ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor/Contributing Writer

Retro Atlanta massacres this spooky season with all the haunting and bone-chilling madness your little black hearts desire! We’ve got horror and slasher flicks! We’ve got sinister seduction and the unruly undead! We’ve got ghosts and goblins and monsters, oh my! Become one with the creatures of the night this week and rock out with a helluva lot of spooktacular shenanigans!

Monday, October 20

Get terrified and undead at The Plaza Theater, with their screenings of George A. Romero’s cult classic, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and Victor Halperin/Edward Halperin’s vintage horror classic, WHITE ZOMBIE (1932), both running through Oct. 23! For a night of adult horror and chilling madness, haunt on down to Chambers of Horror, running 7 nights a week through all of October! Get your fill of “Hank Williams on speed” at the Variety Playhouse with The Jayhawks! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Get jazzy at Blind Willie’s with Jacob Deaton! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, October 21

Get your boo-filled burly-Q fix with Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and Syrens of the South as they spice up your naughty black hearts at the Red Light Café during their Tease Tuesday: Boolesque Spooktacular event, with performances by Candi LeCouer, Ada Manzart, Bubble Bordeaux, Oracle, Tora Torrid, Nikki Nuke’m and more! The “Master of Suspense” gets bone-chilling at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern with their presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s tale of murder and peeping toms in REAR WINDOW (1954) during their Alfred Hitchcock Series at 7:30! It’s a dystopian world at Midtown Art Cinema during their screening of Peter Brook’s LORD OF THE FLIES (1963) at 7pm! CineBistro at Town Brookhaven delivers a night of horror and suspense during their ‘Cineclassics 2014’ screening of Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (1980)! Rock on down to 529 for a night with GHB, Cottaging and Wymyn’s Prysyn! It’s a Bluegrass Band Showcase at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs, so stomp on down for a night with the Atlanta Bluegrass AllStars, D.B.A. and the Possum Kingdom Ramblers! It’s a night of retro shenanigans at The Star Bar with Stomp & Stammer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia at 8pm, followed by ‘80s Dance Night at 10pm! Make your way to Big Tex for a night with Moira Nelligan & The Dixie Jigs and their old-fashioned Americana! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm! Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint gets the blues with the Bob Page Trio! Get the blues at Blind Willie’s with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! The Entertainment Crackers get bluesy with their folksy Americana at the Northside Tavern! And rock out with JT Speed at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!

Wednesday, October 22

It’s a night of haunting Broadway at the Fox Theatre with Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera”, chilling through Nov. 2! Stomp down to the Red Light Café for a night with Caleb Warren (Caleb Warren & the Perfect Gentlemen) and Miguel Olasuaga (Blood on the Harp)! It’s your last chance to catch the “Master of Suspense” at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern with their presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s tale of murder and peeping toms in REAR WINDOW (1954) during their Alfred Hitchcock Series at 7:30! Make your way to Emory Arts’ for their “Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series with their screening of Tadeusz Konwicki’s JUMP (1965) at White Hall! Honky-tonk on down to The Star Bar as they get smokin’ during their Slim Chicken Honky-tonk Extravaganza,featuring live-band old-time country and western tunes! Get ghoulish at the Highland Inn Ballroom as SCENE MISSING presents their “There is no Atlanta, Only Zuul” event at 9pm, featuring comedy, skits and writing about ghostly films! Blues down to Blind Willie’s for a night with Timo Arthur! Get jazzy with Jacob Deaton at the Elliott Street Pub! The Hollidays deliver some rhythm and soul 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! Spend the night with Matt Damon and Robin Williams at AMC Phipps Plaza 14 during their AMC Classics screening of Gus Van Sant’s GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) at 2pm and 7pm! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, October 23

“Monsters in Black and White” invades Cinevision with Ben Ruder (see our Kool Kat feature soon!) of Enjoy the Film delivering Robert Wise’s THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) in glorious 35mm at 7:30pm! Or do the Time Warp at the Newnan Theatre Company during their presentation of “Rocky Horror Show” dishing out their “sweet transvestite from Transylvania” through Nov. 2! Get jazzy at the Suite Food Lounge as Jazz Beat Promotions presents their “Tribute to Joe Sample”! Get your circus funk fix at Terminal West with the MarchFourth Marching Band! It’s Bluegrass Thursday at the Red Light Café, so stomp on down for a night with Adam Klein and Reverend Hylton & the Devil’s Hands! The Earl delivers a night of garage rock and The Kinks/The Band-inspired tunes with Brass Bed, Lucis Flux and Cullen Curtis (Think Never)! Beverly “Guitar” Watkins gets down and dirty at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for a night of cool island tunes and a couple Mai Tais! 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! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! 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, October 24

Get monstrous tonight as a helluva lot of haunted hootenannies invade Retro Atlanta! Get horrified, vintage-style at The Defoor Centre as Monsterama presents their free “Super 8 Monster Movie Madness” event from 6-11pm, featuring old-school creature-features screened in 8mm, by “Big in Japan” author, Timothy Price, venders, guests and more!The Plaza Theater gets maniacal and gory during their presentation of Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (1980), Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER (1987), Robin Hardy’s THE WICKERMAN (1973) and William Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST (1973), all bone-chilling through Oct. 30!Get gore-ified at Sweetwater Bar & Grill at their rockin’ Halloween party featuring Kool Kats, The Casket Creatures, Cadillac Junkies, Fully Loaded and Crypt 24!Or get macabre and swing on down to the Red Light Café for a Samhain Soiree with Atlanta Speakeasy Electroswing! Slash on down to Mary’s for their “Slumber Party Massacre” event, promising a night of creature-features, monster make-up and a slayin’ good time! Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse’s (AZA) zombie outbreak kicks the weekend off right, running every weekend until November 2^nd, giving you ample opportunity to kick some zombie tail! Get gothic at the Masquerade during their Ascension: Halloween in Hell Industrial Goth Night! Haunt on down to the Mammal Gallery for their Steampunk Monster Ball, featuring tunes by Candy Apple Black, the Quantum String Orchestra and more! Spend a night in terror at The Strand Theatre as they get spooky with their presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS (1963) at 8pm! Or creep on down to Atlantic Station for their presentation of Tim Burton’s ‘80s Halloween classic, BEETLEJUICE (1988) during their “Spooky Movie Fest” at 7:30pm! Spook on down to Grant Park and get cozy with the goblins as the Krewe of Grateful Gluttons puts on their Halloween Lantern Parade led by the high energy Black Sheep Marching Ensemble, gettin’ brassy and eerie in the dark at 6:30 pm!

Get Lynch-filled and disturbed with art and film celebrating Mr. Lynch at Mindzai Creative for opening night of “The Big Dream: A Celebration of Works Inspired by David Lynch” with twenty world-wide artists! Smithsonian delivers their rockin’ Smiths tribute at 529! Emory Arts presents Aleksandr Ford’s BLACK CROSS (1960) during their “Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema” series screening at 7:30 in White Hall! Junior Brown and The Roosevelts invade the Variety Playhouse with their old-time Americana and Texas country! Get your Russian folk fix at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with 9 String Theory! Rev on down to Motorheads in McDonough for a rockin’ night of rockabilly with Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-DeVilles! Get funky at Smith’s Olde Bar with The Main Squeeze, Dapper Slap and The Magic Beans! Get your Roxie Watson fix at the Red Clay Theatre! Blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for Blues Rendezvous! Houserocker Johnson & the Shadows get bluesy at Blind Willie’s! The Kelly Richey Band delivers some rockin’ blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! Kool Kat VJ Anthony presents his The Eighties: Hatful of Halloween music video and dance party at Famous Pub! And as always, Time-Warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW(1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, October 25

Spook on down to DooGallery for their Haunted Art Show, featuring art by Kool Kat Shane Morton, Jeff Riggan (see our Shop Around feature of Jeff here), live music by the rockin’, Howling Star and so much more! The Strand Theatre gets bone-chilling with their screening of Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (1980) at 8pm! Sinister spirits invade Aurora Cineplex during their screening of Ivan Reitman’s GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) at 7:30! The Plaza Theater offers up a few ‘80s flicks with James Cameron’s THE TERMINATOR (1984) at 7pm and Albert Magnoli’s PURPLE RAIN (1984) at 9:30!Shimmy over to the Elliott Street Pub for Kool Kat Kitty Love’s Cheeky Belles Burlesque: Dress-Up Party at 8pm! Get your ‘80s alt-rock fix at The Star Bar with Blasting Cap! (featuring members of The Woggles and Guadalcanal Diary) and the Tim Lee 3 (The Windbreakers)! Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas deliver a night of rockabilly, surf and cabaret gypsy jazz at the Red Light Café! Spend an evening with the Paul Thorn Band at the Variety Playhouse! Or blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a night with Ron Cooley & the Hard Times! Big Bill Morganfield gets down and dirty at Blind Willie’s while Albert White gets the blues at the Northside Tavern! Rock down to The Earl for a night with Tedo Stone, Grand Vapids and Keath Mead! Or whet your appetite for some mid-90s indie funk and glam with of Montreal and Pillar Point at Terminal West! Eliot Bronson delivers his garage, polka folk rock with a CD release party at Eddie’s Attic, with special guest Jonathan Byrd! 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! For something a bit more gore-filled and sinister, run for your life to Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse and see if you can survive the end of the world, running through Nov. 2! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, October 26

