ATLRetro

by S.J. Chambers
Contributing Writer

The 14th annual Hukilau shimmies and shakes this June 10-14, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, promising to be bigger and grander with new digs at the historic Hyatt Regency Pier 66. This vintage venue is celebrating its 50th anniversary as one of South Florida’s iconic hotels and features a groovy retro-tastic space-age design and rotating cocktail lounge. Last year was nearly the premier Polynesian Pop Fest’s swan song, but, Tiki fans, you are in luck! Two of the festival’s long-time attendees and lovers of the luau lifestyle refused to let the festival set sail into the great beyond, so they did what any business gentleman would do – they revived the revival and are giving means to the festival, allowing it to grow bigger and more diverse, which can be seen in this year’s highlights, listed below: 1) Shipwrecked with Mary Ann. This year’s special guest is Dawn Wells of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, who will host a three-hour South Seas-styled cruise aboard the Lady Windridge Yacht on the waterways of Fort Lauderdale’s historic Pier 66. 2) Lounge Luau-Style! The Tiki Tower Takeover will kick happy hour up 17 notches as Tiki’s best barmen— Jeff “Beachbum” Berry (Latitude 29, New Orleans) [See ATLRetro’s Happy Hour & Supper Club feature on Berry here], Martin Cate (Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco), Paul McGee (Lost Lake, Chicago) and Brian Miller (Tiki Mondays With Miller, New York City) — will be pouring signature drinks to loungers enjoying the rotating view over the Fort Lauderdale sky and shorelines. 3) Tiki University. Six symposiums include Disney artists Kevin & Jody (Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily), Oscar-nominated filmmaker Arthur Dong, author Domenic Priore, author Jeff Chenault, Jon Bortles and Tiki Gardener, as well as thirst-quenching explorations with guest bartenders: Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Brian Miller, Martin Cate, Paul McGee, Dean Hurst, and the Straw Hat Barmen. 4) Surf ‘n’ Tiki Tunes. Musical guests and performers: Alika Lyman Group, The Intoxicators!, Gold Dust Lounge, Pablus, Slip and the Spinouts, Kinky Waikiki, Skinny Jimmy and the Stingrays, King Kukulele, Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid, Lila Starlet, DJ James Brown’s Sweat. Special ATLRetro correspondent S. J. Chambers attended last year’s Hukilau (June 11-15, 2014) with publisher Anya Martin, and the following dispatches give a tantalizing tropical glimpse into what fest-goers can expect from this year’s Tiki haven!

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For five days, “Tikiheads” from all over the U.S., and even as far as Japan and Belgium, gathered in Ft. Lauderdale, FL at the Bahia Mar Resort for the 13th annual Hukilau which served up sunshine, camaraderie, music, symposiums and the ever-tempting Tiki cocktail. Tagged as “The World’s Most Authentic Tiki Event” and founded by Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White, Hukilau has been keeping this retro culture of Polynesian kitsch and tropical libations alive and kicking since 2002, when it sprang to life at Atlanta’s own Trader Vic’s.

The Disasternauts and a very green lady friend.

The event ventured South in 2003, to honor the Mai Kai Restaurant. One of the last remaining original Tiki establishments, the Mai Kai serves Don the Beachcomber’s original recipes while entertaining diners with an authentic Luau floor show. Each year has always outdone the last, bringing out performers such as Robert Drasnin and Los Straitjackets, renowned artists like Swag and Bosko, and the foremost Tiki gurus like Sven Kirsten and Duda Leite. Last year’s event was no different, and of course, it was impossible to experience it all. However, our correspondents tried their darndest, so come take a peek at what they pulled from this vast Tiki sea!

We ran into artist Derek Yaniger, who designed ATLRetro’s logo, in the vendors’ bazaar.

Music and Performers While surf was king with shreds by Florida bands The Intoxicators, The Disasternauts, and Skinny Jimmy & the Stingrays, there was also an air of jazz fusion, punk and Ska coming from Miami-based Gold Dust Lounge and Atlanta’s own Grinder Nova. Les Baxter would have been proud of Belgium’s Left Arm of Buddah, who gave a heck of an exotic show that featured multiple dancers performing Arabian and Asian-influenced moves. The early days of the cocktail were represented as well by Japan’s The Sweet Hollywaiians, whose 20s and 30s-inspired sets gave Hukilau-goers a relaxing atmosphere to really deconstruct the Mai Kai Mai Tai.

The presence of Burlesque and Go-Go dancers kept the crowd moving.

One favored moment was seeing Angie Pontani perform. Her fun Go-Go vibe melded perfectly with the Hukilau, and her movements and demeanor reminded me of later bombshells like Bridget Bardot and Sophia Loren. She did this one thing with a scarf was reminiscent of the Marilyn Monroe photography session with Bert Stern that just completely put Salomé and her whole seven scarf shtick on notice. Seminars Alas, we did not arrive at the Hukilau in time to catch Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s symposium,  “Tiki’s Dark Ages,” which he gave at the legendary Mai Kai Restaurant, but we heard from the general chatter that the sold-out event was remarkable, and we will make sure to catch it next round. We did get our books signed by the “Beachbum” at the Cocktail Kingdom table, and got to meet Steven Yamada, co-manager and head bartender of the Beachbum’s new New Orleans Tiki restaurant Latitude 29.

Grinder Nova

I was able to catch two symposiums, Philip Greene’s “To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion,” based on his book of the same name, and “RetroRenovation.com presents: Create Your Own Suburban Savage Paradise!” Greene’s presentation began with an interesting question: Was Hemingway a Tiki guy? Sort of. He definitely shaped the associations we have between drinks and lifestyle; so much that he was one of the inspirations for the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World. Why? Like Don the Beachcomber, Papa traveled the world and brought back food and cocktail recipes as souvenirs for the rest of us. He also was close friends with rumrunner Joe Russell, who was also the owner of Sloppy Joe’s in Key West, and who inspired TO HAVE AND HAVE ANOTHER. Perhaps most important to the cocktail crafting debate, he dabbled in recipe-making so much that he ruined Floridita’s Constante Daiquiri perfection—depending on who you ask—by adding another shot and cutting the sugar for what is known as the “Papa Doble.”

The Sweet Hollywaiians.

Greene was witty, and his slideshow presentation was filled with jewels, like a manuscript from a nine-year-old Hemingway, who even then had the mission statement of wanting to grow up to write and travel. Greene also served the audience two drinks from his book, the “Josie Russell Cocktail”, which Greene uncovered from Hemingway’s fishing log, and the infamous “Papa Doble”—both served with Papa’s Pillar Rum, a new libation from Tampa blessed by the Hemingway estate and for whom Greene is now a spokesman. “RetroRenovation.com presents: Create Your Own Suburban Savage Paradise!” was also a very fun symposium and a historical benchmark for the Hukilau. Hand-picked by Tiki Kiliki, the panel was comprised of Tiki Designer Deities Bamboo Ben, Danny Gallardo a.k.a. Tiki Diablo, U. K.’s Jamie Wilson & Anjy Cameron of Cheeky Tiki, and David Wolfe a.k.a. Basement Kahuna.

Tiki treasures abounded in the vendors’ bazaar.

RetroRenovation.com’s authors, Pam and Kate, were moderators of the panel, and they led the audience through beautiful examples of the various styles of Tiki (from Swiss Family Robinson to Asian-fusion) from restaurants like Mahiki by Cheekytiki to private residential dens done by RetroRenovation.com readers. To attest for the growing rise in commercial Tiki design, Anjy Cameron remarked that Cheeky Tiki has designed 21 bars in eight years, and that “the crowd is young, and they are enjoying it and it’s like going on holiday.”   The Jungle Queen Cruise On Friday, attendees wishing to take a break from the hotel were able to do so via The Jungle Queen cruise. This antique riverboat is a tourist staple at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center, and is considered one of the oldest roadside attractions in Florida. It definitely maintains that bit of kitsch, with snarky commentary on the landmark homes dotting the canal. Normally, a three-hour dinner cruise, it was truncated to an hour and half and was transformed by The Straw Men serving up welcome cocktails including Josie Russells and Witch Finders (maybe my first complex punch I’ve ever had with spices like nutmeg), and the funny ditties by King Kukulele and Crazy Al TikiMania on the coconuts. The Mai Kai and Luau The centerpiece of the Hukilau is the Mai Kai Restaurant, which opened its doors in 1956 and is one of the few remaining, original Tiki restaurants. There were parties every night with bands in every room, symposiums, and of course the Saturday night dinner show featuring an authentic Luau. It really is something to be experienced. With its main window-waterfalls, nautical decor, and Polynesian artifacts, the bar felt like you were below-deck in ship quarters. There is also an impressive tropical garden with orchids and lush palm fronds flanked by flaming torches and various wooden Tiki totems. It is very easy to feel separated from the busy highway beyond the fauna. I let myself get lost, to just sip meditatively on my grog and listen to some hidden ukulele player, when I came across a group of elegant older women standing on the lagoon bridge. They were dressed in sarongs and wore blooming, dewy tropical flowers in their hair. They were talking amongst themselves, but every once in a while, they would break away, as if summoned, to dip their hands into the water. When I later learned that they were retired mermaids from the Weeki Wachee golden age, and guests of the “Cocktails and Fishtails: The Untold Story of the Porthole Cocktail Lounge” event by Vintage Roadside and Marina the Fire-Eating Mermaid, their inability to resist the water made sense and became a metaphor for the entire Hukilau experience. The word “Hukilau” refers to the traditional Hawaiian fishing festival where the community would gather to cast large nets into the sea that would ensnare a variety of fish. The celebration and feast that would follow not only nourished the community but also brought the villagers together to celebrate kinship. That is what the Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale has accomplished over its thirteen year run. It has brought together all the tiny villages from Polynesian Pop–the mermaids, the bartenders and scholars, the performers, and the collectors–to celebrate, collaborate, and corroborate on the continuation of the grand Tiki tradition.

Mai Kai Floor Show

For more information about Hyatt Pier 66 and the Hukilau (including schedule and tickets), check out the official site here. S. J. Chambers is a writer from Tallahassee, FL. When not found drafting pool-side, she is sublimity-seeking on the road, or in the air, and sometimes in a glass. She blogs irregularly atwww.selenachambers.wordpress.com. ATLRetro Managing Editor Melanie Crew also contributed to this article.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Retro Atlanta is red-hot this week! Come see all the shakin’ shenanigans we’ve found for you! We’ve got all the ‘billy you could ever want; classic cinema on the big screen; rock in all varieties and of course a whole lotta’ down and dirty jazz ‘n’ blues! So get off that couch and come see what’s on the rockin’ Retro menu!  

