Knife. I can say thankfully that Aaron Strand is no Sting. And don’t be fooled by his pretty face. Strand takes the role of bastard by the balls and rides it all the way unabashedly, from displaying a full grasp of the nuances of the play’s dark and biting humor to enthusiastically embracing Mack’s raw sexuality, even endowing a rock n roll edge at points that makes the role feel contemporary without compromising Brecht’s vision. Brecht never wants us to empathize with his characters, but we need to sense Mackie’s extreme charisma despite his inherent sociopathy. The directors have admitted  tossing a nod towards this year’s presidential race, and it’s hard not to see some parallels in a man who can say or do anything and still be loved by many. “What keeps a man alive? He lives on others.” Indeed.

Also memorable are Mr. JJ Peachum (Kevin Stillwell) and especially his wife, played in drag by Don Finney. The Peachums run a lucrative and, to them anyway, respectable business training professional beggars and taking a share of their earnings. If Mackie is a capitalist, the Peachums could be community organizers of sorts especially when later in the play they assemble an army of beggars to disrupt the queen’s coronation. They aren’t pleased at all when their daughter Polly abandons the family business to marry Mackie and take it upon themselves to get him arrested and hanged. Stillwell is an earnest Mr. Peachum who hits all the ironic humor of his character, but Finney is a show-stealer–effusive, maternal, dominant, and absolutely hilarious. In other hands perhaps placing a man in the role would simply be a gag, but Finney sets fire to the stage and easily matches Mack as a formidable adversary.

Mrs. Peachum (Don Finney). Credit: Stungun Photography.

For all the darkness in THREEPENNY, as noted, Brecht injected a lot of humor. A special nod should also go to Adam Lowe, who plays not only the clumsy Filch, who applies to Peachum and needs some serious education in begging, but also Tiger Brown, the esteemed police chief of London. Tiger and Mackie served together in the military, and Tiger has been, at least thus far, protecting Mackie from arrest. Their boisterous nudge-nudge-wink-wink rendition of “Army Song” is a show highlight. A call-out should also go for slapstick mastery by Mackie’s trio of henchmen–Readymoney Matt (Jed Drummond) who reminded me in voice, if not hair, of VENTURE BROTHERS’ Pete White, Crookfinger Jake (Tad Cameron), and Bob the Saw (Evan Hynes).

Among the ladies in the cast, Stephanie Lloyd is an appropriately pretty and savvy Polly Peachum, madly in love with Mackie and to whom he leaves the control of his shady business when on the run from the law. The production makes an interesting choice by having her, rather than Jenny the prostitute and Mackie’s original lover, sing “Pirate Jenny” (perhaps the play’s second best known song), a change which I am uncertain about maybe because Lloyd’s voice hits a much higher pitch than the deep-throated Lotte Lenya (composer Kurt Weill’s wife), who played Jenny in both the 1931 German film adaptation and the 1954 Off-Broadway revival which debuted Mark Blitzstein’s translation of Weill’s lyrics, the best-known translation also used in this production. However, casting Dorothy V. Bell-Polk, who resembles Grace Jones, as Jenny is an intriguing surprise. And Jessica De Maria brings the right balance of passion and disgust to Tiger Brown’s daughter Lucy, Mackie’s other “wife” who is considerably less dainty. (As a side note for those who don’t know, a young Bea Arthur played Lucy in the 1954 rendition and Lucy was played by a man, Brian Charles Rooney, in the 2006 Broadway revival which toyed with Mackie’s sexuality and featured Alan Cumming as Mack and Cyndi Lauper as Jenny).

A big hand should also go to DeeDee Chmielewski, 7 Stages’ longtime costume designer, for her monochromatic black and white designs which blend well with the expressionist cinema ambiance,, as well as the simple props and sets designed to maximum effect by Melisa DuBois, and lighting design by Rebecca M.K Makus. And of course, the band. As with 7 Stages’ DRACULA, THE ROCK OPERA (Read ATLRetro’s review here), the musicians are onstage but woven seamlessly into the action. In sum, 7 Stages shows yet again how to maximize a parsimonious assemblage of performers, with my only possible regret being that there weren’t more beggars to march on the coronation.

