INsite Atlanta April 2010 Issue

April 2010

www.insiteatlanta.com

Entertainment Monthly s ’ a t n a l t A

Vol. 18, No. 9 FREE

America Ferrera Donald Trump Emmitt Smith Mo’Nique

Spring

Festival Issue

Atlanta Dogwood Festival • Atlanta Jazz Festival • Decatur Arts Festival Renaissance Festival • Inman Park Festival • Screen on the Green Fox Film Festival • Atlanta Steeplechase • Atlanta Film Festival National Black Arts Festival • East Atlanta Beer Festival

tter

ogr aph y by Don Ma

pho t painting by Doug odom

33rd Annual

2010

www.atlantafestivals.com FOLLOW US TO ENTER VARIOUS CONTESTS! Facebook.com/AtlantaJazzFestival

Twitter.com/AtlantaJazzFest

Saturday, May 29

Sunday, May 30

2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm 5:30pm 7:00pm

2:00pm

8:30pm

Rialto Jazz For Kids All Star Jazz Band Jay Norem/Keith White Quartet Steven Charles Band Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue Swing Streets to Swing Beats featuring Esperanza Spalding & Raydar Ellis Marcus Miller “Tutu Revisited the music of Miles Davis” featuring Christian Scott

3:00pm 4:00pm 5:30pm 7:00pm

8:30pm

Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble Jazz Band The Ultimate Jazz Score Video Contest Winner Kathleen Bertrand Spyro Gyra MF Production’s Celebration of Lionel Hampton featuring Diane Schuur and Jason Marsalis Stanley Clarke Band and Hiromi

passport program:

a journey through metropolitan atlanta Enter for a chance to win!

From May 1-21, visit at least 15 partner venues listed with the 31 days of jazz, and turn your card on May 21 at friday jazz at the high museum of art. visit www.atlantafestivals.com for more details.

The 2010 Atlanta Jazz Festival is a program of the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

CONTENTS • APRIL 2010 • VOLUME 18.9 Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

INTERVIEWS 06 DONALD TRUMP 10 JILL SCOTT 15 AMERICA FERRERA 17 DRIVE BY TRUCKERS 18 TRICKY STEWART 21 CAST FROM CHUCK 23 GUNS ON THE RUN 23 FLOBOTS 27 DROP KICK MURPHYS 28 EMMITT SMITH 30 MONIQUE

15

21

FEATURES 08 SPRING PATIOS 11 BRUNCH PLACES 22 OUTDOOR MUSIC VENUES 29 SPRING FESTIVAL GUIDE 29 MLB PREVIEW

COLUMNS 04 AROUND TOWN 05 ON TAP 05 ON A DIME EVENTS 07 UNDER THE LIGHTS 13 MOVIE REVIEWS 14 VIDEO GAMES 14 VIDIOTS 16 CONCERT CALENDAR 19 ROAD WARRIORS 19 WE GOT NEXT 20 ALBUMS 31 FANATIC

28

30

www.insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Stephen Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com National Managing Editor Bret Love bret@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Michael T. graphics@insiteatlanta.com Music / Sports Editor DeMarco Williams demarco@insiteatlanta.com Events Listing Editor Glenn LaFollette glenn@insiteatlanta.com Special Features Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com

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Contributing Writers / Interns: John Moore, Jon Latham, Ryan Loftis, Matt Goldberg, Rodney Hill, Alex S. Morrison, Sacha Dzuba, Roger Presswood, Dave Cohen, Russ Marshalek and Jennifer Sefa-Boakye CONTACT US 2250 North Druid Hills Rd. #234 Atlanta, GA 30329-3118 phone 404-315-8485 website insiteatlanta.com ADVERTISING INFORMATION �������������������������������������������� Editorial content of INsite is the opinion of each writer and is not necessarily the opinion of INsite, its staff, or its advertisers. INsite does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertising or editorial content, nor do the publisher or editors of INsite assume America Ferrera responsibility should such advertising or editorial Donald Trump Emmitt Smith appear. No content, i.e., articles, graphics, Mo’Nique designs and information (any and all) in this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from publisher.

April 2010

www.insiteat lanta.com

Vol. 18, No. 9 FREE

Atlanta’s Entertainment Monthly

© Copyright 2010, Be Bop Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Check out Spring Festival Guide on page 24!

FE STISSIV AL UE

Atlaanta Dogwood ���������� ��������� Festiva Festiv ������������ ������������ ����������� ������������ ������������ ������� ����������� ������������ ������������ ������� ���������� R i ������������ F ti l ���������� ���������� � � ��������������� Festival���� � ti � ���������� ������������ ����������� ��e ������ � ������������������������ A���������� ���������� ���������� ����������� ����������� ����������� ����������� ���������l ��������������������������������� ������������������������

PG 3 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Around Town Six Flags Over Georgia will host a Virtual Army Experience from April 2-4. Participants 13-years and older can enjoy learning about teamwork, rules of engagement and high-tech team challenges.

Go to ignitedusa.com for more info.

APR 2-4

The Edge Connection will host a “Business-Forward Breakfast” with a panel of distinguished business leaders on April 6 from 7:30-9:30am at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Tickets can be found by calling 770-499-3228.

APR 06

Your first chance to see the Braves is on April 5, but you’re first chance for a night contest comes April 7 at 7:10pm against the Chicago Cubs. If you can’t make the 4:10 afternoon game on Monday, be sure not to miss your first look at Bobby Cox’s final season.

APR 07

Jimmy Buffett will come to Atlanta on April 27. If you can’t wait that long, check out the Earl Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta as it hosts “Mariettaville” and a Buffett Tribute Show on April 10 at 8pm. Patrons are encouraged to wear their best and brightest Parrothead clothing. The bars open at 7pm. Visit earlsmithstrand.org for ticket information.

APR 10

The High will host “Family Day: Cars, Cars, Cars” on April 11 from noon to 5pm as part of the “Allure of the Automobile” exhibition. There will be hands-on activities for the whole family to go along with the cars. Visit high. org for specific event listings and exhibitions.

APR 11

Theatre/Film

Van Michael Salon will host a viewing of “Tapped: The Movie” at Lefont Theaters in Sandy Springs followed by a Q&A session with producer Sarah Olson and director Stephanie Soechtig on April 13. This event will also be joined by a 7pm bottle pledge drive outside the theater to reduce bottled water use. Visit chattahoochee.org for additional information or details.

APR 13

The Feminist Women’s Health Center will hold a Feminist Film Forum on April 15 from 6:30-8pm. The series will explore different portrayals of sexuality and feminism in modern cinema. Call 404-248-5445 to RSVP. The Center is located at 1924 Cliff Valley Way.

APR 15

The Theatrical Outfit will hold a gala event “ATLexis 2010: An Evening of Words, Wit and Wisdom” on April 17.

There will be poetry, dramatic readings, music selections and celebrity appearances. Visit theatricaloutfit.org for a complete lineup.

APR 17

There will be an Earth Day Beltline Clean-Up ON April 17 from 8amnoon in areas around Ansley Park.

The organizers can be reached at keepatlantabeautiful.org for questions or locations.

APR 17

The Atlanta Rollergirls will hold a doubleheader on April 17 at the Yaraab Shrine Center Auditorium.

Doors open at 4pm with the first bout starting at 5pm. The Center is located at 400 Ponce de Leon Avenue. For team info, go to atlantarollergirls.com.

APR 17

OIF VETERANS

Are you a veteran returning from the OIF War dealing with stress and experiencing the following symptoms?

� flashbacks � easily angered or startled � inability to focus � poor memory � or avoiding activities, friends & family Individuals who have experienced a traumatic event may suffer from these symptoms. If left untreated, it can impair the ability to learn, work or function in a healthy relationship. A better understanding of the chemical systems involved in stress and anxiety can provide help for those who need it.

Research procedures include: Trauma/stress evaluation, physical exam, MRI scan, PET scan, and 2 follow-up visits – 1 each at 6 months and one year after the study. All tests will be conducted at Emory West Campus and Emory Hospital. Qualified participants will receive financial compensation for approximately 9 hours of participation over 2-3 visits. This is not a medication study.

Dr. Bremner at Emory University is conducting a valuable study on the neural circuits involved in stress and anxiety. Veterans who may or may not have the above signs of stress qualify for this study. If you are on active duty and have not been deployed, but would like to volunteer, you may also qualify for the study.

PLEASE CALL 404-727-4117 OR EMAIL MHSHAH@EMORY.EDU FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. PG 4 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Museums/Exhibits/Arts

Music/Comedy/Sports

Other Stuff

Celebrate Earth Day in style at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens on April 22 from 9:30am-12:30pm. The park is located at 1345 Piedmont Avenue. There will be ladybug releases, crafts and something for everything. The day is highlighted by a buy one, get one free deal for all visitors. Go to atlantabotanicalgarden.org for more info.

The Mad Hatter event returns to the Woodruff Arts Center on May 8 at 10am. The doors to the Center will be opened for families to participate in a morning of whimsical flair, artist performances and hand-on art activities. Tickets are $12 in advance. Visit yawac.org for more details and an event schedule.

Don’t miss 500 Songs For Kids at Smith’s Olde Bar beginning on April 29. The event covers the 50 greatest rock and roll songs as voted on by Rolling Stone. That means one band per song in each day of the event. It’s one of the most unique experiences in the city at one of the best music venues in Atlanta. For a complete listing of bands, go to smithsoldebar.com.

Look for the Walk to Empower Breast Cancer Walk on May 9 at Chastain Park at 9am. This is a rewarding Mother’s Day experience not to be missed. It’s a great way to support a good cause.

Call 404-260-4746 for details and registration.

APR 22

APR 29

MAY 08

MAY 09

It’s time for one of Atlanta’s favorite events, the 20th Annual Uncork A Cure wine and food tasting and silent auction to help fight HIV on April 29 from 6-9pm. There will be an on-site drawing for two Delta business class domestic tickets. The event benefits the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta (ARCA). Event tickets and drawing tickets are on sale online. Corporate and patron sponsorships and silent auction donations are still being accepted. The event will be held at the Foundry at Puritan Mill. Go to uncorkacure.org or call 404-876-2317.

APR 29

The Decatur Green Fest will be held on May 1 from 3-9:30pm at the Decatur Courthouse Square. There will be music headlined by Holland Dutch, and several exhibits with everything from local exchange to organic food. Go decaturgreenfest. com for more details.

MAY 01

Now You Know How Your Car Feels

$3 OFF ANY WASH OR DETAIL SERVICE

With Ad. Both Locations. Expires 5-15-10.

FREE

EXTERIOR WASH W/ OIL CHANGE Midtown Only. Expires 5-15-10.

2 Locations

BUCKHEAD 2980 Piedmont Rd. (at Pharr Rd.) 404-846-4040

MIDTOWN 575 Ponce De Leon Ave. 404-876-3232

www.cactuscarwash.com

LOCAL

LOCAL EVENTS

On Tap this Month EMAIL EVENTS TO ONTAP@INSITEATLANTA.COM

April 5: Turner Field

BRAVES HOME OPENER

Spring is in the air, therefore it is once again time for Braves baseball. The lineup is ready, and rookie Jayson Heyward is poised to become one of the best in the National League. The Bravos kickoff the year with a 4:05 afternoon game against the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field on April 5. Don’t miss a chance to see the final home opener for Atlanta legend Bobby Cox, who is set to retire as season’s end. Visit braves.com.

April 16-18: Piedmont Park

ATLANTA DOGWOOD FESTIVAL

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival returns home to Piedmont Park to host the city’s best loved springtime tradition. The weekend of fine art, music, and food, offers the ideal way for families and friends to spend time in the beautiful spring weather. This year’s festival is poised to be the largest in its history. The 2010 festival will include a variety of musical performers like Noot D’ Noot and Daniel Moore. The festival is free and open to the public. For more info, visit dogwood.org.

April 21: Various Atlanta Restaurants

DINING OUT FOR LIFE

Dine out for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner on April 21 at many of Atlanta’s best restaurants and help Open Hand provide home-delivered meals and nutrition education to seniors and individuals living with diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS and cancer. Restaurants that participate donate a minimum of 20 percent of sales that day to the organization. Call 404-419-3333 or go online to visit DiningOutforOH.org.

April 24: Kingston Downs Grounds

ATLANTA STEEPLECHASE

EVENTS HAPPENING FOR SMALL CHANGE IN ATLANTA

Know of a low cost event of happening? Event@AtlantaOnADime.com

By Marci Miller

WEDNESDAY WINDDOWN

Wednesday, April 7, 5:30pm – 8:00pm, Free Centennial Olympic Park 265 Park Avenue West, Atlanta www.centennialpark.com

Atlanta’s longest running FREE concert series kicks off its season on Wednesday, April 7. Relax with an evening of live entertainment every Wednesday in the park’s Southern Company Amphitheater. Enjoy everything from jazz to contemporary music performed by favorite local and national touring acts.

4th VININGS INTERNATIONAL WINE CRAWL April 10, 1 – 7pm, $ 5 in advance, $10 at door Soho, 4300 Paces Ferry Road SE, Vinings www.atlantabartours.com

Walk to each participating restaurant and taste great wine offerings from different countries and wine regions along with discounted food pairings. Participating restaurants include Soho, Garrison’s, Social Vinings, Noche and Vinings Inn. Portion of proceeds benefits Small Dog Rescue. Free raffle for all registered crawlers. Registration begins at Soho at 1:00pm.

FIRST ROBOTICS CHAMPIONSHIP

April 15 – 17, Free Admission Georgia Dome, One Georgia Dome Dr. NW www.USfirst.org

April 27: Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood

SHEEP TO SHAWL FESTIVAL

May 1: Legends

THE BIG ROCK OUT 2

We’re sure you love MMA, but don’t forget boxing in the true sport of skill and athleticism. The Big Rock Out 2 features some of the best talent in professional boxing from around the Southeast. After the Braves game on May 1, Legends will host a 6pm series of boxing matches and rock group Sub Cam. Visit thebigrockout.com for more information on fighters and tickets. Legends is located at 181 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard.

Join the Atlanta Film Festival and the Atlanta Dogwood Festival as they bring the tradition of outdoor screenings back to Piedmont Park with the 50th Anniversary celebration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho!

See it on the big screen, in glorious black and white, as they turn the Movie on the Meadow into a field of screams at this free event. Presented with support from Comcast and Southern Outdoor Screen.

April 17, Noon, $50 per person East Andrews Café & Bar 56 East Andrews Drive, Atlanta www.greaturbanrace.com

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), will host its annual robotics championship. More than 10,000 young people will compete with 500 robots on six fields, while teams meet and work in the pits. This event is free and open to the public. More than 20,000 gathered last year to see teams of students compete in a series of exciting competitions.

Gather round all ye parrotheads and fans of easy listening beach music. Jimmy Buffett is coming to Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood on April 27 at 8pm.

Tickets will be hard to find, but to start at $57. Half the fun is getting there ahead of time to enjoy the tailgating with the Margaritaville nation. It’s one of the best concert experiences still going. Visit ticketmaster.com or livenation.com to find seats.

Piedmont Park, www.dogwood.org

GREAT URBAN RACE ATLANTA

One of city’s oldest spring traditions is the Atlanta Steeplechase at Kingston Downs Grounds just next to the Etowah River in Rome. See a grand mix of beautiful women in the best sundresses and hats, horse racing and all the mint juleps you can drink. The event is on whether it’s race or shine. There will also be the Disc Dog Southern Nationals and a hat contest for the ladies.

Visit atlantasteeplechase.org for more info.

Jimmy Buffett

MOVIE ON THE MEADOW Saturday, April 17 @ 9:00pm, Free Admission

Saturday, April 17, 10:30am – 4:30pm, Free for Members, Non-Members $16.50 Adults, $13 for Seniors and Students 13+, $11 Kids 4 - 11 Atlanta History Center 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta www.atlantahistorycenter.com

Enjoy live demonstrations of sheep shearing, open-hearth cooking, blacksmithing, candle making, and much more on the Tullie Smith Farm. Listen to stories and music that will immerse you in what farm life was like in the 1860s. Enjoy tours of the historic farmhouse as well the Quarry Garden. During the festival, enjoy old fashioned games, music, stories, and hands-on activities.

The Great Urban Race is a unique urban adventure. Teams of two solve twelve clues, have a wild city adventure and complete fun challenges, while discovering Atlanta in a fresh way. The first 25 teams to complete the race will have the opportunity to compete in the National Championship race for a chance at $10,000. Throughout the race, teams may also strategically incorporate the use of public transportation and high-tech devices.

SWEETWATER 420 FEST

April 17 – 18, Free Admission, $5 band for beer & wine Candler Park, sweetwater420fest.com

This two-day music and arts festival celebrates Earth Day. A portion of proceeds from wristband sales are donated to Candler Park Neighborhood Associatio. Founded by Sweetwater Brewing Co. in 2004, the festival attracts thousands of visitors to Atlanta each year and has emerged into a music and arts-driven educational platform for environmental awareness and activism.

TASTE OF DECATUR

Saturday, April 24, 11:00am – 6:00pm 8 tokens for $15, 12 tokens for $20 Decatur Square, 101 East Court Square, Decatur www.tasteofdecatur.com

This event highlights the eclectic cultural experience that local Decatur restaurants and other retail businesses offer all of Atlanta.

It is a must for all food and retail shopping lovers. Come experience the best of the city of Decatur through dining, shopping, and fun, including entertainment for the whole family.

ATLANTA ON A DIME! Receive updated events weekly. Sign up by e-mailing Subscriptions@AtlantaonaDime.com Enter on subject line: Sign Me Up INsite!

PG 5 �PG insiteatlanta.com � November 5 • insiteatlanta.com • April2009 2010

FILM

TRUMP CARD

The Donald Waxes Rhapsodic On The Celebrity Apprentice, “You’re Fired!” & Fixing NBC

BY B. LOVE

A

S ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST successful and high profile businessmen, Donald Trump was well known long before Survivor producer Mark Burnett tapped him to star in The Apprentice. But there’s no denying that the reality show turned Trump from a cartoonish curiosity into a bona fide phenomenon, with his signature catchphrase– “You’re Fired!”– inextricably entering the pop culture lexicon.

Although The Apprentice initially floundered a bit in the ratings, Burnett and Trump stumbled upon a winning formula by recruiting second- and third-tier actors, athletes, models and musicians for a celebrity edition of the show. Now in its third incarnation, The Celebrity Apprentice tosses disparate stars such as rocker Bret Michaels, wrestler Goldberg, baseball legend Darryl Strawberry, former governor Ron Blagojevich and Sharon Osbourne together for a variety of teambuilding exercises and challenges designed to test their business mettle.

