WHO'S Playing LIVE MUSIC In ATLANTA This Week? (Aug. 6 - Aug. 12)

Live music returns to Variety Playhouse this week with a show by the Mountain Goats, but Bright Eyes' recent cancellation of two nights scheduled at the new, 2,200-seat music venue The Eastern underscores the uncertainty (and potential risks) of attending live shows during this variant-driven fourth wave of the covids.  For the safety and health of their patrons, staff, neighbors and families, and in accordance with CDC guidelines and a City of Atlanta mandate, Variety Playhouse, The Earl and other venues are requiring guests to wear facemasks, and some are also requiring proof of vaccination. These venues value your safety and your business, and appreciate your cooperation with these (hopefully temporary) policies.  As always, please keep in mind that musicians and night-club proprietors lead complicated lives and I'm prone to errors, mistakes, typos, and fubars, so it's advisable to confirm any of the information below on your own before making plans.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2021

Withered, Yautja & Sadistic Ritual (The Earl, 8:30 pm) - Metal by three Atlanta-based bands. 

Neighbor Lady, Rose Hotel, Semicircle (529, 9:00 pm) - Neighbor Lady are an Atlanta indie-pop quartet.  Rose Hotel is Kentucky-born Atlanta resident Jordan Reynolds. Semicircle are an Athens band recently relocated to Atlanta.  Remember that this is 529, so don't expect to hear the headliners any time before midnight.

Pandemonium, A Concert Experience featuring Eyedress, Slimesito, Slimedollaz, 10kDunkin & more (Heaven at The Masquerade, 8:00 pm) - Eyedress is a Filipino singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer, but I have so many questions here.  Why is this show listed as a "concert experience?" Why are tickets $45 each? Why do the opening acts have a penchant for the word "slime" in their name? It's all beyond me.

Bleach Garden, Toxic Foxtrot & Melodic Monster (Purgatory at The Masquerade, 8:00 pm) - Bleach Garden is an Atlanta alternative/grunge band.   Toxic Foxtrot are a "soul grown and gravel fed" blues-rock band also from Atlanta, while Melodic Monster is Atlanta musician Ben Garden.  

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2021

✅The Mountain Goats & Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards (Variety Playhouse, 8:00 pm) - The first show at L5P's Variety Playhouse since the March 2020 "first wave" of covid infections is as much a reason for celebration as is the return of The Mountain Goats to Atlanta.  Unfortunately and probably for those very reasons, the show is sold out. John Darnielle and company have been at it since the 1990s, yet they still bring an enthusiasm and energy to their performances after all these years. Opener Laura Cortese is a singer, songwriter, and fiddler born in San Francisco. She attended Berklee College of Music and according to her Wikipedia page she currently resides in Belgium.

Wieuca, Nihilist Cheerleader & Vangas (529, 9:00 pm) - Wieuca plays a psych-pop pastiche that incorporates pop, indie rock, and even noise. Frontman Will Ingram formed Wieuca in Atlanta in 2012, but the band has since relocated to Athens, so this show is a homecoming of sorts.  Athens' Nihilist Cheerleader and punk-rock quartet Vangas open.  Remember that this is 529, so don't expect to hear the headliners any time before midnight.

Order of the Owl, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Blood Circuits (The Earl, 8:30 pm) - Order of the Owl is fronted by Zoroaster’s Brent Anderson.  The sound is decidedly metal, but drummer Dwayne Jones’s stoner rock influence and guitarist Casey Yarbrough’s driving progressive chords give more life to the usual detuned fare for which Atlanta has grown famous. Virtually an Atlanta institution, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves was formed by Thomas Cheshire after the breakup of The Rent Boys. Heavily influenced by groups like The Clash, Guided by Voices and Elvis Costello, Cheshire's charisma and stage presence fuel the band's garage and prog-rock sound with aggressive angst-filled vocals. Blood Circuits open.

Patrick Droney & RYLY (Vinyl at Center Stage, 8:00 pm) - Patrick Droney is a soulful pop singer/songwriter and virtuosic guitarist born in Pennsylvania.  After several relocations, he wound up in Nashville.  RYLY is an indie alt-pop duo from Atlanta consisting of Riley Smith and Sam Rady.