Blues on down to the Buckhead Theatre for an intimate evening with Justin Hayward, vocals for the Moody Blues! Spook down to The Strand Theatre during their screening of Paul Leni’s silent horror classic, THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) backed by organist and Kool Kat Ron Carter! Rock out at The Earl with Secret Chiefs 3 and Atomic Ape! Viva la French comedies of Max Linder at SCADShow with screenings of Linder’s BE MY WIFE (1921), THE THREE MUST-GET-THERES (1922) and SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK (1921) at 2pm! Or get your murderous mama’s boy fix at AMC Phipps Plaza 14 with their screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO (1960) at 2pm! Darrell Scott bluegrasses it up at Eddie’s Attic! Get folksy at the Red Light Café with The Ragbirds! Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet delivers 37 years of Cajun tunes at the Variety Playhouse! Banjolicious brunches out at Big Tex during their Bluegrass Brunch! And it’s your last chance this week to get horrified and grotesque while fighting for your life with the undead at Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse!

Ongoing

Historic Oakland Cemetery’s Capturing the Spirit of Oakland 2014 Ghost Tours, haunt through Oct. 25! (LAST CHANCE!)

Follow the yellow brick road all the way to the Center for Puppetry Arts for their presentation of “The Wizard of Oz” through Oct. 26! (LAST CHANCE!)

Get headless and haunted at Serenbe Playhouse’s chilling presentation of THE SLEEPY HOLLOW EXPERIENCE, through Nov. 1!

Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse will have you running for your life every weekend through Nov. 2!

Chambers of Horror terrifies with their adults-only gore-fest and blood-splattering, 7 nights a week, through Nov. 2!

New London Theatre (Snellville) presents “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” through Nov. 2!

The Newnan Theatre Company Time-Warps it up with their presentation of “Rocky Horror Show” through Nov. 2!

Netherworld haunts with two terrifying haunted houses, “Season of the Witch” and “SPLICED” every weekend through Nov. 8!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Melanie Crew
Contributing Writer

Atlanta is a rockin’ inferno of all things Retro this week! Come on out and see what we’ve found for you! Get revved and rock out with some old-timey ‘billy music! Get to flappin’ with the roarin’ 20s! Or take a trip and get psychedelic! We’ve got whatever your little vintage heart desires! So, Don’t be square, get out and get Retro!

Monday, February 24

Get psychedelic at 529 with Quilt, Abby GoGo and Small Reactions! Cinefest gets retro as they screen William Greaves’ most well-known film, SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM: TAKE ONE (1968) and his attempt to capture true reality on film, running through March 2! 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!’ Blues on down to Blind Willie’s for a night of rockin’ blues with Marshall Ruffin! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a side of Dry White Toast with some finger lickin’ BBQ!
 
Tuesday, February 25

Shimmy on down to the Red Light Café for a Burlesque Battle of the Babes! Get saucy and spend the evening with Sadie Hawkins at her ‘Last Pasties Standing: The Glitter Dome’ event accompanied by some rockin’ songs from 80’s movies! Stomp on down to Big Tex for a night with Moira Nelligan & The Dixie Jigs and their old-fashioned Americana! Timo Arthur delivers his rockin’ blues at Blind Willie’s! Or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers gets bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern. Boogie on down to The Star Bar and get groovy with The Funk Godfather, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Quasi Mandisco every other Tuesday! The Northlake Festival Movie Tavern will have you packing your bags and running off to Morocco as they screen Michael Curtiz’s classic Bogart-filled Hollywood tale, CASABLANCA (1942) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm! And the Center for Puppetry Arts gets really retro literary-style as they present David Simpich’s marionette-filled adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic, ‘Great Expectations’, running through March 2!

Wednesday, February 26

It’s a hootenanny and a half tonight at Smith’s Olde Bar as they kick off their Slim Chicken Honky-tonk Extravaganza!  You’ll be stompin’ all night to the revved up and rockin’ tunes of Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-DeVilles, Slim Wray, Buck O’ Five, Whiskey Belt and so much more! Give love a bad name and make your way to the Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge for a night of belly-laughs as Write Club Atlanta presents their  ‘Scene Missing Episode 7: Bad Love’ event, offering up a night of writing and comedy based on film where love has gone horribly wrong! Blood Drunk Records presents a night of rockin’ psychedelic punk at The Star Bar featuring the Surrogates, Doesin, Phossy Jaw and Cinema Novo! Honky-tonk on down to The Earl for Robert Ellis and T. Hardy Morris! Get Georgia on your mind and head down to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center for a night of tunes celebrating the legendary Ray Charles, during their ‘Jazz Roots’ series at 8 pm! Frank Barham gets jazzy at Churchill Grounds while The Breeze Kings deliver a night of Chicago and Delta blues at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint! Blind Willie’s gets bluesy with a tinge of jazz and southern soul with Kool Kat Scott Glazer & his Mojo Dojo! Frankie’s Blues Mission takes you for a rockin’ blues voyage 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! It’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.  Get the cure for ‘love without love’ tonight at Emory Cinematheque’s screening of Leos Carax’s MAUVAIS SANG (THE NIGHT IS YOUNG) (1986) during their Global French Cinema series at Emory’s White Hall! Here’s lookin’ at you, kid, so make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern for their screening of Michael Curtiz’s classic tale, CASABLANCA (1942) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ matinee screening at 11:30 am!

Thursday, February 27

Rock out with some honky-punk at the Dixie Tavern in Marietta with The Law Band and Kool Kat Phil Stair with Grim Rooster! It’s a retro-infused night at The Star Bar with a little reggae and punked-out ska with Beauregard & The Down Rights along with Blackfoot Gypsies, Easy Beat and Strange Planet! Stomp on down to The Earl for Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy, Bloodkin and The Higher Choir! Blues on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for a night with Andy Margolis & The Usual Suspects! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New-Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! Make your way to the Crimson Moon Café for The Tom & Julie Show featuring tributes to tunes from the 60s to the 90s every Thursday! Get glitzy and do the Charleston at the Georgia Ensemble Theater as they present Simon Levy’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of the love, obsession and the roarin’ 20s, ‘The Great Gatsby’, running through March 16! Or swing on down to the Elliot Street Pub for a night with Justin Chesarek and Ryan Whitehead! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings while Heathter Luttrell delivers a night of rockin’ blues and Americana at Blind Willie’s! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas! Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. Catch a wave and boogie down beach-party style with Kool Kat Joshua Longino with Andrew & the Disapyramids while sipping a couple MaiTais at Trader Vic’s! And it’s your last chance to escape to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern as they screen Michael Curtiz’s classic Bogart-filled Hollywood tale, CASABLANCA (1942) during their Salute to the Oscars series’ screening at 7:30 pm!

Friday, February 28

The Strand Theater gets really retro with their screening of Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor’s silent classic, SAFETY LAST! (1923) starring Harold Lloyd, accompanied by Ron Carter on the Mighty Allen Theatre Organ! Get your fill of some Avant-garde Czech New-Wave tonight, as Film Love presents part one of three screenings with Jan Nemec’s DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT (1964) at Emory’s White Hall at 8 pm! Get a taste of some browngrass (“just like bluegrass, but just a little dirtier”), and stomp on down to the Red Light Café for a night with the Porch Bottom Boys and Sour Bridges! Get psychedelic at Hottie Hawgs BBQ with Swami Gone Bananas! It’s a King Cake Party at Northside Tavern, so come on out and get funky with Zydefunk! Rock on down to The Star Bar for a night of dirty rock n roll at Volume IV’s record release party, along with Kool Kat Aileen Loy with Till Someone Loses an Eye, The Baphomettes and Bully! Get old-fashioned at Big Tex with The Woodshedders and their old-school bluegrass and gypsy jazz!  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! Beam me up Scotty, because ‘Captain’s Log’ is back at the Village Theatre, promising a night of science-fiction inspired comedy of space-tastic proportions! Catch a glimpse of Ol’ Blue Eyes tonight as The Electromatics deliver a night of Chicago and West Coast blues and jazz standards at Churchill Grounds! For a night of Dixie blues, head on over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for Seminole Jackson! Get your party hats on ‘cause it’s Blind Willie’s 28^th year of rockin’ the blues, so come on out and celebrate with Lazy Lester and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne!  Rock on down to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event for the high-energy band, The Pack while sipping cocktails under the dinosaurs! The Rockaholics get bluesy at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues while The Rainmen rock out to some 60s and 70s rock n roll at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! And do the Time-Warp while spicing things up with some naughty and 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, March 1

You’ve got the fever, Blast Off Burlesque has the cure! Boogie on down in your snazziest platforms and polyester to The Plaza Theater for their TabooLaLa: Saturday Night Fever event! Lobby pre-party shenanigans with DJ Westwood A Go-Go begin at 9 pm! Or geek on down to Famous Pub and get infested at their Infestation 3: Halfway to DragonConevent for a night of zombies, go-go dancers and kilt-wearing lads!