“The Donald,” as the crazy-coiffed real estate magnate if often known, recently held court with reporters to discuss the show’s current season.

Can you tell us a little bit about the selection process?

It’s very interesting, because so many celebrities want to be on the show after the success of the previous two seasons. We wanted some athletes, some actors, some models and some wrestlers, so I would say probably six or seven people per spot we were turning down. The hardest thing is that we really have some good people that want to go on very badly. But I guess maybe we’ll save them for the next show, because it looks like that’s going to happen.

How is this season going to be different than past seasons?

Well, when you have a success like we’ve had, you don’t like to do too many changes.

What we do have is a different tone. The cast has been very interesting: They’ve been very tough and very nasty, but there’s also a lot of fun and humor with respect to what happens, which I don’t think we had in the last one.

With Joan [Rivers] and with Piers [Morgan], it was really nasty people really hating each other. These people hate each other, but it’s also funny. I think that might be the biggest differentiation in terms of the three casts.

Can you usually tell right off the bat who is going to do well and who isn’t?

That’s always the most interesting question to me because I’d like to think of myself as being okay with people. But often I’ll say, “This one is going to be a star,” and then he turns out to be a dud. You never really know.

You feel like you’ve known these celebrities PG 6 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

through reading about them for so many years, but a lot of times somebody that you don’t think of so highly turns out to be a star.

You just don’t know what will happen with pressure and the heat of battle.

What does a celebrity have to do to really set themselves apart and show that they’re in it to win it?

I can tell you from Seasons 1 and 2 and from the regular Apprentice, people really want to win. Every once in a while you’ll have a quitter, but it doesn’t happen often.

I think the reason they do it is the level of intensity they feel for their charity. Unlike the regular Apprentice, where somebody works for me for a pretty good salary for a year, with this one the money goes to charity. Last year we raised millions of dollars.

Everybody has a charity that they love; some are foundations they’ve set up themselves years in advance of the show. So I think they really fight more intense because it’s a charity they’re fighting for.

What are your favorite challenges to watch the celebrities tackle?

Well, we do have a lot of different challenges, whether we go back to the selling of the lemonade or doing something else very basic without having to deal with Proctor & Gamble or Kodak, etc. Sometimes [sponsor-based challenges] are sort of interesting, but they’re expensive for us to do. The ratings suggest that the fans’ favorite part of the show by far is the boardroom, and the boardroom has gotten longer over the years because of that. The challenges still have plenty of time and we’re focused on both aspects, but we have been trying to lengthen the boardroom because of strong viewer requests.

You’re like a prosecuting attorney in the boardroom. Do you meter your approach to different personalities?

Yes, I think you deal with different people differently. I deal with Goldberg differently than I deal with Governor Blagojevich. I dealt with Dennis Rodman and Joan Rivers differently than some of the other contestants. You have to have that ability.

How do you feel going back in the boardroom after a little hiatus?

I just get a great kick out of it. I really like it a lot. They want to renew it for another two or three seasons, and we’re thinking about that. I like having a little bit of a break between shows, where it goes on once a year.

Do you ever feel bad about firing someone, or is it just part of the job?

I always feel bad… No, not always. Sometimes I don’t like people. The hard ones are when you really like and respect somebody and they make a mistake. Like, as an ex-

IT TURNED OUT TO BE A GOOD PHRASE, BUT IT WAS A FLUKE. DURING THE VERY FIRST SHOW I WAS A LITTLE EXASPERATED WITH ONE OF THE CONTESTANTS AND I USED THE LINE, “YOU’RE FIRED!” WHEN [PRODUCER] MARK BURNETT AND I AGREED TO DO THE SHOW WE DIDN’T HAVE THAT. WE THOUGHT WE’D SAY, “GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE” OR SOMETHING. ample, Scott Hamilton, from the last season.

I had to let Scott go. I’m a great fan of Scott: He won Olympic gold medals and he’s a great champion. But he understood that he made a mistake on the show and I really had no choice. I felt very badly about that, because I considered him to be a great person, but I have to do what’s right. It’s never fun, but it’s easier when I don’t like somebody or when they’re really, really bad.

That line, “You’re fired,” became a pop culture phenomenon. Can you talk about the origin of it?

It turned out to be a good phrase, but it was a fluke. During the very first show I was a little exasperated with one of the contestants and I used the line, “You’re fired!”

When [producer] Mark Burnett and I agreed to do the show we didn’t have that. We thought we’d say, “Get the hell out of here” or something. And all of a sudden America went crazy over the show. It happens to be a great catchphrase. TV Guide or one of the major entertainment magazines did a poll and, after “Here’s Johnny!” and one other great, it was #3 on the Top 100 phrases in television history! So that was a pretty big honor. It’s been an amazing thing and an amazing phrase that just seems to work. It really caught on, and it’s been an amazing thing to watch.

What do you think is your biggest accomplishment, your business success or the

fact that you raised such self-sufficient children?

Well, I’m getting a lot of credit on the children. Everybody’s been asking about Ivanka and the answer is yes, she’ll be back on the show. But they’re very good kids. They went to very good schools, and they were great students. I couldn’t wait to get them on the show. I had no idea the show would be into itsninth and tenth season, which is pretty amazing in the world of television.

There’s been lots of news surrounding NBC lately, and your show does well for them.

What you think NBC needs to do to get back in the ratings game?

Well, I know Jeff Gaspin (Chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment) and, as you know, he’s new to the role. I think he’s going to do a spectacular job at NBC. They need more shows like The Apprentice. Not necessarily from a reality standpoint, but they need shows that capture the imagination.

Frankly, certain shows that are on should be changed because, while they get some pretty good reviews, they don’t get people watching. It’s nice to get both. We’ve had Emmy nominations and a lot of good accolades passed our way, and that’s always nice. But ultimately you have to have people watch. NBC is going to really do well. I know their leadership and I think they’re winners, so I think they’ll turn it around.

Under The Lights

BROADWAY’S BEST Comes to Atlanta!

New Theatrical Performances LOOKINGGLASS ALICE Now Through May 2 The Alliance Theatre Box Office 404.733.5000 www.AllianceTheatre.org

SOUTH PACIFIC

April 6 - 11 The Fox Theatre Ticketmaster 800.982.2787

www.broadwayacrossamerica.com

Disney ����

CAMERON MACKINTOSH �������

Photo by Peter Coombs

BLACK PEARL SINGS Now Through April 25 Horizon Theatre Box Office 404.584.7450

ATLANTA PREMIERE ENGAGEMENT! 3 WEEKS ONLY! • APRIL 29 – MAY 16

MARY POPPINS

April 29 - May 16 Fox Theatre Ticketmaster 800.982.2787

THE FOX THEATRE

www.broadwayacrossamerica.com �����������

Photo by Ken Huth/Syracuse Stage

The Alliance brings your favorite Alice in Wonderland characters to life live on stage in LOOKINGGLASS ALICE. Characters fly high on a trapeze, tower above the audience on stilts and tumble around the stage in playful acrobatics. Adapted from two Lewis Carroll books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass this is a timeless tale of a little girl (Alice) who journeys through the looking glass to become a queen. She floats, falls and flies overhead in a playful feat of ingenious wonder in this highly unique production. The fun is nonstop with appearances by such beloved characters as Alice, Mad Hatter, Humpty Dumpty, Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Red Queen and the White Knight.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC is set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples. A Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl Liat. We learn how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices.

Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score's songs include such classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair," "Bali Ha'i," and "There is Nothin' Like A Dame.” A full orchestra of 26 members will perform the original orchestrations.

www.horizontheatre.com

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Photo by Joan Marcus

photo courtesy of Horizon Theatre

BLACK PEARL SINGS is a soulful and touching story of two women and the power of music and an unexpected friendship.

Audiences will go on a musical journey in this moving and expressive story by Frank Higgins. In Black Pearl Sings Susannah, a musicologist works to record authentic folksongs for the Library of Congress. When she finds Pearl in a Texas prison, she discovers dozens of musical treasures rooted in the African tradition. With a soulful voice, Pearl must decide whether to give away her ancestors' songs for a chance at her own freedom.

Music unites strangers in a powerful, honest, and wryly funny story.

HIGH

MARY POPPINS is a classic, colorful musical that encourages people to remain hopeful and find the magic in everyday life. It is the story of the Banks family who live in a big house in London where things are not going well for the family. The children, Jane and Michael, are out of control and are in need of a new nanny. When a mysterious young woman named Mary Poppins appears at their doorstep, the family finds that she's the answer to their prayers, but in the most peculiar way. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures.

The play combines the stories of P.L. Travers and the award winning film to create this perfectly magical musical

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART ATLANTA

BENEFITING THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

HOSTED BY ART PARTNERS

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Spring Patio Guide

Places to go when looking to Dine Outdoors!

Agave

242 Boulevard SE 404.588.0006 www.agaverestaurant.com

Named for the blue agave plant that is the heart and soul of the finest tequila, Agave is consistently voted Best Southwestern Restaurant in Atlanta. Agave uses only the freshest ingredients to create their chef inspired dishes. They offer a unique blend of eclectic southwestern cuisine and extensive tequila bar that goes great with alfresco dining. Start with their two for one appetizers at the bar; available from 5pm - 7pm seven days a week. Then head to your table on their romantic southwestern designed patio with fireplace. With creative daily specials, award winning margaritas and great ambiance one can see why this is a Cabbagetown favorite.

The Tavern at Phipps

Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. Check out The Tavern’s "Best Looking Waitstaff" serving nightly on the patio. It is the hottest place in town during Friday afternoon happy hour.

Raging Burrito

141 Sycamore St. Decatur 404.377.3311 www.ragingburrito.com

patio out front for outdoor dining. The patio is always lively on the weekends with great people They've been awarded 'Best watching.

Breakfast' and 'Best Brunch' honors from multiple publications and websites over the years.

Radial is open Monday-Friday 7:30am-3:30pm and weekends from 8:30am-3:30pm.

Athens Pizza House

1341 Clairmont Rd. Decatur athenspizzaatlanta.com 404.636.1100

Johnny’s NY Style Pizza Multiple Metro Area Locations www.JohnnysPizza.com

Johnny’s Pizza has come to be synonymous with great pizza and subs in Atlanta. They specialize in NY Style pizza, which is thin in the middle and thick around the edges. The Cheshire Bridge location featured, is offering $5 pitchers of Bud and Bud Light this spring. They also now serve Yuengling on draft. Johnny’s restaurants offer dine-in, take-out and delivery.

The Red Door Tavern

3180 Roswell Rd. 404.846.6525

3500 Peachtree Rd. 404.814.9640 www.TheTavernAtPhipps.com

Voted Atlanta’s “Best Happy Hour” and "Best Patio," The Tavern at Phipps is the place to be this spring. Menu features include gourmet “Tavern Chips,” New Orleans Po’ boys, Baby Back Ribs, Salads, Bountiful Carnegie Deli Pastrami and aged broiled steaks “Pittsburgh Style.”

Full menu and bar are served on the patio overlooking Peachtree Road at

every day except Sunday when The Red Door is closed. They offer “Bucket Specials” of Bud, Bud Light and Bud Select. They also have a “Draft Tower” a glass featuring 120 ounces of beer.

Their deck is the place to be in Buckhead.

Raging Burrito on Decatur Square offers one of the best patio scenes in the city. As the weather warms up each spring, their garden patio is hopping day and night. This Mexican restaurant features hearty burritos, tasty tacos, large salads, quesadillas and more. On weekdays Raging Burrito offers free Chips & Dip from 11am to 3pm. While relaxing on their patio, enjoy one of the 16 Craft Beers that they offer on tap. Or chase down your burrito with any of 50 tequilas offered. Raging Burrito offers free validated parking for patrons.

For over 30 years, the Papadopoulos family has been serving up great Greek and Italian cuisine to the Emory area. Athens Pizza is Zagat rated and the recipient of various awards including Best Greek Cuisine ’09. Don’t let the name fool you, there is much more than great pizza, as some of the favorite recipes on their Greek dishes go back generations! When the weather oblidges, dinners head out to their patio. Their patio is also a popular destination for groups and small parties.

Radial

Multiple Locations www.Chipotle.com

Chipotle Mexican Grill

1530 Dekalb Ave. Candler Park www.radial.us 404.659.6594

The Red Door Tavern is a favorite place for friends to meet up at the beginning of the night and is where everyone seems to end up at the end of the evening. They are located on Roswell Road, one block north of the Roxy Theatre.

The Red Door Tavern features a large outdoor deck in the front that is open from 2pm to 3am

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

Radial is not only a popular brunch spot, but also busy during breakfast and lunch 7 days a week. The restaurant occupies part of a renovated warehouse along this former industrial corridor on Dekalb Avenue. They have a quaint

A simple menu, fresh ingredients, and attention to detail has made Chipotle a success. Their company slogan is “Food with Integrity”. This means ingredients that are unprocessed, family farmed, added hormone free and organic. They offer meats including chicken, steak, naturally raised pork and shredded beef. All of Chipotle’s

RAGING

Voted #1 since 1996

BURRITO & TACO

FREE VALIDATED PARKING!

ENJOY ONE OF OUR 16 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP OR MARGARITAS ON OUR HUGE GARDEN PATIO �������������� ragingburrito.com ���404-377-3311

SOAK UP THE SUN… PATIO SEATING

BEST PIZZA! of

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Multiple Atlanta Locations: www.JohnnysPizza.com PG 8 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Great Subs, Sandwiches, Salads & Wings WE

Deliver!

$7.50 LARGE CHEESE PIZZA

(Mondays Since Only) 1980

Just off I-85 @ Clairmont (Corner of Briarcliff & Clairmont)

3109 Briarcliff Rd. | 404-320-1258

Atlanta locations have outdoor seating. The Buckhead location featured gets packed each spring. Don’t forget to order sides of salsa, chips and guacamole before heading to your table.

Savage Pizza

484 Moreland Ave. 404.523.0500 115 Laredo Dr. 404.299.5799 www.savagepizza.com

Wahoo! Grill offers an eclectic menu that focuses on seafood with a southern twist in an atmosphere that makes you feel at home. The interior is European influenced with an open kitchen that creates a casual, interactive dining experience. Through the French doors you will find a lovely garden patio that offers great outdoor dining. At the bar only: two for one appetizers from 5 to 7pm daily, $5 martinis on Mondays, 50% off bottles of wine up to $45 and 25% off bottles from $46 and up on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and beers for $2.50 on Sundays. Wahoo! has been the recipient of Best Patio Dining and Best Seafood awards numerous times.

Lenox Square Grill With their homage to comic book super heroes adorning the walls, Savage Pizza’s Little Five Points location is a dining favorite in this eclectic neighborhood. They prepare all the recipes using only the freshest vegetables and first quality meats, cheeses, breads and pastas. On Savage's menu you'll find innovative homemade sauces, fresh dough and thoughtfully prepared dishes, made from scratch every day. They offer is a wide variety of salads, subs, calzones and of course pizzas to choose from. Check out their second location now open in Avondale Estates.

Both Savage locations serve lunch and dinner with indoor and outdoor seating available.

Savage also offers catering and delivery.

Wahoo! A Decatur Grill

1042 W. College Ave. Decatur 404.373.3331 wahoogrilldecatur.com

Lenox Square Mall 404.841.2377 www.CentraArchy.com

Lenox Square Grill, Buckhead’s most unique new restaurant conveniently located at Lenox Square Mall, is a full service restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

Square Lenox Grill’s menu features imaginative, yet traditional comfort foods, such as the signature Mac Skillets, Shrimp, Cajun Barbecue Chicken, or Cheeseburger, the creative side of homemade macaroni and cheese each for under $7. The portions are huge and the prices are even better. Spring is in air, take a break from shopping at Lenox Mall and enjoy the large relaxing patio that seats over 100. Find them on Facebook for updates and weekly events.

Mo’s Pizza

3109 Briarcliff Rd. 404.320.1258 at corner of Briarcliff & Clairmont Rd.

You may know about the burrito chain with the

Copeland’s

3131 Cobb Pkwy 770.612.3311 1142 Barrett Pkwy 770.919.9612 3365 Piedmont Rd. 404.475.1000 www.CoplandsAtlanta.com

same name, but the original Mo’s resides on the corner of Briarcliff and Clairmont Road. They have been serving up great pizza for over 30 years! Mo’s menu isn’t limited to pizza either: sandwiches, subs, wings, nachos and salads ensure that anybody who comes here can find something they like. Mo’s uses only the freshest ingredients; they make their own dough and grind their cheese daily.

Come to Mo’s to watch the Braves or just enjoy the pleasant weather this Spring. They have a great deck to hang out on with plenty of seating.

Mo’s is one of the longest running pizza joints in Atlanta, come see why they are one of the best.

Noodle

Fellini’s

Midtown 903 Peachtree St. 404.685.3010 Decatur 205 E. Ponce Ave. 404.378.8622 College Park 3693 Main St. 404.767.5155 www.noodlehouse.net

7 Area locations www.fellinisatlanta.com

Noodle’s Pan-Asian cuisine is inspired by tastes of Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Their blend of homemade noodle and rice bowl dishes have made this unique restaurant a favorite in metro Atlanta since 2001. All three locations offer patio seating (which are popular in day and evening), a superb cuisine and friendly service. The Decatur location (featured) recently added new Korean inspired dishes to their menu. Noodle is run by three siblings and diners here are treated like family.

As The Varsity is with hamburgers, Fellini’s is to Atlanta for pizza. They offer a simple menu that focuses on quality that can’t be beat.

Popular pizzas include the Spinach Mushroom, Ham and Pinnapple and Fellini’s Special.

Fellini’s also has great salads and calzones. As well known as they are for their popular menu items, Fellini’s is also known around Atlanta for their great patios. Almost all include a fountain like the Ponce location shown, and are always bustling with people.

AGAVE RESTAURANT

An Eclectic Southwestern Eatery �������������������������

Served from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

New Orleans Sunday Brunch Buffet

Copeland’s Famous New Orleans Restaurant and Bar offers great cajun inspired patio/courtyard seating at all three of their Atlanta restaurants. Enjoy $5 Martini's and live jazz during Jazzy Fridays, every Friday on their patio/courtyards this spring. While many like take in the patio scene when meeting with freinds over famous New Orleans cocktails, Copeland’s patio/coutyards offers their full menu.

agave

Dinner Nightly at 5PM Cabbagetown / Grant Park 242 Boulevard SE 30312 ���������������������������������� Reservations Always Welcomed

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CONSISTENTLY VOTED ONE OF ATLANTA’S BEST RESTAURANTS Best Southwestern Cuisine and Best Margaritas PG 9 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

MUSIC

MARRIED TO THE JOB

I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER GET OVER MY DREAMS OR WHAT I FEEL LIKE I DESERVE AS A HUMAN BEING AS FAR AS LOVE. I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER GET OVER THAT.

