Sound Menu August 19 2000 Fri

NOTED ACTS
B.B. KING BLUES FESTIVAL — He's sitting down for the entire show these days and talking almost as much as he's playing, but King's yearly multi-night Chastain love-fest is still worth experiencing. This year's supporting cast is remarkably strong, too: Tommy Castro's energetic straight-ahead blues rock, Susan Tedeschi's sultry/gritty soul blues (see article, p. 83) and Buddy Guy's hard-nosed Chicago approach fill out the bill with acts who are headliners in their own right. B.B. isn't resting on his laurels either, currently hitting the Top 10 album charts (for the first time ever!) thanks to his Clapton collaboration (see review, p. 103). King's a living legend who's earned every bit of the respect he gets and never appears to be running on autopilot. Sure he's slowing down, but nobody leaves without a smile plastered on their face. Chastain Park Amphitheater (Horowitz)

CATFIGHT! GRRRLS NIGHT OUT PARTY — If you haven't seen the Catfight! girls rockin' out lately, you're bound to be amazed and delighted by what a solid, tight ensemble they've evolved into. They've always rocked, but nowadays they rrrrrrock! Echo Lounge (Nicoll)

KING DIAMOND, SHADOWS FALL, BABYLON WHORES — King Diamond is like the Lemmy Kilmister of the evil set: he just keeps going and going. Shadows Fall's mix of crushing death with the melodic, galloping style of Iron Maiden is kinda nifty. But will someone put them on the mailing list for the Coalition for Frontman Originality in Metal? If I see another singer flinging his dreadlocks around as if it's interesting to watch I swear I'm gonna clip 'em off with cable cutters and shove 'em up his bum. Babylon Whores could be the surprise of the night. An unlikely blend of glam rock, metal and goth from Scandinavia. Masquerade (Foy)

LIZARDMEN — Put on your Beatle boots 'cause the Merseybeat stomp is back. There's a rumor afoot that the Lizard's original frontman Michael Meyer has been rehearsing with this group again. Star Bar (Nicoll)

MANDORICO — Atlanta's Mandorico fold elements of hip-hop, ska, rock and pop into a traditional Latin music framework. Though theoretically such a self-conscious approach might yield watered-down results, this combo infuse the proceedings with enough infectious enthusiasm, not to mention technical proficiency, to allay any fears of pan-ethnic pandering. Smith's Olde Bar (Robertson)

MINDSEYE — This local quartet slather vaguely danceable backbeats with an array of diffuse musical distractions. Though these diversions sometimes betray dull ulterior motives (a conventional rock mentality mucks things up from time to time), generally the overt weirdness prevents Mindseye from wandering down too many musical blind alleys. As infuriating as such stylistic sleight-of-hand can be, in this case it feels indicative of a restless creativity that bears watching. Smith's Olde Bar (Robertson)

TONIC — Flat and lifeless, with just a hint of what could be, Emerson Hart and his boys have been milking their one hit from nearly four years ago ("If You Could Only See") for another album and tour. Leading the pack of faceless, boring clones that continue to plod aimlessly over the "alternative" airwaves, Tonic is not the elixir to cure a thing, and a good example of what's wrong with popular music today. See also Third Eye Bland. Roxy (Smith)

CARLA ULBRICH, JAMIE ANDERSON, BOB MALONE — Described as "Partly Funny With a Chance of Audience Applause," this writers-in-the-round features comical songs (sometimes darkly comical) by an especially talented trio. Carla Ulbrich's "What If Your Girlfriend Was Gone" is probably worth the admission price alone. It's a 9:30 p.m., 21-and-up show. Eddie's Attic (Nicoll)

SUE WITTY — Seemingly there are enough singer/songwriter types in Atlanta to recreate key battle scenes from Braveheart (now there's an image for you). Witty, another in a long line of acoustic-guitar-wielding, heartfelt-lyric-writing troubadours stands out thanks to an atypical (at least in this genre) jauntiness. Sprightly, melodic folk-pop that's refreshingly gloom-free. Starbucks/Virginia-Highland (Robertson)