It’s a Mardi Gras Party at the Drunken Unicorn with some ragtime Dixieland prohibition-era pandemonium with Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, Count M’Butu and The Mar-Tans! It’s part 2 of Film Love’s Avant-garde Czech New-Wave series, so come on out to Emory’s White Hall for Jan Nemec’s once “banned forever,” 35mm screening of his surreal dark comedy, A REPORT ON THE PARTY AND THE GUESTS (1966) at 8 pm! Get psychedelic at the Red Light Café for their Greatful Dead Night featuring gr8FLdude & frenz and Insomniac Gypsy! Get Sham-rocked with some smooth 70s and 80s tunes with Yacht Rock Schooner at Park Tavern in Piedmont Park! Or for a night of rockin’ cow punk and alt country, rock on down to The Earl for R.E.M. co-founder, Peter Buck and Alejandro Escovedo (formerly of the 70s punk group, The Nuns)! Variety Playhouse gets sloppytonkin’ with Shovels & Rope and Hurray For the Riff Raff! Jake & The Beanstalk gets funky at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs while Heathter Luttrell rocks some Americana and blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! For some alt folk and outlaw old-timey country, rock on over to Smith’s Olde Bar for Annabell’s Curse, Southern Bred Co. and The Chris Massey Band in the Atlanta Room, or if you need something a little more funky, boogie upstairs with Freddy’s Finest with Kofi Burbridge, the Donna Hopkin’s Band and Sugarfoot! It’s your second chance to get your fill of The Woodshedders and their old-timey bluegrass and gypsy jazz at Big Tex! Montana Skies gets rootsy at the Crimson Moon Café! Come out and celebrate Mardi Gras-style at the Red Clay Theater with the swingin’ and ragtime band, Sweet Deat & The Revivalists with special guest Adron! Carolina & The Chocolate Drops and their string band get old-timey delivering some old-school blues and bluegrass at the Ferst Center for the Arts! Get glamorous at the Candler Field Museum in Williamson, GA at their ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ gala and dinner dance with the 20s and 30s sounds of Peachtree Jazz Edition! And, it’s DJ Romeo Cologne’s 1000^th funk show at the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge, so, get funky and boogie into his ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, March 2

Get jazzy at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs with Deb Bowman! Get your fill of some Hot Club jamming and Parisian Swing with Kool Kat Amy Pike and the Bonaventure Quartet at The Earl during their weekly hangover-friendly ‘dunch’! The Red Light Café gets bluesy early as they offer their 89.3 WRFG Benefit Concert featuring some swell blues with Francine Reed, Matt Wauchope (The Mar-Tans), the Dianne Durrett Trio, Timo Arthur, Steve “The Blues Dude” and Albert White from 1-5 pm! And come back later for some rowdy bluegrass and stompin’ Americana with the Sweet Auburn String Band, The Last Tycoon and Kristen Englenz!  The Buckhead Theater offers up a night of 90s alternative rock with Switchfoot and the Kopecky Family Band!  Get psychedelic and rock on down to the Masquerade for Led Zeppelin 2 delivering Zeppelin’s live concert experience! The Red Clay Theater dishes out some rootsy blues with Bluesman Guy Davis and Fabrizio Poggi, with special guest Veronika Jackson! For a taste of some classical-infused folk pop, skip on over to the Woodruff Arts Center as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents Pink Martini with The von Trapps! Get  criminal in the bayou at The Plaza Theater as they screen Jon McBride’s crime drama, THE BIG EASY (1987), starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman and Ned Beatty! And make your way to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a taste of the blues with Tony Bryant!

Ongoing

The Center for Puppetry Arts presents David Simpich’s marionette-filled adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic, ‘Great Expectations’, through March 2!

Cinefest screens William Greaves’ most well-known film, SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM: TAKE ONE (1968) through March 2!

Georgia Ensemble Theater presents Simon Levy’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of the love, obsession and the roarin’ 20s, ‘The Great Gatsby’, through March 16

New American Shakespeare Tavern presents ‘Romeo & Juliet’ until March 30^th!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Retro Atlanta gets old school and rockin’ this holiday season, promising to keep you warm and hoppin’!  So, come out and see what we have in store for you! Whether you’re lookin’ to boogie-woogie or take in some old school blues, Retro Atlanta’s where it’s at!     

Monday, December 2

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. Or boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!  Or pork it up with Pead Boy & The Pork Bellies at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! 

Tuesday, December 3

Smith’s Olde Bar rocks out tonight with former guitarist and singer of the English punk group, The Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell while getting bluesy with Jetsam in The Noose! Rock on down to Eddie’s Attic for an evening with Drive By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood & The Downtown Ramblers!  Boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots or hit up Blind Willie’s for some 60s soul and rock n roll with the The Hollidays! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers gets bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern! For a night of bluegrass pickin’, stomp on down to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for a taste of the Georgia Crackers! For a night of fantasy, head on down to the Midtown Art Cinema as they screen Wim Wenders’ epic WINGS OF DESIRE (1987).  And the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern gets 90s holiday retro as they screen Chris Columbus’ family comedy HOME ALONE (1990) during their Home For The Holidays series at 7:30 pm!

Wednesday, December 4

Take a trip to Purgatory where every day is Halloween, as the Masquerade horrifies with a night of sci-fi horror punk with The Koffin Kats, The Stitches and Fifty Two Ways! Rock on over to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires up the blues! Head on over to Blind Willie’s for some straight out blues and rock and roll with the foot stompin’ sounds of Andrew Black! Or rock on over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a night of “Frankie Lee” Robinson belting out some smoky blues in his Frankie’s Blues Mission! Put on your dancin’ shoes and skip on over 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!  Spend an evening with the kings of 90’s comedy, The Farrelly Brothers, as Emory’s Cinematheque screens their gross-out comedy, THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998) during their American Comedy Classics series at Emory’s White Hall at 7:30 pm!  And don’t’ forget to get left behind 90’s holiday-style at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s screening of Chris Columbus’ family comedy HOME ALONE (1990) during their Home For The Holidays series’ matinee at 11:30 am!

Thursday, December 5

The Masquerade gets 70’s bluesy with the retro rock sounds of Monster Magnet, Royal Thunder, Anti-Mortem and Demonaut!  Shimmy on down to the Elliott Street Pub and spend the evening with Kool Kat Talloolah Love et al. as the Atlanta Burlesque and Cabaret Society hosts their monthly meeting for all interested in the ultra spicy art of Burlesque at 8 pm! It’s Bluegrass Thursday at the Red Light Café, so come on down for a foot stompin’ evening with Blackbird Revival and The Matchsellers! Or make your way to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their weekly Occupy Edgewood event featuring DJs Rene Dellefont & Brian Parris as they offer up the sounds of The Smiths and The Cure and all the morose tunes your black little heart desires. For a little blues, rock and soul, make your way to the Clermont Lounge for a rockin’ evening with Tom Hill & The Midnight Suns! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner delivers some honky-tonk blues while the Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with The Breeze Kings! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down and dirty at their Blues Jam hosted by The Cazanovas while Heather Luttrell offers up some bluegrass and Americana at Blind Willie’s! Hula on down to Trader Vic’s for a few cocktails with Kool Kat “Big Mike” Geier and his Polynesian pop lounge band, Tonga Hiti! It’s 80s/90s Retro Video Night with free drinks ’til 10 at The Shelter. Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. Heckle on down to The Plaza Theater as their Cineprov group riff’s John McTiernan’s Christmas classic, DIE HARD (1988) at 7:30!  And it’s your last chance to catch the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s ultra 90s family holiday flick as they screen Chris Columbus’ HOME ALONE (1990) during their Home For The Holidays series at 7:30 pm!

Friday, December 6

Get old-timey retro and boogie on down to the Variety Playhouse for an evening filled with 20s and 30s-inspired jazz with the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the boogie-woogie 40’s sounds of Bombadil! For some Tom Waits-inspired dark soul and gothic pop, rock on down to The Earl for an evening with The Locksmyth, Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas, Leopold & His Fiction and Lightnin’ Ray & The Mystics!