Jill Scott, the multi-talented star of Why Did I Get Married Too, declares her love for acting and vows a dedication to music through sickness and wealth.

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

T

O SAY JILL SCOTT’S CAREER IS going full speed is an understatement. Scott reprises her crowd-pleasing role of Sheila in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too this month.

She’s touring with soulful lover boy Maxwell in May and June. In July, she’s joining Sarah McLachlan, Erykah Badu and Corinne Bailey Rae for a Lilith Fair revival. Did we forget anything? Oh, yeah. She’s got her fourth album (The Light of the Sun: Words and Sounds, Vol. 4) and an animated project (she’s voicing the X-Men’s Storm for a BET miniseries) on the summer slate too. How’s that for busy? But Jill Scott swears she can handle it all.

With all that you have going on right now, what are a few tips besides eating healthy? How are you able to do so much, stay alert and not be exhausted?

Well, I am exhausted. I sleep in. I’ve been able to plan my schedule to suit my life. I don’t allow my endeavors

or my creativity to stop me from being still when I need to. I have to pay attention to myself.

Is that something that you’ve always been able to do, knowing when to say no? Or did you have to learn how to say no?

Oh, I had to learn. In the beginning, 10 years ago when my first record came out, I went crazy. I think that’s what is expected. You’re supposed to hit every radio station, do every after party and perform for two hours, do all the meet ‘n greets, and all the other stuff. I think people believe that is a part of being an artist, and I did it all. And I had pneumonia, I think, three times in one year. I lost my hearing. I went deaf in one ear for about seven days.

My body shut down. It had enough of the running and I learned so much about myself, when to say no.

With so much going on, do you have any worries about over-saturating the market?

I don’t like that over-saturating business. I know the in-

. . .

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dustry will say strike while the iron is hot and I understand that. I actually understand why someone will do that, but I’m not that person. You know, I’m more like a woodburning oven. I have to continuously go out, cut wood, bring it back in the house, and put it in. You just can’t hit “start” on me and then just cook or heat the house.

lines. You’re actually reading their lines before. It takes another –Umm, I don’t know what else to call it- skill to listen to someone else as they speak, and to watch their face, and their movement and read their body language. There’s none of that [with animated projects]. It’s just you in the both and the director’s telling you what has happened.

I agree.

With Sins of the Mother, I play a forty-something year-old woman who’s a recovering alcoholic who’s energy is still and peaceful but also stern because she’s still fighting… Then you have a different character like Shelia, who is coming out in Why Did I Get Married Too in April. That character just had a baby and is happy, but there are some difficulties going on inside her marriage and inside of her as well. So, basically what I do is I shut one thing down completely, take some time to myself, regroup and start the next thing.

That helps me maintain a certain level of balance.

That sounds like a challenge.

It was absolutely fun. It doesn’t take as long [as live projects]. I think I did all six shows in a half hour.

Tell me a few of the things you’ve learned about being an actress over the last few years?

A big one is come prepared. Just come prepared with knowing your lines. That’s simple. [Know your lines] backwards and forwards. Know your character and be willing to bend as the director sees fit. You can’t be too stiff with the character or too stringent with what you believe the character is. Everyone has a job to do.

You have to respect the director enough to allow him to tweak you and, hopefully, they’ll respect you enough that they can communicate what the tweak should be. What I’ve learned thus far is if you give them what they ask for, they’ll typically go back to what you were doing. And when they do, it’s a happy marriage between the two.

Speaking of happy marriages, how did the relationship between you and Marvel come about?

Umm, how did that happen? They were doing The Black Panther. The producers of the show were thinking who could do the voice of Storm. I came to mind and they gave me a phone call. That’s what happened, you know, if you just look at it on paper. The other part of that is when I was 12 years old, I wrote a list of all the things I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a rose garden. I wanted to be a Grammy winner, a cat owner and I wanted to be Storm from the X-Men. Wow, okay.

And when I got the phone call, I just figured I’d try to check off these things. I still have the little pink paper.

When I got the phone call from my agency saying they wanted me to do the voice of Storm, I was like, “You gotta be kidding me. You gotta be kidding me. Absolutely.” It was a grand experience. I hope it continues because I’d love to do it again.

Okay, doing cartoon voiceover, was it as long a process as doing an actual movie or shorter?

Well, it’s a cartoon. It took basically the time of a TV show. It doesn’t take as long because you’re only doing your lines. You’re not listening to someone else do their

Can you shed a little light about your new album?

Should fans expect a big direction change?

Is it a big direction change? There are direction changes all over the place. I just don’t know if it’s necessarily focused in one direction, you know what I mean?

It’s all over the place—in a good way. It’s the reflection of the life I’m in right now.

Let’s elaborate on that a little bit. The life you’re in right now, I’m sure it’s glowing right now with the new child and everything. Describe this place you’re in right now?

Well, I am a 38-year-old woman who is working, dating. I’m a divorcee and I’ve broken off engagements.

I moved across the country. My grandmother passed.

I kind of lost my way with love for a minute and I’m struggling to find if that’s even something I believe in anymore. Right now, everything is in the moment. So musically, by the first cord, the first note, you should feel something because we all were. You know, it’s an incredible experience as an artist to walk out the studio and everybody is hugging each other like, “Oh my god!

Did that just happen?” I’m saying lyrics that I’ve never written and, when I listen back to them, I’m amazed that I said that and maybe a little bit embarrassed, a little bit put off and excited because I can’t believe I was that honest. That’s what’s happening musically around me and it’s exciting. It’s so exciting.

Jill, are there any worries about doubting love but still singing about it?

But that’s what I’m singing about. I’m singing about it right now. This is where I am right now and how my next step will be or how I intend my next steps to be.

You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get over my dreams or what I feel like I deserve as a human being as far as love.

I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. Erykah Badu has this line [in a song] I love so much. She says, “Love has made me sore/I don’t want no more.” You know, I guess that’s kind of the way I am. Until I’m courted properly and appreciated intensely, I’ll just be working on myself.

How excited are you about Lilith Fair this summer?

Yeah, that should be so fresh. I’m excited about that.

I’m hoping that Erykah, [Queen] Latifa and I will be able to put together that Sugar Water Festival again [too]. Erykah is doing her project and her movies. I’m doing what I’m doing. And Queen Latifa is just the Queen. You know, our intentions are good. We’d like to get back at it. It’s just trying to get all of our schedules together. That’s the only thing that’s stopping us.

Taste of the Month-Brunch Make plans now for Mother’s Day

The Flying Biscuit

Radial

The Flying Biscuit serves great breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner specials 7 days a week starting at 7 am. One of Atlanta's favorite homegrown gems, The Flying Biscuit is known for their mouthwatering biscuits and original affordable menu items.

Their signature dish is the Flying Biscuit Breakfast served with two large farm-fresh eggs with free-range chicken and sage breakfast sausage. If you are in the mood for an omelet, The Flying Biscuit has several including the health conscious Hollywood Omelet made from egg whites, spinach, mushrooms & mozzarella cheese topped with a warm tomato sauce.

The Flying Biscuit is a great choice for catering or ordering in for the office. They offer a Power Breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, White Cheddar Grits, Oven-Roasted Rosemary potatoes, Turkey Bacon, Chicken Sausage and Biscuits. There are also several Biscuit Sandwiches to choose from. Call their catering hotline or check the Flying Biscuit website for the store location nearest you.

Radial is not only a popular brunch spot, but they are also one of only two restaurants in the state of Georgia to be certified 'Green' by the Green Restaurant Association. They're constantly looking for ways to be more eco-friendly.

They strive to make good environmental decisions through conservation, waste diversion and thoughtful product choices which lessen the impact on the environment.

The restaurants interior is eclectic and funky but warm and inviting with walls sporting an everchanging selection of local artists' work.

They've been awarded 'Best Breakfast' and 'Best Brunch' honors from multiple publications and websites. Stop by and check out their Biscuits & Vegetarian Gravy, Mom's Strawberry-Rhubarb French Toast, Blackened Fish & Grits or Garlic-Leek Burger when you're there. Radial is located in Candler Park just a few blocks from Little Five Points.

7 Area Locations flyingbiscuit.com Catering Hotline 404.849.2283

Wahoo! A Decatur Grill

1042 W. College Ave. Decatur 404.373.3331 wahoogrilldecatur.com Wahoo Grill offers an eclectic menu that focuses on seafood with a southern twist in an atmosphere that makes you feel at home. The interior is European influenced with an open kitchen that creates a casual, interactive dining experience.

Through the French doors you will find an unexpected garden patio that is the perfect spot for brunch in spring.

Brunch is served here on Saturdays and Sundays. All their egg items are served with grits or a hash brown casserole. Try the Eggs Benedict; poached eggs and hollandaise with your choice of the following on a croissant: Maryland Crab Cake, Thinly Sliced Filet, Bourbon Marinated Salmon, Sautéed Spinach or Virginia Ham. The signature Wahoo Omelet comes with sautéed asparagus, tomatoes, Mozzarella and fresh basil drizzled with balsamic. They also offer terrific Lump Crab Cakes; three Maryland-style cakes with mashed potatoes.

Wahoo has a Sunday Brunch buffet ( Sat. from 11am & Sun. from 10am) featuring Eggs with fresh herbs, Shrimp & Grits, Fresh Vegetables, Blackened Chicken in a Creole Sauce, Granola & Yogurt, Breakfast Potatoes, Assorted Pastries and Fresh Chilled Salads. Live Jazz Music is performed on the patio.

Dining at Chin Chin is pure pleasure ��������������

1530 Dekalb Ave. Candler Park 404.659.6594 www.radial.us

Copeland’s

3131 Cobb Pkwy Cumberland 770.612.3311 1142 Barrett Pkwy Kennesaw 770.919.9612 3365 Piedmont Rd. Buckhead 404.475.1000 www.CopelandsAtlanta.com

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BEST CHINESE

1998-2009 Best Chinese by Creative Loafing "Mouthwatering Chin Chin spices things up." – AJC "Chin Chin...a window into Hong Kong." – Buckhead Weekly 2 1/2 Stars – Knife & Fork

����������������������������� ���������� ���������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ����������������� DELIVERY (LIMITED AREA; MIN $10)

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WWW.CHINCHINONLINE.COM Watch our Open Kitchen & Experience the Art of Chinese Cooking!

Home of the New Orleans Jazz Brunch Buffet.

This popular buffet is served on Sunday at all three locations from 11am to 3pm. Copeland’s Traditional New Orleans Jazz Brunch Buffet has the best brunch value in Atlanta. A sampling of what is offered includes: a Prime Rib & Honey Ham Carving Station, Peel and Eat Shrimp Boat, made to order Omelet Station and a Brioche French Toast & French Belgian Waffles Station.

The Jazz Brunch also has a extravagant dessert station that includes a Chocolate Tower with assorted dippers, fruits and cakes. For those who don’t want the buffet or during the other days of the week, patrons can choose from their large menu. Some popular brunch items include: Eggs Benedict, Cajun Scrambled Eggs, Pork Loin Sausage and Apple Wood Smoked Bacon. Eggs are served any style and many of the buffet items like the Brioche French Toast are available on the menu. You can also order from their Omelet Station. Copeland’s offers Brunch 7 days a week.

Bring the family and start a Sunday tradition with their New Orleans Live Jazz Brunch Buffet.

CHARMING RUSTIC ATMOSPHERE, AMERICAN CUISINE WITH A SOUTHERN TWIST

“Best Patio Dining” Critics Choice, Creative Loafing 2006 Best of Atlanta Issue

“Best Seafood”

Best of Citysearch 2006, 2007 & 2008

“Best Fisherman’s Stew” Atlanta Magazine

Best Seafood of

���������������������������������� ���������������������������� 1042 West College Ave., Decatur, GA 30030 ���������������������������������������� PG 11 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

CAREER

LEARN BARTENDING at Action Bartending School

I

N THIS TOUGH JOB ENVIRONMENT, many are going back to school to enhance their career while others seek additional part-time employment. Action Bartending School, located in Norcross, GA, is preparing their students for both of these goals.

Action Bartending School is a subsidiary of Action Staffing. So students are able to receive immediate job placement upon graduation through many of the resources and relationships that the staffing company maintains. These include the Hilton, Weston, Marriott, and Embassy Suites to name a few of the hotels in which Action Bartending sends its graduates for hire.

Most of the students attending Action Bartending School are college educated who either are looking for a bartending career or for supplemental income on their current job. They offer flexible class schedules with expert trainers who have years of bartending experience. Three 4 hour classes are

Sophisticated Pan-Asian Cuisine At Three Unique Locations www.noodlehouse.net midtown

903 peachtree st.

404.658.3010

decatur

205 east ponce de leon ave.

404.378.8622

Cinco De Mayo Wednesday, May 5th �������������� ����������������������

college park 3693 main st.

404.767.5154

Mon: $3 Margaritas Tues: $2 Tecate Wed: $3 Modelo Especial Thur: $4 1800 Margaritas Fri: LIVE Music 7-10pm Sun: $3 Sangria

“Serving Emory / Decatur Since 1984” Located N. Decatur Plaza | 404-634-1128 | FREE WiFi PG 12 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

given on weekdays. Class times are 9am – 1pm, 1pm – 5pm and 6pm – 10 pm. For those who are not able to make the weekday class, they offer a class on the weekends that is 6 hours long from 11am – 5pm.

The program requires 20 hours of practical in classroom training with certification availability within a week. The school offers an additional 20 hours of training at no cost to those who feel they need more time to master the course. All graduates receive a course manual and instructional DVD to take home.

The manual is full of cocktail recipes and the DVD recreates the course step by step so bartenders are able to continue to practice on their own.

Action Bartending School is very affordable offering plans for just $99 down. They are Georgia certified and conveniently located just off I-285 near Jimmy Cater and Buford Hwy. Action Bartending School 6185 Buford Hwy., E150 Norcross GA 30071 770-300-8998 www.actionbartendingschool.net

FILM FILM

TRUMP Movie Reviews CARD ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG) ★★★✩✩ Release Date: March 5

Watching Tim Burton’s reinvention of Lewis Carroll’s literary masterpiece, it’s impossible not to imagine its dazzling Technicolor imagery as a video game or theme park ride. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends entirely on your viewpoint. Burton’s flamboyant gothic humor makes him the perfect match for Carroll’s sly, sadistic fable, and the film wisely updates the classic tale by introducing us to Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as a rebellious 19-yearold resentful of being told what to do or who to marry. Once she falls down the rabbit hole BY B. LOVE the story seems a bit too familiar, relying on ONE OFvisuals AMERICA’S Burton’sSbrilliant to driveMOST the pacing. profileproviding business-a For the successful most partand he high succeeds, men, Donald Trump was known hallucinogenic kaleidoscope of well colors and long beforetwisted Survivor producervoiced Mark Burnett gleefully characters by killer tapped him (Alan to starRickman in The Apprentice.

But thespians as the Caterpillar, there’s noFry denying thatCheshire the reality Stephen as as the Cat show and Michael turned curiosity Sheen Trump as the from Whitea cartoonish Rabbit). Perfect casting into bona fide with trademarks his signahas aalways beenphenomenon, one of Burton’s ture “You’re Fired!”– and,catchphrase– from Helena Bonham Carter asinextricathe hugebly entering pop and culture lexicon. headed Red the Queen Crispin Glover as her Although The Apprentice initially flounmalevolent henchman to Anne Hathaway as the dered a bit inregal the ratings, BurnettWonderland and Trumpis ridiculously White Queen, stumbled uponThe a winning by isrecruitno exception. lynchpinformula (as usual) Johnny ing secondthird-tier actors, Depp, whoseand Mad Hatter looks likeathletes, the bastard models andofmusicians a celebrity edition offspring Bozo theforClown and Madonna. ofOnce the show.

Now inhisitsleading third incarnation, again hiding man looks behind The Apprentice tosses disparate the Celebrity bizarre visage of a quirky crackpot one small stars rocker Bret Depp’s Michaels, wrestler step such from as utter insanity, tightrope walk Goldberg, baseball legend Strawberry, along the line dividing “justDarryl enough” from “over former governor Sharon the top” provesRon the Blagojevich film’s mostand fascinating Osbourne together for a variety element. Unfortunately, things of go teamcompletely building andaction-centered challenges designed off the exercises rails in an third to act test mettle. thattheir feelsbusiness entirely unnecessary, almost as if the “The Donald,” couldn’t as the crazy-coiffed powers-that-be believe that areal well-told estate magnate if often known, and recently held fable full of colorful characters spectacular court with reporters to attention discuss the scenery would hold our for show’s 90 minutes. current season.

Ultimately, it proves a disappointing end for an idea that begins with remarkable promise.

Can you tell us a little bit about the selec–B. Love tion process?

It’s very interesting, because so many THE GIRL want WITH toTHEbe DRAGON TATTOO celebrities on the show after(N/R) the ★★★★✩ Releasetwo Date: March success of the previous seasons.

We19 wanted athletes, some actors, some in If you’resome bothered by subtitles, films clocking models some or wrestlers, I would say at over and 2.5 hours graphic so scenes of violence, probably six orbrutal seven rape, peopleyou’ll per spot we be torture and probably were turning down. thing isthriller. that inclined to skip rightThe pasthardest this Swedish we really have some good people that want But if you’re an indie film fan you’d be doing toyourself go on very badly.

But I guess a great disservice, as maybe directorwe’ll Niels save them for the next show, because it looks Arden Oplev’s adaptation of the first book in late like that’s going to happen. author Stieg Larsson’s best-selling “Millennium” trilogy boasts an engrossing mystery, crackling How is thisand season going todebut be different than suspense a stunning performance past fromseasons?

Noomi Rapace. The film ostensibly centers Well, when you have a success like Blomkvist we’ve around disgraced journalist Mikael had, you don’t like to do too many changes.

(Michael Nyqvist), who is hired by the head What do haveVanger is a different The cast of thewepowerful clan totone. investigate the has been very interesting: They’ve been very disappearance (and presumed murder) of his tough andniece very40nasty, a lot of beloved yearsbut ago.there’s But it’salso his assistant, fun and humor with respect to what happens, Lisbeth– the inked, pierced, troubled computer which think the last one.story hackerI don’t alluded to we in had the in title– whose With Joan [Rivers] and with Piers [Morgan], ultimately proves most engrossing.

As Lisbeth, itRapace was really nasty much peoplemore really hatingwith eachher expresses emotion other.

These people hate each other, but eyes, facial expressions and body languageit’s than also I thinkand thatthe might be the withfunny. her words, origins of biggest her dark, differentiation in terms of the are threeevery casts.bit as deeply disturbed personality intriguing as the whodunit surrounding Harriet Can you ifusually tell right the bat between who is Vanger, not moreso.