Move fast and don’t miss this THREEPENNY because while the characters may be perennially stuck in their low societal positions, Atlanta theater runs are always short. As with DRACULA, one wishes this production could hang around for a while and build an audience. 

DEMON (2015); Dir. Marcin Wrona: Starring Itay Tiran, Agnieszka Zulewska, Andrzej Grabowski; Opens Friday, September 16 at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema; Trailer here.

By Brooke Sonenreich
Contributing Writer

Before arriving to Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, Marcin Wrona’s DEMON had its Atlanta premiere at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Intrigued by Jewish mysticism, body horror and my own Polish-Jewish roots, I went into this movie with a fresh curiosity. DEMON is set in contemporary Poland, but within a small village that is still recuperating from Nazi occupation. Before attending to the characters, Wrona posits the spectator in the abandoned parts of this Polish town. Before any indication of a character being possessed, Wrona privies us to the haunting of the location with opening images of rundown, abandoned ghettos.

DEMON is a dybbuk story, and the most complex and intriguing one I have ever followed. In Jewish mysticism, if a Jewish body has not been properly buried it remains in purgatory. However, the soul can latch onto a living soul in order to carry out its business. Quite literally, the word dybbuk means to cling.

For Piotr (Israeli Jewish actor Itay Tiran) the dybbuk attaches to his soul the night before he marries Zaneta, a Polish woman whose family is still a group of strangers to Piotr. As the possession takes over his ability to speak and his overall motor skills, questions about the village and its Jewish past bubble to the surface. However, the cling of the dybbuk only strengthens and the dybbuk’s Jewishness begins seeping out of Piotr through shared memories, language, and voice.

(Left to Right) – Itay Tiran, Agnieszka Zulewska, and Cezary Kosinski in DEMON. Used with permission.

My first viewing of DEMON was followed by the realization that it would be in a cycle of festivals before being distributed for at least another year. But I left the theater feeling haunted myself and made it to the other screenings in hopes of retaining as much of this film as possible before it was passed to the next festival. The film’s arrival at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema should not go unnoticed. It is a film that resonates months after the first viewing and, much like how the dybbuk’s hold on the spirit only strengthens, DEMON has the ability to cling to its beholder.

On the day of the film’s screening in Poland, Wrona committed suicide, and even if the film is watched in a loop, there is an unanswerable question that continues to arise: Is Piotr the only haunted subject of DEMON?

Brooke Sonenreich is a film instructor and theorist. She likes sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and staring at a bright wall for an extended period of time, and she has somehow made that into a job.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get a taste of what’s on the Retro menu This Week! We’ve got all sorts of surf rockin’ shenanigans, tastes of tiki, post-apocalyptic pandemonium and all the blues, folk and good ‘ol rock ‘n’ roll you’ve been craving! Come see what we’ve found for you!

Monday, September 12

Live long, prosper and catch a screening of Adam Nimoy’s FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK (2016) at The Plaza Theater, running through Sept. 15! Get the blues with Bill Sheffield 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!” Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! 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 night with The Pork Bellies!

Tuesday, September 13

Geek it up and let Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and the burly-Q gals of Syrens of the South spice up your evening with their Tease Tuesday Burlesque: Nerdtastic! edition, shakin’ it up at the Red Light Café! It’s a night of garage rockin’ blues at the Buckhead Theatre with The Kills and Kim and the Created! Get folksy with Barnaby Bright at Grocery on Home! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s screening of Nicholas Meyer’s STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) at 7:30pm! Bob Page dishes out the blues at Blind Willie’s!  The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with their Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 14

Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s screening of Nicholas Meyer’s STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) at 7:30pm! The New Stew pays homage at City Winery! Jazz it up folk-style with Cicada Rhythm at Eddie’s Attic! Get the rockin’ blues with Kool Kat Brooks Mason and The Georgia Flood at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Stomp down to Venkman’s for a night with The Ormewoods! Or catch a screening of Roger Vadim’s BARBARELLA (1968) during Emory Cinematheque’s Comics & Graphic Novels Series at 7:30pm! Get your Goblin King fix with a 30th Anniversary screening of Jim Henson’s classic, LABYRINTH (1986) at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/7pm [Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Perimeter Pointe 10; Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); and AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw)]! Get down and dirty with Andrew Black at Blind Willie’s! Jazz it up at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! The Star Bar gets down with their Okie Dokie Karaoke, every Wednesday at 9pm! Or rock on downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 15