For an evening of magical retro-holiday goodness, make your way to the Fox Theater as they kick off their annual Holiday Tours which run until December 29, where you’ll enjoy an exclusive meet-n-greet with the cast members of The Atlanta Ballet’s THE NUTCRACKER, a magic show with Drew Thomas, some tasty treats and family pics and will have a chance to mingle with Kool Kat Scott Hardin, the Fox Theater’s projectionist since 1978!  For more classic holiday fun, head on over to The Strand Theater as they kick off their ‘A Christmas Tradition’ song and dance review which runs until December 22, featuring holiday classics and a pre-show sing-a-long with Ron Carter on the Mighty Allen Theatre Organ!

The Plaza Theater gets rockin’ retro-style as they screen Sini Anderson’s documentary about badass punk rocker and femme fatale riot girl, Kathleen Hanna who fronted Bikini Kill and Le Tigre in their screening of THE PUNK SINGER (2013)! And you won’t want to miss The Plaza Theater’s screening of Frank Capra’s ultra holiday classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)! Get psychedelic at The Family Dog with Trucks, Herring, Feltman and Graham or make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for a little Louisiana roots with Tab Benoit! The Northside Tavern gets bluesy with The Breeze Kings! Rumble on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for an evening of blues, rock and soul with Rumblefish! Or get funky at Blind Willie’s with the rockin’ soul of Nick Moss!  And Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets funky with the blues sounds of Motor City Josh!

Saturday, December 7

Rev on over to Buford as Grease Inc. Magazine and Garage Seventy One as they  host their Holiday Open House & Art Show from 11 am to 7 pm, in conjunction with the North Georgia Art Ramble!  Hang out with builder, Jeff Watts of Kilowatts Kustoms and Creations and Curt Green of Bare Bones Leather as they show their eclectic collection of one-of-a-kind creations!  Come for the art and stay for the rockin’est music on air during the Rockabilly Christmas after party!  It’s an event you won’t want to miss this holiday season!

For a super rockin’ beach party, surf on over to The Star Bar and spend an evening with Kool Kat Joshua Longino of Andrew & the Disapyramids while taking in the garage blues surf punk of Deaf Poets, Eel Pie and Koko Beware!  For a little ragtime and toe-tapping bluegrass punk, make your way to the Variety Playhouse for their 5^th Annual Merry Y’all Tide Celebration featuring Whiskey Gentry and Blair Crimmins & The Hookers! Roll on over to the House of Rock as The Jagged Stones, deliver a rockin’ tribute to the Rolling Stones at their Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree Christmas Party at 7 pm! Smith’s Olde Bar gets rockin’ with the 80’s retro sounds of the White Animals and their British invasion-inspired 60’s garage punk with The Head opening with a little kitschy retro 60’s and 70’s rock in The Music Room while Hot Sauce & Honey delivers their old-school saucy burlesque rock in The Atlanta Room!  Get rocked mountain folk and Deliverance country style with Pioneer Chick’n Stand at The Family Dog!   Or stomp on down to the Crimson Moon Café for a little rockabilly, bluegrass and Americana with Bluebilly Grit! Or get bluesy and rock on down to Blind Willie’s for House Rocker Johnson & the Shadows! Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs has Heather Luttrell while Darwin’s Burgers & Blues fires up the blues with Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern to catch the madness and absurdity that is, Colonel Bruce Hampton as he slings over 50 years worth of that funky, jazz-infused rhythm! Or get terminated in a bloody rampage as the Cinefest screens H. Tjut’s Djalil’s LADY TERMINATOR (1989) at 7 pm! 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, December 8

Start your day with a Bluegrass Brunch with the Georgia Mountain Stringband at Big Tex in Decatur from 11am to 2 pm.  Or swing on over to Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs for a Jazz Lunch with the (Little) Big Band and their classic jazz, mambo, madcap swing, 30s and 40’s tunes! Stomp on over to The Earl for some rockin’ old timey country blues with Georgia Slim and The Stovetop Ramblers! Fat Matt’s Rib Shack gets bluesy with Snake Legs and you won’t want to miss the ABS Holiday Party from 2 to 7 pm at Blind Willie’s! And it’s your last chance to experience H. Tjut’s Djalil’s LADY TERMINATOR (1989) and her killing spree at the Cinefest at 7 pm!

Ongoing

Fox Theater Holiday Tours with Kool Kat Scott Hardin, the Fox Theater’s projectionist since 1978 and all sorts of goodies runs until Dec. 29!

The Strand Theater’s ‘A Christmas Tradition’ holiday classic song and dance review runs until Dec. 22!

Alliance Theater presents Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL which spooks through Dec. 29! 

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
Contributing Writer

Retro Atlanta promises a week of spooky haunts and rockin’ tunes you won’t want to miss! Come on out and play, retro-style, from the 20s to the 90s we’ve got every flavor you crave! And don’t forget about those horrificly spooktacular films of yesteryear that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat during this eerie season! So get scared, get to dancin’ and join us in Retro Atlanta! 

Joe Gransden.

Monday, October 21

Blind Willie’s has a cure for your manic Monday funk, so come get revived with the old-timey rockin’ blues and roots jive of Midnight Revival! 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. Head on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for some fingerlickin’ BBQ and a side of Dry White Toast!  Get down with the dirty folk stylings of The Moondoggies and some extra dirty psychedelic ‘garbage’ rock with Rose Window at The Earl!  For a night of old school, underground punk, take a walk on the wild side and get rebellious in Hell at the Masquerade with The Casualties, Negative Approach and The Stitches! Come get your geek on and experience the “rock and roll fable” that is The Protomen at VINYL!  Or head on down to Smith’s Olde Bar for some Texas indie folk rockin’ blues with No Dry County and the Gravel Kings!

Tuesday, October 22

If you’re craving some old-school rockin’ blues, come on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for the JT Speed Band and some rockin’ BBQ or boogie on down to Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta for a taste of Bill Sheffield’s acoustic roots and blues or hit up Blind Willie’s for the all-star blues, jazz and no holds barred sounds of The Ringers! The Earl is delivering up some post-punk rustic folk as Saintseneca and Hare of the Hounds rock the stage! Mosey on down to Steve’s Live Music for their Bluegrass & Hootenanny Jam featuring The Night Travelers!  Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Twain’s in Decatur every Tuesday at 9 pm. The Entertainment Crackers gets bluesy with their folksy Americana sounds at the Northside Tavern. Rock on down to Eddie’s Attic for some ‘junk folk’ and roots rock with Rusty Belle and Barnaby Bright! Check in at the Bates Motel as Northlake Festival Movie Tavern terrifies in their Retro Cinema Scares! series’ presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s slasher masterpiece, PSYCHO (1960) at 7:30 pm!

Wednesday, October 23

Get electrified with the Sparks as they rock out to some synth-pop dance and trance in their Revenge of the Two Hands One Mouth Tour at the Variety Playhouse! Get jaunty and make the front page with Cary Grant in Howard Hawk’s classic newspaper comedy, HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) at Emory’s Cinematheque in their American Comedy Classics series at Emory’s White Hall at 7:30 pm! Blues it on down to Eddie’s Attic for some old-time roots and New Orleans-style blues with the creator and former lead singer of Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies himself, Mike Farris! For some roots reggae and funk, Smith’s Olde Bar has you covered with Mario Diaz & the Natty Roots! Tonight, it’s the rockin’ boogie-woogie-man Bob Page vs. the rockin’ bluesman Eddie Tigner in Dueling Pianos at Blind Willie’s! Rock on over to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires up the blues! Catch The Hollidays slingin’ their 60s soul and rock n roll at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. It’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd. If you’re hunting for something a bit more sinister, rock on over to The Earl and meet your fate with the late 70s, early 80s doom metal band, Saint Vitus, or get old-school heavy at The Shelter for their Dark Retro Night for an evening of hard electro, industrial and dark retro at 9 pm! Come see what a real (disturbing) mama’s boy looks like in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, PSYCHO (1960) at the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern for their Retro Cinema Scares! series’ in their matinee screening at 11:30 am!

Thursday, October 24

Get goth and downward spiral your way to Phillips Arena as Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails industrialize the stage with their Tension 2013 Tour! It’s a special Retro Video Night at The Shelter as they kick off their Nine Inch Nails After Party playing classic NIN’s music videos, with a free shot to NIN ticket stub holders! Make a trek through the universe as The Village Theater presents CAPTAIN’S LOG, a completely improvised hodge-podge of galactic proportions at 11 pm!  Or Time Warp it on over to The Basement Theater and catch their presentation of THE ROCKY HORROR PUPPET SHOW live on stage! Admission includes audience participation goodie bags to play along, so come out and get naughty with those sexy, sexy puppet aliens! Rev on over to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night of boogie-woogie rockabilly with Bill “the Titan of the Telecaster” Kirchen, former member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen!  For a night of raw funk and heavy soul, head on over to The Earl as Georgia Soul Council, DeRobert & The Half Truths and AJ & The Jiggawatts take over the stage! Head on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their weekly Occupy Edgewood event featuring DJs Rene Dellefont & Brian Parris as they offer up the sounds of The Smiths and The Cure and all the morose tunes your black little heart desires. Get down and dirty with the ‘Dude’ and his bowling pals at The Plaza Theater and savor The Coen Brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) during their Fall Focus on Directors series at 9:30! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner delivers some honky-tonk blues while the Northside Tavern presents the classic 50s Chicago-style blues of The Breeze Kings. Get a taste of the blues with Sweet Betty & The Shadows at Blind Willie’s while “Frankie Lee” Robinson belts out the blues in Frankie’s Blues Mission at Steve’s Live Music in Sandy Springs! For a little early 90s indie rock, head on over to the Variety Playhouse and check out Built to Spill! Get your boogie on at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village. Get melted with some island funk and a few cocktails at Trader Vic’s as Tracey Wolfe and the Volcanauts burn down the house! It’s a night of mountain music and foot stompin bluegrass as City Mouse and the Georgia Mountain String Band with special guest, Joshua Black take the stage at the Red Light Café! And it’s your last chance to glimpse into the mind of the horror master himself as the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Retro Cinema Scares! series presents Alfred Hitchock’s PSYCHO (1960) at 7:30!

