Creative Loafing Atlanta

Essential updates on Atlanta news, food, music and culture

[clatl-blog]

Black Lips new song is an ode to life on the road

On Willie Nelson's 80th birthday, the Black Lips had their own anthem about life on the road, "Cruising," unveiled by Rolling Stone. The song will be part of Adult Swim's Garage Swim compilation, available May 6 as a free download, along with tracks by several of the Black Lips' Southern garage contemporaries, including Bass Drum of Death and JEFF the Brotherhood.

"Cruising" is not quite "Raw Meat," the gold standard for the band's post Good Bad Not Evil output, but in the spirit of the compilation, it's a solid lo-fi gargage tune, and a definite improvement over the group's previous Adult Swim offering.

Hear the new song at clatl.com

[clatl-blog]

California pioneer of the surf guitar, Dick Dale, rolled in to Atlanta with the storm Sunday night to a sold out show at the Earl. (photo by Jon Whittaker)

View the full Photo Gallery at clatl.com.

[clatl-blog]

Photographer Jason Francisco brings 'Names' to Budapest (Photo by Jason Francisco)

An exhibition of works by Atlanta photographer Jason Francisco opened last week in Budapest. PH21 Gallery will feature These are the Names, 15 images from a collection of 100. The caption for each photograph begins, "These are the names of the people murdered here." A list follows - sometimes 20 or 30 names long - of victims lost to homicide on one block or a single street corner in Philadelphia, which has the highest per-capita murder rate among major U.S. cities.

Read on at clatl.com

[clatl-blog]

Neo-Nazis rally at the Gold Dome (Photos by Joeff Davis)

This past Saturday, on what would have been Adolf Hitler's 124th birthday, members of the National Socialist Movement, considered the largest Neo-Nazi group in the country, held a rally in front of the Georgia State Capitol.

A predominantly male crowd of about 40 NSM members - some of whom were dressed in solid black with their heads shaved and others dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan type garb - stood in front of the Gold Dome holding large KKK flags, confederate emblems, and large swastikas.

"The US Constitution," said speaker Ron Olson," was written by white men for white men."

Read on at clatl.com

[clatl-blog]

Scenes from Ann-Marie Manker's 'Under the Rainbow' (Photos by Heather Hendricks)

Last Friday, Whitespace Gallery held an opening reception for Ann-Marie Manker's latest solo exhibition, Under the Rainbow. Composed largely of paintings as well as a few fiber works, Manker's latest work balances black depths against a rainbow-like palette of bright pink, blue, and yellow hues. As with her previous work, Manker explores contemporary visions of femininity and violence in absurd and fantastical settings. These compositions are her most precise and vivid yet.

The Good Food Truck served up poodles while people mingled in the courtyard. Performers with Dance Truck brought two choreographed pieces to the gallery's courtyard. Photographer Heather Hendricks captured a few scenes from late in the night.

See a slideshow of pictures from Ann-Marie Manker's Under the Rainbow.

[clatl-blog]

Botanical Garden's summer concert series announced (photo courtesy of Atlanta Botanical Garden)The Atlanta Botanical Garden has announced the lineup for its 2013 Concerts in the Garden summer series, which kicks off Saturday, June 23.

Check out the full schedule at clatl.com!

[clatl-blog]

'World Pillow Fight Day' lands in Freedom Park (Photos by Heather Hendricks)

Saturday afternoon found dozens of people congregating at Freedom Park, some dressed in pajamas, most carrying pillows. This same scene happened all over the world as cities and towns joined in to celebrate World Pillow Fight Day. Coming out of the Urban Playground Movement, which focuses on fun, free, all-ages, non-commercial events, friends, families, strangers, the young and the old met at Freedom Park to smash each others' faces with pillows. War cries, stratagems, and all out battle fury marked the afternoon as participants unleashed their inner warriors and fought each other to the death (of the pillows).

More pillow fightin' action here.

[clatl-blog]

SXSW Atlanta Artists' Photos

Every year, thousands of musicians from around the country descend upon Austin, Texas to play shows, partake in interviews, eat barbecue, and drink beer at the annual SXSW music conference. It can be fun for artists, but it's also exhausting. More than 30 Atlanta artists, including Trinidad Jame$, Black Lips, Little Tybee, and Speakerfoxxx, made the more than 900-mile trek west to the Lone Star State last week, and sent back a gaggle of Instagram photos capturing their experiences.

Check out a gallery of the highlights.

And in case you missed it, check out more scenes from SXSW 2013.