Theoff chemistry going to do well and isn’t? her and Nyqvist helpswho drive the action forward That’swhen always the most slows interesting queseven momentum midway, as the tion to mestruggles because I’d like toout think myself audience to figure howof the three asdifferent being okay with people.

But often I’ll say, subplots will ultimately converge.

“This one is going to beworks a star,well, ” andleaving then he Fortunately the payoff those turns be a dud. never curious really know. of us out whotohaven’t read You the books to find You feel like you’ve known these celebrities

out where Lisbeth’s journey leads from here.

See the original import now, but Hollywood’s undoubtedly watered-down version is released in 2012.

–B. Love

The Donald Waxes Rhapsodic GREENBERG (R) On The Celebrity Apprentice, “You’re Fired!” & Fixing NBC

A

★★✩✩✩ Release Date: March 19

After a stint in a mental institution, Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is staying at his brother’s L.A. home, where he spends his days writing complaint letters to major corporations, fearing the neighbors and having meaningless sex with the reading nanny, Florence (Greta through about them for Gerwig). so many His only true friend is Ivan (Rhys Ifans), a former years, but a lot of times somebody that you bandmate from his younger days.

Greenberg don’t think of so highly turns out to be a star. also just pursues old flame, Bethhappen (Jennifer Jason You don’thisknow what will with Leigh), even though it’s clear she now has no pressure and the heat of battle. interest in him. In short, he’s a man who lives in the past to avoid dealinghave ewith What does a celebrity to the do present. to reallyIt’s always refreshing to see Stiller a character set themselves apart and showplay that they’re who isn’t his trademark nebbishy, put-upon in it to win it? guy.

Roger is prone outbursts1 of rage, but it’s I can tell you fromtoSeasons and 2 and to the credit of Stiller and writer-director Noah from the regular Apprentice, people really Baumbach these outbursts feel you’ll angry and want to win.that Every once in a while misdirected rather comedic.

Rounded have a quitter, but than it doesn’t happen often.out with some compassion, particularly relating I think the reason they do it is the level of to Florence, and you have Stiller playing intensity they feel for their charity. Unlike a compelling, honest-to-god person instead of the regular Apprentice, where somebody the same tired character he’s played ever works for me for a pretty good salary forsince a There’s Something About Mary.

I must admit year, with this one the money goes to charthat,Last to some extent, I feel as if I’m out of my ity. year we raised millions of dollars. depth with has this amovie.

There’s a chance could Everybody charity that they love;I some come back to it in 5-10 years and love it to death are foundations they’ve set up themselves but, for where I am in my life at moment, years in advance of the show.

Sothis I think they Ireally found these characters to be bland and their fight more intense because it’s a charproblems ity they’re pedestrian. fighting for.But whereever you are in your life right now, you should be able to appreciate the solid workchallenges of the lead to actors.

What are your favorite watch –Matt Goldberg the celebrities tackle?

Well, we do have a lot of different challenges, whetherZONE we go back to the selling of the GREEN (R) lemonade or doing something else very basic ★★★★✩ Release Date: March 12 without having to deal with Proctor & GamSometimes director’s worth [sponsor-based isn’t measured ble or Kodak,a etc.

Sometimes by how he turns a strong script intobut a brilliant challenges] are sort of interesting, they’re picture, but he The makes an entertaining expensive forbyushow to do. ratings suggest movie of nothing.

By that measure, Green that theout fans’ favorite part of the show by Zone director Paul Greengrass is one of the far is the boardroom, and the boardroom bestgotten filmmakers today.because His latest has longer working over the years of film The is like the nextstill chapter in the ofBourne that. challenges have plenty time franchise, but without interesting and we’re focused on both aspects, characters but we or a been thoughtful Matt plays have tryingnarrative. to lengthen the Damon boardroom Chief Warrant Officer Royrequests.

Miller (Damon), a because of strong viewer rogue soldier getting frustrated in his attempts to findlike weapons of mass attorney destruction in Iraq.

You’re a prosecuting in the He’s a damnDo good and knows how toto boardroom. yousoldier meter your approach instruct his squad effectively, but after a third different personalities? failed to deal turnwith up any WMD, Miller Yes, Iattempt think you different people begins a hunt for with “Magellan, ” the differently source of the differently.

I deal Goldberg intel.I deal CIAwith analyst MartinBlagojevich.

Brown (Brendan than Governor I Gleeson) realizes something’s not Rivers right and dealt withalso Dennis Rodman and Joan teams up with standing their way differently thanMiller, some but of the other in contesis Pentagon asshole Clark (Greg tants.

You have to have that Poundstone ability.

Kinnear), a gung-ho, war-first-ask-questionslater do neo-conservative that in doesn’t want the How you feel going back the boardtruth after to come out.hiatus?

Green Zone’s first major room a little problem Miller willing risk his I just getis athat great kickisout of it. toI really likelife the truth, but we the truth itfora lot.

They want to don’t renewknow it forwhy another is soorimportant to him.and His we’re personal motivation two three seasons, thinking isn’t intentionally ambiguous; about that. I like having a littleit’sbitnon-existent. of a break Another shows, problemwhere is theitreality thatonce uncovering between goes on a year.

Magellan won’t change anything, because America hasfeel already invaded and the real Do you ever bad about firing someone, damage is already done by bureaucrats, or is it just part of being the job? most of whom are WAY outalways. of theirSomedepths.

I always feel bad…

No, not But rather dwell onThe thehard futility times I don’tthan like people. onesofareour Middle East misadventures, Greensomebody Zone loads when you really like and respect up on action scenes. Like, The as genius of Paul and theythemake a mistake. an ex-

“How to Train Your Dragon” is the latest film to take advantage of the 3D wave hitting theaters. Fortunately, there’s actually a good story to go with the spectacle.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill.

Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Release Date: March 26. Rating: PG ★★★★★ Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is not popular. He’s scrawny, nerdy and so clumsy that he gets in the way of his fellow Vikings’ favorite hobby: fighting dragons. Hiccup’s father Stoick (Gerard Butler) is the village chief and the best dragon-slayer around. In an effort to prove himself, Hiccup uses a bola-catapult to bring down a dragon, but no one sees it. Unable to bring himself to kill the creature, Hiccup begins training the dragon (whom he names Toothless) and discovers that they’re not the violent predators they’re made out to be by Viking lore. When Hiccup enters dragon-slayer training, he’s unable to fight them handto-hand. But he learns, through his time with Toothless, that nonviolent approaches are more effective.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE A GOOD PHRASE, BUT IT WAS A Naturally, Hiccup isn’t tooTHE eager VERY to revealFIRST his secret, as his Ivillage up on the SHOW WASisAhung LITTLE FLUKE. DURING “dragons-must-be-killed” thing.

These lessons of “courageous kindness” and “violenceEXASPERATED WITH ONE OF THE CONTESTANTS AND I USED begets violence” may seem corny, but Dragon makes it work. However, the film is never FIRED!” WHEN LINE,fun.“YOU’RE preachyTHE and always The voice actors all provide great[PRODUCER] performances thatMARK keep pace HAVE AND AGREED TOcharacters’ DO THEemotions.

SHOW But WEwhere DIDN’T withBURNETT both the humor andIthe range of the Dragon really shines is in the flying scenes: When it comes to Hiccup and Toothless soaring through THAT. WE THOUGHT WE’D SAY, “GET THE HELL OUT the sky, the film shows you 3D OF at itsHERE” best, allowing the audience to share Hiccup’s joy rather OR SOMETHING. than just witnessing it. I wish all of DreamWorks Animation’s movies were as good as How toample, Train Scott Your Hamilton, Dragon. from the last season. fact that you raised such self-sufficient movie deserves special its ending, which is a kind most other family films I The had to let Scott go. I’m a greatcredit fan offor Scott: children? would be terrified to make.

It’s yet another example of I’m howgetting co-writers/co-directors He won Olympic gold medals and he’s a great a lot of credit on theDean chilWell, DeBlois andBut Chris Sanders trusted and their audiencebeen and,asking as a result, champion. he understood that hetheir madetalent dren.

Everybody’s about created Ivanka a afilm that truly mistake on thesoars. show and I really had no and the answer is yes, she’ll be back on the choice. I felt very badly about that, because I considered him to be a great person, but I have to do what’s right. It’s never fun, but it’s easier when I don’t like somebody or when they’re really, bad.shoots and cuts every Greengrass is really that he moment as if it were a set piece, so Miller speaking That line, “You’re fired,” became a pop culwith Brown about information he obtained from ture phenomenon.

Can you talk aboutchasing the a detainee has the same urgency of Miller origin down a ofkeyit?witness. The energy Greengrass gets turned out istoincredible, be a goodand phrase, but itwith outIt of this film you leave was a fluke. themake verya first was the feeling thatDuring he could movieshow aboutI filing ayour little exasperated oneofofthethe contaxes and it wouldwith be one most exciting testants andyear.

I used line, “You’re fired!” films of the Yet the at the edges of Green Zone When [producer] Burnett andAIgroup agreed are threads of a moreMark fulfilling movie: of to do the showopsweagents didn’tledhave that.Isaacs We could callous special

by Jason thought “Get theofhell of here” of or double forwe’d the say, involvement the out mercenaries something. all of(Amy a sudden Blackwater; aAnd reporter Ryan)America repeatingwent the crazy over theclaims show. about It happens be a great government’s WMDtorather than catchphrase.

TV Guide or one major investigating them would work as of an the examination entertainment magazines a pollgovernment and, after of our media’s complicity in did the war; “Here’s Johnny!” other great, it was employees having and fun one by the pool in Saddam’s #3 on the Top 100asphrases in oftelevision hispalace could stand a symbol our indulgence tory! that was of a pretty big honor.

It’s been in ourSo occupation Iraq. But Green Zone isn’t an amazing andmoral an amazing phrase that explorationthing of the complexities caused just to work. really caught on, andhas by a seems war based on aItlie.

Paul Greengrass it’s beena cinematic an amazing thing toand watch. crafted thrill-ride, there’s nothing wrong with that. But the subtext he brought to the What youisthink biggest here. accomBournedo series at bestisanyour afterthought plishment, your business success–Matt or the Goldberg

show. But they’re very good kids. They went to very good schools, and they–Matt were Goldberg great students. I couldn’t wait to get them on the show. I had no idea the show would be into itsninth and tenth season, which is pretty HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (R) amazing in the world of television. ★★★★✩ Release Date: March 26

There’s beenCusack), lots of news surrounding Adam (John Lou (Rob Corddry),NBC Nick lately,Robinson) and your and showJacob does(Clark well for them.

(Craig Duke) have What you think NBCshitty needsplace to dointotheir get back all reached a pretty life in the ratings journeys.

Adamgame? and Nick hate their jobs and Well, knowAdam’s Jeff Gaspin (Chairman of NBC their loveI lives; nephew Jacob wastes his Universal and,Lou as days doing Television prison timeEntertainment) in Second-Life; and know, he’s newoftoanthe role. I think isyou a complete mess alocholic assholehe’s who goingdestined to do a spectacular jobalone. at NBC. seems to die bitter and AfterThey Lou’s need more shows like like The he Apprentice.

Not stupidity makes it look tried to commit necessarily from realitydecide standpoint, suicide, Adam anda Nick its timebut to go theytoneed shows resort that capture thethree imaginaback the winter where all had the tion.time of their young lives. Unfortunately, best that are on should theFrankly, resort iscertain equallyshows as defeated as their current be changed while theyofget some like lives, but withbecause, the added benefit smelling pretty reviews, get discover people a cat piss.good All seems lost they until don’t the guys watching. to gettheir both.

We’veHowever, had working hotIt’s tubnice outside room.

Emmy nominations anddrinking a lot of good ac- use as science dictates, heavy and drug colades way, and that’s always while in apassed hot tubour inevitably leads to time travel, nice.the Butquartet ultimately have to have people and findyou themselves transported watch. to really well.butterfly I know back to NBC 1986.is going Worried aboutdothe their leadership andand I think effect, Adam, Lou, Nickthey’re (who winners, look like so I think they’ll turn it around.in 1986) try to their younger selves to everyone PG 13 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY UPCOMING VIDEO GAME RELEASES AND REVIEWS

BY B. LOVE

BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2

(Electronic Arts) Systems: PC, PS3, X360 This sequel to EA’s 2008 first-person shooter continues the gritty adventures of the misfits from the U.S. Army’s Company B, charged with mixing it up in a series of international conflicts that could escalate into World War III. Players choose one of four character classes (assault, engineer, medic and recon), with 46 weapons and 15 gadgets allowing for maximum destruction. The new vehicles and weapons, 2-24 player online support and 4-man squad game play are all a blast, but vets will conquer singer player mode quickly.

FINAL FANTASY XIII

(Square Enix) Systems: PS3, X360 The first numbered Final Fantasy title for PS3 and X360 aims to re-establish the series as gaming’s premiere RPG brand.

The story follows a team of heroes cursed by a hostile god and regarded as enemies of society, who must band together and fight to restore peace to their planet. The new Active Time Battle system gives the game more appeal with action fans, but the character development and storyline ultimately suffer a bit. In trying to attract a new audience, the developers may run the risk of alienating core fans.

FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON (Xseed)

System: Wii This dramatic Wii-exclusive title finds players cast as a lonely boy named Seto, exploring a dark, post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with demons and ghosts. After running into a mysterious girl named Ren, Seto struggles to find other survivors and figure out what caused the rest of mankind to disappear. Part RPG, part action-adventure, Fragile Dreams is a refreshingly mature game, with beautiful and haunting imagery and music lending added layers of emotional depth.

JUST CAUSE 2 (Eidos) Systems: PC, PS3, X360 This epic action sequel finds the deadly Rico

VIDIOTS UPCOMING DVD RELEASES AND REVIEWS

BY B. LOVE & JOHN B. MOORE ALICE – You don’t need Johnny Depp in a fright wig to hammer home the point that Lewis Carroll’s classic has been adapted to death. Fortunately the folks behind this version dug deep for an interesting concept. Here, Alice is a fiercely independent martial arts instructor who stumbles into another dimension when she’s looking to return a ring to her boyfriend. Kathy Bates does a brilliant job as the Queen of Hearts, as does Caterina Scorsone in the title role, but the real draw is the refreshingly original take on an old story. The film originally aired as a mini-series on the SciFi channel, but works better when seen in one sitting.

THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX – This Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film is set in Germany in PG 14 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Rodriguez assigned the task of infiltrating the gang-riddled island nation of Panau in search of his friend/mentor Tom Sheldon, who has disappeared with millions of dollars and topsecret intel. Rodriguez is like a cross between Batman, Rambo and Jason Bourne, hijacking enemy jets, parachuting, hanging from helicopters, jumping between vehicles and using his grappling hook to beat the bad guys while wreaking havoc across the land. All in all, a testosterone-fueled blast.

RACQUET SPORTS (UBI Soft) System: Wii The most interesting thing about this game is the bundled camera that allows you to play remotefree. Beyond that, it’s a decent enough diversion, offering five racquet sports (badminton, beach tennis, ping-pong, tennis and squash), six game modes and 40 richly rendered environments. But if you’ve already got games like Wii Sports and Wii Play, the title ultimately feels redundant.

POKÉMON HEARTGOLD & SOULSILVER

(Nintendo) System: DS It took a conversation between kids overheard in my swimming pool locker room to remind me how huge Pokémon once were. These two titles return players to the scenic region introduced in the beloved original games 10 years ago, but with updated graphics and sound and new touch-screen features. It also includes the new Pokéwalker, which fits in your pockets and allows you to gain experience points and find special items and creatures as you stroll around. Fun for a whole new generation of Pokémon fans.

RED STEEL 2 (UBI Soft) System: Wii I’m not sure how many diehard gamers are big fans of Clint Eastwood’s classic series of spaghetti westerns, but this title is clearly a tribute to his legendary “Man With No Name.”

Here, the mysterious loner is part gunslinger, part katana-wielding badass, exploring a wild, wild West that bears a bit of Kill Bill-style Eastern influence. A unique, immersive firstperson shooter that vastly improves on the original, with stunning graphics and excellent gameplay, this sequel ensures the franchise’s fruitful future.

1967, when the children on the Nazi generation were coming to grips with the cultural devastation their elders had created. The story follows a group of young radicals rising up against what they consider the new face of fascism– American imperialism as supported by the German establishment– with terrorist activities that leave them hunted by a relentless police chief (Bruno Ganz). An electrifying examination of the cost of unchecked rebellion, director Uli Edel’s (Last Exit To Brooklyn) latest is a gripping thriller given extra resonance by the Al Quada era.

THE BLACK BALLOON – An Australian film festival favorite, this coming-of-age drama tells the story of a shy teen (Rhys Wakefield) struggling to fit in at a new school while dealing with his autistic older brother (Luke Ford), a mute who communicates in sign language and wheezing grunts and is prone to uncontrollable temper tantrums. Their mother (the excellent Toni Collette) does her best to provide strength and stability at the center of the storm, even as her third child is about

repeat their actions from that weekend before remembering that their lives suck and deciding it’s time to erase some regrets. Meanwhile, Jacob is being one angry responsible guy, as he wants get back to the present and to make sure he gets the privilege of existing before his fellow time-travelers fuck it up.

Hot Tub Time Machine is a tricky balancing act that mostly manages to walk the line and succeed in being goddamn hilarious. Director Steve Pink usually pulls the film back from falling too far in one direction. If it’s embracing the ‘80s a little too much, you’ll get one of the guys noting that the decade also gave us Ronald Reagan and AIDS. If the aesthetic starts becoming a little too cheesy, Pink finds the charm in Walkmans and cueing up one of many great ‘80s tracks.

But more than anything, this film relies on its leads, and they do not disappoint. Robinson, one of the best deadpan comic actors out there, gets more variety in this role than usual. Duke works as an audience surrogate, commenting on the absurdity of the situation and mocking his fellow time-travelers. Corddry ends up ruling this film: It’s an overdue breakout performance that will (hopefully) land him in more starring roles, with an unmerited swagger and bravado that proves too charming to resist.

The weak link is Cusack, who feels like he’s in the film just because he was an ‘80s icon. Still, the film features one of the all-time greatest running gags, and I could recommend the movie based on that joke alone. Thankfully, I can recommend the film for a variety of other reasons. But the best reason is I can give is that when it clicks, Hot Tub Time Machine is filled with more comic energy than John Belushi on coke.

–Matt Goldberg

PRODIGAL SONS (N/R)

★★★★★ Release Date: March 26 This thought-provoking documentary is all about identity and choices: Who we choose to be as individuals, how we choose to live our lives, who we choose to love, and how we deal with situations in which it seems we have no choice. Paul McKerrow grew up the golden child of a loving family in small town Montana, the middle of three sons born 3 years apart.