Friday, October 25

Rock on up to Heaven at the Masquerade and experience the new-wave, science-fiction-inspired rockin’ synthesis of the one and only, Gary Numan along with the electronic punk rock sounds of Board of Whores!  Or get haunted and dressed to kill and spook on down to The Shelter as they kick off their Halloween Costume Bash with a night of rockin’ music and rare Halloween music videos!  Jazz it on down to the Crimson Moon Café for some good ole’ ragtime and 20s jazz with the sounds of Blair Crimmons & The Hookers or rock on down to the Red Light Café to catch Kevn Kinney of Atlanta’s Drivin’n Cryin’ get folky in the dirty, dirty! Let The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater revive you with the sounds of John Fogerty!  Get heavy at The Star Bar with the retro English rock and new-wave sounds of Starfighter or mosey on down to VINYL for some hoodoo funky rockin’ blues as Voodoo Visionary takes the stage!  Get low-down as Spanky & The Love Handles belt out some funky, dirty blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack while Sandra Hall & The Shadows rocks the blues at Blind Willie’s! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck  takes the stage at Northside Tavern, beltin’ out those rockin’ blues! Juke it on down to Terminal West for that dirty juke joint sound of Vintage Trouble!  Boogie on down to Big Tex and catch the rockin’ sounds of The Rainmen as they belt out that 60s and 70s rock and roll or swing on down for an evening of rockabilly with Atomic Boogie at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta! Get spooked as the Oakland Cemetery captures the spirit of Oakland in their Halloween Tours! It’s your only chance to rendezvous with the ghosts of Atlanta after dark, so come on out and make new ghostly pals and maybe even a kindred spirit! Tours begin at 5:30 pm! The Atlanta Lyric Theater kicks off their presentation of that great American classic comedy that’ll have you tappin’ your toes and throwin’ them bones right alongside those jazzy GUYS AND DOLLS! The Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX event gets spooky with their Fright Night and Halloween Dance Party! Dress to thrill (or maybe kill!) and come rattle your bones with the swanky retro sounds of Bogey and the Viceroy, while sipping some devilishly delicious cocktails!

Katy Graves and son Nick in Spooky Partridge. Photo courtesy of Katy Graves.

Saturday, October 26

Come see what’s strange and spooky at The Odd’s End as they host a free Halloween show featuring the quirky art rock band, Pillage and Plunder as well as BB’s Blowdown and the family band like no other, Spooky Partridge, rockin’ out to some Beatles, Ramones and MC5-inspired tunes at 1 pm! Get really retro and head on over to the Opera Atlanta Event Center for The Speakeasy Cocktail Festival: Halloween Prohibition-era Gala at 1:30 pm! Experience the entire culture surrounding ‘hooch’ and explore the world of gambling, cigars and cocktails and flapper girls in their sultry 20s-themed speakeasy! So drag out those pearls and pinstripes and boogie on down with the sounds of the 20s!

Spook on down to Grant Park and get cozy with the goblins as the Krewe of Grateful Gluttons puts on their Halloween Lantern Parade led by the high energy Black Sheep Marching Ensemble, gettin’ brassy and eerie in the dark at 6:30 pm!  Or make your way to the Fox Theater as they kick off their Ghost Light Tours, introducing you to their resident spooks at 7 pm! Come get 80s cool with Kook Kat Becky Cormier Finch and Denim Arcade as they deliver their retro tunes at Sports Time Grille’s Halloween party in Deluth!  The Basement gets rockin’ as Electric Western presents their Keep on Movin’ Rock and Soul Dance Party! So, put on those dancin’ shoes and get ready for a night of retro rock, Motown, funk, Big Band and some jumpin’ blues at 10 pm!

Come check out some 80s experimental indie rock at the Tabernacle as Neutral Milk Hotel and Half Japanese deliver an evening of retro rock and old-school punk!  Leon Redbone gets jazzy with his blues standards at Eddie’s Attic while Mission South folks it up at The Family Dog! The Jason Pastras Trio takes over Fat Matt’s Rib Shack with their alligator-style funky swamp blues while Red Light Café offers a night of rockin’ bluegrass and Americana with Copper Into Steel and Blackfoot Daisy! Get real bluesy at Blind Willie’s with the old-timey blues sounds of John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band or head over to Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck belts out those rockin’ blues! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.

Sunday, October 27

Start your day with a Bluegrass Brunch with the The Porch Bottom Boys at Big Tex in Decatur from 11am to 1 pm. Get haunted and catch a glimpse of the infamous deformed Phantom, played by Lon Chaney in Rupert Julian’s silent horror flick, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), accompanied by the eerie underscoring for the film provided by organist Ron Carter at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre in historic Marietta Square at 3 pm! Come early for a spooky sing-a-long and pops pre-show at 2:30!  For a night of phantoms and haunts, take a trip to the Atlanta Symphony as they conduct their annual spooktacular ‘The Phantoms of the Orchestra’ featuring the Magical Circle Mime Company! Roll on down to The Earl for an evening of punky bluegrass and rowdy folk with the high energy wailings of Larry & His Flask, Onward, etc., and The Law Band! The Family Dog presents the bluesy sounds of the Jez Graham Trio and Francine Reed while Fatback Deluxe belts out their retro blues, soul and jazz from the 40s, 50s and 60s at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack!  Head on over to Smith’s Olde Bar for some funky soul with Mingo Fishtrap! Get Irish and retro folky and stomp on down to the Variety Playhouse for some foot-stompin’ Celtic rock and roll with The Waterboys! Blues it on down to the Northside Tavern for the sounds of Uncle Sugar! Cinefest begins their screening of Wes Craven’s 90’s horror ‘who-done-it’ thriller, SCREAM (1996) which runs until Nov. 3^rd! And it’s your last chance to hang out with the ‘Dude’ in the Coen Brothers’ THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998) at The Plaza Theater during their Fall Focus on Directors series and don’t forget to head back to catch their Cineprov group as they heckle Sean S. Cunningham’s 80’s classic horror, slasher flick, FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) at 7:30 pm!

Ongoing

Atlanta Zombie Apocolypse runs from Sept. 27 through Nov. 2. 

Netherworld haunts from Sept. 27 through Nov. 2.

Six Flags’ Fright Fest spooks every weekend from Oct. 5 through Oct. 27. (LAST CHANCE!)

Oakland Cemetery’s Halloween Tours haunt  Thursday & Sundays 5:30 – 9:30, Friday & Saturdays – 5:30 – 10:30, so, come on out for their spooky one-hour ghost tours! It’s your only chance to rendezvous with the ghosts of Atlanta after dark! Runs Oct. 18 through Oct. 27. (LAST CHANCE!)

Serenbe Playhouse’s THE SLEEPY HOLLOW EXPERIENCE chills and thrills from Oct. 10 through Oct. 31.

Agatha’s A Taste of Mystery’s who-done-it mystery dinner show, ‘SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW…SOMEONE DIES!’ runs from Oct. 7 through Nov. 6.

Fox Theater’s Ghost Light Tours spook from Oct. 26 through Oct. 30.

The Basement Theater presents THE ROCKY HORROR PUPPET SHOW live on stage! Admission includes audience participation goodie bags to play along, so come out and get naughty with those sexy, sexy puppet aliens from Oct. 24 through Nov. 2.

Atlanta Lyric Theater gets jazzy with the GUYS AND DOLLS from Oct. 25 through Nov. 10.

Cinefest screens Wes Craven’s 90’s horror ‘who-done-it’ thriller, SCREAM (1996) from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3.

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.