Monday, June 1

Start the month with a swingin’ good time during Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Make your way to the Lefont Theatre for their screening of George Sidney’s SHOW BOAT (1951) at 7pm! Join Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of rockin’ blues and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, June 2

Make your way to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for their screening of Werner Herzog’s MY BEST FIEND (1999) during their “Werner Herzog Retrospective” series at 6:45pm! Movies ATL delivers Anthony Minghalla’s THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996), during their Carmike Cinemas Classics series at 7pm! Or get devious and criminal at the Diesel Filling Station during Nerd Film Mafia’s rescheduled screening of John Waters’ CECIL B. DEMENTED (2000) at 10pm following NerdCore Trivia! Or gump it up at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta during their screening of Robert Zemeckis’ FORREST GUMP (1994) at 12:30pm! Get some soul and rockin’ roots at the Red Light Café with Abby Wren & friends, Sailing to Denver and Donna Hopkins! Make your way to Margaritaville with Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band at the Gwinnett Center! Get to the root of it all, Texas-style with Lee Roy Parnell at Eddie’s Attic! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Or surf on downstairs to a hidden paradise, at the Little Vinyl Lounge, for Summertime Tuesdays with Poolboy Pietro and Chase the Chum-Man Taylor! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, June 3

Walk the line at the Village Theatre during the SONG MISSING Presents: I Walk the Beltline event featuring performances based on Johnny Cash songs with Noel Stephen & The Darlings Named Sue and more! Rock on down to Mammal Gallery for a night with Onchi, The Dirty Magazines and Two Hour Drive! Or stomp on down to 529 to catch Caleb Warren & the Perfect Gentlemen, Lily & the Tigers, Avi Jacob and Brock’s Folly! Get old-time and rock out folk-style at Vinyl with Sugar & the Hi Lows and Elenowen! Blues it up with Mike Farris at Eddie’s Attic! 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! Catch Wolfgang Reitherman’s classic animated tale, THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta at 3pm! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! 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, June 4

The Fox Theatre kicks off the 2015 Coca Cola Summer Film Festival with Richard Donner’s THE GOONIES (1985) at 7:30pm! You’re gonna need a bigger boat at Atlantic Station’s Movies in Central Park series screening of Steven Spielberg’s summer classic, JAWS (1975) at dusk! Rock on down to The Earl for a night with Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, the Shepherds, Nomen Novum and Hip to Death! Get folksy with Fruition and Dead Winter Carpenters at Smith’s Olde Bar! The Red Clay Theatre delivers a night with The Contenders! Get smooth with Barry Manilow at the Gwinnett Center! Bluegrass it up with Rust and The Wilhelm Brothers at the Red Light Café for Bluegrass Thursday! Get your ‘70s rockin’ jam fix at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Mark Michelson! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your island tunes ‘n’ cocktail fix! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, June 5

Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a rockin’ night with Bad Friend, Bruce Joyner & The Atomic Clock, Kenny Howe’s The Wow!, 68-75, The Rainmen, the Chris Massey Band and The Skylarks! Or get psyched at The Drunken Unicorn with Echo Courts, Shampoo, Pamela_And Her Sons and Marion Walker! Get your garage rock ‘n’ blues fix at 529 with Low Cut Connie, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah and Uncle Van & the Buzzards of Fuzz! The Red Light Café delivers the Barrow Boys and Blue Blazes! Let Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles fire you up at the Deep South Deli & Pub in McDonough! Eighties it up at the Craze Tavern with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! Bluegrass it up with the Jeff Austin Band with Jim White vs. the Packway Handle Band at Terminal West! Rock out with Lou Gramm (Foreigner) and an orchestra at Chastain Park! Jazz it up with Joe Gransden and his 16-piece big band with special guest Charissa Gransden at Eddie’s Attic with two shows! The Contenders and Guthrie Brown & the Family Tree deliver a night of folksy Americana at Grocery on Home! Make your way to Union EAV for their Vinyl Potlock Party featuring vinyl, vintage video games and rockin’ tunes! Get your ragtime jazz fix with The HoboHemians while sippin’ a few cocktails under the dinosaurs at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Get groovy with Swami Gone Bananas at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Groove on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues for a night of old-time soul with Markey Blue! Catch Montana Skies at the Crimson Moon Café! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of Van Morrison tunes with Domino! And as always, Time-Warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, June 6

Today brings day one of Virginia Highlands Summerfest 2015, celebrating 30 years of art, food and rockin’ tunes, running through June 7! Come on down for performances by Sans Abri (pop roots), The Georgia Flood (rock/funk/blues), Cicada Rhythm (folk), Heavy Chevy (funk), The Halem Albright Band (jam) and The Southern Gothic (roots/Americana)! Get your fill of Orson Welles at the Lefont Theatre’s screening of Chuck Workman’s documentary, MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE & WORKS OF ORSON WELLES (2014) at 10:30am! Surf on down to Kavarna for Southern Surf Stomp featuring The Revomatics, The Compartmentalizationalists and Woven In! Swing on by Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with Johnny Boyd and Kool Kat Caroline & the Ramblers! Get terrified with the dinosaurs at Aurora Cineplex during their screening of Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK (1993) at 11:59pm! Rock down to The Drunken Unicorn for a night with Ringo Deathstarr, *Repeat Repeat and Weisshund! Make your way to Terminal West for American Aquarium and Radio Birds! The Sock Hops deliver a night of ‘50s and ‘60s tunes at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre! It’s your second chance to catch Wolfgang Reitherman’s classic animated tale, THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) at the Charles D. Switzer Public Library in Marietta at 3pm! Get some soul with Markey Blue at Red Light Café! The Fox Theatre screens Robert Zemeckis’ BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) during the 2015 Coca Cola Summer Film Festival at 7:30pm! Rev it up with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles at Shawn O’Brian’s Roadhouse in Jackson! Get jazzy acoustic style with Elgin Wells at the Crimson Moon Café! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Get crafty at the Georgia Freight Depot during the Indie Craft Experience featuring vendors of the vintage variety, including Kool Kat Chris Hamer of Urbnpop! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) at 10:30am, and his HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005) at 1pm! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! Get funky with the Billy Thompson Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of Sting and The Police tunes with The Blue Turtles! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, June 7

It’s day 2 of Virginia Highlands Summerfest 2015, so come on down for a day with Nathan Angelo (delta blues), Sailing to Denver (folk), Dumpstaphunk (funk) and more! Celebrate with the Fox Theatre during their Fox Theatre Block Party from 12-6pm, featuring a parade and live music! Catch performances by the Deja Blue Grass Band (bluegrass), Orquesta MaCuba (salsa), Francine Reed (blues, jazz), Tribute (Allman Brothers tribute), Bogey & the Viceroy (swanky soul) and more! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema gives you a second chance to catch their “Ghibli Collection” 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) at 10:30am, and his HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005) at 1pm! Jazz it up with David torn at the Red Light Café! Catch some bluegrass, folk and western tunes with Michael Martin Murphey at Eddie’s Attic! Rock out at the Masquerade with GBH, Total Chaos and Antagonizers ATL! Get your old-school soul and R&B fix at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Maryline Blackburn! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And rock on down to the Crimson Moon Café for their Boomers Gone Wild event, delivering a night of ‘60s and ‘70s covers!

Ongoing

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7! (LAST CHANCE!)

The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7! (LAST CHANCE!)

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Hey all you Kool Kats! Shake a tail feather and come see what’s on the Retro menu this week! From classically absurd cinema to hootenannies galore to all that red-hot jazz ‘n’ blues, we’ve got it all!

Monday, May 25

Take a trip with Blast-Off Burlesque as they kick off your summer with a night of adults-only, “Summer Road Trip Americana” trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Or 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!’ Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the Pork Belly’s and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, May 26

Movies ATL delivers the Land ‘O Lynch with their screening of David Lynch’s absurdly weird BLUE VELVET (1986) at 7pm! Make your way to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for their screening of Werner Herzog’s SCREAM OF STONE (1991) during their “Werner Herzog Retrospective” series at 6:45pm! Or get devious and criminal at the Diesel Filling Station during Nerd Film Mafia’s screening of John Waters’ CECIL B. DEMENTED (2000) at 10pm following NerdCore Trivia every last Tuesday of the month! Get your post-punk new wave fix at the Variety Playhouse with The Psychedelic Furs! Rock out blues-style at Eddie’s Attic with Joe Robinson and special guest, Hank Barbee! Rock out with Rush at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre! Or get your Billy Idol fix at the Tabernacle! 529 delivers a retro rockin’ night with Rad-Isaurus Rex, the Shivery Shakes and Highlander! The Northlake Festival Movie Tavern gets cinematically retro with their screening of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Get some soul at the Buckhead Theatre with The Tallest Man on Earth and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Or surf on downstairs to a hidden paradise, at the Little Vinyl Lounge, for Summertime Tuesdays with Poolboy Pietro and Chase the Chum-Man Taylor! Get your fill of some vintage Kansas City and West Coast blues with Atlanta Boogie at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, May 27

Spend an evening with Chuck Palahniuk (“Fight Club”) during his book tour appearance promoting “Fight Club 2” – his graphic novel sequel at SCADShow! Make your way to the Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge as SCENE MISSING Presents: Atlantans in a Half Shell, featuring music, comedy and puppetry based on the films of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, at 9pm! Get your rockin’ punk and scumbag revival fix at The Basement as Captain & Maybelle hosts Green Jelly, The Vaginas and Dusty Booze & the Baby Haters! The Northlake Festival Movie Tavern gives you one more chance to catch their screening of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Folk it up with Dan Navarro (Lowen & Navarro), Phil Madeira and Chuck McDowell at the Red Clay Theatre! Blind Willie’s dishes out Chicago and West Coast Blues with the Electromatics! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission! 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, May 28

Geek it up as MomoCon 2015 kicks off their 4-day animation, anime, comics and video game fest at the Georgia World Congress Center, running through May 31! There are so many retro reasons to come on out, so get your fill of the Godzilla: 60 Years of the King panel, the “Oldies but Goodies” screenings from 3pm-12am, comic book artists, a huge dealers room, artists alley, workshops and more! Honkytonk it up at The Earl with Interstate, Two Sisters and Virginia Plane! Get cosmic with psych-jazz trio, Samadha at 529! Get down and dirty with The Dry Devils and Bathhouse Janitors at The Star Bar (Little Vinyl Lounge)! Bluegrass it up with the Georgia Mountain String Band at the Red Light Café for Bluegrass Thursday! Stomp on down to Eddie’s Attic for a night with The Black Lillies! Ian Siegal delivers his Bo Diddley and Howlin’ Wolf-inspired blues with Little G. Weevil at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your island tunes ‘n’ cocktail fix! Heather Luttrell gets to the rockin’ root of it all at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 29

Tonight begins the 2-day Candler Park Music & Food Festival filled with rockin’ tunes and finger lickin’ bites! So come on out to Candler Park cause they’re dishin’ out Leftover Salmon (bluegrass/rock/country/Cajun); The Infamous String Dusters (bluegrass) and Cosmic Charlie (Grateful Dead/Pink Floyd tribute)! It’s Day 2 of MomoCon 2015! You won’t want to miss a rockin’ performance by Go, Robo! Go, panels on The Simpsons, a Sailor Moon Gameshow, a Bullwhips with Catwoman workshop and more!

Swing it up western-style at Kavarna with Chris Scruggs, Rodeo Twister, The Mystery Men? and Kool Kat Julea Thomerson spinning some obscure vintage 45s! Get retro and folk it up with Jesse Nighswonger (Jesse & the Great Perhaps), Man up, Yancey, Noel Stephen & the Darlings and The Threadbare Skivvies at The Drunken Unicorn! Or swing on by the Red Light Café for Atlanta Speakeasy Electroswing’s Circus Night with The Way to Egress! Cabaret shenanigans ensue with performances by Claire Voyant, Tippy Tapage, Candi LeCoeur, DJ Doctor Q and more! Or get some ‘50s and ‘60s soul with Kool Kat Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics along with Adron at Terminal West! Make your way to The Plaza Theater for Fred Zinnemann’s (Roger & Hammerstein) OKLAHOMA (1955), running through May 31! Or get really retro and catch Fritz Lang’s M (1931) during the Goethe Zentrum/German Cultural Center’s “Germany in the 20th century through the films of German’s greatest directors” series at 6:30pm! Rock out Americana-style at The Star Bar (Little Vinyl Lounge) with Stephen Simmons and Molly Jewell! All you need is love, so make your way to the Variety Playhouse for Abbey Road Live! as they perform love songs of the Beatles! Rev on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for Cigar Store Indians, The Bitteroots and The Darnell Boys! It’s ‘80s night at The Family Dog with Quasi Mandisco! Eddie’s Attic delivers Delta Moon! Boogie down and sip a few cocktails under the dinosaurs with Lethal Rhythms at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! John Sosebee dishes out a night of hill country blues and rockin’ jazz at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Get the blues with the Kerry Hill Band at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and the Atlanta Horns fire it up at the Northside Tavern! Blues it up with Marty Manous and a CD Release Party at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of classic rock ‘n’ blues with Jake and the Beanstalk and The Luxury Kings! Ian Siegal delivers his Bo Diddley and Howlin’ Wolf-inspired blues with Little G. Weevil at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 30

The Candler Park Music & Food Festival brings you your second chance to rock out this weekend with Drive by Truckers (alt-rock/alt-country); Shovels & Rope (sloppytonk); J Roddy Walston & The Business (retro rock ‘n’ roll); the Roadkill Ghost Choir (folk rock); Southern Culture on the Skids (voodoo beach party hillbilly hootenanny); Seven Handle Circus (bluegrass/funk/soul) and Webster (rock/folk/funk)! It’s Day 3 of MomoCon 2015 and you won’t want to miss out on all the anime shenanigans, including their “Why Wonder Woman? A Feminist Icon” panel and so much more!

Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s CASTLE IN THE SKY (1989) at 10:30am, and his PRINCESS MONONOKE (1999) at 1pm! Get adventurous with Indy at the Aurora Cineplex (Roswell) during their screening of Steven Spielberg’s INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) at 11:59pm! Make your way to the Lefont Theatre for their screening of George Sidney’s SHOW BOAT (1951) at 10:30am! Get folksy in the Atlanta Room at Smith’s Olde Bar with Joe Fletcher and Mitch Haney, followed by Electric Bonfire, Taylor Hollingsworth and The Stacktone Slims! Or get funky in the Music Room with Flow Tribe and Seth Winters! Michelle Malone and Wyatt Espalin deliver some rockin’ blues and Americana at Eddie’s Attic! Get jazzy with Joe Gransden at the Buckhead Tavern! Make your way to The Drunken Unicorn for a night with Mr. Gnome, the Starbenders and Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer & the Bicycle Eaters! Get folksy at Terminal West with Family & Friends, Faye Webster, Monsoon and City Mouse! Katharine Cole and Humdinger get down at the Red Light Café! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and the Atlanta Horns fire it up at the Northside Tavern, with special guest Beverly “Guitar” Watkins! Get your ‘90s alt-rock fix with The Dave Matthews Band at Aaron’s Lakewood Amphitheatre! Get spooky during the Historic Oakland Cemetery’s History, Mystery and Mayhem tour and event at 7pm! Rock out with The Johnson Party at The Family Dog! The Crimson Moon Café gets to swingin’, western-style, with Carolyn Martin! Celebrate 40 years with the Glenn Phillips Band (Hampton Grease Band) at the Red Clay Theatre! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! Blues it up with Billy George at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues delivers a night of rockin’ soul with Diane Durrett & Soul Suga! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night with The Sledgehammers (Peter Gabriel tribute) and The Rainmen! Albert Castiglia gets down and dirty at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 31

It’s your last chance to geek it up at MomoCon 2015! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema gives you a second chance to catch their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s CASTLE IN THE SKY (1989) at 10:30am, and his PRINCESS MONONOKE (1999) at 1pm! Jazz it up with the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra and the Jazz Society of Atlanta featuring Jimmy Smith Jr. at the Red Light Café! Get cosmic at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center with Brit Floyd and their “Space & Time World Tour 2015”! ATL Collective delivers a night of Stevie Wonder songs at Terminal West! The Earl delivers a night of folksy punk ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll with Continental and Rye Baby! Bluegrass it up with Controlled Burn at Smith’s Olde Bar! The Crimson Moon Café delivers a night of Kentucky bluegrass with the Kevin Prater Band! Catch the all-star western band, Back in the Saddle at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7!

The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7! William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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 Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Ricky Hess, local geek at heart, jack of all film-trades and series creator/director, has resurrected a living, breathing, monster of an award-winning web anthology series, HORROR HOTEL, where the only recurring character is a menacing dilapidated motor court hotel where “People check in, but they don’t always check out.”And he’s drug mom and dad along for the bloody ride! Inspired by the creepy fantastical worlds presented in THE TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, HORROR HOTEL delivers that nostalgic deep-in-the-gut suspense and spine-chilling plot twisting angst that gained incredible popularity in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and has successfully seeped into the 21st century psyche with a raging resurgence. From what we hear, there’s always a vacancy at HORROR HOTEL, so check in if you dare and catch Season 2, filled to the bloody brim with aliens, androids, ghosts, psychotic killers – all invading your homes in the very near future!

Ricky, no film-school rookie, has dabbled in producing, directing, writing, SFX – all while creating shorts, web series, commercials and music videos. While brainstorming HORROR HOTEL, he gleaned the business knowledge of mom, Debbie Hess (executive producer) and writing/carpentry skills of dad, Al Hess (writer/set builder), to create one helluva horror filmmaking family and production team! Season 1 of the web series premiered in 2013, spanning 90 minutes of content in six twisted episodes, which can be purchased as a complete series, with each episode running 12-20 minutes in homage to THE TWILIGHT ZONE’s style and format. In 2014, the series garnered much attention from the L.A. Web Series Festival (LA Webfest), and won in four categories: Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Sound Design, Outstanding Series and Outstanding Score. And now, with Season 2 in post-production, you’ll have ample opportunity to catch a ghastly glimpse at Atlanta’s homegrown throwback to the masters of suspense and mystery! You owe it to yourself to take a step off the beaten path, check in to HORROR HOTEL and try to make it out alive!

“Aliens Stole My Boyfriend”, Season 2

ATLRetro caught up with the Hess Family for a quick interview about HORROR HOTEL; the series’ homage to ‘50s and ‘60s horror television; and what it takes to create a successful web series. And while you’re daring to take a peek at our little Q&A, get a twisted taste of the making of Season 2’s “Coma Girl” and “Brain Robbers in Love.”

ATLRetro: First off, your web-series, HORROR HOTEL is a perfect fit for ATLRetro! We love all things TWILIGHT ZONE, Alfred Hitchcock, Ray Bradbury and more! Can you tell our readers how HORROR HOTEL was born?

Ricky: I was attending a convention in another city and was seeking out an inexpensive place to stay. I ran across several suggestions but some contained warnings about the neighborhood and possible “risks” staying there, etc. I thought to myself, why would anyone want to stay someplace with such a dangerous reputation. The idea occurred to me that it would be fun to make a series about such a place and the odd, creepy kind of encounters that could occur there. The idea for HORROR HOTEL was born from that.

We see that HORROR HOTEL is a home-grown family affair, with Debbie Hess (mom) as Executive Producer, Al Hess (dad) as Writer and Ricky Hess (son) as Creator/Director. What’s it like to come from such a creative family working so closely with each other? And of course we’d like to know, who’s really the boss?

Ricky: It’s great getting to work with my family on the project. It is the most rewarding thing to me about producing the series actually. My mom and dad were somewhat new to the movie making business, but they each had skills that were needed to put a movie project together. My dad and I had for years enjoyed making up creepy stories on long road trips to amuse ourselves and he’s had some previous writing experience. Not to mention he is a great carpenter and builds all our custom props and set pieces. He’s also a good lighting technician from his years of photography. My mom, Debbie, has a pretty good business head on her and had dealt for years in the marketing world working at advertising agencies, newspapers, radio and television. She is a salesperson at heart and can endure the grueling job of marketing and promotion. I had worked for several years on other people’s projects doing everything from special effects to editing. I moved over to doing most of the directing on the series and do most of the editing as well. So together we make a pretty good, complete team.

Who’s the boss? Well, all our decisions are made together and there are always compromises that have to be made on everyone’s part to settle on a direction, but being family, this is probably a little easier since we know each other so well and have respect for each other.

You’ve stated the major influences for the series are THE TWILIGHT ZONE and Alfred Hitchcock. Are there any particular episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE or any particular Hitchcock tale that inspired you more than others?

Al: My favorite TWILIGHT ZONE episode is “Invaders” with Agnes Moorehead. Tiny aliens invade an old woman’s house and hurt her. My favorite Hitchcock episode is a Ray Bradbury tale, “The Jar,” where a farmer buys a creepy pickle jar from a side-show that’s got all this weird stuff floating around in it.

“Invader”, Season 1 – Troy Halverson

Do you have any additional retro/vintage influences for this series or for other projects you are working on?

Al: I’d like to make something showing a near future world containing a utopian/dystopian conflict. Things that used to scare people during the times of Orwell and Huxley, like being controlled by machines, aren’t so scary now that it’s happened. Each new generation of communication devices and surveillance equipment gives everyone a sense of security even though it necessarily strips away individual human rights and privacy.

Since HORROR HOTEL is an anthology series, like THE TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, would you say production is more or less difficult than a straight series, with recurring characters, etc.? What would you say are your biggest challenges?

Debbie: Horror works well in the anthology format because people are ok with a short story that is complete in itself and not continuing. Production-wise however, it definitely has its challenges. For starters, to tell a complete story circuit in each episode and do it well, requires a longer length episode which is always harder to do. HORROR HOTEL episodes tend to run longer than most web series, from 10-22 minutes. The first season contains over 90 minutes of content; the equivalent of a feature length film. We have to recast for each new episode, which takes time. With a serial series and recurring characters, this is faster and easier. We also have to retool the set for each new episode, completely redecorate a new hotel room specifically for that episode (new costumes, new props, new everything).

It’s like shooting a whole bunch of short films all the time. The advantage of shooting an anthology is that people can randomly pick out episodes to watch and don’t have to follow a story arch to know what’s happening. Probably the biggest challenge is simply wrangling all the different cast and crew it takes to do a series like this. First season alone took over 100 people to produce, which is a lot for a web series. It’s always a challenge to fit people into the schedule puzzle and keep a project moving forward to completion. Once we set a production schedule, we will do whatever necessary to keep that locked in and not postpone it. Too many independent film projects start but don’t finish. That’s not an option for us.

“Brain Robbers in Love”, Season 2 (L-R) Phil Spartis and Deborah Childs

What are some of the major differences between television/film formats and the web-series format?

Debbie: For a series produced for traditional television, there are specifically timed breaks (acts) to allow for commercials. The standard TV format calls for 22-24 minutes of actual story for a 30-minute program and anywhere from 44-46 minutes for an hour-long program. With a web series, they can be any length because primarily they are streamed online with no required commercial breaks, although many times they do have commercials depending on the platform. As far as the actual production, the same applies for traditional TV or a web series. You use all the same equipment, follow all the same procedures; everything is the same. The only difference is the viewing platform they will be primarily presented on.

Everyone making a web series should strive for as high a production value as you possibly can. With the advent of so many different ways to view digital series now, from your computer to your big screen TV, you want content that looks really good, with broadcast quality, high resolution, good filming techniques, etc. It’s the only way to have a series ever be seriously considered by higher caliber platforms.

What do you think separates HORROR HOTEL from other web series and makes it one-of-a-kind in the industry?

Ricky: Well, the fact that it is a true anthology sets it apart from the majority of web series out there, but we are not one-of-a-kind necessarily. We have tried to bring back old-school storytelling where the plot and story lines matter the most and we just try to fit in special or visual effects to enhance that. Sometimes filmmakers rely more on visual effects and some kind of “wow” factor to endear an audience but that gets numbing pretty fast without a decent story.

Can you tell our readers a little bit about your nominations and wins at the 2014 LA WebFest?

“Life After Men”, Season 2 (L-R) Baby Norman, Deborah Childs and Anastasia Pekhtereva

Ricky: It was an honor to receive four nominations and wins at the 2014 LA Webfest for Outstanding Series, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Score and Outstanding Sound Design. The decision came after a review of all episodes in the first season, but the two episodes that screened at the festival were “Tilt” and “Guillotine.”