Deicide, Kataklysm, Internal Bleeding & Begat the Nephilim (Heaven at The Masquerade, 6:30 pm) - If you're in the mood for old men playing death metal, this is your night.  Deicide is a death metal band formed in Tampa in 1987 by drummer Steve Asheim. Canada's Kataklysm formed in 1991 and have released fourteen studio albums to date, while New York's Internal Bleeding formed in 1991.  Relative newcomers Begat the Naphilim are a blackened melodic death metal band formed in 2012 in southern New Hampshire.

Boa Boys & Chrome Pony (Aisle 5, 8:30 pm) - Boa Boys are a three-piece psychedelic groove-rock band from Louisville.

Dri Jack, 3lettersNuk, Mike River & DJ Erik Jaye (Purgatory at The Masquerade, 8:00 pm) - This will be the first headlining show by singer-songwriter Dri Jack from south Atlanta.  Atlanta-based singer, songwriter, and rapper 3LetterzNuk signed his first record deal in 2015 with FloRida, who took him on tour as an opening act.   Mike River was a singer and background dancer in the boy band Mindless Behavior before striking out on his own, and DJ Erik Jaye was featured in Snoop Dog's I've Been Looking For You.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2021

808 Fest featuring Machinedrum, Codes, Klever, Treasure Fingers, Jeremy Avalon, Empress Rah & 10th Letter (Aisle 5, 5:00 pm) - The 10-year anniversary of the 808 Fest occurs on 8/08 and is FREE to all who RSVP through the festival website  (808Fest.com).  808 is the common nickname for the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, an electronic drum machine from the 1980s popular in hip-hop music. 808 is also often mistakenly referenced as the penal code for “disturbing the peace.”

Cellus Hamilton (Vinyl at Center Stage, 8:00 pm) - Cellus Hamilton is a hip-hop artist raised in Atlanta.  In 2019, Hamilton released Washing Her Feet on his wedding day and the album peaked in the Top 50 on the R&B charts. Hamilton currently resides in New York City with his wife.

MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021

Dark night - as far as I can tell, there's not a god-damned thing going on anywhere in town.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021

Lloyd Bank$ (Heaven at The Masquerade, 7:00 pm) - Rapper Lloyd Banks began his career as a member of East Coast hip-hop group G-Unit, alongside childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo.  Last June, Banks released the album Course of the Inevitable, his first album since 2010.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021

The Obsessed, The Skull & Outrider (The Earl, 7:30 pm) - More heaviness at The Earl.  The Obsessed  are D.C. doom rock pioneers formed in 1976 by Scott "Wino" Weinrich (guitar, vocals).  Chicago's The Skull features vocalist Eric Wagner and bassist Ron Holzner, formerly of metal band Trouble, to create Sabbathian doom with a psych-tinged metal vision. Opening band Outrider is a local doom supergroup featuring former members of Order of the Owl, Demonaut, and Death of Kings.

Malbis · Malbis x Matheny - Breakfast

CRiMLiN CALLiNG 3.0 featuring Malbis, Sushi Mane, Player 1, Tanuki & Still Feel (Aisle 5, 7:50 pm) - Sunday is the 808 Fest at Aisle 5, and on Wednesday CRiMLiN COLLECTiVE (the "i's" are all lower case to represent the lack of ego in the collective) are holding another fest at Aisle 5, CRiMLiN CALLiNG 3.0.  This one will showcase local electronic music producers, performers, and artists for a night of live music, painting, and flow performances.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021

Parker Millsap (Eddie's Attic, 7:00 & 9:15 pm) - Two shows by the Oklahoma singer/songwriter. 

And that's it for this week.  Terminal West reopens on Friday the 13th of August with Maggie Rose.  With Bright Eyes cancelling, The Eastern will now premier with a rooftop show (Girlpuppy) on August 19, and the main stage will premier with a September 1 show by Big Boi.  We're still waiting on word from the Drunken Unicorn on when (or if) they're reopening.