After Dark
Some things become passé with the passage of time. Like spandex biker shorts. Remember when those were hot? Other stuff transcends the era in which it was created. Sorta like oatmeal. It’s always on the menu.
Sure, it’s easy to take a young, all-female band such as the Coathangers, mash them up with the city’s oldest beer-can-crushing stripper, and label the former trendy and the latter timeless. But that barely scratches the surface. Because there’s nothing more timeless than watching a band full of cute twentysomethings provoke extreme reactions by throwing their femininity in everybody’s face. On the other hand, if you’ve never had Blondie jab you in the face with her tits at the Clermont Lounge, you have yet to receive a true gag gift.
Likewise, Atlanta’s emerging rock scene is brand-spanking new compared with the city’s entrenched rap industry. Yet bands such as the Black Lips and Deerhunter put Atlanta on blast in ‘07 with timeless techniques like DIY touring, grassroots promotion and buzz-worthy performances. Meanwhile, homegrown hip-hop relied on the viral marketing of YouTube dance-offs, mixtape massacres, and a fleeting fantasy to “Party Like a Rockstar.”
Just like the city, the vibe Atlanta emits is a little bit country and a little bit controversial. Put the two together and you get something greater than the sum of our parts.
Call it spandex-flavored oatmeal.
– Rodney Carmichael
Best Sports Bar BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Readers Pick
Best Strip Club BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
Best Strip Club BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Readers Pick
Best Strip Club BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
Best Stripper Other Than Blondie BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Readers Pick
Best Urban Music Club BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
Best Urban Music Club BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Readers Pick
Best Local Vocalist BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
Not since Francine Reed settled here 25 years ago has a singer new to the Atlanta scene made such an indelible first impression as BERNADETTE SEACREST. The irony is that the jazz chanteuse is more popular in Europe than in her adopted city, but don’t expect that to last long. Seacrest sings torch songs with a fragile and haunting voice that is Billie Holiday cross-pollinated with Madeleine Peyroux. Both members of her two-piece band are alumni of Col. Bruce Hampton — former Aquarium Rescue Unit guitarist Charlie Williams and current Quark Alliance bassist Chris Dale. Seacrest, who moved to Atlanta from Albuquerque in 2006, didn’t even take up singing until six years ago. Catch her now before Atlanta finally discovers her. You’ll be struck first by her tattoos, then you’ll be captivated by her voice.
less...Best Local Blues Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
The blues is a universal feeling that transcends languages, social status and the constraints of musical genre. DANNY “MUDCAT” DUDECK knows that feeling intimately. He travels the globe spreading his version of the blues gospel and regularly works with a number of international blues-preservation organizations. Lucky for us, he gets back to town most weeks to play the tiny Northside Tavern. Whether performing solo, leading a smokin’ band or a tight, one-off jam session with a founding father or a group of novices, his soulful and emotive delivery evokes images of the hard times that fed the early blues pioneers. And Mudcat’s Bayou-baked, chicken-party revues can make even the most jaded music fan happy to be blue.
less...Best Local R&B/Soul Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark » Critics Pick
When RAHBI takes the stage with a swagger that’s part pimp, part drag queen, it’s obvious why his arrival has caused such a stir among Atlanta’s staid soul scene. The background singer for Donnie stepped out of the shadows this year to unleash his own brand of “glamour soul.” It bears no resemblance to the singer/songwriter school of thought most of his Atlanta-based peers graduated from. Instead, Rahbi takes his cues from Prince — lace glove and all. During his “Strange Fruit” show in early 2007, he employed a pole dancer and stripper pole in his act. Yet his flamboyant stage show doesn’t overshadow the dramatic vocal ability he honed singing at his granddaddy’s Pentecostal church as a youngster. His appropriately titled live album, Rahbi-Raw, is scheduled for a fall release.
less...BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark
Best Local Hip-Hop Act BOA Award Winner
Section » Print Features » Special Issue » Best of Atlanta » 2007 » After Dark
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