Get the vaudeville blues and boogaloo it up with C. W. Stoneking at The Earl! Honkytonk on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with The Derailers, Kool Kat Dave Weil and The Blacktop Rockets, and Across the Wide! Rock out with the Lennon Jones Band at the Red Light Café! Folk it up with Sarah Peacock and the Way Down Wanders at Eddie’s Attic! Or get Rhythm & Soul with the Diamond Street Rhythm Machine in the Little Vinyl Lounge! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so surf on down and rocksteady it up with Lloyd’s Rocksteady Revue at Trader Vic’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Hop the pond and catch a screening of Ron Howard’s documentary, THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK, THE TOURING YEARS (2016) at The Plaza Theater! Venkman’s dishes out a night with The Pussywillows followed by Secondhand Swagger! Boogie down with The Cazanovas at Blind Willie’s! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 16

It’s a pre-tiki extravaganza at Trader Vic’s with Kool Kat Chad Shivers’ Southern Surf Stomp Exotica Pre-Party, featuring Kinky Waikiki and the Dangling Tassels! Get jazzy with Longhorn and Samadha at the Red Light Café! Dive back into the rock of the ‘50s-‘70s with The Way Back Band at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get to honkytonkin’ with Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Chickens & Pigs and The Wheel Knockers are The Star Bar! Eighties it up with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade at Wild Wing Café in Alpharetta! Get your Gene Wilder fix at The Plaza Theater with a screening of Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES (1974) at 5:15pm! Blues on down to the Northside Tavern for Lil’ Joe’s BB King Tribute! Get psychedelic at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre with Widespread Panic! It’s Salsa Dance Night at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event, so cha-cha under the dinosaurs with the Salsambo Dance Studio while sippin’ a few cocktails!  Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with George Hughley & The Shadows! 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, September 17

Rock out surf-style with the big kahuna, Kool Kat Chad Shivers and his kickin’ cohorts at the rockin’est shindig in Avondale Estates, the Southern Surf StompFest, catching a wave at Little Tree Art Studios, featuring Daikaiju, Kool Kat Caroline & the Ramblers, The Surge!, The Mystery Men?, Insect Surfers, The Intoxicators, Phatlynx, The Monterreys, SEAWHORSE, The Penetrators and more! Catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Brian Bird’s THE IRON GIANT (1999) at 11am! Rev your post-apocalyptic engines folks and make your way to the L5P Fury Road Big Wheel Race at 2pm (keep your eyes peeled for our Kool Kat Interview with The Euclid Avenue Yacht Club’s “Hippie”)! Rev it up with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles at the Dixie Tavern! Venkman’s starts your day with a Cartoon Brunch, featuring a screening of Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989), followed by Sailing to Denver, and then Members Only for dessert later in the night! It’s your last chance to get your Gene Wilder fix at The Plaza Theater with a screening of Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES (1974) at 5:15pm! Folk it up with Blake Rainey, Gashound, Ben Trickey and Jason Waller at Avondale Towne Cinema! Boogie on down to Piedmont Park for Music Midtown (running through Sept. 18) and catch today’s line-up: The Coathangers, Leon Bridges, Band of Horses, Big Boi, Mayer Hawthorne, Beck and more! Elton John, Alice in Chains and more!  Eighties it up for a cause during the Breakfast Club 5K and Fun Run at Little Mulberry Park in Lawrenceville! Celebrate 30 years of JapanFest at the Infinite Energy Center, featuring music, dance, anime, food, beer and so much more! Make your way to the Korean Community Center in Norcross and experience the 2016 Atlanta Korean Festival, beginning at 10am! Rock out at Chastain Park with Heart, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Cheap Trick! Shiver ‘n’ shake on down to The Star Bar for a night with Tiger! Tiger!, The GTV’s, The Woolly Bushmen and Kool Kat Sen. Artie Mondello! Slink on down to Club Famous for Blackout: Goth Industrial Night! Rock out with Delta Moon and Five Eight at Eddie’s Attic! Samba on down to the Red Light Café for Speakeasy Electro Swing Atlanta’s Summer Salsa Night, hosted by Kool Kat Persephone Phoenix, performances by Lola Deveaux and Annette Coquette and so much more! Get some soul with Larry Griffith at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Or get down with Beverly “Guitar” Watkins at Blind Willie’s! Or blues it up with Stoney Brooks at Northside Tavern! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, September 18

