Rock club relocates to East Atlanta

East Atlanta is set to get a new live-music venue later this year, but to many local rock fans it will be a familiar face.

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Andrew Adler, co-owner of the Alley Cat in Underground Atlanta, is moving his rock ‘n’ roll bar to a former deli space on Glenwood Avenue next door to the newly opened Crave restaurant.

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“For our crowd, Underground was not the best ideal location for us,” says Adler. “We just couldn’t make it there.”

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Adler, a veteran of the local rock scene who once managed the Metroplex punk club, says business started strong when the Alley Cat opened in early 2005, but eventually petered out. The bar, which served a full lunch and dinner menu and featured national touring acts on weekends, closed last week with little fanfare.

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Adler had been a partner in the club with owners of the Masquerade, who also were involved in other Underground clubs that have recently closed or switched concepts, including the Future, an industrial/goth club that’s reopened as the Mercury Room, and the salsa-fied Latin Sol, which become Motion, a mainstream dance club.

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This time out, Adler says he will be the sole owner. The relocated Alley Cat will keep the same format of roots-driven hard rock and rockabilly, as well as its collection of Kitty Cat girls — waitresses wearing black vinyl boots and hot pants, rhinestone collars and cat ears.

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“I think we’re going to be a good complement to the East Atlanta Village because we’ll be more rock ‘n’ roll oriented than the Earl, which plays to a slightly younger, indie-rock crowd,” Adler says.

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He estimates the club could be ready to open toward the end of August and will serve food (though likely only dinner for the first six months).

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As for Underground Atlanta, Adler says its future success may depend on how well it does at attracting college students looking to dance.

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“It has the potential to do really well if they get the right mix of clubs,” he says.