Handsome, smart and strong, he graduated as class President and valedictorian, captain of the football team, and the object of every cheerleader’s affection. Twenty years later, Paul is now Kimberly Reed, a transgendered film director returning to her hometown for the first time for a high school reunion. The trip also marks her reunion with adopted older brother Marc, who has had a hard-knock life: held back in preschool, failed to graduate high school, suffered a serious head injury at age 21, and has never gotten over the feeling that he’s been cheated out of the life he deserves.

The film pulls a rope-a-dope sucker punch, feigning the audience into believing the drama will come from the community’s lack of acceptance of Kimberly’s transition, when

to be born. Based on writer-director Elissa Down’s experiences growing up with two autistic brothers, this is a harrowing, powerful film that never shoes away from its difficult subject matter.

BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN – “Men suck,” seems to be the core message of this adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s book, which was directed by John Krasinski (The Office) and became a Sundance favorite.

After being abruptly dumped by her boyfriend (Krasinski again), a grad student (Julianne Nicholson) begins interviewing a series of men in search of answers for why they behave badly. Despite a great cast that includes Timothy Hutton, Will Arnett, Will Forte, Christopher Meloni and Frankie Faison, the film feels like a muddled, navel-gazing take on the old Mars/Venus cliché that fails to bring any new ideas to the discussion.

EYES ON THE PRIZE: AMERICA’S CIVIL RIGHTS YEARS – This excellent 6-part PBS documentary series, which

in fact the emotional dynamics largely come from Marc’s mental breakdown. What begins as an almost endearing social awkwardness quickly turns vicious and ugly, as Marc hurls insults at Kimberly and her girlfriend, physically assaults their younger brother (who is gay), and eventually pulls a knife during a holiday celebration. He’s a train wreck of a man desperate to control his own life, but he clearly can’t even control his own emotional impulses despite an obvious love for his family. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking portrait of familial dysfunction and mental illness, more complex and profoundly revelatory than anything most Hollywood screenwriters could dare to dream up. Sometimes, truth really is stranger—and more intriguing– than fiction.

–B. Love

REPO MEN (R)

★★★✩✩ Release Date: March 19 This confounding mess of a movie wildly throws itself between genres, tones and styles, sweeping you up and then smashing you back into the ground. What’s so frustrating is that some moments are tons of fun, others are irritatingly melancholy, and others are so bad they’re good. It’s a whirlwind of a picture that could go in any direction, but it’s amazing how far it tries to go in every direction. Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are “repo men” for The Union, a corporation that sells artificial organs (called “artiforgs”) to desperate people.

When they can’t make payments, the repo men come in, kill them, and take the artiforg back. Within the first 10 minutes, the film jumps between two different tones: Remy and Jake gleefully murder about 30 people while repossessing organs in darkly comic scenes, but then Remy gets a taste of his own medicine when he’s electrocuted during a job, has an artificial heart forced upon him and discovers that his fake heart came with a real conscience.

No longer able to do his job, he tries to rip the heart out of his body, but when he falls behind on his payments he finds himself hunted down

by The Union. On the run, he encounters Beth (Alice Braga), a drug addict filled with forged artiforgs who Remy takes it upon himself to protect as an act of personal redemption.

From this point, the film becomes a chaseromance. It gets sillier from there, but I won’t spoil the bafflement. There are some directors who can swing wildly between genres and always land on their feet, but Miguel Sapochnik is not one of those directors. Forest Whitaker is amazing, effortlessly following the tone every scene, no matter how maudlin, comedic, or genuinely dramatic. Also providing a nice supporting performance is Liev Schreiber as a slimy, smarmy Union exec. Sadly, Repo Men is ultimately too erratic, leaving the audience wondering if they should embrace the next scene or just brace themselves.

–Matt Goldberg

covers the progression of the struggle for equality and social justice between 1954 and 1965, should be required viewing for every American, but particularly for any child forced to grow up among the renewed racial vitriol of the Tea Party dittoheads. Narrated by Julian Bond, the Emmy-winning 3-DVD set tracks the lives and deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the riot squads and tear gas, the bus boycotts and the restaurant counter sit-ins. Once sold only on the PBS website at $375, it’s now a $60 must-have.

STEVEN SEAGAL LAWMAN – Try a new drinking game based around this A&E realty series: Take a drink every time Seagal changes accents (say, from “aw-shucks country boy” to “raised-on-thestreets homeboy”), or pound a shot every time someone recognizes the action hero and calls him their favorite actor. The show brings cameras onto the streets of Jefferson Parish, LA, where Seagal’s served as a part-time sherriff’s deputy for 20 years.

Think Cops, but with Seagal sprinkling in Zen-lite quips delivered in a bizarre almost-whisper. We dare you to look away…

FILM

THE GOOD, THE SAD AND THE UGLY BETTY

I’D JUST MISS MY CAST. AND THE CHARACTER. I REALLY LOVE BETTY. I’M EXCITED TO MOVE ON AND EMBODY OTHER CHARACTERS. BUT THERE’S DEFINITELY A SORROW. I’VE LIVED WITH HER FOR SO LONG.

America Ferrera’s Second Act

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

A

MERICA FERRERA, A 25YEAROLD L.A. native of Honduran ancestry, introduced herself to the world in critically acclaimed Ugly Betty. Unfortunately the ratings for the show were not enough for it to continue on. Now she looks to the silver screen for new challenges. With a movie last month Our Family Wedding, How To Train Your Dragon this month and a low-budget darling folks will hear about in coming months The Dry Land, there’s loads for America to smile about.

Still, when it’s all said and done, the questions do find their way back to Ugly Betty’s demise. April 14 will indeed be a sad day for a lot of people. But if there’s anything fans can feel good about, it’s the fact the dramedy’s free-spirited star is only now starting to truly shine.

You’ve done roles that have set you apart. You’re creating this wonderful career track. As an artist, what have you become?

I feel like when I was 17, I just wanted an opportunity to do anything. I would have done any commercial that came around, any infomercial, any play anywhere. I just wanted to do it, and I got so lucky with the things that came my way. It was really just about being in the right place at the right time in this moment of history where the role that I kind of started with, which was in Real Women Have Curves. That role would have never existed for a girl like me five years earlier. And it took the writer 11 years to get that movie made, so I was six when she started trying to get the movie made. Lucky for me it took her 11 years and I was 17. So, at that time, I would have done anything.

And I think that because these really wonderful things sort of fell into my lap and I realized what it felt like to be a part of something that was kind of powerful, it sort of set the bar. Then it sort of felt like, well, anything that I’m going to give my time to has to feel… It doesn’t have to be some big social statement or something really deep and dra-

matic. I just have to be passionate about it because it’s your life and it’s your time.

What are your thoughts about Ugly Betty leaving this month?

First and foremost, it’s my family. It’s been the last four years of my life and in the most intense way because we work, at the very least, 12-hour days, five days a week, 10 months out of the year, four years in a row. It’s like you’re driving on four cylinders all the time. It’s intense. It becomes your life. You become so connected to it. I like this character [of Betty Suarez]. I’ve grown close to her in playing her. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye, but it will always be such an incredible period of my life.

How would you like it to end?

Well, I’m not going to say that because I need you to go watch it. Even from Day One of Season One… What’s hard about a TV show is that you never know where it ends. You don’t know what pace to be at. It’s sort of this constant back and forth of, “What’s too fast and what’s too slow?

How fast do we need to get to this place?” Silvio Horta, the creator of the show, and I have had conversations about the last episode of Ugly Betty since Season One and sort of, “What are we going for, what are we aiming for? We have to stay focused about what this character and what this story ultimately…what’s the point of it.” So, we’ve been having conversations about this for four years. Now that it’s finally here, it’s much more specific. But we’ve been thinking about it.

Would you entertain doing another sitcom?

I would entertain sleeping for three months and then taking a long, deep breath and kinda seeing what happens organically and naturally after that.

What are you going to miss the most about the show?

The people. I’d just miss my cast. And the character. I really love Betty. I’m excited to move on and embody other characters. But there’s definitely a sorrow. I’ve lived with her for so long.

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Tell us about your character in How to Train Your Dragon.

I loved doing How to Train Your Dragon. I got to play Astrid, who is a Viking dragon slayer. She is tall and blond and has blue eyes and has a kick-ass body. It was just super fun! It was a really good time. I love the movie. It’s just so sweet. I grew up obsessed with animated films—particularly animated films. When they asked me to be a part of it, I love DreamWorks and everything they do. It was not even a question. I jumped on and said yes.

I’ve seen the film and it’s incredibly moving and touching. It’s going to be wonderful for children.

Also, as an adult, you can sit there and really appreciate [the movie]. I guess that’s what DreamWorks does. With Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, you can just enjoy it and also feel the weight of it.

Was part of the hook for them finding a voice that doesn’t sound like it would come out of a tall, blond body?

I don’t know. It was super flattering. I think [DreamWorks CEO] Jeffrey Katzenberg just…I don’t know. We met a couple of times. He heard my voice. I think his casting director said, “What about America for this?” He loved it. I don’t have a Disney princess voice obviously.

I’ve also had a raspier voice since I was younger.

I don’t know. I feel really flattered that he thought my voice was interesting.

Talk about the experience with The Dry Land.

Yes, The Dry Land is an independent film that I executive produced. I signed on to be a producer on from before the first draft was written on it.

I never intended to be in it, but I just loved the script, loved the story and loved what it was doing.

It’s a story about a young man who comes home

from the war with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and just reintegrates into his life. The director (Ryan Piers Williams) showed the script and interviewed tons of soldiers who had PTSD. He got the support of the U.S. Army on the script. It was just this engagement with the community that the film was about. It just became more personal and I just got closer and closer to the project. Seeing how much that community wanted this story to be told was really touching.

Any recession tips for looking good. Because of Ugly Betty’s cultural impact, a lot of young girls want to look like you.

Oh God! I spent two hours getting into hair and makeup today. Umm, no one wants to look like me in regular life. I wear jeans and a t-shirt and I put my hair back. Honestly, just get sleep, drink water, take care of yourself, be healthy and don’t wear so much makeup. I think makeup makes people look older.

A few years ago, you were on Vanity Fair’s “Fresh Faces in Hollywood” cover. They caught a lot of flack this year for reverting back from showcasing diversity. How do you feel about situations like that?

You know, I think a lot of things about it. It’s certainly not a secret. If you flip through the pages of Vogue, you’d be blind not to see how non-diverse it is and see what a small-minded perspective goes into the images they’re trying to create. It’s not my forte. It’s not my field. I know they’re about making money and selling the dream. That’s still overwhelmingly the image of perfection and beauty.

We got a long way to go before that is gone. I don’t know that it ever will be. I think that it’s changing little by little, I guess. I hope.

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CONCERT C LENDER

FRIDAY APRIL 2 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Yacht Rock Revue APACHE CAFE Band Bash BLIND WILLIE’S Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials THE EARL The Dexateens EDDIE’S ATTIC Randall Bramblett FAT MATT’S The Swamp Funk Quartet FIVE SPOT Smokey’s Farmland Band HIGHLAND INN Oryx & Crake MASQUERADE A Day To Remember NORTHSIDE TAVERN Zydefunk PEACHTREE TAVERN Az Izz STAR BAR Gargantua SMITH’S The Last Waltz Ensemble VARIETY Midlake WILD BILL’S Rhett Akins VINYL Romeo Spike SATURDAY APRIL 3 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Saturday Night Fever APACHE CAFE Showtime BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall THE EARL Floor EDDIE’S ATTIC Girlyman FAT MATT’S Tomi Isobe FIVE SPOT Danny Bedrosian HIGHLAND INN Roman Photos MASQUERADE A Day To Remember NORTHSIDE TAVERN Ike Stubblefield PHILIPS Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash STAR BAR The Whiskey Gentry SMITH’S Downtown Executives WILD BILL’S Led Zeppelin 2 SUNDAY APRIL 4 THE EARL Floor EDDIE’S ATTIC Charlie Wooton Project FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe MASQUERADE Ted Leo & The Pharmacists SMITH’S David Garza MONDAY APRIL 5 BLIND WILLIE’S Bill Sheffield THE EARL Psychedelic Horseshit EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Kat & Nine Tales FIVE SPOT Holly Belle HIGHLAND INN DJ Dookie Platters MASQUERADE The Morning Of SMITH’S Janelle Monae TUESDAY APRIL 6 APACHE CAFE Hip Hop Jam Session BLIND WILLIE’S The Deacon Brandon Reeves EDDIE’S ATTIC Georgia Tech Men’s Glee Club FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Open Mic HIGHLAND INN Benefit For Terri MASQUERADE Yeasayer SMITH’S Kevin Spencer WEDNESDAY APRIL 7 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Animal House at 8 APACHE CAFE Al Smith’s Midtown Jam BLIND WILLIE’S Fatback Deluxe CENTER STAGE Blue October THE EARL The Wedding Present EDDIE’S ATTIC Rachael Sage FAT MATT’S The Soulshakers FIVE SPOT A Nickel Bag of Cloudeater HIGHLAND INN Damaged w/ Lost Cause DJs MASQUERADE Copeland PEACHTREE TAVERN Generation Now SMITH’S The Suex Effect VARIETY Krishna Das VINYL Mitchell Davis THURSDAY APRIL 8 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Groove Disco APACHE CAFE Time 2 Shine BLIND WILLIE’S Sweet Betty CENTER STAGE Wale & K’Naan THE EARL White Rabbits EDDIE’S ATTIC Derek Webb FAT MATT’S Chickenshack FIVE SPOT Natti Love Joys THE LOFT Wiz Khalifa HIGHLAND INN DJ Adam Bomb & DJ Notech MASQUERADE 2010 Music Conference PEACHTREE TAVERN Wes Loper Band SMITH’S Backyard Tire Fire TABERNACLE Vampire Weekend VINYL Green River Ordinance FRIDAY APRIL 9 APACHE CAFE The Music Store BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson THE EARL Red Sparowes EDDIE’S ATTIC Michelle Malone FAT MATT’S The Pocket Mafia

PG 16 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

FIVE SPOT The Sundogs HIGHLAND INN The Holland Dutch THE LOFT The Temper Trap MASQUERADE Appleseed Cast NORTHSIDE TAVERN Colonel Bruce Hampton PEACHTREE TAVERN Ocean Street SMITH’S Travis Meeks VINYL Elevation WILD BILL’S Justin Moore SATURDAY APRIL 10 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Saturday Night Fever APACHE CAFE Made in America BLIND WILLIE’S Francine Reed THE EARL Cadillac Jones EDDIE’S ATTIC Fracture FAT MATT’S Burning Time FIVE SPOT Oliver Wood HIGHLAND INN The Selmanaires THE LOFT The Airborne Toxic Event MASQUERADE JJ Grey & Mofro NORTHSIDE TAVERN Soul Shakers PEACHTREE TAVERN Craig Campbell SMITH’S Stewart & Winfield TABERNACLE Ween VARIETY Amos Lee VINYL Gorilla Battle of the Bands WILD BILL’S Brantley Gilbert SUNDAY APRIL 11 THE EARL The Serenaders EDDIE’S ATTIC Sodajerk FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe FIVE SPOT I-tegrity SMITH’S Mimicking Birds MONDAY APRIL 12 BLIND WILLIE’S Barrelhouse Bob Page EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Kat & Nine Tales FIVE SPOT Zachary Caplan SMITH’S 3 for $5 Night TUESDAY APRIL 13 APACHE CAFE Hip Hop Jam Session BLIND WILLIE’S Mudcat EDDIE’S ATTIC AMP Student Showcase FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Open Mic HIGHLAND INN DJ Yoon MASQUERADE Anybody Killa SMITH’S Kevin Spencer VARIETY Allen Toussaint

WEDNESDAY APRIL 14 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Animal House at 8 APACHE CAFE Al Smith’s Midtown Jam BLIND WILLIE’S Encore THE EARL Nigels w/ Attitude EDDIE’S ATTIC Crooked Still FAT MATT’S The Soulshakers FIVE SPOT Slim Chance & the Convicts HIGHLAND INN Damaged w/ Lost Cause DJs PEACHTREE TAVERN Aaron Thompson Band SMITH’S Holly Williams VARIETY Manchester Orchestra THURSDAY APRIL 15 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Groove Disco APACHE CAFE Dope Poetz BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall THE EARL Harlem EDDIE’S ATTIC Gretchen Peters FAT MATT’S Chickenshack FIVE SPOT Moontower HIGHLAND INN The Bonaventure Quartet MASQUERADE Jedi Mind Tricks PEACHTREE TAVERN Dot Dot Dot PHILIPS Bon Jovi SMITH’S DJ Sky VARIETY Manchester Orchestra FRIDAY APRIL 16 APACHE CAFE Lick-A-Shot BLIND WILLIE’S Houserocker Johnson THE EARL Gringo Star EDDIE’S ATTIC The Vinyl Strangers FAT MATT’S Jason Pastras Trio FIVE SPOT Bar Hip Hop Orchestra HIGHLAND INN Abby Go Go MASQUERADE Never Shout Never NORTHSIDE TAVERN Sean Costello Celebration PEACHTREE TAVERN Gary Phaff SMITH’S Autumnattics VARIETY Todd Snider VINYL Fervor SATURDAY APRIL 17 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Saturday Night Fever APACHE CAFE I Love Rap

BLIND WILLIE’S Delta Moon CENTER STAGE Kollaboration Atlanta 3 THE EARL Unknown Hinson EDDIE’S ATTIC Sara Hickman FAT MATT’S Sanve & The Grass FIVE SPOT Pinups HIGHLAND INN The Dirty Knockouts MASQUERADE Dear Enemy NORTHSIDE TAVERN Beverly Watkins PEACHTREE TAVERN Girlz Girlz Girlz SMITH’S Pimps of Joytime VARIETY Carolina Chocolate Drops VINYL Georgia & Ponderosa

SUNDAY APRIL 25 EDDIE’S ATTIC FranAllen Jam Fest FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe FIVE SPOT Music Integrity for Youth SMITH’S Big Mamm’s Jam For A Cure

SUNDAY APRIL 18 THE EARL Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside EDDIE’S ATTIC John Gorka FAT MATT’S Fat Back Deluxe FIVE SPOT Throwdown!