TCM Big Screen Classics presents a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) at theatres across Atlanta at 2 pm and 7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee), Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); and Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan)]! Gypsy jazz it up with Kool Kat Amy Pike and Bonaventure Quartet at Venkman’s! It’s your last chance to catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Brian Bird’s THE IRON GIANT (1999) at 11am! Boogie on down to Piedmont Park for day two of Music Midtown and catch today’s line-up: The Shadowboxers, Peter Bjorn & John, Pete Yorn, Corrine Bailey Rae, Nathaniel Rateliffe & The Night Sweats, The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes, The Killers, and more! Get your retro ‘n’ vintage fix with Indie Craft Experience’s (I.C.E.) Fall Salvage – Vintage Market at the Yaarab Shriners! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And get the rockin’ blues with Snake Legs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Ongoing

7 Stages gets mischievous with their presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA, running through Sept. 24!

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.

Photo credit: Chris Buxbaum.

Blast-Off Burlesque is back and going UNDER THE COVERS Friday Sept. 9 and Saturday Sept. 10 at Sychronicity Theatre in Midtown. Atlanta’s sci-fi punk vaudeville burlesque goofballs are celebrating their 10th year with this burlesque “performance explosion” inspired by some famous, and some not so famous album covers with emcee extraordinaire Ms. Gayle Thrower Rej and featuring with special guests P-Lo aka Patricia Lopez, Baby Doll and JuWanna Pimpmee!

With such an auspicious anniversary for some of ATLRetro’s favorite performers–all Kool Kats in our world!– we caught up with founding member Tricia Chenard, aka Dickie Van Dyke, to get the inside scoop on the creative cacophony which we know will ensue this weekend, as well as the troupe’s secret scooter origins, her own first album purchases, and an update on her other pastimes, including banjo and harmonica antics with her jugband Uncle Daddy and the Kissin’ Cousins, as well as bringing back traditional barbering at Rutabaga in Decatur.

ATLRetro: What’s the “secret origin” story of Dickie Van Dyke and how did you join the Blast-Off Burlesque? Aren’t you one of the founding members?

Dickie Van Dyke: In the beginning, Blast-Off was just me, Barbalicious, Sadie Hawkins and Ferris Hilton. We met through riding vintage scooters and meeting up for weekly beers with fellow scooter enthusiasts. Barb and Sadie were members of the burlesque troupe The Dollsquad and decided to start something new when The Dollsquad was ending its run. They approached me and said they wanted me to be their drag king. I replied, “But, I’m not a drag king.” They replied, “But you look so good in a suit.” I guess a little flattery went along way. I knew I wanted to use the name Dickie to tip my hat to my beloved, big gay, hair-dressing uncle, Richard. Barb and I started tossing around cheesy variations like Dickie Diamond or Dickie Dean etc… Eventually, Dickie Van Dyke fell out of my mouth and it fit on so many levels. The Van Dyke part was obvious because of, well, my being queer as a pink fuzzy football. I also love Dick Van Dyke. He’s one of the greatest entertainers that ever lived. Truly a classy gentleman.

Gosh-groovy-wow, it’s hard to believe Blast-Off is celebrating its 10th year. What does that feel like?

It feels shocking and great! We’ve had highs and lows like any long-term relationship. We are people. We’ve evolved; we are evolving. Blast-Off is like a favorite pair of jeans. It’s frayed around the edges, there are weird stains in strange places, and it’s worn thin in the knees, but nothing in the world feels the same. Nothing hangs off the hips in just that perfect way. People can sell overpriced, cheap versions of those distressed jeans, but they aren’t molded to your ass with the sweat and tears of hard work and hard play the way your favorite jeans are. That’s what being together for so long feels like. It’s biscuits, fried chicken and collard greens. It’s falling in love with your sweetheart all over again, despite the urge to strangle them because they are a beautiful, messy pain in the ass and you’ve been through a lot together, but you love that about them so much.