What was your process in obtaining the talent for the series? How did you snag up Grammy Award-winning Matt Still, who scored the music on the “Guillotine” episode and actor James Edward Thomas (Al Sharko), who also acted in the ‘80s television reboot of THE TWILIGHT ZONE?

Debbie: We cast for each new episode locally from the large, talented actor pool in Atlanta. We post audition notices first on our Facebook page to give our fans a chance to submit for an audition first. After that, we post on a number of casting sites primarily focused on Atlanta talent. We continue to be amazed and pleased at the truly talented group of local Atlanta actors we have been proud to work with. James Edward Thomas showed up to audition for episode “Houdini’s Hand” and was a perfect fit for the only recurring actor thus far in the series, Al Sharko. He is not only a fine actor, but a valued family friend. He also appears in episode “Invader” as sci-fi writer Rodney Silvers.

It was actually his connection to Matt Still that facilitated Matt scoring episode “Guillotine” which James is in as well. We were so honored and excited to have Matt work on an episode. His reputation as a premiere music producer working with mega stars like Elton John, Madonna and a who’s who of rock ‘n’ roll folks was just amazing and thrilling for us. He did a most excellent job on the scoring of “Guillotine” and obviously it caught the attention of LA Webfest judges. We have been fortunate to have a number of excellent musical artists work on the series including Royal Teague, Kenneth Singleton II and Quinton “Q” Amy in the first season alone.

“Four Eyes”, Season 2 (L-R) Jeremy Michael Grey and Michael Gladden

HORROR HOTEL currently has two complete seasons. How can our readers go about getting their grubby little hands on them?

Ricky: Currently the first season is released and can be seen on Hulu, AT&T U-verse, MSN Videos, and xfinity streaming platforms. It also broadcasts on the Shorts Network channel on DirectTV and AT&T U-verse. The new second season is working through post-production, releasing in the upcoming months.

What’s next for HORROR HOTEL and the Hess family? Are there more seasons in the works and if so, can you give our readers some juicy details (without giving away too many details)? Any other projects in the works?

Debbie: We are currently concentrating on post-production work for the second season and getting that distributed, but we are also kicking around some new ideas and worlds we would like to explore. But here’s a little tickler of upcoming second season episodes: Expect cute aliens that crash land their space buggy on the motel parking lot looking for Earth boyfriends; a macabre maintenance man at a convalescence home who falls in love with a comatose patient; a narcissistic businesswoman who swaps brains with a younger business associate; a family of female clones, one of whom has committed a murder; a paraplegic hit-man hired by a disgruntled ex-husband to take out his wife; and an Orwellian tale set in the near future where males are virtually extinct and women rule.

What question do you wish somebody would ask you in an interview but they never do, and what’s the answer?

“Houdini’s Hand”, Season 1

Ricky: Q: What happens to the many props and costumes you have after each episode? A: I’m so glad you asked! We really like our custom props like the “Houdini’s Hand” ornate box, the brain swap machine from second season’s “Brain Robbers In Love,” the custom ham radio from “Invader,” the hand-carved space buggy from “Aliens Stole My Boyfriend,” and a host of other one-of-a-kind props. Not the least of which is our miniature motel model we built for miniature photography seen in episode “Invader” and “Aliens Stole My Boyfriend” to date. We like to display these for visitors to see, a sort of HORROR HOTEL mini museum if you will. Most of the costumes get saved as well, and we have even reused a couple, like the Nazi uniforms and the Rufus Bass costume because you never know when some of these characters might be resurrected!

All photos courtesy of Horror Hotel LLC and used with permission.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

This week in Retro Atlanta is chock full of red-hot jazz, redneck underground hootenannies, and Time Lords! Come on out and see what we’ve found for you! And don’t forget all the classic cinema and rowdy nitty gritty rock ‘n’ roll invading Retro Atlanta!

Monday, May 18

Monday blues got you down? Why not rock on down to The Drunken Unicorn for a night with JEFF the Brotherhood, the Zoners, Deep State and The Scraps! Join Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Get to the root of it all with Brandon Reeves at Blind Willie’s! Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! 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! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the Pork Belly’s and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, May 19

Make your way to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for their screening of Werner Herzog’s FITZCARRALDO (1982) during their “Werner Herzog Retrospective” series at 6:45pm! Or get cinematically retro at the Decatur Library during their screening of John Ford’s MISTER ROBERTS (1955) at 10am! Check out Fathom Events’ Classic Music Series: R.E.M. by MTV playing at several Atlanta-area theatres at 7:30pm! Catch Devon Allman and 68-75 dishin’ out some good ole rock ‘n’ roll at Vinyl! Power pop on by Eddie’s Attic for a night with Indianapolis Jones, Peter Searcy and members of Yacht Rock Revue! Bluegrass it up with Cedar Hill, the Classy Chicks Trio and the Classical Mountain Fiddles at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Or surf on downstairs to a hidden paradise, at the Little Vinyl Lounge, for Summertime Tuesdays with Poolboy Pietro and Chase the Chum-Man Taylor! Get some soul with Joe McGuinness at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, May 20

Spend an evening with famed American photographer, Sally Mann at the Atlanta History Center! It’s a night of boot stompin’ Americana at the Red Light Café with Cortez Garza and Christopher Lockett! Psyche out at The Drunken Unicorn with Fake Flowers, Wayne Szalinkski, Buffalo Rodeo and Floral Print! Or get your (not) garage rock ‘n’ ‘70s Euro-punk fix at 529 with Gary Wrong and GG King! Blues it up with Lola at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Get jazzy with Mace Hibbard at the Rialto Center for the Arts during the Atlanta Jazz Festival’s 31 days of Jazz event! Kool Kat Scott Glazer’s Mojo Dojo blueses it up at Blind Willie’s! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission! 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, May 21

Mac McCaughan (Superchunk) delivers a night of ‘80s indie rock and garage punk with Flesh Wounds and Gold-Bears at 529! Get ghostly and celebrate Gil Kenan’s homage and remake, POLTERGEIST (2015) during The Plaza Theater’s first ever 24-hour movie marathon! Get some soul with Mingo Fishtrap and The Congress at Vinyl! Ramble on down to Galactic Quest (Lawrenceville) for a night with the Possum Kingdom Ramblers! Get your punk fix at The Star Bar with SkinJobs, the Highriders and Dang Dang Dang! Catch Duwayne Dunham’s LITTLE GIANTS (1994) at Atlantic Station’s Movies in Central Park series at dusk. Folk it up with Studio Le Bradshaw and Mansell at Smith’s Olde Bar! Bluegrass it up with the Wayward Souls and Alex & Todd at the Red Light Café for Bluegrass Thursday! Rock out at WonderRoot with Groam, Momcat and The Black Buttons! Get sultry every Thursday at St. James Live! with their South City Jazz event! Get the blues with Geoff Achison (The Souldiggers) at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your island tunes ‘n’ cocktail fix! Blues it up with HouseRocker Johnson & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 22

It’s a Kool Kat honkytonkin’ redneck underground extravaganza tonight at The Star Bar! Stomp on down for night one of Bubbapalooza 2015 at 7 pm and get ‘yer hillbilly fix with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles, Kool Kat Julea Thomerson & Her Dear Johns, Kool Kat Caroline & the Ramblers, Kool Kat Spike Fullerton with the Ghost Riders Car Club, The Blacktop Rockets and Big Iron (featuring Jim Goad)! Check out ATLRetro’s Retro Review on Bubbapalooza’s 20th celebration here! It’s a weekend of time travel as Timegate 2015 kicks off as Atlanta’s premiere Doctor Who convention at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center through May 24! You won’t want to miss all the retro guests, music of the British Invasion by Louis Robinson & Friends and more! And jazz up your weekend with the 38th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival in Piedmont Park, free to the public and full of jazzy tunes covering three stages! Don’t miss out on Mad Satta and Thundercat kicking off this year’s festival on the Main Stage tonight!

“The Dude” bowls over the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for a second time this year with their screening of the Coen Brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) during their Midnight Bowling and Cocktail Party! Get retro and diva-tastic at Chastain Park with Diana Ross! Rock out with a cause at The Earl with MammaBear, Bearknuckle, Novus and DJ Jared Swilley (The Black Lips), benefitting Ignite the World! Take a nostalgic trip back to the ‘50s and ‘60s at Atlanta Symphony Hall with the Music of the Mad Men Era, conducted by Steven Reineke and featuring Nikki Renee Daniels and Ryan Silverman, at 8pm! Swing on by the Buckhead Theatre for a night with Scott Bradlee’s Post-Modern Jukebox! Or stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with the Hackensaw Boys, the Jugtime Ragband and Book Club! Eighties it up at Wild Wing Café in Gainesville with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! Bluegrass it up at Terminal West with The Steeldrivers with two shows (6:30/9:30pm)! Beau Soleil avec Michael Doucet Cajuns it up at the Red Clay Theatre! The Hollidays dish out a night of rhythm, soul and rock ‘n’ roll at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Get funky with Blues Fusion Deluxe at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! It’s a night of rockin’ boogie with Tullamore Road at the Northside Tavern! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues dishes out a night of rockin’ jazzy blues with Wavetree! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of blues ‘n’ roots with Karp Foley! Francine Reed & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 23

Rev on down for Day 2 of Bubbapalooza 2015 at The Star Bar with Kool Kat Cletis Reid & His City Cousins, Kool Kat Phil Stair with Rocket 350, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah, Big Foot, Dusty Booze & the Baby Haters, Bully, Chickens & Pigs, Willie Heath Neal, Hothouse Peaches, The Wheel Knockers and more! And make your way downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a little down ‘n’ dirty nitty gritty with Kool Kat Sen Artie Mondello, Whayas, The Skylarks and Kenny Howe! Hop in your T.A.R.D.I.S. for Day 2 of Timegate 2015 and get your fill of classic Doctor Who panels, a Q&A with ‘70s Doctor Who actress Katy Manning, RetroTV, The Ken Spivey Band, the Timegate Cabaret starring Lt. Moxie Magnus, the Timegate Masquerade and celebrate the anniversary of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975)! Jazz it up with Day 2 of the 38th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival! Catch The Rad Trads, Marcus Strickland “Twi-Life”, Otis Brown III and Derrick Hodge on the Main Stage! The International Stage delivers Dida Pelled, Banda Magda and Alfredo Rodriguez! Jessie Davis & the Nebraska Jones Experiment, Kenosha Kid and Wolfpack ATL get red-hot on the Locals Stage!