[clatl-blog]

GOP state lawmaker blocks resolution honoring LGBT marching band because... well let's guess (Photo by Joeff Davis)

So what happens when an openly gay state lawmaker tries to officially congratulate a LGBT ensemble on 20th anniversary and for performing at an international LGBT conference? It gets blocked.

State Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, asked yesterday to delay a vote on a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, that would recognize the Atlanta Freedom Marching Bands. (Drenner sent CL a copy of the resolution yesterday afternoon, which we've posted).

Anyone care to comment?

[clatl-blog]

The ATL Twins are Spring Breakers Forever (Photos by Dustin Chambers)

Any story about Sidney and Thurman Sewell starts with a party. People are always hanging around their Midtown loft, sipping vodka and soda and staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows 26 stories above Peachtree Street. Sometimes it's a music video director and a girl they met in the strip club or a guy they used to skateboard with and a few girls they met while, well, they really can't remember. Maybe Trinidad James is on the stereo. Maybe Gucci Mane. Some pictures that Terry Richardson took for a fashion magazine are framed on the wall. Sidney and Thurman hang out with reporters a lot. One January night, a photographer and I are the journalists at the party. The next weekend it will be a couple of guys with Vice. The month after that, a Page Six spy will report their activities at a club in New York.

Read on at clatl.com.  And don't miss the Full Photo Gallery to get a taste of a day in the life of the ATL Twins.

[clatl-blog]

ATL's Street Characters (Photos by Meghan Davis, Dustin Chambers, and Thomas Wheatley)

Fellow Atlantans,

We here at CL propose the induction a new member into the ranks of our fair city's wonderful street characters (e.g. Bicycle Shorts Man, Urban Cowboy, and of course Baton Bob).

The-Man-Who-Walks-Around-Midtown-and-Downtown-with-a-Suitcase-on-his-Head (name still in beta testing)'s photo has been snapped and shared, and we think it's time he got some formal recognition. All in favor?

Get back to us on that.

Really, we'd love to hear from you. And while you're at it, photo reply to this post with your favorite ATL Street Characters! If we get some good ones, we might just compile a photo gallery for your viewing pleasures.

[clatl-blog]

Masta Killa's no-show saved by Fort Knox, Dug Boogie, YDB and more (Photo by Chad Radford)

That smiling young face you're looking at is none other than Young Dirty Bastard (Boy Jones), an ATL local and heir to the throne of the inimitable Ol' Dirty Bastard. He, along with a crew of fellow locals (4ize, Marq Spekt, Dug Boogie, Fort Knox) saved the day by holding down the stage til last call after Masta Killa's (no-)show at 529 Tuesday night.  

If there's two things we love here at CL, it's a crew of hometown heroes, and products of ODB procreating. We're feeling pretty warm and fuzzy right now.

[clatl-blog]

PHOTOS: Superhero Pub Crawl (Photos by Heather Hendricks)

  Saturday night, the finest superheroes and supervillains in Atlanta shed their disguises and took over East Atlanta Village for the third annual Superhero and Supervillain Pub Crawl. What started as a fun way to celebrate organizer Meredith Adams' birthday has grown a cape and taken on a life of its own. From the simple to the elaborate, from the traditional (Superman) to the never-heard-of-before (Yard Waste Man), the pubs were full, the people were merry, and the city had more condensed superpower than ever before.

Proceeds went to the Beltline Bike Shop, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the community and helping kids - one bike at a time.

Check out the full gallery of photos from the Superheroes and Supervillains pub crawl.

[atlantahistorycenter]

Everyone gets FREE ADMISSION to the Atlanta History Center every third weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of each month through June 2013. Next free weekend is March 16-17: http://ow.ly/i8stD

[clatl-blog]

PHOTOS: Atlanta Nepali Festival (Photos by James Camp)

The Nepali Festival at Centennial Olympic Park just happened to take place on one of the coldest days of the year. It seemed like the Nepali people brought Mount Everest to Atlanta, but the festival was rich in happy faces, inner beauty and proud Nepali people wanting to show off their heritage and culture.

Check out the full gallery at clatl.com!

[clatl-blog]

alt-J plays the Masquerade (Photos by Dustin Chambers)

British rockers Alt-J played to a sold out crowd in Heaven at the Masquerade on March 6. The group played a tight, focused set comprising all 14 songs from its debut album, An Awesome Wave. The set ran a little over an hour, but the crowd seemed pleased to hear the critically acclaimed album in full.

Check out more photos from the show here.

[usagov-blog]

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