PANDORA’S BOX (1929); Dir: Georg Wilhelm Pabst; Starring Louise Brooks, Francis Lederer; with live organ accompaniment by Ron Carter; Sun. Nov. 25 3:00 p.m.; The Strand Theatre

By Andrew Kemp
Contributing Writer

Ever since The Earl Smith Strand Theatre found new life on the Square in Marietta, the theater’s event schedule has cast a wide net. In between the usual live events and mainstream film titles, The Strand quietly stands as one of the last venues in Atlanta to regularly seek out and book classic silent films, a callback to its roots as an old movie house. (The Strand’s first ever show was the 1935 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicle, TOP HAT.) Except that by the time The Strand opened, the talkies had already taken hold, so the decision to run silent pictures in an increasingly-noisy age of media strikes me as more than nostalgia. It’s incredibly brave.

And so, fittingly, The Strand has found a brave picture to screen. There are few silents more daring than PANDORA’S BOX (1929), playing Sunday afternoon Nov. 25 at 3 p.m.—even braver!—accompanied by a full organ score. PANDORA’S BOX doesn’t fit the mold of the typical silent melodrama. Louise Brooks stars as Lulu, a young woman whose ambition is eclipsed only by her voracious sexual appetite. She uses sex as a weapon to get what she wants, or who she wants, and the film largely deals with an escalating series of consequences, from murder, to imprisonment, and finally… well, I won’t spoil it, but Lulu’s story crosses with a famous historical figure, and her final reward is a spot in historical infamy.

PANDORA’S BOX is directed by the great Austrian director G.W. Pabst, whose list of leading ladies includes such names as Greta Garbo and Leni Riefenstahl, but he cast no lady as magnetic or iconic as Brooks, whose distinctive flapper style and bobbed haircut are more famous today than her name. Brooks was an American actress who rubbed elbows with names like William Randolph Hearst, but who grew dissatisfied with the American system and fled to Europe, where audiences came out in droves to see her magnetism and sexuality portrayed on screen. Lulu is a part born for Brooks and, although the film met with a fair amount of pushback from concerned censors, eventually made Brooks an international star. Today, her name is inseparable from the film’s title.

I mentioned censors, but it’s important to note that PANDORA’S BOX was a pre-code picture. In fact, the film came to America in December 1929, only three months before the adoption of the Hays Code that put a lid on the titillation and sexual experimentation of the earliest studio pictures. (Even in the ’20s, people knew the truth about film audiences—sex sells tickets.) PANDORA’S BOX contains a litany of elements that would soon disappear from American cinemas, such as frank sexuality and a disrespect for marriage. Just a decade later, Lulu’s actions would have classified her as a femme fatale, and she’d certainly snare a young hero or two to their doom. Here, the reality is a bit more complicated, and although it’s true that Lulu faces retribution for her loose morals, it’s hard to ignore the allure of her behavior, which is what the Hays Code was trying to snuff out in the first place.

Alice Roberts as Countess Anna Geschwitz and Louise Brooks (center) as Lulu in PANDORA'S BOX (1929), directed by G.W. Pabst. Credit: UCLA Film and Television Archive

PANDORA’S BOX is also a landmark film in queer cinema, as it does contain (if briefly) one of the first ever screen representations of a lesbian. Played by Alice Roberts, the Countess Geschwitz enters the film dressed in men’s clothes—a tuxedo—and fawns over Lulu, suggesting that the two have a sexual past. Within a year, even such a minor reference to homosexuality would be strictly outlawed on American screens.

PANDORA’S BOX is widely available online, but as with all films, especially from this era, it belongs on the screen (and trust me when I say that a live organ makes all the difference in the world). The film arrived at the end of the golden period of silent films, the end of the pre-code movies, and even puts a symbolic coda on the decade of decadence that was the 1920s. It stands proud as a threshold between two very different eras of cinema. But its sexuality, its spectacle and the compelling nature of its tragic antihero also remind us of another, sometimes-forgotten fact: what excites and thrills us today is the same as it ever was. We didn’t change—the pictures did.

For more about The Strand’s efforts to screen silents as they should be with live organ scores, read our Kool Kat interview with organist Ron Carter, who will be accompanying PANDORA’s BOX here. 

Monday, Aug. 20

Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam featuring Lola Gulley. Head over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for BBQ and Dry White Toast.

Tuesday, Aug. 21

Recent Kool Kat Calu Cordeira mixes tiki libations at Mai Tai Tahitian Tuesday starting at 9 p.m. at the Dark Horse Tavern tonight. Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 p.m. Crosstown Allstars rock the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Nathan Nelson & Entertainment Crackers blues it down at Northside Tavern. Dance the night away at Tues. Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon featuring video mixes of ’80s, ’90s and 2Ks hits.

The Serenaders

Wednesday, Aug. 22

The Serenaders swing at Twain’s. Ted Nugent brings some “Cat Scratch Fever” (and likely some guns) to Center Stage. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Frankie’s Blues Mission plays Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern. The Decatur Bluegrass Association strums at Java Monkey.Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays at Pub 71 in Brookhaven.

The Sexual Side Effects

Thursday Aug. 23

Our favorite neo-glam band the Sexual Side Effects, fronted by Kool Kat Amber Taylor, rocks 529, with The Issues, Hip to Death Cardova and Story of a Life. Mike Z Trio plays Big Tex. Old Southern Moonshine Revival and John King Band are at Peachtree Tavern. Eat, drink and play a classic game with an adult spin every Thursday night as Mon Cherie presents Mad Lib-Ations, Atlanta’s newest Retro weekly pastime, starting at 7 p.m. at the Corner Tavern in Little 5 Points. The fun-filled night includes games and prizes from some of the city’s most fun Retro retailers, Psychobilly Freakout and punk faves spun by The Right Reverend Andy and a raffle. Relax with a tropical cocktail at vintage tiki bar Trader Vic’s where Tongo Hiti play Retro-Polynesian luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, every Thursday night. The Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Frankie’s Blues Mission is at The Family Dog. The Barbwire Bluegrass Band jams at Red Light Cafe’s weekly Bluegrass Thursday.

Friday, Aug. 24

PushPush Theatre in Decatur throws a Garage Sale and Party. In other words, support a great local community theater and shop for Retro-finds at bargain prices including costumes, props, kitchen and catering supplies, housewares, tools, shop supplies, furniture and toys, beer and snacks! Today from 4 – 7 p.m. is sneak preview day for those willing to help tote out a box or two from the office to the stage.  We all know that rock n roll is the devil’s music, so ensure your entry to Hell at the 13 Year Anniversary Show for The Evils, featuring recent Kool Kat Jet Terror, and also performances by the Casket Creatures and Till Someone Loses an Eye. Caroline and the Ramblers honkytonk an intimate show at Big Tex; if you missed Caroline’s recent Kool Kat interview, catch up here. Country music legend Loretta Lynn plays Chastain. Burlesque divas The Syrens of the South tease and titillate at their 5 Year Anniversary Show at the Five Spot at 10 p.m., with a Student Showcase at 8 p.m. And Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern. Or go off to see THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta.

Saturday, August 25

Professor Morte  and The Silver Scream Spookshow crew set sail on THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1974), a rare chance to see a Ray Harryhausen monster classic in 35mm on the big screen at The Plaza Theatre. As usual, there’s a kooky kids matinee at 1 p.m. and the preshow is a racier adult show at 10 p.m. See a mighty fine slate of local bands including Whiskey Belt (2 p.m.), browse vendors and enjoy family activities at the Summer Shade Festival in historic Grant Park.  Also playing today: Donkey, The Futura Bold, 68-75, The Wheeler Boys, The Villains, Jimmy Galloway, Men of Soul, Stovall and more. Relive the wild nights of classic ’80s Atlanta clubs Weekends and Rob Lowe favorite Club Rio at a Reunion Party tonight at Tongue & Groove. Head to The High for a free screening of  THE PROJECTIONIST (1970), director Harry Hurlitz’s crazy fantasy about a projectionist with fantasies of being a superhero and Rodney Dangerfield as villain The Bat, part of the museum’s Archival Gotham: NYC On Film series. PushPush Theatre’s Garage Sale and Party continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tommy Dean Trio plays Big Tex. Ron Cooley & The Hard Times are at Fat Matt’s. Loudon Wainwright III is at Variety Playhouse. And as usual, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

The Whiskey Gentry.

Sunday, August 26

PushPush Theatre’s Garage Sale and Party continues from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., while the great music goes on at Summer Shade Festival in Grant Park with The Whiskey Gentry; The Higher Choir; The Old Ceremony; Copius Jones; Stonerider; Kick the Robot and more.  Tony Bryant brings on the blues at Fat Matt’s, and Uncle Sugar blues it down at Northside Tavern. Ghost Riders Car Club makes it a honkytonk dunch at 1 p.m. at The Earl. And organists Ron Carter (Kool Kat here), Ken Double, Larry Davis and Rick McGee accompany four silent classic comedies at The Strand at 3 p.m., including Harold Lloyd in BUMPING INTO BROADWAY, The Little Rascals in DOG HEAVEN,  Charlie Chaplin in A NIGHT AT THE SHOW, and Laurel and Hardy in BIG BUSINESS.