Landmark Midtown Art Cinema kicks off their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) at 10:30am, and his MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988) at 1pm! Get rowdy at Garage71 Studios during their Gasoline & Brass Knuckles Punk Show featuring Drop Dead Nasty, Blue Tower, Crypt 24, Moreland Wrecks and Cadillac Junkies! Get debaucherous at the Red Light Café with The Dime Show Cabaret, presented by The Cirque du Lune, with performances by the Imperial OPA Circus and more! Let Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-Devilles fire you up at the Dixie Tavern in Marietta! Kool Kat VJ Anthony delivers his Clash of the Decades: Guilty Pleasures Music Video Dance Party at Opera Nightclub! Put on those dancin’ shoes and get ready for a night of retro rock, Motown, funk, Big Band and more at The Basement for Electric Western’s Keep on Movin’ Rock and Soul Dance Party! Skank on down to the Masquerade for a night with The Slackers, The Duppies and Razorcomb! Rock on down to The Earl for The Preakness, Love Letter and Pete DeLorenzo! Get folksy with Claire Campbell, Kyshona Armstrong and HaTTrick at Kavarna! Take a second trip down memory lane at Atlanta Symphony Hall with the Music of the Mad Men Era, conducted by Steven Reineke and featuring Nikki Renee Daniels and Ryan Silverman, at 8pm! Eddie’s Attic gets rootsy with The Grahams! Lee Roy Parnell dishes out some Texas roots at the Crimson Moon Café! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! Swami (Swami Gone Bananas) does the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get soulful with Grant Green Jr. at the Northside Tavern! Get the blues with Annika Chambers at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs blueses it up with The Electromatics featuring Jon Liebman! Sandra Hall & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 24

It’s your last chance to jazz it up in Piedmont Park during the 38th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival! Make your way to the Main Stage for Four Women: A Tribute to Nina Simone, the Nettwork Trio, Diane Schuur and the Pharaoh Sanders Quartet! Or catch Fernando Noronha, Jacky Ambroise & Strings, Emrah Kotan and Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra on the International Stage! And the Locals Stage gets jazzy with Joe Gransden & His Big Band, Mastery, Jeff Sparks and Tony Hightower! It’s your last chance to get geeky at Timegate 2015, so come on down for a screening of the 50th Anniversary of DOCTOR WHO & THE DALEKS (1965), starring Peter Cushing, a ‘70s glam fashion show and more! Rock out at The Earl with the Zoners, Rope and Bodyfather! Folk it up with Emisunshine at Eddie’s Attic! D.B.A. (Decatur Bluegrass Association) bluegrasses it up at Smith’s Olde Bar! Geoff Achison gets the blues at the Crimson Moon Café! Stomp down to Kavarna for a night with Blackfoot Daisy! Landmark Midtown Art Cinema gives you a second chance to catch their “Ghibli Collection” screenings with a 35mm screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) at 10:30am, and his MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988) at 1pm! Boogie on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for their Sultry Sunday ‘60s Party with Reggie Parks! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7!

The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7!

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

Splatter Cinema and Enjoy the Film present AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000); Dir. Mary Harron; Starring Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Chloë Sevigny, Willem Dafoe and Jared Leto; Wednesday, May 13 @ 8:30 p.m.; Cinevision Screening Room; Tickets $10 (cash only); Trailer here.

By Aleck Bennett
Contributing Writer

Splatter Cinema has returned—this time backed by a successful Kickstarter campaign to pre-fund this month’s screening. Once again teaming up with ATLRetro Kool Kat Ben Ruder’s Enjoy the Film and the Cinevision Screening Room, Splatter continues into its seventh year of savagery with its mission still intact—to deliver the buckets of blood and delightful scenes of slaughter that make life worth living. This time around, Christian Bale drenches the screen with gore in Mary Harron’s turn-of-the-millennium classic AMERICAN PSYCHO!

Sometimes the most annoying question a movie geek like me can face when talking about an adaptation of a novel is this: “How does it compare to the book?” My gut reaction is that it’s a pointless exercise to compare the two. One speaks in a written language, one visual. They use completely different modes of expression. The only thing the two media really have in common is that they tend to be storytelling ventures. But beyond that, it’s like comparing rhubarb to a Jackson Pollock painting. You can do it, and even say that one is better than the other, but it’s kind of a fool’s errand.

However, since I’m feeling foolish, let me just say for the record that the film AMERICAN PSYCHO is far better than the novel. How can I say that? Easy. I can’t stand the novel, yet I love the movie. I dunno. Maybe I don’t like rhubarb.

Requisite plot summary: Patrick Bateman is a young Wall Street banker in the late 1980s that kills people in his spare time. The casual ruthlessness needed for success in his job extends to his personal life, in which he sees people as nothing more than walking slabs of meat, their lives holding no more importance than their business cards.

Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel was something of a cause célèbre at the time of its publication, having been rejected by Simon & Schuster before being picked up for a trade paperback release by Vintage Books. Widespread outrage over the book’s content (specifically its gratuitous depictions of violence against women) generated acres of press coverage, vehement debate and calls for the novel to be pulled from distribution. Being curious about all the hubbub and brouhaha, I picked it up. And the chief impression that the book left was just how banal and glib it all was – shallow depictions of a shallow life punctuated by shallow descriptions of nauseatingly graphic violence. It seemed completely cut adrift from itself, accidentally being a prime example of what it ostensibly criticizes. Unlike, say, Chuck Palahniuk, Ellis never reveals anything beneath the surface of his cipher-esque characters. Whereas the nameless, catalog-shopping narrator of FIGHT CLUB becomes increasingly complex and interesting over the course of the story’s development; Patrick Bateman just simply is what he is. And for a character with more depth, that may be all you need. But for a character that doesn’t extend beyond the mask of humanity he wears, it’s not enough. And in a work in which nobody else lives beyond the surface, which doesn’t even seem to believe that anything beyond the surface even exists, it simply comes off as a lazy portrait (or even an embrace) of a lifestyle rather than a pointed critique of that lifestyle.

On top of that, its jokes fall flat and its vaunted scenes of violence seem shoehorned in for nothing more than attention-grabbing shock value. (In fact, Ellis held off on writing any of the violent passages until he finished the book, going back to research serial killers and write depictions of murder and mayhem to insert into the narrative at a later date. And it feels like it.) And the novel never seems to know precisely what its target is. Is it about how desensitized we’ve become to violence? Is it about Patrick Bateman as the perfect distillation of capitalism, making mincemeat of others in order to advance in the world, as a kind of slasher film equivalent of WALL STREET’s (1987) Gordon Gekko? Is it about the glib surface-living culture of the 1980s? Is it simply a reflection of the life and mindset that Ellis admits to living at the time of the novel’s writing? Ellis never seems sure, and couches his indecision (which ends up feeling like he just doesn’t care what it’s about) in quasi-literary pretension and stylistic fakery.

I really hate this book, in case you haven’t caught on.

So when I heard back in the day that it was going to be made into a movie, I was less than excited. I mean, Hollywood had managed to turn Ellis’ similarly shallow morality tale, LESS THAN ZERO (1987) into a movie with even less depth than the novel. But then the news came down that the adaptation was both written and directed by women—not just women, but, gloriously, feminists!—something that I (correctly) hoped would bring a certain sense of smart irony to the film, given the absolutely rampant misogyny of the novel. To make matters even better, their screenplay was chosen over one written by Bret Easton Ellis himself. The check marks in the “plus” column were soon vastly outnumbering those under the “minus” heading.

And the movie succeeds on almost every level in which the novel fails. The screenplay by director Mary Harron and GO FISH (1994) screenwriter Guinevere Turner brings the latent humor lurking in Ellis’ novel to life, while amping up the sense of sickening horror surrounding Bateman’s crimes, which are so blandly and matter-of-factly depicted in the original source. Rather than embracing the attitudes of the novel, the film slyly and wittily transforms the book’s depictions of women into a comment on male vanity and competitiveness. Meanwhile, Christian Bale’s performance also manages to transcend the source material, giving us a Bateman with an intensity and (at times) frenzied energy that belies his character’s detachment and superficiality. And the end result is a film that is focused. All of the things that felt like directionless elements in the novel—the misogyny, the over-the-top ultraviolence, the preening narcissism, the steady divorcing of the protagonist from “reality”—now have an aim and a purpose: to show Bateman as the perfect embodiment of an American dream gone sour. Climbing atop and feeding upon the corpses of those beneath him, devaluing anyone that stands in his way, and growing further and further out of touch with the rest of the world and yet he succeeds. Not in spite of his particular brand of American psychosis, but because of it. This is what is expected of you, the film seems to say, and then openly mocks the society that calls for it. Maybe it’s because Mary Harron is a Canadian and can view America from a skeptical distance while still being close enough to grasp the details—the same quality that I think helps to make Jen & Sylvia Soska’s similarly themed and titled film AMERICAN MARY (2013) work so well. Or maybe it’s that the intervening decade has allowed Harron to take on the 1980s Yuppie culture with a more knowing eye than the still-too-close 1991 novel. But no matter the reason, Mary Harron’s film captures a particular type of mindset from a particular age perfectly and then skewers it with wit and perfect technique, leaving us to identify its lingering traces today.

So no matter how you may have felt about the novel, there’s no need to fear that this adaptation doesn’t do it justice. If you loved Ellis’ book, you’ll find a movie that easily snares the essence of what you find rewarding in it. If you loathed the novel, then you’ll find a movie that does exactly what Ellis was likely trying to do, and does it miles better. And you can’t ask for a better team of people to bring this film to you—Splatter Cinema always makes their screenings fun, and Ben Ruder knows how movies ought to look on the big screen. So get there early, get your picture taken with Patrick Bateman and maybe enjoy some Huey Lewis & the News while you’re waiting. It may not be hip to be square, but if you’re not there, that’s what you’ll be.

Aleck Bennett is a writer, blogger, pug warden, pop culture enthusiast, raconteur and bon vivant from the greater Atlanta area. Visit his blog at doctorsardonicus.wordpress.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Come see what’s on the Retro menu this week! From a whole ‘lotta revved up rock ‘n’ roll, to hillbilly hootenannies galore, to all the jazz and blues your rockin’ little heart could desire! And you won’t want to miss all the classic cinema we’ve found for you! So get off that couch and live la vida Retro!

Monday, May 11

Join Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Get folksy ‘90s style at the Variety Playhouse with Ani DiFranco! Rock on down to The Earl for a night with Acid Mothers Temple, ST 37 and Guerilla Toss! 529 delivers a hoppin’ hootenanny with Ryley Walker, Moses Nesh and Steven Mann! Matt Pless, The Couch Hopper Band and The Black Buttons rock out at WonderRoot! Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Funk it up with Greg Hester at Blind Willie’s! Catch Adam Carolla and Nate Adams’ documentary, WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (2015), screening at The Plaza Theater through May 14! Shake a tail feather at the Red Light Café with live Flamenco featuring Carlos Menchaca, Cristian Puig and Julia la Luna, presented by Berdole Flamenco! Or 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!’ Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the Pork Belly’s and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, May 12

Make your way to the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema for their screening of Werner Herzog’s AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) during their “Werner Herzog Retrospective” series at 6:45pm! It’s a night of burly-Q shenanigans with Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and Syrens of the South, at the Red Light Café with their Tease Tuesday Burlesque: May Day! event featuring Annette Coquette, Fianna Flowerchild and more! Get rowdy and rock on down to Terminal West for Primal Scream and The Head! Get intergalactic at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Steven Spielberg’s extraterrestrial classic, E.T. (1982) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Celebrate 20 years of Live’s “Throwing Copper” with Ed Kowalczyk at the Variety Playhouse! Bluegrass it up with Curtis Jones & Primal Roots at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! The Boohoo Ramblers deliver a night of foot stompin’ Americana at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, May 13

Splatter Cinema along with Kool Kat Blake Myers and Enjoy the Film (Kool Kat Ben Ruder) deliver a night of murderous mayhem at Cinevision Screening Room with their screening of Mary Harron’s gore-tastic flick, AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) at 8:30pm! And don’t forget to come early for some chilling lobby shenanigans (Keep your eyes peeled for our Retro Review soon)! The Earl delivers a night of ‘80s Brit post-punk reeking of the Talking Heads with Imagination Head, Highlander and Book of Colors! It’s a night of lonesome cowboys and dustbowl folk with Ben Trickey, David Dondero and Pete DeLorenzo at 529! Get funky with Sugarfoot at Smith’s Olde Bar! It’s your last chance to get intergalactic at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Steven Spielberg’s extraterrestrial classic, E.T. (1982) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Or get girly and make your way to Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta) for their screening of P.J. Hogan’s MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING (1997) at 7:3opm. Rock out blues-style with The Cazanovas at Blind Willie’s! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission! 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, May 14