Photo credit: Regean Powell.

A new Blast-Off Burlesque show is a much anticipated treat. You zany kids have tackled the Wild West, TV, sci-fi, to name a few themes. How did you guys come up with the idea of bringing album covers to life, and we assume the show title “Under the Covers” is a double entendre?

Oh yeah, it’s most definitely a double entendre. It was one of those moments where we were surprised by our own cleverness. Our brainstorming process is pretty simple. We order a couple pizzas, bust open a bottle of Jameson or other lubricant of choice, and we throw ideas out. We haggle, we plead, we let go, we rationalize, we deconstruct, we get side-tracked, we analyze, we cuddle and we keep sipping whiskey until things we say to each other start sounding like good ideas. That usually doesn’t take too long because we are all nuts.

Blast-Off recently ran a contest that you judged in which people were invited to post a pic of the first album they ever bought to win a pair of free tickets to the show. What’s the first album you ever bought? And the story behind that purchase?

My first actual music-buying experience involved three albums. My family frequented a rinky dink flea market on GA-2 outside of Varnell, Ga. It was the kind of flea market where you could get some army BDUs, a live chicken, some boiled peanuts, the best handmade quilt, a fist full of Weirdo magazines and a tattoo from a biker working out of a repurposed school bus. There was a guy that sold awful bootleg copies of records. Everything was on a tape with the name of the album scribbled on the side. The insert was a one-sided Xerox of the original cover. They were bad, but three for $5. I bought horribly bootlegged copies of Motley Crüe‘s SHOUT AT THE DEVIL, Cyndi Lauper‘s SHE’S SO UNUSUAL and a random Patsy Cline BEST OF. I guess I will forever be a bargain shopper and lover of a wide variety of music.

Without giving away any surprises, can you give us a little tease as to the album cover(s) you’ll be unwrapping in the show?

Oh man, we touch on a wide variety of albums and genres! Icons, essences, obscurities, explorations of everything from The Who to The Boss to The Cramps to Vanity 6. The process of creating this show was interesting in the sense that we all got to express some sort of musical admiration for our personal favorites. It is our ultimate tribute album in some sort of burlesqued, interpretive dance movement, party-time experience.

Photo credit: Marc Turnley

What else has Blast-Off been up to lately and any more shows/activities planned for the near future?

In November, we are looking forward to working with Splatter Cinema again. Those guys have always been super awesome. They are letting us desecrate their stage by bringing back a horror version of our Taboo-La-La film night. We are currently working out the details, but it should be fun!

We hear Uncle Daddy and the Kissin Cousins has a super great new line up and a bunch of new songs. What’s up, where can we find you playing and are the rumors true that the band will be hitting the recording studio soon?

The jugband is creating a lot of new songs and sounds. Expanding our minds for sure. We figure after nine years of playing together, we might actually cut a record so we have something to give the folks who keep asking for it. We are going to be playing at 529 in East Atlanta on Sept. 26 with Banjaline and Glen DeMeritt, Oct. 1 for Garage 71’s Hell on Wheels in Canton, Ga. There are a lot of great folks playing and cool stuff going on with that day—classic cars, vintage bikes, sideshow acts, etc. We are also playing Oct. 8 at Ciderfest hosted by Concrete Jungle. Ciderfest is one of our favorite gigs of the year. Super laidback, lots of great people from all different walks of life, and fresh pressed cider!

Your day job is as an old school barber in downtown Decatur at Rutabaga boutique and salon. Can you tell us a bit about that and what types of styles you specialize in for the Retro gentleman? Do you think barbering is becoming a lost art?

I specialize in short cuts, tight fades, razor work, hard parts, classic, as well as modern styles. Anything from an old school pompadour, to a neat and tidy businessman’s coif, to an edgy, razor faded high and tight. As far as the face goes, I offer a classic straight razor shaves with aromatic lather and soothing hot towels, beard and mustache trims, and 15-minute facial massage for when you need a little R&R on the go.