?ALSO PERFORMING
9 LIVES SALOON: Empire 44, The Unsatisfied, Flair, Wide Open

40 WATT CLUB-ATHENS: Krush Girls

513 CLUB: Spectremen, Pistol Whip, Derision, Cogneato

AFTER DARK CABERET: Butch and the Buckheads

ANTHONY'S: Swami Gone Bananas

ANTHONY'S-BUFORD: Alien

ARCTIC CIRCLE: DJ Rock's Entertainment Dance Party

BASIL'S CAFÉ-MARIETTA: The Steven Charles Jazz Duo

BILLY'S: Heather Luttrell

BLIND WILLY'S: Houserocker Johnson

BLUE PIG-WOODSTOCK: Motor City Josh

THE BLUE RACCOON: Frankie's Blues Mission featuring Frankie Lee Robinson

BRANDYHOUSE: Homemade Jam, Blue Voodoo

BRIDGES: Jazz with the Sharp Four

BUFFALO'S-AKERS MILL: Karen Leppo

THE CHAMBER: Glitterdome

CHASTAIN AMPHITHEATER: BB King Blues Festival with Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi and Tommy Castro Band

CHECKERED PARROT: Johnny Reed Duo

CHIP'S: Electric Eels

CHURCHILL GROUNDS JAZZ CAFÉ: Bernard Linnette's Interactive Sextet

CJ'S LANDING: Mookie & Mojo Chillins, Ian Schumaker; Mystery Train in the concert hall

COBALT LOUNGE: Parallel Universe

COTTON CLUB: Black Perl, Whild Peach

CRESCENT ROOM: Two-year anniversary part with DJs Richard Leslie and Brandon Sutton with Don Tonic on percussion

DARK HORSE TAVERN & GRILL: Cornbread, Crave, Fair Verona

THE DERBY: Barry Richman

DOTTIE'S: Pigeon Divinity

THE EARL: Fat Day, Ladies Night, Tourniquet

ECHO LOUNGE: Catfight! Grrrls Night Out Party

ECLIPSE DI LUNA: Kim Rushing

EDDIE'S ATTIC: Carla Ulbrich, Jamie Anderson, Bob Malone, Wakeman & Willner

THE ELBOW ROOM: YG

FAT MATT'S RIB SHACK: Craig Vinson Band

FUZZY'S: Blues Barons

JAKE'S ROADHOUSE: Little Joey's Jump and Jive

JAVA HOUSE: Derwin Daniels

KILLER CREEK: The Showtyme Jazz Duo

LAKEWOOD AMPHITHEATER: Britney Spears

LAST GREAT WATERING HOLE: Ally X

LOS LOROS: Bob Beckwith

MARY'S: Video DJ Jigsaw

MASQUERADE: King Diamond, Shadows Fall, Babylon Whores, Deep

MEANS STREET ARTERY: Underground rave

METROPOLITAN PIZZA: Lost Souls

MIKE-N-ANGELO'S: Slim Pickens

MURPHY'S LAW: Heavy Light

NOMENCLATURE MUSEUM: The Electromatics

OPERA HOUSE: Stuck Mojo with Injected

PECKERHEAD'S: Lotsa Poppa

POOR RICHARDS' PUB: Moxie

RAY'S ON THE RIVER: The Tony Winston Jazz Trio

ROXY: Tonic with Stir

SCROOGE'S: Uncle Don's Bullet Proof Band

SMITH'S OLDE BAR: Mandorico, Mindseye

SOMBER REPTILE: The Cracklins, Blind Prophet, Wide Open

STAR BAR-L5P: Lizardmen

STARBUCK'S-DECATUR SQUARE: Morgan Rowe

STARBUCKS-VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS: Sue Witty

THE TABERNACLE: Driven Potluck CD release party; Blame; Falling Up; Illiterate Mic; Eden

TIJUANA JOE'S: Brian Doyle

UGLY MUG PUB: Mike Veal and the Devilles

WHISKER'S-DUNWOODY: Ricki Fargo

WILD WING CAFÉ: Flux Capacitors

YA YA'S CAJUN CUISINE: Kush