Rev on down to The Star Bar for a night with The Dusty 45s, The Mystery Men? and The Sideburners (upstairs), or stomp on downstairs for Hannah Aldridge and Betsty Franck! Blues it up with Ruthie Foster at SCADShow! Uncle Vann & the Buzzards of Fuzz, The Organ Machines and Bathhouse Janitors treat you to a night of surf rock and cow punk at Union EAV! Get rocked folk-style at The Earl with The Great Peacock and Book Club! Get your early UK punk rock (and more) fix at 529 with Zex, Bathrooms, Omotai and Waste Layer! Bluegrass it up with Benny Galloway & the Sleepy Cowboys and The War & Treaty at the Red Light Café for Bluegrass Thursday! Make your way to Philips Arena for a night with Bette Midler! Jazz it up country-style with Suzy Bogguss at the Red Clay Theatre! Get funky and get the blues with Tab Benoit, The Pimps of Joytime and The Dead 27s at Terminal West! Get some soul with Nik West at Suite Food Lounge! Get sultry every Thursday at St. James Live! with their South City Jazz event! Jam it up with Honeywood at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your island tunes ‘n’ cocktail fix! Beverly “Guitar” Watkins gets red hot at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 15

Terminal West delivers a night of psych-rock with Reptar, the Breathers and Hello Ocho! Get your early American, Broadway and movie themes fix during Earl Smith Strand Theatre’s Symphony on the Square event at 7pm! Kool Kat Andy Ditzler and Film Love presents Curation & Cinema at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, which delves into the art of cinema curation, Film Love history and accompanied by Andy Warhol’s silent 1964 film of Taylor Mead and additional screenings of shorts, 8mms, the trippy and avant-garde and a few 1980s home movies! Consider the Source delivers a night of sci-fi middle-eastern prog rock ‘n’ funk at Aisle 5! It’s a night of ‘80s industrial metal at the Masquerade with Ministry! Then make you’re your way to the Famous Pub for Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s Ministry After Party at 10pm! Rock on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for Avenue of the Giants, Passionate Mayhem and the Pelvis Breastlies (all-female Elvis tribute)! Glam it up at the 120 Tavern & Music Hall with The Prophets of Addiction, Dusty Booze, The Night Terrors and Asphalt Valentine! Jazz it up with Alex Lattimore during the High Museum’s Friday Night Remix! The Crimson Moon Café dishes out a night with Jesse & Noah! Spend the night with Butch Walker at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Blues rock it up with The Brotherland at The Family Dog! Get some vintage swagger and Kansas City/West Coast blues jump with Atlanta Boogie at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Get some rockin’ soul with The Rockaholics at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Stoney Brooks delivers the blues at the Northside Tavern! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues has the Bruce Katz Band! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs rocks out with The Barry Richman Band and his Allman Brothers tribute! 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! Francine Reed & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 16

Go back in time for a cosmic reunion at the Georgia Renaissance Festival’s Time Warp Weekend at 10:30am! The East Atlanta Beer Fest rocks out with 230 different beers, tasty treats from our pals at Pallookaville and King of Pops and tunes by the Wasted Potential Brass Band and more! Or get some tasty treats and vittles at A Taste of the Highlands 2015 from 2-5pm with live music from the Sweet Auburn String Band and The People’s Republic of Jambodia! Get jazzy with the Melvin Jones Quintet, Theresa Hightower and more at the Atlanta Beltline Jamboree from 2-8pm! It’s a hootenanny and a half during the Shaky Boots Festival, stompin’ down to the KSU Sports/Entertainment Park through May 17, with The Whiskey Gentry and more! And haunt on down to the Historic Oakland Cemetery for their Malts & Vaults: Where Beer Meets History tour, from 7-8pm!

Get your old-school punk (Stooges/Bowie/MC5-esque) fix at Union EAV with Bloodplums (album release), The Love Agenda and Hot Wives! Or rock on down to 97 Estoria for Estoriafest 2015 featuring the Sealions, Easy Magick (members of Dinos Boys & Barreracudas), This Piano Plays Itself, Wyldlife, A Drug Called Tradition and more! Rock out with Pat Dinizio (The Smithereens), Nine Times Blue, Navajo Joe and Kenney Howes upstairs at The Star Bar! Or bluegrass it up with Alex Commins & Todd Prussin downstairs! Get your punk country fix at the Red Light Café with Lexi Street, wWAYLon and Will Mitchell! Rock out with The El Caminos, The Western Sizzlers and the Night Terrors at Smith’s Olde Bar! Getty jazzy at the Gwinnett Center with their The Art of Jazz event featuring The Jacques Lesure Group! Make your way to Terminal West for a night with Sonia Leigh, Lisa Goe & the Flashtastiks, Jacob Thomas Jr. and The Wheeler Boys! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night! Unknown Lyric gets classic at The Family Dog! Fatback Deluxe delivers some ‘40s-‘60s classic blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern for “Magic Fred’s Birthday Bash” featuring Eddie Tigner, Albert White and The Cazanovas! Get the blues with Stacy Mitchart and Bobby Thompson at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers an early show with The Nearly Normal String Band and Louis Robison during their “Fiddler’s Green” Coffeehouse Concert followed by Tony Levitas & Friends! Houserocker Johnson & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! 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, May 17

The Earl Smith Strand Theatre screens Charlie Chaplin’s silent classic, THE GOLDRUSH (1925), with an organ accompaniment from Kool Kat Ron Carter, with a pre-show organ sing-a-long, during their “2015 Silent Films” series at 3pm! Get your acid rock ‘n’ blues fix at Vinyl with Bo Ningen and Alchemy! Stomp on down for day 2 of the Shaky Boots Festival with Old Crow Medicine Show, The Devil Makes Three, Cracker and more! Those Darlins deliver some retro rock ‘n’ roll at Park Tavern! Stomp on down to the Variety Playhouse for a night with Steve Earle & the Dukes and The Mastersons! It’s a night of rockin’ stompin’ blues at The Earl with Chickens and Pigs! Get jazzy with Virginia Schenck at Eddie’s Attic! Bluegrass it up with the Kris Youmans Band during Smith’s Olde Bar’s Bluegrass Brunch! Then shimmy on back in the evening for Awalim & Aziza Nowal’s Spring Bellydance Showcase! Jazz it up with Lisa Oakley and Deb Bowman at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Curtis Jones & Primal Roots delivers a night rowdy bluegrass at the Crimson Moon Café! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7!

The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7!

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get horrified, literary-style this weekend at the 25th Annual World Horror Convention, this year presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA), haunting Thursday-Sunday May 7-10 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis! Guests of Honor include legendary bestselling horror author and Marietta local, John Farris; author Kami Garcia (BEAUTIFUL CREATURES); author Christopher Golden; author Charlaine Harris (TRUE BLOOD); author Lisa Tuttle; and Godzilla artist extraordinaire Bob Eggleton, as well as toastmaster Jonathan Maberry and over 150 more writers, editors, filmmakers, publishers, and artists! This year’s World Horror Society’s 2015 Grand Master has been awarded to William F. Nolan, co-author of the novel LOGAN’S RUN, and it’ll be presented with awards for the year’s best in horror fiction Saturday night at the HWA’s Bram Stoker Awards Banquet!

World Horror Con is held in a different location every year, so we think it’s pretty spooktacular that the 25th anniversary con is back in the Monster Kid Capital of the USA. The 1995 and 1999 WHCs were also in Atlanta.

Here are our 10 scariest retro reasons to get downtown.

1) 25th ANNUAL WHC CREEPY COSTUME BALL! Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. ghost host with the most, Professor Morte and the Silver Scream Spook Show will have you shakin’ in your boots during the Creepy Costume Ball, Friday, May 8! Slither on down for this spooky spectacle which will have you monster mashin’ it up with DJ Extreme Gene and more at the creepiest party of the year! $100 cash prize for best costume, $50 for second place and a free Bram Stoker Awards banquet ticket for third. Party begins at 8:30pm and will rattle your bones through 12:30am!

2) MASS AUTHOR SIGNING! Come one, come all (free and open to the public) to the Mass Author Signing on Friday, which will be bookin’ it from 6:30-8pm! This is an event you won’t want to miss, because you’ll get the chance to catch more than 100 of your favorite horror/spec-lit/weird fiction (and more!) authors, including John Farris, local legendary author and all the other Guests of Honor; Grand Master William F. Nolan; Jack Ketchum, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and author of such novels as THE GIRL NEXT DOOR; renowned SF/F/H editor Ellen Datlow; New York Times bestselling splatterpunk pioneer and bizarro author John Skipp; Weston Ochse, author of SEAL TEAM 666, which is being developed into a major motion picture starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud, Scott Nicolay, author of ANA KAI TANGATA, Rue Morgue magazine’s Best Fiction Collection of 2014; many Bram Stoker Award-winning and nominated authors such as Yvonne Navarro, Usman T. Malik, Damien Angelica Walters and Stephen Graham-Jones; our very own wickedly weird kool kitten, ATLRetro publisher Anya Martin; and we kid you not – about 100 more! Atlanta’s Eagle Eye Books is the official bookseller of the WHC, and will be located in the Dealers Room, so stop by and pick up books by your favorite attending author to sign this weekend!

3) THE WEIRD SOUTH. Dig deep into horror’s heritage in Southern Gothic literature, with dark panels galore! On Friday, May 8, you won’t want to miss Voices of the Mountains: Manly Wade Wellman and Karl Edward Wagner at 9 pm, exploring the two pioneers of Southern Horror. The A Good Horror Isn’t Hard to Find: The Dark Side of Flannery O’Connor and Southern Gothic Lit panel gets grotesque Saturday, May 9, at noon!

4) FANGTASTIC FILM!  With the support of Atlanta’s own Buried Alive Film Festival (Nov 21-22, 2015) and the Tabloid Witch Film Festival, this year’s film program will spotlight some of the most exciting short and feature films created by Georgia and Southern filmmakers, as well as will showcase recent works by other attending professionals and exciting shorts from around the world. Freaky Friday includes Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures discussing his recent documentary endeavors surrounding Jeff Burr’s FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (1987), with exclusive clips from the documentary and giveaways, during The Night(s) Indie-Horror Came to Georgia: An Hour With Daniel Griffith on Friday at 2pm! Get brutal and exploited during a screening of Kool Kat James Bickert’s throwback to ‘60s/’70s exploitation films, DEAR GOD! NO! (2011) is a bloody ruckus at 3pm, with an introduction by Prof. Morte! And stick around for the Filmmakers Lounge at 5pm, where you’ll get to witness film shop talk and learn the fun parts of making horror films! Sinister Saturday brings you a screening of Jason Brock’s THE ACKERMONSTER CHRONICLES (2013), revisiting the life and times of mega-fan Forrest J. Ackerman at 9am (includes a Q&A with filmmaker and William F. Nolan)! Spend an hour with “Fun Boy” Michael Massee (THE CROW) at 11 am! Get sinister during Skipp’s Saturday Sinema Funtime featuring screenings of John Skipp and Andrew Kasch’s AN HONEST MISSTAKE (2014), Izzy Lee’s POSTPARTUM (2015) and Gigi Saul Guerrero’s EL GIGANTE (2015), beginning at noon! At 1pm, the Buried Alive Film Festival and Kool Kat Blake Myers, present Ryan Lieske’s ABED (2011), based on the Elizabeth Massie story and produced by Atlanta’s own late Philip Nutman (WET WORK, Fangoria), followed by their screening of Kool Kat Eddie Ray’s SATANIC PANIC 2: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (2014) at 2pm. And finally, the Buried Alive Film Festival presents Its Bloody Best, a block of the best shorts screened at past Buried Alive Film Festivals, at 3pm! And stick around for the Filmmakers Lounge where talking shop never gets dull, at 5pm!