As far as barbering becoming a lost art, I could argue yes and no. At some point, having a barber seemed to have become more trendy than having a stylist. Perhaps it is meterosexual blowback from the ’90s? Perhaps it is the rise of the lumbersexual image? I don’t know. It seems the word “barber” has been simultaneously saved and diluted. There are a lot of folks calling themselves barbers these days. Pick up a pair of clippers and some Pinaud powder, and BOOM, you’re a barber. But to me, there is a difference between a barber who has studied and performs traditional tonsorial arts and a stylist who can perform men’s cuts. I know plenty of excellent stylists that can knock out awesome men’s cuts, and that’s great, but they don’t shave faces or use straight razors; they didn’t study anatomy of the face with all the muscles and arteries, as well as various skin conditions and ways to care for them. I think having that specific training and knowledge is the point of being a true barber. Having a barber pole tattoo doesn’t make you a barber. Knowing how to execute a proper shave and the importance of the 7th cranial nerve does. I’m glad that there has been a revival of barber culture and classic grooming because it is totally ok for dudes to take care of their skin and beards. It’s totally ok for women to opt for shaves as opposed to waxing. Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor did. Now more than ever, anyone can have access to a classic barbershop experience. I’m proud to call myself a traditional barber because of my training and the respect I have for the craft.

Finally, we gotta ask but thinking back over the past 10 years, what’s the craziest caper that you’ve been involved with as a member of Blast-Off and why? And yes, you can define by what we mean by “craziest” and “caper”!

Ya see, there is this little thing we call floor cake. For some reason, we had a grocery store sheet cake after a show. We were imbibing a few celebratory beverages, and before anyone could even get a piece of cake to eat, the entire cake ended up on the floor. Shortly after, everyone ended up in the cake on the floor. My favorite crazy caper happened when we decided to recreate floor cake for a photo shoot with the Burlesque Camera Club. We didn’t tell anyone we were going to drop a cake and writhe around in it for our final shots. At first, nobody knew what to do. These kids bring a cake into a photo shoot and “accidentally” dump it in the floor and start going nuts. Then suddenly everyone just started taking photos like crazy, whipped cream was sprayed all over the studio, sprinkles were sprinkled and jimmies were jammed. It was pure confectionary chaos and everyone loved it. We all had such a great time!

MORE INFO: Limited seating. Blast-Off shows sell out so they highly encourage you to buy tickets in advance to guarantee a seat! VIP front row experience includes four front row seats, drink tickets and very special goodies.Comfy seats for your butt, beer and wine in the lobby, and mixed drinks available at Tavern Pointe, which is right across the lobby. $5 parking will be validated with ticket purchase. Purchase tickets here.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Come see what old-school shenanigans we’ve dug up for you This Week! We’ve got a little Brechtian madness, a bit of that geektastic Burly-Q mischief, a film score extravaganza, rock ‘n’ roll, blues and more! You won’t want to miss what’s shakin’ in Retro Atlanta This Week!

Monday, September 5

Get the blues and a plate full of BBQ at Park Tavern’s 31st Annual Labor Day Blues Barbeque, featuring Robert Lee Coleman & The Night Owls, Bennie Mobley, Frankie’s Blues Mission, The Sole Travelers and Delta Moon! Make your way to 529 for a night with Sad Fish, Adron, Palmlines and more! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month!  Skye Paige, “Queen of Slide Guitar” rocks out at the Little Vinyl Lounge! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!