If you know of a cool happening coming up soon, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.

By James Kelly
Contributing Music Editor

Imagine my good fortune when a package arrived at my door with five incredible jazz collections, each one by a true legend in the genre. As much as I love country music, every now and then I have to have a good jazz fix. When I was a wee lad, my Dad used to play some old Dixieland jazz records for me – Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and Ottilie Patterson, and many more, so the seeds were planted early. In the ’60s & ‘70s, I was  influenced by Frank Zappa’s jazz odysseys, and I eventually found a path back to the classics through the notorious Weather Report–Mahavishnu “jazz fusion” enchantment of my high school years.  So here is a brief summary of five of the most essential artists in the history of jazz, all of whom have brand new compilations on the amazing Prestige/Riverside labels now under Concord Music Group. Please keep in mind that each of these greats has very deep catalogs, and these are mere samples of a certain time span in their illustrious careers.

Sonny Rollins
THE VERY BEST OF
From 1956 to 1958, tenor sax man Sonny Rollins released a series of tracks that stand as some of the finest cool jazz ever. Joined by a cavalcade of equally talented sidemen including drummer Max Roach (who whips out some stunning solos on this disc) and amazing trumpeter Clifford Brown, Rollins was equally melodic and experimental, combining his own material with classic standards and improvising with other legends such as the Modern Jazz Quartet and John Coltrane, whose duet with Rollins on a 12-minute jam called “Tenor Madness” is jaw-dropping good. Even the funky version of “I’m An Old Cowhand” shines with originality. His rich tone, precision playing and keen ear for great material coalesced into audio beauty, and while he continues to blaze new trails in his 80s, Rollins’ baseline set an incredibly high standard of excellence early on.

The Miles Davis Quintet
THE VERY BEST OF
Everybody loves Miles. He was a chameleon who followed his internal musical muse in whatever direction it took him, and sometimes he seemed a bit possessed. There is no shortage of great Davis compilations, and these tracks from 1954-1956 have been well documented in the past. The 10 cuts provide some insight into the transition Davis was making from a bebop player to a more mature, stylistically focused band leader. His Quintet at this time consisted of John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, basically a jazz supergroup. Garland’s hypnotizing piano solos permeate and complement Davis’ muted and buttery smooth tone, which eventually became his trademark sound. “’Round Midnight,” My Funny Valentine,” we’ve heard these plenty of times, but they never fail to generate a deep visceral feeling of being in a dark smoky club, whiskey on the rocks in hand, and the best band in the world playing just for you.

Wes Montgomery
THE VERY BEST OF
A life cut short too soon, Wes Montgomery’s work has been a standard by which all decent and respectful guitarists must compare themselves. His treatments of rock and pop classics on the CTI albums are legendary, and showcased his amazing improvisational skills. But this compilation is a real treasure, as it covers a lot of his lesser known early work on Riverside Records. Montgomery played with his thumb instead of a pick, which resulted in a very smooth tone that became immediately recognizable as his sound. Like his peers, Montgomery utilized the best of the best sidemen, which enhanced his own visibility. With Hank Jones on piano, Ron Carter on bass, the incredible Milt Jackson on vibes (where is Jackson’s “Best Of…” album?), and multiple drummers, Montgomery’s early work is a perfect example of the late ‘50s early ‘60s jazz groove – subtle but confident, melodic but challenging, and manna for the ears.

John Coltrane
THE VERY BEST OF: THE PRESTIGE ERA
He’s the other giant of modern Jazz, standing equally tall as his occasional bandmate Miles Davis. There is no need to elaborate on the importance and influence of Coltrane’s legacy. It permeates most real jazz that has been written and performed since he passed away. Captured here are 10 tracks from 1956 to 1958; each piece is a blast of confident control, a mini musical dissertation on how to make a perfect Jazz record. His time in the trenches with Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk had given Coltrane an education, and obviously inspired a push toward total excellence. With equal parts skill and soul, he blazed through multiple pieces of music, branding each as his own with a rich and powerful command of the saxophone, one that has not really been matched since then. His unique interplay with trumpeter Donald Byrd on “Lover Come Back To Me” is a schoolboy lesson in collaboration and exploration, and simply unforgettable. Fast, slow, jammy or moody, Coltrane could do it all.

Chet Baker
THE VERY BEST OF
He had it all – the looks, the sound, the charisma, the reputation, and sadly, the taste for dope.  Chet Baker has long been an icon, an incredible trumpet player and vocalist whose life circled down into a tragic tale of wasted talent and untimely death, eloquently reinvigorated in a fawning documentary by Bruce Weber (now almost impossible to find).  But putting aside the drama, Baker was a master, who sang and played like an impressionist painter, delivering the “essence” of a melody in a way that pulls you toward it, and allows you to construct the framework in your own mind. From his early 20s, working with Gerry Mulligan, Baker got noticed immediately by both other players and jazz aficionados, and the 14 tracks on this fine compilation give a fairly comprehensive and profoundly entertaining panorama of Baker’s skills.  His ability to turn standards into his own tunes was remarkable, and each cut is a treat. His tender half tempo version of “How High The Moon” is a prime example. As one of the very few jazzmen who also sang, Baker had a honey smooth voice that oozed sensuality. During these sessions, Baker played with an energy and smoothness that belied his impending battles with the demons of excess and temptation, and while he recorded sporadically in later years, he maintained that magic touch until the end.

By Jordan Barbeau
Contributing Writer

Monday, January 23

From 3 PM on, savor tropical sounds and libations, as well as a Polynesian dinner, during Mai Tai Monday at Smith’s Olde Bar. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam. To break up the Monday monotony, head over to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for dinner and a show, with local blues/jazz band Dry White Toast performing at 8 p.m.

Tuesday, January 24

Gleefully unadulterated rock band Nashville Pussy comes to the Star Bar with a vengeance, bringing with them even more hard rock and roll in the form of The Forty-Fives and Six Shot Revival. Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 p.m. Little G. Weevil blues it down at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues in Marietta. J.T. Speed rocks the blues Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Nathan Nelson & Entertainment Crackers bring on the blues at Northside Tavern. Catch Tues. Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon feature video mixes of ’80s, ’90s and 2Ks hits

Wednesday, January 25

For those who drastically need to get the Led out once again, The Masquerade is holding a special reenactment show of one of the most famous rock bands of all time. Led Zeppelin II bring their idols to life on stage once again, down to the slightest detail that even the most hardcore fans may not catch. The Shadowboxers, a young R&B band from the ATL, brings their intelligent, soulful style to Eddie’s Attic. The Star Bar hosts the talents of gothic-folk Little Horn and alternative-country Meeks Family. The Atlanta Funk Society turns the main room of Smith’s Olde Bar into the funkiest place in Atlanta on Wed. nights. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. The Hollidays play Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays at Pub 71 in Brookhaven.

Thursday, January 26

Do you like Ping Pong? Do you like dogs? Do you like playing ping pong to help dogs? Of course you do! In that case, head over to Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium for the Ping Pong Pity Party! This event is not only fun for the people, it’s fun for the dogs, too, because it raises money for Atlanta ResponsiBully Coalition, a pitbull rescue group! Kool Kat Spike Fullerton and his band the Ghost Riders Car Club bring their fun and funny rockabilly/honkytonk radio show to the Clermont Lounge. Yet another Kool Kat, Kayla Taylor, jazzes up the Paper Mill Grill. The Casanovas host a Blues Jam at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues. The Red Light Café’s weekly Bluegrass Thursday features Colliton, Dean & Lloyd. Relax with a tropical cocktail at vintage tiki bar Trader Vic’s where Tongo Hiti play Retro-Polynesian luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, every Thursday night. Big Mike’s off in Seattle till June performing with El Vez in Teatro ZinZanni’s CALIENTE SHOW, so Atlanta Funk Society’s Jonathan Lloyd will be filling in on vocals. Remember Lloyd’s Rockstead Review, his killer reggae collaboration with Kingsized ? The Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Friday, January 27

One of the heavy-hitters on the rock scene of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Widespread Panic begins a three-night run at the Tabernacle. For a night full of adult fun, the Masquerade is home to yet another one of the infamous Mon Cherie shows. Mon Cherie’s Rockabilly Lounge will be a night full of Burlesque, pin-up girls and rockabilly band Hard Luck & Trouble, what some would consider the holy trinity of happiness. And of course, Rev. Andy spins Psychobilly Freakout. For a bit more active fun, Fernbank Museum’s Martinis and IMAX throws a special Swing Dance Night, complete with music from the acoustic swing group the Bonaventure Quartet, featuring chanteuse extraordinaire Amy Pike. Connor Christian & Southern Gothic serve up their heartfelt Americana music at The Earl. Smith’s Olde Bar holds a rocktastic show, featuring the talents of The Dirty Guv’nahs, The District Attorneys (including recent Kool Kat Drew Beskin) and The Longshot Saints.