SMITH’S Bloodkin

TUESDAY APRIL 27 AARON’S AMP Jimmy Buffett APACHE CAFE Hip Hop Jam Session BLIND WILLIE’S Soul Shakers THE EARL Owen Pallett EDDIE’S ATTIC Stevie Monce FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Open Mic HIGHLAND INN DJ Tara-dactyl’s 80s Nite MASQUERADE Yacht Rock SMITH’S Kevin Spencer TABERNACLE Porcupine Tree

MONDAY APRIL 19 BLIND WILLIE’S Tommy McCoy & The Tuff Tones EDDIE’S ATTIC Open Mic FAT MATT’S Kat & Nine Tales FIVE SPOT Josh Yoder MASQUERADE School Boy Humor SMITH’S 3 for $5 Night TUESDAY APRIL 20 APACHE CAFE Hip Hop Jam Session BLIND WILLIE’S Atlanta Boogie EDDIE’S ATTIC Chris Pureka FAT MATT’S J.T. Speed FIVE SPOT Open Mic HIGHLAND INN DJ Tara-dactyl’s 80s Nite MASQUERADE Murder By Death SMITH’S Kevin Spencer TABERNACLE Owl City VARIETY Loud & Rich WEDNESDAY APRIL 21 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Animal House at 8 APACHE CAFE Al Smith’s Midtown Jam BLIND WILLIE’S Dave Herrero EDDIE’S ATTIC Kasey Anderson FAT MATT’S The Soulshakers FIVE SPOT Amelia’s Mechanics HIGHLAND INN Six Gallery MASQUERADE Cannibal Corpse PHILIPS Nickelback SMITH’S Ingram Hill THURSDAY APRIL 22 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Groove Disco BLIND WILLIE’S Tommy Brown THE EARL Tiger! Tiger!

EDDIE’S ATTIC Asylum Street Spankers FAT MATT’S The Solar Bears FIVE SPOT Bodega Roja HIGHLAND INN Save Daniels MASQUERADE Would You Kindly PEACHTREE TAVERN Simplified SMITH’S David Ball VARIETY Swing Out Sister VINYL Evans Blue

MONDAY APRIL 26 BLIND WILLIE’S Boo Hoo Ramblers THE EARL 100 Monkeys FAT MATT’S Kat & Nine Tales FIVE SPOT Joe McGuinness SMITH’S Emmitt-Nershi Band TABERNACLE Elvis Costello

WEDNESDAY APRIL 28 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Animal House at 8 APACHE CAFE Al Smith’s Midtown Jam BLIND WILLIE’S Joe McGuinness CENTER STAGE Straight No Chaser THE EARL The Tallest Man on Earth EDDIE’S ATTIC The Rowan Cunningham FAT MATT’S The Soulshakers FIVE SPOT JK & The Lost Boys HIGHLAND INN Bernadette Seacrest PEACHTREE TAVERN Tyler Reeve SMITH’S Please Please Rock Me THURSDAY APRIL 29 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Groove Disco APACHE CAFE Bang Oout BLIND WILLIE’S Sweet Betty THE EARL Beach House EDDIE’S ATTIC Carrie Newcomer FAT MATT’S Chickenshack HIGHLAND INN DJ Adam Bomb & DJ Notech MASQUERADE Faith & The Muse PEACHTREE TAVERN Poptart Monkeys SMITH’S 500 Songs For Kids TABERNACLE 30 Seconds to Mars VARIETY Great Big Sea VINYL Sean McConnell

FRIDAY APRIL 23 APACHE CAFE The Mash Up BLIND WILLIE’S Nick Moss CENTER STAGE PJ Morton THE EARL Davila 666 EDDIE’S ATTIC David Wilcox FAT MATT’S The Atlanta Boogie FIVE SPOT EP3 HIGHLAND INN Little Tybee MASQUERADE Echovalue & Pop Evil NORTHSIDE TAVERN Stoney Brooks PEACHTREE TAVERN Soul Kitchen SMITH’S The Bridge TABERNACLE Coheed & Cambria VINYL Luna Halo & More WILD BILL’S Danny Gokey SATURDAY APRIL 24 ANDREWS UPSTAIRS Yacht Rock Revue APACHE CAFE The Mighty Experience 3 BLIND WILLIE’S Sandra Hall THE EARL The Reigning Sound EDDIE’S ATTIC Music Panel FAT MATT’S South City Blues Band HIGHLAND INN 4th Ward Afro Klezmer Ochestra MASQUERADE Frightened Rabbit NORTHSIDE TAVERN The Electromatics PEACHTREE TAVERN 17th Floor STAR BAR Charlie Louvin SMITH’S Thermos Greenwood TABERNACLE Phoenix VARIETY Railroad Earth VINYL Grassroots

Ben Harper will play the 92.9 dave FM Earth Day Birthday at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre on Sunday, April 25.

MUSIC

Contemporary concerts by:

(ALWAYS) MUCH TO DO With The Truckers

BY ALEC WOODEN

F

ORGIVE PATTERSON HOOD IF HE takes a moment to figure out what you’re referring to when you ask about his “current release.”

Problem is, the Drive-By Truckers frontman has five to choose from. The release of DBT’s The Big To Do on March 2 marked the fifth Trucker-related release in less than a year (and at press time is the band’s highest charting record to date, debuting at #22 on Billboard’s Top 200 and #1 on the Billboard Indie Chart). Along with the new record, recent treats include 2009’s backing appearance with Booker T. Jones on Potato Hole, a “Live from Austin, TX” CD/DVD, The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) and Hood’s solo work on Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs). Hood talks about his new release, balancing his family with a tough touring schedule and the endless creative energy of his band.

You’ve said that this is “very much a rock album,” and compare it to Southern Rock Opera. Was there a conscious effort to write songs like that? Or did it just sort of naturally evolve back to that?

Patterson Hood: I kinda flubbed that comparison, as that other than sounding very much like Drive-By Truckers, it really doesn’t sound like that particular album at all. I just meant that it is more of a directsounding, rocked-up version of what we do and probably more so than anything since Disc 2 of SRO. Disc 2 of that album was also pretty concise about what it did as opposed to disc one that kinda rambled, which we tend to do a lot. It’s very much its own album, and certainly not in any way a throwback to any previous era of this band. I truly believe that these are our glory days and that this version of the band is the finest yet on almost every level. I’m very proud of most of our albums but particularly the last one and this one. This album is actually by far our most musically ambitious album ever. I think it might be our strongest lyrically, also.

The inspiration largely comes from the road, a place with which the band is quite familiar. Were the songs actually written on the road, or in retrospect about life on the road?

PH: Only two that I can think of actually take place on the road: “Santa Fe,” which is about being homesick, among other things, and “Girls Who Smoke,” which is on the vinyl version and is about playing the summer festival circuit in England. I did write a lot of the album out on the road, only because of necessity.

I have two small children at home and I’m gone a lot.

I owe it to them to try to be Dad when I’m home but the songs have to be written somewhere. I still managed to write fifty songs for this album but it makes my head hurt sometimes.

What is your favorite part of being on the road? Has that changed over the years? Has it become harder for you as your family grows?

PH: Unbelievably so. I want to be a great Dad and being away so much is excruciating. I try to channel that back into my work, in how I play and write. I initially loved the traveling and adventure, and when I was younger, chasing girls and partying. Our show is like a party but other than drinking a few beers, I don’t really party anymore, especially on the road because

it takes everything I have to physically stay out there and do this. Also, I can’t afford to fuck up because now I have a family depending on me. I’ve traveled for fifteen years now so I’m pretty over that part and I’ve had enough adventure for a lifetime; don’t need any more of that. I spend 21 hours every day looking forward to the three when I’m on stage.

Now that you’re picked up by ATO, do you feel any more pressure moving forward?

PH: They have been totally kickass so far. By far the most supportive label we’ve ever encountered. I only feel pressure from ourselves to be the best fucking rock ‘n’ roll band we can be — to be worthy of people’s very hard-earned entertainment dollar during these hard times. We tell these stories that are dark and spooky and often a little tragic or sad, but we also carry the uplift of our very survival out here. We came from this hard, rough place and we get to go out and do exactly what we’ve always dreamed of doing. And I even get to support my family from doing it. I feel enormous pressure from that, but that’s a good thing.

By the time we signed with ATO, we had already proven that we could do just fine without a label and probably most of the time fare better without, so they had to show us that they could do something for us we couldn’t do for ourselves.

Shonna [Tucker, DBT’s bassist] has emerged over the last couple records as more and more of a songwriting force for DBT. How nice is it to have three songwriters contributing, and how have you seen her progress with her writing, in particular?

PH: She has grown by lengths and bounds and we are all so very proud of what she’s done. I think “I Told You So” sounds like it could be a long lost Buddy Holly song, which is about the biggest compliment I can imagine. It is so profoundly simple, yet conveys so much. A stunning piece of writing.

What’s the biggest difference between the DBTs of 2000 and the DBTs of 2010 (besides the obvious lineup changes, etc.)?

PH: Ten years of living, breathing and taking in life to the fullest in all its complexity, and sometimes terror and pushing ourselves forward. “If you fall, fall frontways.” As I said, these are the glory days.

It’s been quite a year or so for you guys – a record last year, the Booker T. project, your solo record and now The Big To Do. How do you keep the creative energy up?

PH: That’s what it’s all about. I live to be creative, in whatever form it takes on. There’s a lot we all want to do — the trick is getting it all done. We ain’t getting any younger.

What do you think is the most important thing the Truckers took away from the Booker T. collaboration?

PH: I think we all learned a lot about how to craft a song musically. Our songs have always been extremely lyric driven and making an instrumental album taught us a lot about how to make a song stand up on its own without the lyrics. Applying those lessons to an album of songs as lyrically strong as The Big To Do has made it a better album than we could have made before having worked with Booker. He’s also a hell of a cool, sweet guy.

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PG 17 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

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THE PRODUCER

With Stars Such As Beyoncé, Mariah and Rihanna On His Quick Dial, Tricky Stewart Gets Results

BY B. LOVE

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What’s your earliest memory of feeling your spirit moved by music?

The first music I remember being special to me was Kiss and Bootsy Collins. I used to sit in my mom’s room listening to those two albums on 8-track with headphones on over and over again. I think I liked them because they were both really noisy and aggressive, and I had a lot of energy in my youth.

(Laughs)

ATLANTA DIDN’T JUST POP ONTO THE SCENE. L.A. AND BABYFACE WERE SOME OF THE HOTTEST GUYS IN THE BUSINESS, AND THEY CAME AND PUT A FLAG DOWN HERE. I know you come from a very musical family.

What were their respective contributions to your growth as an artist?

Music was always important to my mom because she taught music and had her own gospel choir. At the same time, my brother [producer Laney Stewart] was moving into the record-making side of the music business after having a successful jingle-writing career.

Thanks to them I liked a lot of different kinds of music: Gospel, Chicago house music, Culture Club, and even pop music like DeBarge.

I think my style is a mixture of all that stuff I grew up listening to.

Please See Tricky on PAGE 27

ACTION BARTENDING SCHOOL 17TH FLOOR (The Nation’s #1 Hip-Hop Cover Band))

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T

HE NAME CHRISTOPHER “Tricky” Stewart may not mean much to the average music listener, but in a certain sector of the music industry it carries with it a King Midas-like reputation.

Stewart– an Illinois native who moved to Atlanta in the mid-1990s at the urging of L.A. Reid– just turned 36 in January, yet he’s already responsible for more than 25 million albums sold. He’s written and produced hit singles for some of the biggest divas in the worlds of pop and R&B, from Rihanna (“Umbrella”) and Mary J. Blige (“Just Fine”) to Mariah Carey (“Touch My Body” and “Obsessed”) and Britney Spears (“Me Against the Music”). He’s also helped to nurture new talents, such as Mya, Blu Cantrell and budding pop star Justin Bieber.

But Stewart (along with frequent collaborator The-Dream) is coming off his biggest success to date with Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” which earned comparisons to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” as an enduring message of female empowerment. The song went platinum more than four times over on its way to becoming a pop culture phenomenon, winning Grammys in January for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Now, with forthcoming albums from Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry, new artists Lonnie Breaux and Bryan J, and even his first solo album, Stewart truly seems to be at the top of his game. We recently caught up with the magic-touch producer via telephone from Los Angeles to discuss his influences, artist evolution and opinion on the key ingredients that go into making a hit song.

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Road Warriors

This Month’s Hottest Shows

BY SACHA DZUBA

APRIL 17TH – ATTENTION SYSTEM

APRIL 5TH AND 6TH – JANELLE MONAE

Smith’s Olde Bar Inspired by the imagery of Fritz Lang and sounds ranging from 1930s jazz to forward-thinking hip-hop, Janelle Monae’s forthcoming full-length debut (ArchAndroid) showcases the ATL’s most distinctive up ‘n’ coming talent. A great dancer, soulful voice and brilliant performer, Monae spins and twirls with a frenetic blend of James Brown, Judy Garland and the classiest Motown Soul.

Enjoy two nights with an incredibly soulful singer who has a unique vision of the future now, before the rest of the world discovers how amazing she is.

APRIL 8TH – VAMPIRE WEEKEND

The Tabernacle Vampire Weekend sports an upbeat sound influenced by everything from ska and new wave to African pop and Western classical music. They describe their style as “Upper West Side Soweto,” and their latest album (Contra) debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. I defy you not to break out into a smile when you hear songs like “Mansard Roof ” and “Oxford Comma,” which ooze a happy charm unlike any other band on the indie-rock scene today.

Drunken Unicorn/MJQ This local band has roots in current and past electro-dance trends, creating songs imbued with shades of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and The Faint. Formed by performers from several well-known ATL acts, these musicians united with the idea to create a sound that would “make girls want to dance.” Attention System has certainly found a style that works, crafting an irresistible blend of bleeps and blips that will entice even the most stoic indierocker to dance like it’s 1984.

APRIL 20TH – OWL CITY

The Tabernacle Owl City began as a musical project by Adam Young, making music out of his basement before he received a lot of online attention via uploaded songs on MySpace. His music has been compared to The Postal Service due to similarities in simplistic electronica and Adam’s vocal styles. Like most people, I was first introduced to Owl City via the excellent song (and video) for “Fireflies.” Teenage girls will likely abound at this show, but don’t let that stop you from going out for some lyrically innocent electro-pop.

APRIL 24TH – HALL AND OATES

Chastain Park Amphitheatre This will be a nostalgic concert for some, and a looking-backwards-ironically show for others. Hall and Oates were at the height of their popularity in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when they unleashed a string of Billboard

hits, which include “Kiss on My List,” “Private Eyes,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” and “Maneater.” Oates has also achieved local success, with his image being featured in GutterPop’s pop-art series, “John Oates will f*cking kill you!”, which can be seen around Atlanta locales such as the Highlander and the Flat Iron. Check out the trailer for the J-stache cartoon, which you can find on numerous video hosting sites. Ride the Mustache!

APRIL 26TH – ELVIS COSTELLO

The Tabernacle Initially linked to the British punkrock scene of the ‘70s and later associated with the New Wave movement, Elvis Costello is as literate as a scrabble master and is widely diverse in his musical styles.

His initial image borrowed from Buddy Holly’s style, complete with geeky glasses, suit and pompadour coif. But his classic songs, including “Watching the Detectives,” “Pump It Up,” “Radio, Radio” and “Everyday I Write the Book,” are wholly original. Sure, he’s borrowed liberally from reggae, pop, country and other musical influences, but that eclecticism has become Costello’s trademark. After more than 30 years, Costello remains one of the most innovative, influential and best songwriters playing music today.

APRIL 27TH – PORCUPINE TREE

The Tabernacle Porcupine Tree is one of the best bands you’ve probably never heard of, formed in England

by Steve Wilson and considered by some to be “the new Pink Floyd.” Yet Porcupine Tree moves far beyond Floyd’s musical shadow, displaying musical styles running the gamut from trance and ambient music to psychedelia,

WE GOT NEXT THE SWELLERS

APRIL 29TH – 30 SECONDS TO MARS AND MUTE MATH

The Tabernacle MuteMath are back again, bringing their Sting-meetsRadiohead, bringing their experimental pop-rock to the Tabernacle.

Have you seen their music video for “Typical”?

They perform backwards! 30 Seconds to Mars is a band many would disregard simply because there’s a movie star within their ranks, but this is no Jared Leto vanity project. They have moments where they sound like The Cure, moments where they channel Tool, and other moments where they evoke Coldplay or the Killers. This should prove to be a great evening of wide ranging music.

MAY 3RD – HIM

Center Stage Theatre The Urban Dictionary defines lead singer Ville Valo as “Finnish for sex on toast.”

HIM used to stand for “His Infernal Majesty,” and they created the wellknown heartagram symbol (also used by Bam Margera of Jackass fame). Their trademark “Love Metal” sound is a hit with the goth kids of today’s Hot Topic crowd. But beyond being marketable, HIM really does have a great sound that’s all their own.

Artists on the verge of making it big

Latest Project: Ups and Downsizing (Fueled By Ramen) For Fans of: Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Motion City Soundtrack Why You Should Care: Because these Flint-based punk rockers are reminding audiences around the world that Michigan in not just home to Motown, Eminem and Kid Rock.

BY JOHN B. MOORE

F

prog-rock and metal. It may be difficult to categorize their music, but once you listen to them live you’ll have no trouble labeling them as amazing!

LINT, MIBASED ROCKERS THE Swellers may be one of the longest overnight successes in the punk rock world. Together for eight years, the band turned in three albums – self-released and on tiny labels – before the rest of the world finally took notice. Punk labels across the country took interest in the band, but Florida-based Fueled By Ramen (home to

Fall Out Boy and Paramore) finally snapped up the band last year. Frontman Nick Diener spoke recently about the band, their new record and this latest tour.

like home. They also presented a plan that allows them to grow with us with every record, which is really important to us. The FBR crew are some of our greatest friends now.

You guys were courted by quite a few folks.

What made you decide to sign with Fueled

By Ramen?

Of all of the labels we were talking to, Fueled By Ramen was the place that felt the most

Most people think rap or classic rock when they think Michigan. Is there a decent punk rock scene in Flint?

Believe it or not, we were actually one of Flint’s only punk rock bands when we started. It was mostly metal or Indie music.

Out toward Detroit more and more punk bands were emerging so we found a nice nook recently. Flint is definitely home to some amazing musicians, though.

Did you guys think about calling it quits when Lance (Nelson) and Garrett (Burgett) quit the band?

We have never thought of calling it quits.

Our ex band members were replaced in a matter of minutes, days before big tours were about to begin. We never stop.

Did bringing in Anto (Boros) and Ryan (Collins) change the band dynamics at all?

We are definitely tighter musically and as friends with Ryan and Anto in the band. We finally have guys with us (Jonathan and I) that want to tour and play music as much as we do. It’s a great feeling.

What can you tell me about the new record?

The new record is finally showing the world what I’ve intended to show for seven years now. The right mixture of 90s radio rock and punk rock that we love to play.

The songs are written by real people on real instruments, about real people.

Are you looking forward to the tour with Motion City Soundtrack? When does it start and how long will you be on that tour?

