Creative Loafing Atlanta

09/23/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Fri., Sept. 26
Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park — Two iconic headlining acts for the price of, well, probably two. But it’s still encouraging to see them on the same bill and, possibly, onstage together. Last year Etheridge released a solid live album, I’m Not Broken, and, despite not having and recent hits, still delivers scorching shows. It’s always a party when the Indigos play their hometown which gives them an extra shot of energy. This combination of veteran folk/rockers is guaranteed to be explosive. — Hal Horowitz https://bit.ly/4gkwgtt
Chastain Park The Indigo Girls

09/22/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Fri., Sept. 26
The Vegabonds, Terminal West — This Southern rock-influenced quintet has been cranking out solid, heartland of America rocking songs for the past 15 years, playing every city with a stage along the way. They spent four years crafting the recently released Young & Unafraid, a more commercially-aimed batch of songs that sands off some of the band’s rougher edges. For better or worse they are targeting a larger country rock audience with a bigger studio sound. Live, they will undoubtedly hit even harder. — Hal Horowitz https://bit.ly/3I7Rr5m
Terminal West The Vegabonds

09/22/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Fri., Sep. 26
Rilo Kiley (with The Faint), The Eastern — Tradition crashes against modernity in one of Broadway’s most bittersweet epics. Tevye’s songs are funny and crushing in the same breath, which is why people keep staging it more than 50 years later. This new production adds operatic force to the humor and heartbreak, amplifying every note until it rattles the rafters. You’ll laugh at a dad joke, then cry five minutes later at generational loss. At its core, it’s a show about change, and who gets left behind when the world won’t wait. — Matthew Warhol https://bit.ly/3VBrsX0
The Eastern Rilo Kiley

09/22/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Fri., Sept. 26
The Jason Pastras Trio, Fat Matt’s — You might recognize Atlanta guitarist/singer/songwriter Pastras from his 20 year gig at Two Urban Licks, or maybe from hosting the Darwin’s blues jams years ago. He has just released a new album, Alive Before Time, that takes a blues base but lightens it with pop, rock, funk, and soul. The mostly original songs are catchy, usually frisky, and played with upbeat, charming verve. Pastras is an excellent guitarist, sings with boyish enthusiasm and deserves more love from the blues community than he has gotten. Check him out at this gig or others listed on his web page. — Hal Horowitz https://bit.ly/4m3OvVl
Fat Matt's Rib Shack The Jason Pastras Trio

09/21/2025

Thu., Sep. 25 –Sun., Sep. 28
CRITIC’S PICK:
Atlanta Art Fair, Pullman Yards — It’s the second time around for the city’s Art Fair, which last year drew many kudos. ‘Vanity Fair’ decreed: “Atlanta is proclaiming itself another destination on the map of contemporary art with the inaugural Atlanta Art Fair,” while ‘Forbes’ stated in a somewhat backhanded manner, “Long lagging as a destination for visual arts, the Atlanta Art Fair proves the city’s arts community is no longer emerging — it has arrived.”

Dozens of galleries will be on hand to showcase their wares to the throngs. Performances, talks, installations and massive amounts of schmoozing are to be expected. — Kevin C. Madigan

Atlanta Art Fair returns to Pullman Yards this September 25–28, 2025 to build on the expansive momentum of the fair’s inaugural edition. As a continued catalyst for cultural enrichment and artistic exchange, Atlanta Art Fair 2025 will feature an inclusive roster of compelling programs and a dive...

09/21/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Wed. Sept. 24
Frankie & the Witch Fingers, Population ll, Terminal West — If hyperventilating old-school garage/psychedelic punk is your thing, the frantic Frankie & the Witch Fingers should be represented on your playlist. Combine Devo with the jittery punk of the Vi*****rs and you’re close to the frenetic sound this LA-based quintet pounds out like they invented it. They’ll be introducing tunes from the new Trash Classic release. It’s heavier on edgy synths but still rocks out and is filled with “hooks so infectious they rot on impact” as their press release colorfully proclaims. — Hal Horowitz

Los Angeles psych-punk shapeshifters Frankie and the Witch Fingers have spent the last decade mutating their sound into bold, electrifying new forms. Their latest release, Trash Classic (via Greenway Records and The Reverberation Appreciation Society), plunges into a sewer-slick fusion of proto-punk...

09/20/2025

Opens Wed., Sep. 24
CRITIC’S PICK:
Luna Luna — Forgotten Fantasy, Pullman Yards — Organizers call it the world’s first art amusement park, and it’s coming to Atlanta for a limited run at Pullman Yards. The park is the creation of Austrian impresario André Heller, who first launched the scheme in Hamburg in the summer of 1987. Heller envisioned a grandiose world tour but it was not to be. ‘Luna Luna’ was packed away into shipping containers that sat gathering dust for 35 years. It was rapper Drake, of all people, who brought the whole thing back to life in 2022 and the project has since enjoyed successful stints in New York and Los Angeles.

