Pages tagged “star bar”

Photos taken at Variety Playhouse and Star Bar by Jason Reed. Read Paste:Local Atlanta's account of the Halloween night extravaganza here.
 

[Above: Jared Swilley of the Black Lips plays in Halloween-appropriate band The Spooks.]

[Above: Jay Reatard, shown here on the cover of his record Blood Visions, plays this Friday night at the Variety Playhouse.]

As an Atlanta native, I've celebrated a lot of Oct. 31sts here. Accordingly, I find that there are certain things I look forward to every year that say as much about the city as they do the holiday itself. Here, in order, are the top five reasons I can't wait for Halloween to hit Atlanta this year. What are yours?

[Above: Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull]

Onstage, Manchester Orchestra mixes the captivating vocals and compelling arrangements of its records with hardcore guitar and screaming, as lead singer Andy Hull abandons his sweet, high tenor for larynx-wrenching wails. I could listen to his on-record singing voice for hours and be happier for it, but last night all I could think was what a shame it was.

On the verge of making their trip to CMJ in New York, Atlanta's All Night Drug Prowling Wolves celebrated the release of their CD Friday night at the Star Bar. They were joined by the Chattanooga, Tenn., rockers Giant Tiger, as well as by Brooklyn band The Weight. Affection abounded (apparently). Catch All Night Drug Prowling Wolves at the Star Bar again on Saturday, when they play a free, outdoors show at 5 p.m. during the Little Five Points Halloween Parade.

[Above: The Booze play Saturday night at The Earl.]

Atlanta's Other Sound Festival took place at WonderRoot, The Star Bar and The Earl over three days last weekend. Musicians, mostly from the ATL but some from other towns around the Southeast, played on main stages and in club corners, celebrating everything outside of the norm. Behold!

This year's Other Sound Festival takes place over three days in three venues, and promises to be an exploration of the city's truly independent music, featuring the best bands in Atlanta and beyond. Local labels, publicity firms and non-profits have their hands in the mix, including Containment Theory Records, Eskimo Kiss Records, Industrial Strength Promotions, Sopo Bicycle Co-op and more.

We've got the full schedule of events, plus a Q&A with festival organizer Kat Colohan of Containment Theory Records, to start the fest off right.

[Above: The Coathangers rock out at the Star Bar]

With bands playing upstairs and downstairs, this night at the Star Bar was part of the venue's free Thursday series, presented by Atlanta's Rob's House Records. Local acts the Coathangers and Derek Lyn Plastic were joined by Charlotte, N.C.'s own Sex Tapes for a night of rock and debauchery, as the names would suggest (and as the photos confirm).

[Above: Y O U at the beach, apparently.]

Trae Vedder of ATL band Death On Two Wheels perched on a stool with an acoustic guitar and an accompanying keyboardist throughout a rare unplugged set that met a full room, but not very much attention. It was too low-key for the party atmosphere that comes hand-in-hand with Pop Death Squad's free Big Trouble In Little Five Points show each month. Vedder himself was in good humor, cracking jokes and wailing out songs in his own gravelly tenor as the audience chatted inattentively and crowded the bar, preparing for the dancing they were about to do.

[Above: Gentleman Jesse and His Men, 8/1/08]

Atlanta's second annual Fringe Binge, a two-day punk festival, took place the first weekend in August at the Star Bar in Little Five Points.