Tuesday, September 6

Get your vintage tune fix with Bernadette Seacrest & Kris Dale and Kool Kat Caroline & The Ramblers at Eddie’s Attic! Make your way to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center for a night with German electronic pioneers, Kraftwerk! Remember Gene Wilder and make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s special screening of Mel Stuart’s WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) at 7:30pm! Get to the root of it all and stomp on down to Blind Willie’s for a night with Joe McGuinness!  The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with their Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Or get groovy with Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah in the Little Vinyl Lounge! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 7

Get a second chance to remember Gene Wilder at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s special screening of Mel Stuart’s WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) at 7:30pm! Or catch a screening of Jim Uhls’ FIGHT CLUB (1999) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta) at 7:30pm! Stomp on down to The Earl for a night with Blood on the Harp, Old Heavy Hands and Casey Camp! Lola gets down and dirty at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Boogie on down to 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! Or catch a screening of Henry Hathaway’s PRINCE VALIANT (1954) during Emory Cinematheque’s Comics & Graphic Novels Series at 7:30pm! Get your 80s adventure fix with Wolfgang Peterson’s THE NEVERENDING STORY (1984), screening at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/7pm [Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Regal Atlantic Station 18; AMC Parkway Pointe 15; Perimeter Pointe 10; AMC Phipps Plaza 14; Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Avenue Forsyth 12 (Cumming); and AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw)]! Get your Americana fix with the Boohoo Ramblers at Blind Willie’s! Get the rockin’ blues with The Highbeams at Venkman’s! Jazz it up at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Rock on downstairs at The Star Bar to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 8

Funk it up with Here Come the Mummies at City Winery! It’s a night of back porch swamp blues with Adia Victoria, Shepherds and Nerdkween at The Earl! Bluegrass it up Irish-style with Sinsear at the Red Light Café! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so surf on down and rock out retro-style with The Sundogs at Trader Vic’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Boogie down with Sweet Betty & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! The Cody Matlock Band delivers a night of blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 9

Go “Under the Covers” with Blast-Off Burlesque and help celebrate 10 years of shakin’ it up geek-style, at Synchronicity Theatre! 7 Stages gets mischievous with their opening night presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA at 8pm, running through Sept. 24! Brian Wilson celebrates 50 years of PET SOUNDS at the Fox Theatre! Rock ‘n’ Roll on down to The Star Bar for a night with Jack Oblivion & The Sheiks, Dinos Boys and Daggers! Get down and dirty and rock out at The Earl with Lazer/Wulf, HALMOS, The Buzzards of Fuzz, Crawl, The Dirty Magazines, Soda Jerks, The Johnny Rebs and more! Live long, prosper and catch a screening of Adam Nimoy’s FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK (2016) at The Plaza Theater, running through Sept. 10! Get funky with The Mar-Tans at the Northside Tavern! ATL Collective presents Prince’s “PARADE” at Venkman’s! Go-go it up with the undead at RITUAL’s Zombie Pin-Ups event at Club Famous! Boogie down with Lethal Rhythms at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with Sandra Hall & The Shadows! 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, September 10

Get your day started with the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Sylvain Chomet’s THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003) at 11am! Dilligent Lobotomy Tattoo gets retro and kicks off their monthly Saturday Morning Tattoonz event, featuring cartoons, snacks, ping pong, tattoos and more! It’ll be a hootenanny and a half during Venkman’s Chicken Pickin’ Brunch featuring Rodeo Twister! Make your way to a galaxy far away at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre and experience Star Wars and More; The Music of John Williams! Get to pickin’ and grinnin’ with The Grass is Dead and the Charlie Fog Band at the Red Light Café! Funk it up with Biscuit Miller & The Mix at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get some soul with Grant Green, Jr. at Northside Tavern! Get two chances to rock out with the Atlanta Rhythm Section at Eddie’s Attic! Raise a ruckus with Bigfoot, Beitthemeans and The Crush at The Star Bar! Retro glam it up with the Wasabassco Burlesque Variety Show at City Winery! Spend an evening with Tim O’Brien at the Red Clay Theatre! Geek it up at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center with The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses event! Get down with Big Bill Morganfield & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! 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, September 11

Shake a tail feather and celebrate Syrens of the South’s 9th Anniversary, with Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and her gang of gals and guys at 7 Stages! It’s your last chance to catch the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema’s Animated Classics series screening of Sylvain Chomet’s THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003) at 11am!  Lola gets down and dirty at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

7 Stages gets mischievous with their presentation of Bertolt Brecht’s classical musical, THE THREE PENNY OPERA, running through Sept. 24

The Michael C. Carlos Museum presents their “Doorway to an Enlightened World” exhibit, running through Nov. 27!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the 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.