5) MULTI-CULTURAL WORLD HORROR. What’s more fitting when exposing the diversity in the dark underbelly of spec-lit and horror than doing so in the city that was the center of the Civil Rights Movement? Catch Different Visions: African-American Spec-Lit from Afro-Futurism to Beloved on Friday, at 1pm, and get a peek through the lens of the African-American experience from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to the first black president! On Saturday, May 9, you won’t want to miss Pushing the Diaspora Darkly: Horror from Multicultural Perspectives at 1pm, which explores diversity and an emerging global view of spec-lit and horror as it moves into the 21st century with a new generation of writers from different cultural backgrounds.

6) WHC LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS.  This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are Tanith Lee, author of more than 90 novels across the entire spectrum of speculative literature; and Jack Ketchum, author of 32 books to date, with five of his novels making their way to the big screen [The Lost, The Girl Next Door, Red, Offspring and The Woman]. Celebrate Tanith Lee’s achievement during Dancing With Darkness: A Tribute to HWA Lifetime Achievment Award Winner Tanith Lee on Friday, at 10am! And you won’t want to miss the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Interview: Jack Ketchum at 2pm, Friday!

7) H.P. LOVECRAFT IN THE 21st CENTURY.  Learn about Lovecraft’s legacy in modern horror fiction, which has been cemented for more than half a century in his Cthulhu Mythos and his exploration of cosmic, existential horror. More recently, the tentacles of Lovecraft’s more troubling legacy—as a voice for some of the last century’s most vile expressions of racism and xenophobia—have found their way into the center of the discussion of his work, so creep on down, Friday at 3pm for the H.P. Lovecraft in the 21st Century: The Problematic Legacy of the Great Old One of Horror and the Weird panel!

8) THE STEPHEN KING HOUR. Are you Stephen King’s biggest fan? If so, you won’t want to miss The Stephen King Hour at 5pm on Friday, and catch the experts discuss the most important horror writer of this generation! (One lucky contest winner will get the chance to sit on this horrorific panel!)

9) READINGS, READINGS AND MORE READINGS! What’s better than reading the works of this century’s wickedly weird and catastrophically creepy writers, who have reaped what our horror forefathers of yore, sowed many murderous moons ago? Why, getting the chance to experience the horror spewing from their own lips! Friday, May 8, brings you readings by Charlaine Harris, William F. Nolan (co-author of Logan’s Run and more), Kami Garcia, Usman T. Malik, Joe McKinney, Nathan Ballingrud (North American Lake Monsters), Scott Nicolay (Ana Kai Tangata) and more! Saturday, May 9, brings you readings by Jack Ketchum; Christopher Golden, James A. Moore, Lisa Tuttle, Jonathan Maberry, Weston Ochse, Yvonne Navarro, Damien Angelica Walters, Molly Tanzer (A Pretty Mouth, Vermilion and more) and Jesse Bullington [The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, The Enterprise of Death and more]!

10) HISTORIC HORROR: FACT & FICTION! The written word has a way of bringing reality to life and vice-versa! Don’t miss out on a special presentation by Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker’s great grand-nephew at 11am during the Bram Stoker / Dracula Travel Guide New Discoveries 118 Years Later event, exploring his specialized travel guide surrounding Bram’s most famous novel, Dracula. Dacre’s one-hour PowerPoint presentation includes stunning photos of sites associated with Bram’s life in Dublin, his holidays in Whitby, Cruden Bay Scotland, Count Dracula and Vlad Dracula sites in Romania. At 2pm get monstrous during the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company’s presentation of “The Passion of Frankenstein” by Thomas E. Fuller. This classic radio theatre retelling of the classic story by Mary Shelley is sure to thrill and chill! And, what are the limits of horror’s human side? Catch the Horror’s Human Side: There Are NO Limits, Or Are There panel at 5pm, which explores Joyce Carol Oates’ take on horror fiction and realistic fiction, whether some subjects are too horrific to be horror, and what’s the line between realist literature and horror lit?

World Horror Con main hours are Thur. May 7 from 6 p.m. to midnight.; Fri. May 8 from 9 a.m. to midnight; Sat. May 9 from 9 a.m. to midnight; and Sun. May 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with parties going late into the night on Friday and Saturday. For more info, visit www.whc2015.org.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Check it out kool kats and kittens! This week in Retro Atlanta is chock full of rockin’ retro performances and shakin’ shenanigans! Boogie down at the Shaky Knees Festival! Spook it up at the 25^th Anniversary World Horror Convention! And you won’t want to miss out on all the rock ‘n’ roll shows harkening back to the 20^th century, a week full of jazz ‘n’ blues and the big screen full of old-school flicks! Get off that couch and live la vida retro!

Monday, May 4

Geek it up at Battle & Brew in Sandy Springs and may the fourth be with you during their STAR WARS Day celebration, featuring film screenings, tasty food and themed drinks! Join Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! Bill Sheffield delivers a night acoustic roots and blues at Blind Willie’s! 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! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Make your way to The Plaza Theater as they screen Jeff Bredemeier’s documentary, DANTE’S DOWN THE HATCH (2014) about Atlanta’s landmark restaurant where you could dine inside an old pirate ship with live jazz and ferocious crocodiles (See our Retro Review here) at 7:20pm, through May 7! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the Pork Belly’s and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, May 5

Get rebellious at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Randal Kleiser’s classic, GREASE (1978) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Funk it up at Aisle 5 with EMEFE, Bird City Revolutionaries and Omega Level! Get rootsy at Terminal West with Mandolin Orange and Ryan Gustafson! Get really retro at the Shakespeare Tavern as the Atlanta Chamber Players present “Grand Finale” featuring Philip Glass’ “String Quartet No. 5” and more! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Blues it up with Andrew Black at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, May 6

Wishbone Ash delivers a night of old-school rockin’ Brit rock ‘n’ blues at the Variety Playhouse! Blues it up with Lola 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! Dale & the ZDubs rock out reggae-style at Smith’s Olde Bar! Vogue on down to the Village Theatre for the SONG MISSING Presents: MADONNATLANTA event featuring performances based on Madonna songs with Noel Stephen & the Material Girls, Blast-Off Burlesque and more! Jazz it up at St. James Live! during their grand opening red carpet event, featuring a 16-piece band, and will deliver blues, jazz, R&B and classic soul throughout the week! It’s your last chance to catch Randal Kleiser’s classic, GREASE (1978) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Blues it up with Little G. Weevil at Blind Willie’s! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Frankie’s Blues Mission! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, May 7

Tonight begins the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and 25th Anniversary World Horror Convention (WHC) at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which runs through May 10 and promises to be weird and horrorificly pleasing! Spook on down for some blood curdling panels, spooky live entertainment and a whole lotta creepy shenanigans! Live long and prosper while celebrating Leonard Nimoy as Cineprov riffs his STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984) at The Plaza Theater at 7:30pm! Kool Kat Blair Crimmins & the Hookers fire it up with a little prohibition pandemonium in downtown Alpharetta during Taste of Alpharetta along with von Grey! Or get your garage rock ‘n’ blues fix with Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah with special guests at The Star Bar! It’s a night of glam rock ‘n’ pop at 529 with The Gooch Palms, Death Valley Girls, Coma Girls and The Marrows! Voltaire delivers a night of murder ballads with his skeletal orchestra with Ego Likeness and Finite Automata at the Masquerade! Blues it up with Roger “Hurricane” Wilson at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre! Rock on down to Union EAV for a night with Lux Noise, Killing Kuddles, Chandelier and the Drobotics! Boogie on down to the Rialto Center for the Arts for The Wonder Years – a dance tribute to Stevie Wonder! Blues it up with Andrew Black at the Buckhead Tavern! For a night of psyche-rock and dream pop, make your way to the Music Room at Smith’s Olde Bar for Houston in the Blind, Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden, Earl Burrows and Angela Wolff. Or retro rock on down to the Atlanta Room for Goldwing and the Kenny George Band! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down and get your ‘50s and ‘60s surf and rock ‘n’ roll fix with Kool Kat Joshua Longino and The Disapyramids! Blues it up with Sweet Betty & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 8

Night one of the 3-day 2015 Shaky Knees Festival has arrived at Central Park, chock full of retro-inspired tunes spanning five stages! Rock on down and catch Surfer Blood (surf rock), Black Pistol Fire (rock/blues/punk), John Grant (The Czars; folk rock), the Wavves (surf rock/punk), The Kooks (post-punk revival), Manchester Orchestra (rock), TV on the Radio (retro rock), The Mountain Goats (folk), Mastadon (sludge metal), the Pixies (‘80s/’90s alt-rock), Brand New (Beach Boys/The Cars-esque), The Strokes (post-punk revival) and more! And for late night Shaky Knees shenanigans, rock on down to the Masquerade for Portugal. The Man and Small Reactions in Heaven; and The Dead Milkmen in Hell! Day 2 of the WHC is chilling with spooky retro-inspired lit panels, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith exploring the world of B-movie history and documentary filmmaking, the Lovecraft legacy, a screening of Kool Kat James Bickert’s DEAR GOD! NO! (2011), a Stephen King hour, a whole lot of horror, noir, weird fiction, a filmmaker’s lounge, a mass author signing (open to the public) and the night ending with Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. Prof. Morte and Silver Scream Spook Show’s Creepy Costume Ball! Crawl on down, if you dare! And stomp on down to Grant Park for the Pick’n Grant Park Atlanta BBQ Festival, running through May 9, with performances by Michelle Malone and more!

Eighties it up at the Craze Tavern with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade! The Marcia Ball Band gets rowdy with some roadhouse blues at the Variety Playhouse! Kool Kat VJ Anthony delivers his The 80s: New Wave Music Video Night at Famous Pub! Stomp on down to the Red Light Café for a night with Grits & Soul and Rye Baby! Get funky with Earsight, Heavy Chevy and The Space Time Travelers at Smith’s Olde Bar! Retro rock on down to The Basement for a night with Olivia Jean! Or funk it up with Funky Bluester at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Catch Adam Carolla and Nate Adams’ documentary, WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (2015), screening at The Plaza Theater at 5pm! Get your heavy classic rock fix at The Earl with Graveyard and Brother Hawk! Folk it up with Dar Williams for two shows at Eddie’s Attic! Get groovy with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern! Get some rockin’ soul with The Rockaholics at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Red Head Diamond gets mellow ‘70s-style at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Funk it up and boogie under the dinosaurs with The Mar-Tans at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event! Blues it up with Houserocker Johnson & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! The Shuffle Junkies deliver a night of rockin’ blues at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! And as always, Time-Warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, May 9

Rock out for Day 2 of the Shaky Knees Festival with Hey Rosetta! (indie folk), Field Report (folk), Mariachi El Bronx (punk, mariachi), The Whiskey Gentry (bluegrass punk), Palma Violets (garage), Viet Cong (post-punk), The Devil Makes Three (bluegrass), The Black Lips (psych-garage), Fidlar (garage/surf), Flogging Molly (folk/punk), Built to Spill (‘90s indie), Interpol (post-punk revival), Neutral Milk Hotel (psych-folk), Social Distortion (punk), Milky Chance (psych-folk), Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (rock), Wilco (folk rock), ZZ Ward (blues rock), The Avett Brothers (roots folk) and more! Shaky Knees late night will be held at the Masquerade with Diamond Rugs and New Madrid in Purgatory and Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls in Hell! Day 3 of the WHC brings a horrorific good time with Jason Brock’s THE ACKERMONSTER CRHONICLES (2013), with a Q&A to follow with the filmmaker and William F. Nolan (“Logan’s Run”); panels discussing Flannery O’Connor and more, readings by Jack Ketchum and more; Kool Kat Blake Myers and the Buried Alive Film Festival crew screenings; along with Kool Kat Eddie Ray’s SATANIC PANIC 2: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (2014); and so much more! Day 2 of the Pick’n Grant Park Atlanta BBQ Festival brings you Yes Ma’am, the Front Porch Session Players, Jimmy Galloway, Lowdive, Grant Green Jr., the Wasted Potential Brass Band and more!