The Motion City tour is going to be insane.

Set Your Goals and This Providence are great friends of ours as well. We leave to start the tour tomorrow morning. Gonna be out for about a month.

You guys have been touring for a while now.

Does it ever get old?

Touring never gets old for me. Always new places and people. Beats working 9 to 5. Tour is a 24/7 job when you’re out on the road!

What’s your best tour story?

Our best tour stories are pretty much documented in our tour videos. Those can be found on YouTube, usually on the Fueled

By Ramen channel. Hilarious stuff…

What’s next for the band?

Next after this tour is Europe, then we’re off on the Warped Tour!

PG 19 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

MUSIC

MUSIC

Album Reviews

By B. Love, DeMarco Williams, John B. Moore, & Sacha Dzuba

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS – I LEARNED THE HARD WAY (Daptone) The sweet sound of soul BL: Before Amy Winehouse said no, no, no to “Rehab or Duffy begged for “Mercy,” there was Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.

The Brits have had more mainstream success in reviving the sweet sounds of ‘60s soul, but fortunately karma has a way of working things out. The group’s last album (2007’s 100 Days, 100 Nights) was their most successful to date, and in the last year Jones has been invited to perform with Phish and Michael Bublé. Now, Jones and her DapKings are releasing I Learned The Hard Way, their most stellar collection to date. Opening with the brassy horns of “The Games Get Old,” the album is an instant classic that could easily pass for some long-lost ‘60s soul gem from the Stax/Volt vaults.

“So many times I’ve played the game of love/but it always ends in vain/I’m back in the ring with my boxing gloves/so I’m gonna feel some pain,” Jones sings in the opening verse, her voice conveying every ounce of emotion her 54 years have enabled her to express.

The title track is another cunningly crafted composition, plucking at the heartstrings with good old-fashioned girl-done-wrong storytelling.

The group has a great sense of dynamics, throwing in an upbeat party track like “Better Things” when the proceedings get too gloomy or taking the energy down a notch with a funky slow-burner like “Money” to keep things interesting. People simply don’t make albums like this anymore: From the slow-build tension of “She Ain’t A Child No More” to the weepy closing lament of “Mama Don’t Like My Man,” there’s not a weak track in the bunch.

Every move here is so exquisitely executed, every note so heartfelt, every lyric so soulful, it’s almost impossible to believe the album was made in 2010. The fact that it was should make true music lovers very thankful to have discovered I Learned The Hard Way. And it definitely deserves to make Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings into stars.

BUTCH WALKER & THE BLACK WIDOWS – I LIKED IT BETTER WHEN YOU HAD NO HEART (One Haven) Growing older and wiser BL: If you need proof the music industry has shifted away from the major label focus, look no further than Butch Walker. The guy’s produced and/ or co-written hits for Pink, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Weezer in recent years, emerging as one of the hottest names in the recording field. Yet for his fifth solo album, we find him signed to upstart indie One Haven Music, started in 2009 by A&R veteran Michael Caplan.

Whether by choice or circumstance, the reality underscores the irony that the former Marvelous 3 frontman is making the most accessible music of his career. Over the past two albums he’s all but abandoned his Bowie/Bolan glam fetish in favor of a more classic rock sound. The combination of turning 40, witnessing the birth of his first child and losing all his personal possessions in the Malibu wildfires appears to have had a profound impact, and I Liked It Better’s mature lyrical themes reflect great personal growth. The stringladen “Pretty Melody” would sound PG 20 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

The Dean’s List

like some long-lost Motown song were it not for Walker’s lyrics, which chronicle a fateful bar meeting between a gorgeous girl and “just another tattooed tragedy,” who promises, “I’ll be your open tab, you’ll be my favorite sin.” The pastoral “Don’t You Think Someone Should Take You Home” has a back-porch bluegrass influence, while “She Likes Hair Bands” sounds like a 21st century Tom Petty and “Be Good ‘Til Then” is achingly pretty folk balladry.

It may be too sedate for old school fans, but Butch Walker’s latest is a fantastic rock album made for grown-ups who understand the joy of beginnings, the sadness of endings and the difficult journey that lies between.

Rest of the Class LUDACRIS – BATTLE OF THE SEXES (Def Jam/ Disturbing Tha Peace) Mars vs. Venus, in rhyme DW: Ludacris’ CDs are a lot like Michael Bay movies: Sure, they’re a spectacle, but after you’ve had a moment to reflect you’re left feeling a bit empty.

While the Atlanta rapper has released six successful efforts, the hiphop cognoscenti haven’t considered any of them great, but we can’t say is that Christopher Brian Bridges is overrated.

On his latest project, there are numerous times when Luda’s spirited verses beg for a rewind. Wait, did he just say that his girl will “knock a bitch out and fight/ comin’ out swingin’ like Tiger Woods’ wife” on “My Chick Bad”? Yep, sure did. But the frolicking is only beginning with that track and Sexes’ certified first smash, “How Low.” With sexual overtures throughout (the album was intended to be a Mars vs. Venus-like foray with rapper Shawnna, but things turned sour when she left Luda’s label), B.O.T.S. sounds like what 2 Live Crew would make if they had access to Swizz Beatz’s drum machine. The Lil Kim-featured “Hey Ho,” the Flo Rida-backed “I Know You Got a Man” and “My Chick Bad” remix with Eve, Trina and Diamond all feature Luda at his boastful best.

As you can probably gather from the song titles, Chris isn’t earning any honorary women’s suffrage medals here. The man’s sole focus is driving nightclubs nuts. But Luda is 32 years old: How many more dance floors can he honestly expect to ignite? That’s probably a question that would be best addressed on the next CD. With DTP homies (I-20, Lil Fate), sexy co-stars (Nicki Minaj, Monica) and mood-setting crooners (Trey Songz, Ne-Yo) on the Battle of the Sexes guest list, it seems like Ludacris has just one thing on his mind– making a complete spectacle in the bedroom. (B) DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – THE BIG TO-DO (ATO) Southern rock stalwarts continue to deliver BL: Twelve years after the release of their debut album and nine years after the conceptual genius of Southern Rock Opera established them as the 21st century’s Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Drive-By Truckers are more prolific than ever. In the last two years they’ve released a studio album, a live album and a B-sides compilation, collaborated with Booker T Jones and Neil Young on the Grammy-winning Potato Hole, and recorded frontman Patterson

Hood’s solo album, Murdering Oscar.

With so much recorded output, the band’s trademark Southern-style storytelling and 3-guitar attack has long since been established as a bona fide brand. So the only question at this point is whether or not you’re buying into their twangy countryrock sound. For fans, The Big To-Do will likely come across as the band’s most rocking album since Southern Rock Opera. Harddriving songs such as the opening “Daddy Learned To Fly” and “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” are classic DBT, but the stripped-down grooves of the slyly humorous “Drag The Lake Charlie” and the offkilter “The Wig He Made Her Wear” are as warped and colorful as the distinctively Southern stories they tell. Bassist Shonna Tucker continues to cut her compositional teeth, contributing two of the album’s 13 tracks. The piano-driven balladry of her “You Got Another” borders on breathtaking, while Jay Gonzalez’s organs and John Neff’s haunting pedal steel give the closing “Eyes Like Glue” a high lonesome appeal. The increased contributions of the other members not only takes some of the pressure off Hood and Mike Cooley’s shoulders, it allows the band’s sound to expand in an organic way. Ten albums into their career, the Drive-By Truckers remain one of rock’s most consistent bands, and The Big To-Do is another fine feather in their creative cap. (B) USHER – RAYMOND V RAYMOND (LaFace) & MONICA – STILL STANDING (J Records) Atlanta’s king and queen try to bring order back to soul DW: “Daddy’s Home,” so far the biggest hit on Usher’s sixth album, can be taken in the literal and the metaphoric sense. Literally, yes, the man has come home from a long day of MTV interviews.

But metaphorically, the track’s an Okay-fellasparty’s-over caution to the Trey Songzs and Robin Thickes who’ve nibbled on Raymond’s crumbs while he was away dealing with a dramatic divorce.

The solid single and a few other stunners -“Making Love (Into the Night)” and “There Goes My Baby” could have easily been bonus tracks on Usher’s classic Confessions album- do a respectable job of helping Usher re-familiarize himself with the FM dial. But something’s still missing. Maybe it’s the sophomoric chorus on “Guilty” or the Lady GaGa feel of “So Many Girls.” We can’t put a finger on it all exactly; our gut just says daddy’s lost a lil’ sumthin’.

As for Monica, the melodic mommy seems to have things well in order under her roof. Like Mr. Raymond, she too lost her way with personal tragedies and career missteps. But unlike Ush, Monica finds her bearings with this tender recording, her sixth as one of the industry’s truest vocal talents. When silky numbers like “Stay or Go” and “One in a Lifetime” play out, you can almost hear somebody off in the background go, Shhhh, grown folks are talking. Bryan-Michael Coxproduced slow burners like “Love All Over Me” and “Superman” aren’t for a child’s ears either. While recording this CD, Monica said her intent was to take the music back to the early 90s when true R&B thrived. With Still Standing, she’s done just that, proving once and for all that you can come home again. Monica (B+); Usher (B-) NECK – COME OUT FIGHTING (Abstract/EMI) Celtic punks keep the pubs rockin’ JM: American bands such as Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys have done such a good job of picking up where The Pogues left off and moving the subgenre of Celtic punk forward that you’d almost be forgiven for forgetting that European bands not only invented the genre, but still have something to contribute to the canon.

On Come Out Fighting, the British band Neck delivers a blast of 14 pub-friendly sing-alongs, each of them backed by blistering distorted guitars

and enough traditional Irish instruments to make The Chieftains jealous. “Everybody’s Welcome to the Hooley” is raucous enough to get even the staunchest teetotaler reaching for a strong pint of Guinness, and songs like “Tink” prove that Leeson O’Keefe may just have the most pleasant vocals in punk rock today. (B+) DAVID BARBE & THE QUICK HOOKS – LOVE IT, DON’T CHOKE IT TO DEATH (Ruth Street) Stepping out from behind the boards BL: As a protégé of John Keane, bassist in Sugar and producer for altcountry icons such as Son Volt and the Drive-By Truckers, David Barbe has been one of the biggest names on the Athens music scene for over 15 years. But Love It, Don’t Choke It To Death marks only his second solo LP, emerging on good friend Patterson Hood’s record label nine years after his solo debut.

This time around he’s accompanied by the Quick Hooks, which include guitarist John Neff (DBT) and bassist Kyle Spence (Widespread Panic). But it’s Barbe’s voice– a thin instrument that falls somewhere between that of Hood, Robbie Robertson and They Might Be Giants– that commands attention on this solid set of collegerock cuts. Barbe’s definitely a better producer and songwriter than he is a singer, but overall the band’s not half bad. (C+) FAIRMONT – THE MEADOW AT DUSK (Mint 400) Transitioning from punk rock to indie-pop JM: Listening to Fairmont, it’s hard to imagine frontman Neil Sabatino was once a punk rocker. His recent work with the New Jersey band is more likely to engender adjectives such as “lush and atmospheric” than “intense and aggressive.”

On the indie-rock band’s latest effort, the six-song EP “The Meadow At Dusk,” Fairmont thankfully sticks with the same style that made 2008’s Transcendence such an enjoyable record. But this time around the addition of singer Samantha Carradori allows the band to experiment a bit more, trading male/female call-and-response vocals on most tracks. Though there is hardly a weak track on the record, the infectious “High Above the City” and “The Moon Controls the Tide” are among the band’s best songs in an already impressive career.

(B+) ADAM GREEN – MINOR LOVE (Fat Possum) Ex-Moldy Peach finds a second life on his own JM: Though he remains best known as a former member of the beloved indie-rock duo Moldy Peaches, Adam Green has done a decent job of forging his own identity as a solo act. His latest effort, Minor Love, is no exception. Through his nearly spoken word delivery, it’s easy to spot Green’s influences (Jonathan Richman and Leonard Cohen in particular), but he still manages to come off as strikingly original Lyrically, Green doesn’t attempt to layer his songs with too much over-thought subtext, and it’s that simplicity that makes the tracks so interesting.

A song like “Buddy Bradley” will likely sound just as fresh a decade from now. Considering the amount of hype that was thrown at the Moldy Peaches when they first surfaced, you’d almost expect Green to be living a Brian Wilson-like hermit’s existence nowadays. But thank God he doesn’t. (B–)

FILM

GEEK LOVE An Interview With Chuck Stars Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez

BY MATT GOLDBERG

I

’VE BEEN ON A FAIR NUMBER OF CONFERENCE calls and at most I’ve chuckled occasionally at something the talent has said. But the conference call with Chuck stars Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez had me laughing throughout (thankfully, you’re on mute until it’s time to ask your question).

The guys are genuinely geeky (there’s a part of the interview where they jokingly explore Super Mario Bros. 2 as if it were the work of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien), have a great rapport, and it’s basically just two friends joking around about the questions they’re being asked.

Read on to hear Mr. Levi and Mr. Gomez discuss the Chuck and Morgan bromance, Zachary’s thoughts on directing his first episode, what kind of episode they would make if they had absolutely no restrictions and other delightful topics.

This has been a great season for the show. What is your favorite episode so far?

LEVI: Well, I’m a little biased to the episode I directed but… other than that, I really loved Episode 5 on the plane. That was a fun episode. We’ve got some other great episodes that are coming up, but I don’t know how much I can really talk about them. I think that this season has allowed us to make some of our best episodes, the way the premise of the show has changed. I mean, it’s not actually not the premise, but the rules in which we get to play in. Josh, what’s your favorite episode?

GOMEZ: Yeah, I feel the same way. Obviously, 309 was just a fun episode to have you directing and it was really well-written. So that one stands out, and 305 turned out really well.

What are you bringing to the table as a nerd yourselves? Where’s that coming from?

GOMEZ: Oh boy, now here’s a question I can answer! When I read this script, these were two guys I really felt like I knew. This is the sort of guy

ZACH AND I HAVE WORKED WITH SOME REALLY COOL PEOPLE. I THINK FOR US PERSONALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT’S GOING AT SOME SERIOUS GEEK FANBOY-DOM.

I was growing up; video games, sci-fi and fantasy movies, comic books, you name it. It started back when my dad brought home an Atari 2600 and took me to see The Empire Strikes Back in the theater. From there on, it was a life of a geek for me. Yo-ho, yo-ho…

LEVI: Same thing here. Josh and I just sit back and laugh about how lucky we are. There are certainly differences between our characters and our personalities in real life, but they are very small and very few. When I read the pilot, I was like, “Holy crap, I know this guy! I stare at him in the mirror every morning.” I actually had the pleasure of reading with Josh for his network audition, and when that guy walked in the room wearing his R2-D2 t-shirt, I thought, “We got a winner, folks!”

Did you guys become friends right off the bat?

Yeah, at some point he kind of turned to me and said, “Are you a gamer?” I think my ears perked up like that of a German Shepherd.

From then on we were cooked– stick a fork in us. We go on for endless amounts of time talking about, comparing and contrasting video games in the same way C.S. Lewis and Tolkien would talk about literature.

So now that Morgan knows Chuck’s secret, will he be trying to make Chuck’s life miserable?

GOMEZ: I don’t think Morgan would be capable. I think it’s an honest, true friendship, and Chuck wanted to do nothing more than talk to Morgan. If there was a person that would understand, Chuck realizes it would be Morgan. Not that he wouldn’t be a liability to the world’s safety, but as a friend goes I don’t think it’s in Morgan’s nature to do anything that would cause direct harm to his friend.

LEVI: Or conflict, really. I think Morgan avoids conflict…

What do you think about the show’s online presence, with the games and mobile features?

LEVI: I actually have not delved into a lot of the stuff online, partially because I’m at work every day…

GOMEZ: And partially because they don’t have an Xbox live game.

Come on, let’s get with it!

LEVI: But I’m aware of it, and I think it’s great. I think anything that you can do to feed the appetite of your fans– especially the really devoted fans that have supported us and fought for us for as long as they have– is fantastic.

I wanted to ask about you guys working with Christopher Lloyd. Have you done it yet and what was he like?

LEVI: So insane.

GOMEZ: Honestly, a genius and a pro and…

LEVI: And so talented, such a sweetheart. No, it’s true though, all of the above. I will say we’ve been very, very blessed.

Every guest star on the show has been someone who has been a pleasure to work with. And I think that has a lot do with the type of person that the show attracts. I think we have a very unique show that runs the gamut on genres. And I think that certain actors get it, and maybe certain actors don’t. When I found out Christopher Lloyd was doing our show, I think I had an accident in my pants…

GOMEZ: Zach and I have worked with some really cool people. I think for us personally, you know, that’s going at some serious geek fanboydom. We don’t always get like that, but to have Doc Brown on the show it was like, yeah, are you kidding me?!

LEVI: Now I just need a hoverboard and my life will be complete!

If there were no restrictions, what premise would you like to see for an episode of Chuck?

LEVI: Oh, wow! Perhaps I’m speaking for both Josh and I in this but, you know, we’re a couple of dudes who love first-person shooter video games. So I think if we had our druthers, we would be running around with guns all day. That would be the ultimate! And… GOMEZ: …space marine gear, yeah!

LEVI: And then clearly Yvonne [Strahovski] and Sara [Lancaster] would be scantily clad. And let’s put [Adam] Baldwin in…

GOMEZ: My fantasy would be to put Adam Baldwin in that freaking elf costume that I had to wear, and have him prance around the Buy More. Yeah!

LEVI: And then Vik [Sahay] and Scott [Krinsky], we’d over-dress them. They’d be in parkas and beanies. But

I don’t know, how would we torture them? I think you put anyone in a thong, that’s torture.

GOMEZ: Except for Krinsky. I think for Jeff, he’d be quite comfortable.

And wouldn’t this episode take place in Hawaii or something like that?

LEVI: Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot to qualify. All of this would take place in awesome foreign locales. This would be shooting an episode in Hawaii, an episode in Paris…

GOMEZ: An episode in (Hoth)! I mean, you said if we had no restrictions…

LEVI: Oh, my gosh! “Echo base, this is Rogue 2… I’ve found them.”

GOMEZ: Adam Baldwin sitting in the back of the X-Wing in an elf costume! Poor Adam…

Earlier this season it was really interesting to see Chuck burn an asset and to see how difficult that was for him. Now we’ve seen how easy it’s become for him to lie to those closest to him. As this season progresses, are we going to see Chuck go darker as he gets further into his spy training?

LEVI: Excellent question. I don’t necessarily think that you’ll see him go darker. I mean, I know that there was a lot of hubbub on message boards and stuff about people who don’t like the new Chuck because he’s dark and whatnot. But I don’t see it as being darker; I just see it as a natural progression of a character who gets deeper into this world of espionage and is trying to do the best that he can and learn and grow as a spy.