The park features the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delaunay, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, and Kenny Scharf, among other art luminaries. The original soundtrack mixes music from the 1987 edition with new tracks created for this tour by André 3000, David Byrne, Jamie XX, Philip Glass, and Saya Gray. For those of you who are into podcasts, the Luna Luna Podcast is a newly released six-part series hosted by art historian Helen Molesworth, tracing the origins, disappearance, and revival of the concept. — Kevin C. Madigan

In 1987, Luna Luna landed in Hamburg, Germany: the world’s first art amusement park with rides, games, and attractions by visionaries like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Salvador Dalí. By a twist of fate, the park’s treasures were soon sealed in 44 shipping containers and forgotten in ...

09/20/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Tues. Sept. 23
Mirador, Terminal West — It’s pushing things to call this new band a supergroup, although with it featuring Greta Van Fleet co-founder Jake Kiszka and Ida Mae’s Chris Turpin, expectations run a little higher. Their debut arrived just last week, with early singles displaying a roaring blues-rock sound with grungy guitars and thumping bass. Positive word of mouth about the recent live shows of these two well-regarded frontmen, and the anticipation of their first studio album, has them headlining this larger club earlier in their nascent career than most would expect. Worth a look. — Hal Horowitz

MIRADOR conjure sky-shaking and boundary-bursting rock ‘n’ roll by invoking spirits of Ancient myth, traditional folklore, and Delta-born blues in one concentrated musical incantation. In the band, 21st century guitar hero, innovator, songwriter, and GRAMMY® Award-winning Greta Van Fleet co-fou...

09/19/2025

CRITIC’S PICK:
Mon. Sept. 22
Mindi Abair, City Winery — Jazz saxist Abair moved into blues and soul territory when she had the Boneshakers as her backing band for a few years, but has returned to a slicker, more R&B style on her new album, Based on a True Story. Singers Kenny Lattimore and Delisha Thomas helped with the vocals on the release, yet they aren’t touring with her, Abair opting for a band that strips the backing down to a tough four-piece. Her sound falls between the smoother side of Grover Washington and a more edgy King Curtis style. When the group digs into a deep funk groove like on the current release’s “The Rundown,” she can really burn. — Hal Horowitz

During her remarkable 24-year recording career, saxophonist/vocalist Mindi Abair has garnered 2 GRAMMY nominations, recorded with some of the biggest names in music, and built a substantial following among jazz and blues audiences with her soaring melodies and powerhouse style. In 2014, Mindi receiv...

09/18/2025

Netherworld Haunted House returns this Friday & Saturday for 29th Season of Screams! These haunts don't want visitors. They want victims.
Make Your Reservation Now at https://bit.ly/NW25TIX ️

09/18/2025

Tue., Sep. 23 – Sun., Sep. 28
CRITIC’S PICK:
Back To The Future: The Musical, Fox Theatre — The time-honored hit movie from 1985 spawned two sequels and collectively amassed $936 million. Chump change. It now has a musical adaptation composed by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard; it’s directed by John Rando with a book by original co-creator Bob Gale. Some songs from the original soundtrack, like ‘Earth Angel,’ ‘The Power Of Love’ and ‘Johnny B Goode’ are included in the new production. The show won an Olivier Award in 2022 after having its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House in 2020 and transferring to the West End the following year.

“If Bob Zemeckis and I time traveled back to 1980 and told our younger selves that the script they were struggling to write what would become a Broadway musical 43 years later, they’d kick us out of their office and call us crazy,” says Gale. “Well, sometimes crazy ideas give birth to great entertainment.” — Kevin C. Madigan https://bit.ly/3JM7Ixj
The Fox Theatre Broadway In Atlanta

09/17/2025

CRITIC’S PICK
Wed., Sep. 24

Next Wednesday, guitarist-composer-improviser Shane Parish will be performing at Commune in Avondale Estates. This past July, the Athens-based artist released ‘Solo at Café OTO,’ a collection of deconstructed and re-imagined ballads, which showcase Parish’s penchant for offbeat atmospheric music that conjures up melancholia, rumination, agitation and exultation, sometimes all in the same song.

I have not yet visited Commune, so I’m looking forward to catching Parish in a solo setting at the self-described “women-owned, minority-owned, Black-owned, Asian-owned cozy listening room and wine bar with a full dinner menu.” – Doug DeLoach

$14 Cover