Saturday, January 28

To honor the late Cabbagetown poet Deacon Lunchbox, the Plaza Theatre throws a special memorial show, The Love that Won’t Shut Up Memorial Show, featuring screenings of indie docs BENJAMIN SMOKE by Jem Cohen/Pete Sillen and LAWRENCE OF LAWRENCEVILLE HIGHWAY by Neil Fried and musical performances by some of Atlanta’s best Retro-inspired and Redneck Underground musicians, the incomparable Kelly Hogan, Smoke That City, Debbey Richardson, Slim Chance and many others. And we can only imagine the Deacon Lunchbox set by Jim Stacy. Watch out for a special posthumous Kool Kat on Deacon Lunchbox soon.

Soulful/roots singer/songwriter Edwin McCain, joined by Erick Baker, play at the Red Clay Theatre in Duluth. Widespread Panic continues to dominate the Tabernacle. Citing such great rock acts as influences as Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead, Turtle Folk’s show at Smith’s Olde Bar is sure to be one for a variety of ages. Folk singer/songwriter Eric Taylor brings his lyrical and guitar prowess to Eddie’s Attic. Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets rocked by the soulful southern style of The Hollidays. Another Led Zeppelin tribute band graces the ATL, this time in the form of Zoso. Julea Thomerson of the BareKnuckle Betties and an ATLRetro Kool Kat and friend/mentor Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck play the blues together at Northside Tavern in a special show tonight. And as usual, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

Sunday, January 29

The first film in Marietta’s Strand Theatre silent movie series, SPARROWS, starring 1920s sweetheart Mary Pickford, will get a rare return to the big screen at 3pm with an organ pops pre-show and sing-a-long by Philip Allen, organist of Marietta’s First Baptist Church at 2:30 p.m. This is the fourth time Philip has accompanied SPARROWS, and he has developed a great musical score that will definitely ‘tug’ at those heart strings. Catch up on our Kool Kat interview with another of The Strand’s organists, Ron Carter, about the vintage theatre, its Mighty Allen Organ and scoring silent movies here. Widespread Panic continues rocking the Tabernacle for a third and final night. Eddie’s Attic gets treated to the classic rock sounds of The Farewell Drifters. Tag Team Goes to Hawaii at The Earl for dunch. Fatback Deluxe bring on the blues at Fat Matt’s, and Uncle Sugar blues it down at Northside Tavern.

Ongoing Theatre

CAVALIA: ODYSSEO takes the spirit, beauty and creativity of recent European acrobatic spectaculars such as Cirque de Soleil and applies it to horses. Let’s just say this is not your mamma’s Royal Lippizan Stallions circus show. Big tent at 864 Spring Street. Through Jan. 29.

Ongoing Exhibits

Explore one of America’s most iconic theaters in AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: HOW THE APOLLO THEATER SHAPED AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT, a special exhibition at the Atlanta History Center . Presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, in collaboration with the Apollo Theater Foundation, the display includes historic and contemporary costumes, playbills, music scores, graphic images and recorded music. Through March 4, 2012.

PICASSO TO WARHOL, a special art exhibition at the High Museum of Art, features over 100 works of art from 14 of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Through Apr. 29, 2012.

If you know of a cool happening coming up soon, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.

Friday, Sept. 9

Blast-Off Burlesque launch their two-night World Tour tonight at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.) at 7 Stages. If you missed our exclusive Blast-Off Road Trips from Hell series, catch up with the first part here. The Beach Boys surf down into Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Solo artist Julie Dexter performs a variety of music from jazz to soul and beyond at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Big Mike and croons the classics at Ray’s on the River with the Kingsized Jazz Trio, Rich Rowlinson on piano and Father Tim Delaney on upright bass. Spanky & the Love Handles play funky dirty dance-able blues at Fat Matt’s, while the Hollidays are being soulful at Northside Tavern. Whiskey Belt honky-tonks it up at Hottie Hawg’s.

Atlanta-based director James Anthony Bickert’s biker/horror/sexploitation mash-up, “DEAR GOD NO!” was shot entirely on Super 16mm film, using practical effects, and limited to technology of the era that the film is set in. What could be more ’70s exploitation-inspired fun than rival biker gangs on a rape and murder find themselves battling a different enemy – a flesh-eating killing machine that lives in the forest! Anyway, this crazy (or crazed?) movie features a murder of local talent, including Shane Morton (Silver Scream Spookshow, Gargantua, Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse), Madeline Brumby (Silver Scream Spookshow, Dracula the Rock Opera), Jim Stacy (Palookaville, AM Gold, GET DELICIOUS!), Nick Morgan (Splatter Cinema), and many more. Catch its world premiere on the big screen at the Plaza tonight at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday Sept. 10

With 9-11 just a day away, show your support for our brave men and women overseas by jumping on your motorcycle or into your Mini-Cooper and joining PinUps for Soldiers’ Memorial Ride. Registration/breakfast begins at 10 a.m. at The American Legion Post 127, Buford, Georgia with the first bike/mini leaving out at 11:30am.  They also have the Armored Party Bus for those who want to participate but do not have a bike or a Mini-Cooper. Jason Lee and The Cyclones play at 5 p.m. Read more about PinUps for Soliders in this week’s Kool Kat feature on Dena Stahl here. Or support local heroic firefighters and police officers at Smyrna’s Heroes Gala & Auction, and enjoy live entertainment by Kingsized,the burlesque beauties of Dames Aflame and Wesley Cook, along with delicious food and both live and silent auctions!

The King of Pops serves up sweet old-fashioned ice-cold goodness under the marquee of The Plaza Theatre starting at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate an encore 35 mm screening of PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE at 3 PM. Read our Retro Review by ATLRetro’s newest blogger Tom Drake here.

It’s the last big date of the season for the Atlanta Rollergirls as The Apocalypstix battle theDenim Demons in a 5 p.m. grudge match and then the Toxic Shocks take on the Sake Tuyas in the Champ bout at 7:30 p.m. at Yaarab Shrine Center.

Blast-Off Burlesque guide audiences on two more World Tour shows tonight taking off at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30) and 10:30 p.m. (doors at 9:45 p.m.) at 7 Stages.

After the show, head to Masquerade for a sci-fi-themed Mon Cherie’s Rockabilly Lounge, featuring Psycho DeVilles, DJ Rev. Andy of Garage 71 spinning Psychobilly Freakout, jello shots from Mon Cherie’s Pin-Up Beauties and local burlesque stars Evil Sarah, The Chameleon Queen, Stormy Knight, Fonda Lingue and Scarlett Page.

And hell, yeah, it’s an all-star honky tonk/Retrobilly 80th Birthday Tribute to honor Country Music Legend George Jones Saturday night at Star Bar with Caroline & the Ramblers, The Stumblers, Ghost Riders Car Club, Slim Chance & the Convicts, Serenaders and Joel Burkhart. All proceeds benefit Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta.

Blues pianist Ike Stubblefield tickles the ivories at Northside Tavern.  Cazanovas bring Chicago style blues to Hottie Hawg’s BBQ. And DJ Romeo Colognetransforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

Paramount Theatre, Atlanta. Photo courtesy of Callanwolde.

Sunday Sept. 11

Hear about Atlanta’s long-gone magical movie palaces and neighborhood theaters, their organs and theatre organists of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s in Pipes on Peachtree, a panel discussion featuring organ technician/historian John Tanner and Joe Patten, Atlanta’s Phantom of the Fox in the Retro setting of 1920 Gothic-Tudor mansion, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance & $12 in advance. For a sneak preview, check out our recent Kool Kat feature on Strand organist Ron Carter here. Also, The Washboard Confessional plays blues “dunch” between 1-4 PM at The Earl. Snake Legs bring on the blues at Fat Matt’s.

Radcliffe Bailey with "Bat"

Closes Sept. 11

RADCLIFFE BAILEY: MEMORY AS MEDICINE, the most comprehensive exhibition of the Atlanta artist’s works to date, runs through Sept. 11 at the High Museum of Art. Read more about the artist and this powerful exhibition in this Kool Kat.

JOHN MARIN’S WATERCOLORS: A MEDIUM FOR MODERNISM, a companion exhibit also at the High this summer through Sept. 11, surveys the work of the man named America’s number one artist in a 1948 LOOK magazine survey. While his name is not a household one today, this exhibition reminds us of his important place in the modernist movement and why watercolors became such a powerful instrument for avante-garde art in the hands of him and other artists in the Stieglitz Circle,including Georgia O’Keefe.

Closes Sept. 24

The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)‘s current exhibit WaterDream: The Evolution of Bathroom Design, runs through Sept. 24 in the dynamic new Midtown space. Displays take visitors through a four-part journey into the bathroom from the birth of minimalist aesthetics in 20th century design to current concepts.

Tune back in on Monday for This Week in Retro Atlanta If you know of a cool happening, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.