Surf on down to Kavarna for Southern Surf Stomp featuring Kinky Waikiki, The Mystiki Men? (The Mystery Men?) and The Barrow Boys! Rock on down to 529 for the Swingin’ Utters, The Warning Shots and Antagonizers ATL! Get some rhythm and soul with The Hollidays at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Geek it up at Battle & Brew for their STAR WARS Cosplay Night! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola! Get folksy with Marc Cohn with two shows at Eddie’s Attic! Smith’s Olde Bar delivers a night of psychedelic space rock with Strange Planet, GreyMarket and Bearknuckle in the Atlanta Room! Or rock on down to the Music Room for a night with The Kinky Aphrodisiacs and Satsuma! Get funky with a night of rockin’ blues and rockabilly at the 120 Tavern and Music Hall with David T & Friends, Atlanta Boogie and The Sparkletones! Get revived with John Fogerty (Credence Clearwater Revival) at the Gwinnett Center! Blues it up with Frankie’s Blues Mission at The Family Dog! It’s a Harmonica Blowout at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a Led Zeppelin Tribute Jam with Mark Michelson & friends during their “Classic R&R” series! Sandra Hall & the Shadows get the blues at Blind Willie’s! It’s your second chance this week to catch Adam Carolla and Nate Adams’ documentary, WINNING: THE RACING LIFE OF PAUL NEWMAN (2015), screening at The Plaza Theater at 5pm! 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, May 10

It’s Day 3 and your last chance to rock out at the Shaky Knees Festival with Matthew E. White (rock/jazz), Nikki Lane (modern Wanda Jackson/rockabilly), The Damnwells (indie), the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (N.O. jazz), the Old 97s (garage), The Mowglis (rock, doowop, ‘60s), The Sheepdogs (old-time rock), Best Coast (‘50s/’60s pop), Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls (folk/punk), the Heartless Bastards (blues rock), Dr. Dog (psych-rock), Spiritualized (space rock), Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (funk/jazz), Ryan Adams (folk rock), Xavier Rudd (Aboriginal folk), Old Crow Medicine Show (roots), Minus the Bear (indie), Tame Impala (psych rock) and more! It’s your last chance to get your fill of horror literature and weird fiction at the WHC! ZZ Top and Jeff Beck will rock you out retro-style at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre! Get your afro-beat fix at the Variety Playhouse with Lagbaja! For a night of Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz, make your way to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for the Rhythm Future Quartet! Stomp on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for their Bluegrass Brunch with Johnny Campbell & the Bluegrass Drifters! Blues it up with Stephen the Blues Dude at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

The Fabrefaction Theatre Company presents the timeless Broadway musical, PETER PAN, running through May 10! (LAST CHANCE)

The Alliance Theatre presents Pearl Cleage’s BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY through May 10! (LAST CHANCE)

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7! The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7!

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get hep to the jive and see what’s on the Retro menu in Atlanta this week! We’ve dug up a whole lotta shakin’ shenanigans, so boogie on down, take a peek and live la vida Retro!

Monday, April 27

Geek it up with Blast-Off Burlesque as they start your week off right with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday night at 8:30pm! Truett Lollis delivers a night of blues and soul at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! 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!’ Get some soul with Greg Hester at Blind Willie’s! Get folksy with Jamie Laval at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And for a night of tasty blues, make your way to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, April 28

Snuggle up with Al Capone at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Brian De Palma’s gangster classic, THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Or get deviant at the Diesel Filling Station during Nerd Film Mafia’s screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH (2001) at 10pm following NerdCore Trivia every last Tuesday of the month! Rock out at the Tabernacle with Godsmack and Hellyeah! Folk it up with Ben Sollee at Eddie’s Attic! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with Kool Kat Jeff Clark and Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night! Fire it up with JT Speed at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Blues it up with Cadillac Assembly at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! And as always, The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, April 29

Rock out punk-style at The Earl as they screen Scott Crawford’s SALAD DAYS: A DECADE OF PUNK IN WASHINGTON, D.C. [’80-‘90] (2014) followed by Minor Threat cover band, Salad Days! Get funky at the Elliott Street Pub with Myles Brown! Get old-timey and stomp on down to Eddie’s Attic for a night with Elephant Revival and Cicada Rhythm! Funk it up with Jerry on the Moon at Smith’s Olde Bar! It’s your last chance to get criminal at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern during their screening of Brian De Palma’s gangster classic, THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) during their “Classic Films on the Big Screen” series at 7:30! Jazz it up at the Wolf Creek Branch Library (Atlanta-Fulton) during their Jazz Night Out event featuring a tribute to Nina Simone with LaTosha Brown at 6pm! Or get jazzy Latin-style at Java Monkey with Wild Rice! The Tabernacle rocks out with The Offspring and Jawws! It’s a night of Chicago and West Coast blues at Blind Willie’s with the Electromatics! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with their Cowboy Karaoke event, featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Get some soul with The Hollidays at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, April 30

Get down and dirty at the Clermont Lounge with Kool Kats, The Joy Kills, Crazy Big Lady, Koskee and the Dirty Magazines! Get your gritty garage-grass ‘n’ hillbilly fix at The Earl with The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band and Strung Like a Horse! Rock on down to The Basement for a night with Doesin, Scarlett Mistress, the Great American Noise Jihad and The 200s! ARTStation presents “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, running through May 3! Get old-timey at the Red Light Café with The Duhks and the Bottom Dollar String Band! The Weight rock out at the Variety Playhouse, slingin’ The Band tunes! Make your way to Eyedrum for a night with Jon Mueller and Ben Agustin! Get folksy with Don Flemons and The Steel Wheels at Eddie’s Attic! Or folk it up with Seryn and Songs of Water at the Red Clay Theatre! 529 delivers a night of garage rock and indie surf with Rad-Isaurus Rex, Antarcticats and Good Mother! Get funky with Brown Sabbath (Brownout) and Heavy Chevy at Terminal West! Geek it up at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center as they present The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Master Quest! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s, so hula on down for a night of smokin’ island tunes! Jazz it up with The Nick Longo Band during Oakhurst’s Jazz Nights! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night of rockin’ blues with Lazer Lloyd! Blues it up with Sweet Betty & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! 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! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, May 1

Make your way to The Star Bar for Songs of Love & Hate: The Music of Leonard Cohen featuring Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer & the Bicycle Eaters, Book of Colors, Michael Bradley, Ryan Peoples, Molly Harvey and more! Yacht Rock Schooner delivers a night of Steely Dan at Earl Smith Strand Theatre! Geek it up at the Masquerade with Markster Con’s Bash of the Empire IV STAR WARS party with Kool Kat VJ Anthony, featuring costume contests, rockin’ tunes and a vendor area including Kool Kat Chris Hamer of Urbnpop! Stomp down to The Earl for a night with The Bros. Landreth, Hare & the Hounds and The Skylarks! Blues it up with Tito & the Chicken Raiders at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! The Red Clay Theatre delivers a night with Chuck Cannon and Eliot Bronson! Bluegrass it up with the Porch Bottom Boys and Megan Saunders & the Driftless at the Red Light Café! Steve Winwood gets down at the Fox Theatre! Make your way to Union EAV for their Vinyl Potlock Party featuring vinyl, vintage video games and rockin’ tunes! The Buggs deliver a rockin’ tribute to The Beatles at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! The Georgia Flood gets bluesy and funks it up at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event, so boogie on down under the dinosaurs while sippin’ a few cocktails! Blues it up with Sandra Hall & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Frankie’s Blues Mission is smokin’ hot at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Make your way to The Plaza Theater as they screen Jef Bredemeier’s documentary, DANTE’S DOWN THE HATCH (2014) about Atlanta’s landmark restaurant where you could dine inside an old pirate ship with live jazz and ferocious crocodiles (See our Retro Review here) at 7:20pm! 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, May 2

The Star Bar gets old-timey with I Want Whisky, Lily & the Tigers and the Bottom Dollar String Band! Rock out retro-style at The Earl with Radio Birds, Slow Parade and Cicada Rhythm! Pay homage to the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 in Old Fourth Ward during their Fire in the Fourth event from 2-10pm, featuring fire installations, performances, live music with Mr. Blue Sky, the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable, The Ruby Red Band, Mausiki Scales & the Common Groove Collective and more! Webb Wilder and The Cazanovas boogie on down at Life University in Marietta! Haunt on over to the Historic Oakland Cemetery and experience their Cryptophonic Tour from 2-7pm! Or experience the Old Atlanta Prison Farm Tours at 10:30am and 1:30pm! The Drunken Unicorn delivers a night of psyche, punk and surf rock with the Blazers, Buffalo Buffalo and The Organ Machines! Folk it up with Paper Bird and Faye Webster at Vinyl! Get legendary and blues it up with the Robert Cray Band and Shemekia Copeland at the Variety Playhouse! Make your way to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre for a night with The Doobie Brothers and Don Felder! Get your dark ‘80s Goth fix at Famous Pub with Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s BLACK OUT: Goth Industrial Night! Blues it up with the Red, White & Blues Band at Hottie Hawgs BBQ! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for a night with Elvis Perkins! It’s a night of rockin’ soul at the Red Light Café with Diane Durrett and Soul Suga’! Stomp on down to the Crimson Moon Café for a night with Michelle Malone and Trish Land! Make your way to the Red Clay Theatre for a night with Hannah Thomas and Travis Meadows! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues delivers a night with Too Slim & the Taildraggers! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs delivers a night with Playing on the Planet and a Stevie Wonder tribute with The BadAsh Allstar Team! Get the blues with Houserocker Johnson & the Shadows at Blind Willie’s! Geek it up at Kings Market Shopping Center in Roswell with their Vintage Computer Festival running through May 3! Make your way to The Plaza Theater as they screen Jef Bredemeier’s documentary, DANTE’S DOWN THE HATCH (2014) about Atlanta’s landmark restaurant where you could dine inside an old pirate ship with live jazz and ferocious crocodiles (See our Retro Review here) at 7:20pm! 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, May 3

The Earl rocks out with Crocodiles, Del Venicci and Shark Week! Smith’s Olde Bar dishes out their Bluegrass Brunch with Delta Cane followed by a night with Ryan Montbleau, Emily Kopp and Lauren St. Jane! Rock out with Tesla at the Tabernacle! Get old-timey at Grocery on Home with River Whyless and Frank Fairfield! Doo-wop it up at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center with The Midtown Men! The Honeycutters deliver a night of Appalachian honkytonk at Eddie’s Attic! And get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar! And rock on down to the Crimson Moon Café for their Boomers Gone Wild event, delivering a night of ‘60s and ‘70s covers!

Ongoing

The Marietta Museum of History gets Victorian as they present their “Peeling Back the Layers: Victorian Wedding Ensembles” exhibit through May 2, 2015! (LAST CHANCE)

The Fabrefaction Theatre Company presents the timeless Broadway musical, PETER PAN, running through May 10!

The Alliance Theatre presents Pearl Cleage’s BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY through May 10!

The High Museum presents “Gordon Parks: Segregation Story” (‘50s Life Magazine photos) and “Leonard Freed: Black in White America”, (1963-1966) exhibits through June 7!

The Georgia Renaissance Festival runs through June 7!

William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum’s, “Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendek in His Own Words and Pictures” getting wild through July 5!

Blast-Off Burlesque geeks it up with a night of adults-only trivia at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, every Monday at 8:30pm!

HepCat’s Hop gets swingin’ every second Wednesday of the month at the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant!

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

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

The Star Bar delivers Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm, every Tuesday!

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

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.