That may lead to things that are darker than the normal Chuck that we’ve come to know, but I don’t think that he gets darker. I just think that every episode is an opportunity for a new shade, a new color, a new flavor. That’s what we saw in Chuck Vs. the Nacho Sampler earlier this season– him learning a very valuable lesson and then, you know, proceeding to drink that pain away.

GOMEZ: Yeah, baby!

LEVI: But we’re not going to see, you know, “Bizarro Chuck.” I mean, he’s not going to become this like, you know, unshorn beast fighting himself in a scrap yard… although that would make a great episode!

So that’s not in the Intersect 2.0? Bizarro Chuck?

LEVI: No. Everyone’s still seeing the same Chuck. It’s just a Chuck who’s going through some different circumstances.

GOMEZ: Yeah, I always felt like there was like a little bit of reality setting in on this kid. When we first started this thing he was a different guy.

I mean, the worst thing that was going on in his life was that he lost a girl and got kicked out of Stanford. That was the biggest weight on him.

LEVI: And now he’s seen some real stuff, you know? I feel like if there’s anything different, it’s just a little bit more of a weight on him.

But he’s still Chuck.

I’m just curious if you guys have read the finale, and if it leaves us on a huge cliffhanger like last season’s finale or it ties things up just in case the unthinkable should happen?

LEVI: We haven’t actually gotten it yet, so I have no idea. But I would imagine that it’s going to accomplish both. Hopefully it will wrap things up in a way that you feel some kind of closure, in the off chance that we don’t come back for another season, but also leave it open to whatever the possibilities for another season would be. That’s the smart way to do things with a show like ours, which has a really rabid and fantastic fanbase, but…

You know, television is a fickle game, and you never really know how things work out. I feel pretty good about our chances for another season, given all the circumstances of where we’re at as a show, where NBC is at as a network and the five new hours of programming that have opened up. So I feel like we could have a place there. But, having not read the finale, I suppose I couldn’t really answer that accurately.

PG 21 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Outdoor Music Venue Guide 2010 The Most Anticipated Shows of the Coming Season ASO Classic Chastain

4469 Stella Dr. NW; Chastain Park

Chastain Amphitheatre is one of the great outdoor concert venues in the country. It is an ideal setting to combine dining al fresco with a diverse range of musical talent. Patrons are encouraged to bring their own food, wine and spirits (when permitted) or take advantage of its preferred caterers and concessions to help enhance their concert experience. Some of the most anticipated performances for the upcoming season include: Diana Ross (June 4); Erykah Badu (June 5); Collective Soul (June 23) and Liza Minnelli (July 2). For ticket information visit deltaclassicchastain.com or call 404.733.5012

Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood 2002 Lakewood Way; Atlanta

Atlanta's largest and premier dedicated concert venue in the Southeast since 1989. Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood was built specifically for popular music, designed to offer a state of the art musical experience for both patrons and performers. Superior sound reproduction, advanced lighting capabilities and clear, unrestricted sightlines make Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood the favorite summer concert site for the avid music fan. Some of their hotly anticipated upcoming shows include: Jimmy Buffett (April 27); Vans Warped Tour (July 26); Dave Mathews Band (July 27) and John Mayer (Sept. 8). For ticket information visit www.livenation.com or call 404.443.5000.

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia

Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre

5239 Floyd Rd. Mableton, Georgia

Photo courtesy of watkins imaging/jerry watkins

The Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre is a mid-sized, yet intimate, outdoor venue located in a natural setting off Floyd Road in south Cobb County. Nestled among trees in the quaint suburbs of Mableton, Ga. Mable House Barnes is beautifully landscaped in a gorgous natural setting. It is a covered amphitheatre with intimate dining table seating protected from the weather. There are more than 1200 covered oversized seats with spacious aisles and a cozy lawn to lounge on. The facility has

PG 22 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

the capacity to host 2,410 people. Much of their summer line-up had not been announced by press time, but some of the announced shows include: Smokey Robinson (July 22); Survivor and Starship (August 13) and John Michael Montgomery (Sept. 10). For ticket information visit www.mablehouse.org or call 770.819.7765.

award-winning artists and bands. The 2010 summer concert series showcases musical genre's ranging from disco to rock and jazz.

Some of the highly anticipated shows coming this summer include: Gloria Gaynor & The Village People (May 15); Cheap Trick (June 5); Christopher Cross & America (June 26) and The B-52’s (July 24). The Fred is just a short drive from Atlanta. Take Interstate 85 South to exit 61 (Fairburn/Peachtree City exit). For ticket information visit www.amphitheater.org or call 770-631-0630.

The Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre is a state of the art facility. The 12,000 seat venue is located in Alpharetta just minutes off of GA400. The amphitheatre held more than 50 events during its inaugural year including concerts, community events and movie nights.

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre is also proud to be the outdoor home to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Some of the highly anticipated shows coming this summer include: Van Morrison (May 7); Zac Brown Band (May 8 & 9); Phish (July 3 & 4) and Sugarland (August 5).

For ticket information visit www.vzwamp.com or call 404.249.6400.

Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater

at Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater promises a diverse and spectacular season filled with

Smokey Robinson will perform at the MABLE HOUSE BARNES AMPHITHEATRE on July 22.

MUSIC

FLOBOTS FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT Hip-hop’s progressives pledge ‘Survival’ with latest album

BY PATRICK FLANARY

W

E HAD OUTSOLD HANNAH Montana,” remembers Jonny 5, before Flobots’ frontman quickly adds: “In Denver.”

He’s talking about the week in 2008 when everything fell into place for the Mile High City’s prolific sextet. Flobots’ first album debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s rap and alternative rock charts by way of KROQ and a late-night television performance of “Handlebars.” An American tour followed. Flobots then invaded places like Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam.

People around the world were getting the message: Stand Up. If its Fight with Tools debut was the sound of Flobots arming for battle, their follow-up album Survival Story is the band’s shock-andawe attack on American apathy. This sophomore record— partly a rant on Earth’s destruction, partly a concept album about a soldier’s demons— brings something more biting, more thoughtful from this hip-hop crew, backed by live musicians and a haunting viola.

“The last album was about slogans, and that was deliberate,” says Jonny 5, a.k.a. Jamie Laurie. “This time we said, no, we want to go deeper, we want to be more nuanced. Let’s tell stories.”

Survival Story plays outs more like a diary.

With a nod to Jay-Z and a hat tip to Al Gore, emcees Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit trade tirades

on global warming in the album’s opening rhymes: “Sandbags, bring ‘em out/It’s hard to yell with the Atlantic in your mouth.” The song “Superhero” confronts the limits domestic partners face in a hospital’s delivery room, while “Defend Atlantis” chillingly warns, “The world is an island now.” Mackenzie Roberts’ rapid-fire viola bow strokes and angelic vocals on stories like “Good Soldier” solidify Flobots’ musical— and political—relevance in an era fatigued by war.

Flobots does more than deliver lip service; these activists mobilize their movement by teaching music at the Denver Children’s Home and maintaining a green-friendly community center through Flobots.org, the band’s nonprofit organization. While on tour prior to Obama’s election, Flobots helped to register hordes of young voters, and even played a concert at the Democratic National Convention.

“We’re really into speaking our minds and being involved, and people were hungry for that sort of thing after our shows,” says Roberts.

“Their commitment to investing in the community and using their success as musicians to improve the community is so unusual,” says Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who recognized Flobots with the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in February. “They demonstrate very pointedly that we can all be part of the solution.”

Survival Story cracks open the Flobots’

arsenal and reveals what the first album lacked: breathing room. Even with its moments of overly bloated production, this concept album about the world’s arrogance and ignorance is in good hands with Mario Caldato Jr. “Mario C,” as he’s known in the hip-hop world, produced many Beastie Boys masterpieces, including Check Your Head, the 1992 album that defined what live instrumentation could do for hip-hop. “I think Flobots have a unique sound and have a good chance at being noticed if people just listen,” observes Mario C. Kenny Ortiz’s firecracker snare punctuates Andy Guerrero’s gritty Chili Peppers-style riffs, while Jesse Walker forces the listener to feel

the weight of his every bassline.

“They treat each other with an egoless love and make every attempt to bring the best out of each other,” says Greg McRae, who engineered Flobots’ first album, and adds, “The band was democratically involved through its evolution.”

These environmental rockers could have easily recycled their sound this time around, but that would have contradicted the message of change the band advocates to its audiences around the world.

“We want to have as many bullets as possible,” says Jonny 5 in conclusion, “and I think this time we’ve got a fully-loaded album.”

WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW Meet Guns On The Run, Philly’s Best Punk Band

BY JOHN B. MOORE

S

OUTH PHILLY SCENE NATIVE TOMMY GUNNZ had just left a hardcore band when he stumbled onto what would eventually become Guns on the Run, likely the best Oi! band to ever come out of the City of Brotherly Love.

The band is just months away from turning in The Spirit is Eternal, their fourth record in almost as many years. Gunnz spoke with us recently about founding the band, the abysmal state of Philly’s punk scene and how he turned the worst couple of years of his life into the best album of their career.

So how did the band first get together?

The band first started in 2005 as a three piece with me and my roomie and buddy at the time Dicke and my friend Kristen.

It started as a three piece and then suddenly this guy (John) started showing up at our practices and played a second guitar.

No one really knew him too well. He was old, vegan, sexually ambiguous, but he knew the songs. I have no fuckin’ clue how; he never knew the names or lyrics to ‘em. He just played what he thought fit over ‘em. Well it fit, so in turn, so did he. Soon after our kickoff Dicke moved to Chicago, Kristen moved to Cali shortly after… Our intention as youngsters was to be blacklisted from every venue in America and arrested in each state. Oh the good times we had as lil’ hooligans. Well I picked up Paddy and Robbie after that and the four of us have been what is now Guns on the Run to date. Robbie (bobbyguns) has brought a different element of bass playin’ to the table. He’s very centered and rhythmic which I fuckin’ love cuz I’m always noodling around on the guitar. In the long run, time solidified this band. Practice made us better. And we experiment more with guitar styles and musical approaches as we age. Its funny how four punks and skinhead kids from Philadelphia turn into the ensemble you see now; scattered around the states talking like a bunch of art fags.

What can you tell me about the new record?

The new record, The Spirit is Eternal, is a rock n’ roll record.

We played from our hearts and off of many influences from old Australian rock to modern American hardcore, but always Oi! We always play with a strong influence of past and present Oi! music. Essentially Guns on the Run have always stood for the common man. For the man with a girl, wife or family that gets up every morning and braves this shit world to head into a long day of work to provide for his family and self. We take pride in it. It’s who we are and who built our country that everyone takes for granted these days.

This is your fourth time around recording. Do find that these albums are getting easier or harder to write?

Lucky for me I had the worst two years of my life so the record was easy as hell to write. A lot of songs are about my ex fiancée Kristina leaving me. Probably my fault but still it killed me. Also my father attempted suicide after my mother’s affair and it tore my family up pretty bad. A few of Paddy’s good friends were murdered in the neighborhood. A lot of my friends went off to war. We were all worried about these things. Our stories aren’t that much different than any other American kid, but we tell ‘em anyway to let people know they aren’t alone.

I just moved up here (Philly) and was surprised to find there’s a punk scene here. How big is it?

Philadelphia punk is dead. There is no camaraderie between bands. Everyone just talks shit. People are afraid to go to shows or book our band. One of the last all ages venues in Philly just shut down ‘cuz someone supposedly walked into the joint and blew his head off last week. It’s lookin’ bleak. Kids steal music off the Internet and never go to shows anymore. All the punk kids care about these days is fashion. Who has the biggest hair?

I had a Mohawk when I was 16 too but it wasn’t nine feet tall and I didn’t take longer than my sisters and my mom to get ready in the morning. Punk is dead and these kids are douche bags, plain and simple.

So not many shows here, but do you have plans to tour in 2010?

Guns do plan on touring Europe and Sweden in 2010. Probably summer. People in Europe love music. We can’t wait to head over there!

Those are all the questions, anything else?

Keep the hair short and keep it Oi! America, the spirit is eternal.

PG 23 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Spring Festival Guide Great Festivals and Events coming to Atlanta this Season APRIL

Atlanta Film Festival

Carter Center (Opening Night) 14th Street Playhouse (Closing Night) Landmark Midtown Art Cinema APRIL 15-23 The Atlanta Film Festival is the largest and longest-running film festival in Atlanta.

The 2010 festival will open at the Carter Center Thursday, April 15 with Stanley Nelson's Freedom Riders, the story of the historic 1961 Freedom Rides, and will close on Friday April 23 at the 14th Street Playhouse with the Southeastern premiere of Barr Weissman's Secret To A Happy Ending, a documentary portrait of the Athens GA-based band Drive-By Truckers. The seven days in between will feature over 150 independent, international short, classic, documentary and animated films showcased at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, surrounded by a host of daily conversations, celebrations, educational demos and receptions. Other festival highlights include Movie on the Meadow: 50th Anniversary Screening of Psycho, a free screening of the classic film on the big screen in the meadow at Piedmont Park and Luda's Choice, Atlanta's own Ludacris will present a film that has impacted his life followed by a unique Q&A. Visit www.atlantafilmfestival .com for more information and to purchase tickets.

Atlanta Dogwood Festival Piedmont Park APRIL 16, 17 & 18

The Dogwoods will be in full bloom, and hundreds of artists from around the country will set up their tents for the 74th Annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival. An Atlanta staple for more than 70 years, there is something for everyone at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. Virtually every kind of art imaginable is represented at the festival, with a nationally renowned-juried Fine Artist Market that includes sculpture, paintings, pottery, jewelry, photography and much more. In addition to the fine art for adults and art collectors, there is a Kids Village featuring huge inflatables, arts & crafts and face painting for all ages, as well as the ever-popular 24-foot rock-climbing wall. Sponsor booths are located throughout the festival that will have everything from live radio remotes to great prizes and interactive games. Music has become an essential feature of the weekend's festivities, and this year will be no different. A wide array of diverse musical offerings will be happening throughout the weekend. The full schedule of music and entertainment will be announced soon. There will be also be a variety of popular festival foods including funnel cakes, gyros, crab cakes, onion rings, kettle corn and much more. For more information call 404.817.6642 or visit www.dogwood.org.

PG 24 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Sweetwater 420 Fest Candler Park APRIL 17 & 18

This two-day music and arts festival celebrating Earth Day will be held Saturday, April 17 from 12 pm to 10 pm and Sunday, April 18 from 12:30 pm to 8 pm in Atlanta's historic Candler Park. There is free admission for live music, food, and eco-oriented educational experiences. Festival goers 21+ and with a valid ID can purchase a $5 wristband to responsibly enjoy Sweetwater beer and wine. A portion of proceeds from wristband sales are donated to Candler Park Neighborhood Association, to make improvements to Candler Park. Founded

by Sweetwater Brewing Company in 2004, the two-day eco-oriented festival attracts thousands of visitors to Atlanta each year and has emerged into a music and arts-driven educational platform for environmental awareness and activism. People are encouraged to limit the impact on the neighborhood and take MARTA. The festival is conveniently located just two blocks from the Candler Park MARTA station. Visit www.sweetwater420fest.com for additional information, updates, and directions.

Victorian homes, bungalows, original contemporary designs and modern interpretations of traditional styles. Admission to all festival events is free, except for the Tour of Homes, which requires a paid ticket. For information about the Festival or Tour of Homes, call their hotline at 770-635-3711 or visit www.inmanparkfestival.org.

Atlanta Steeplechase

Kingston Downs near Rome, Ga. APRIL 24

Georgia Renaissance Festival Exit 61 - Peachtree City / Fairburn APRIL 17 THRU JUNE

The Georgia Renaissance Festival returns for its 25th anniversary run on weekends and Memorial Day, from April 17 through June 6th.

Designed to help visitors imagine that they have time traveled back to Elizabethan England, the Georgia Renaissance Festival creates the fantasy with themed buildings and rides, costumed actors, and creative entertainment and interactive activities. Once inside the gates, you'll find Knights in shining armor and Maidens Faire, King Henry VIII and his Court, jolly pubs and a 32-acre World Bazaar full of elaborate treasures created by nationally renowned artisans. Feast like royalty on delectable delights including the popular giant roasted turkey legs. Endless entertainment awaits with ten stages featuring juggling, music, comedic storytelling and feats of incredible physical skills. The whole family will enjoy the Royal Petting Zoo and the thrilling rides in the medieval amusement park. There is also original extreme sports like the Jousting Tournament of Kings, and the magnificent highflying Birds of Prey and Animal Show. For more information please visit www.georgiarenaissancefestival.com.

Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes APRIL 23 - 25

Atlanta's eclectic and revered Inman Park Spring Festival is back Friday, April 23 (home tour only on Friday) through Sunday, April 25, offering food, music, fun, the city's largest street market, and it's most outrageous parade.

The city's quirkiest and colorful parade takes place on Saturday, April 24 and will be led by the Inman Park Butterfly, and followed by floats, clowns, jugglers, and the legendary Kelly's Seed and Feed Marching Abominables.

Children's activities include a giant slide, obstacle course, relay races and more. The festival's home tour features elegant, turn-of-the-century

Saturday, April 24th the Atlanta Steeplechase will celebrate its 45th anniversary with their annual race. In what has been called "The Best Lawn Party in Georgia" thousands of spectators will come to tailgate and take part in the festivities. Regulars of this event may notice that Atlanta Steeplechase is happening later in April, a move made to avoid conflicts with The Masters, spring break and other Atlanta social events. The Steeplechase is the event to see and be seen. As spring heralds in warm days and sunny skies, every fashion statement from designer dresses and showy hats to flip flops and halter tops can be seen at Kingston Downs.

Gourmet food and tailgate parties are the staple of the event. Between races, spectators can partake in picnic fare prepared by some of Atlanta's top restaurants. Along with the racing of some of the finest steeplechase horses in the country, attendees are treated to Jack Russell terrier races, pig races, an air show and skydive demonstration, disc dog competition and the popular Hat Parade. Information and tickets are available from www.atlantasteeplechase.org. or www.ticketmaster.com

MAY

Atlanta Botanical Gardens May Day Event MAY 1

This May Day, the Atlanta Botanical Garden unveils the second phase of an expansion that doubles the size of the garden. A fun and zany parade, outdoor cooking demonstrations, and family activities are on tap. The $55 million Green Expansion includes A 600-foot-long, 40foot-tall Canopy Walk. Take the Canopy Walk, to the Garden's 15-acre woodland, Storza Woods, one of the last remaining hardwood forests in the city of Atlanta. Also new is The Cascades Garden, a sunny retreat featuring a

series of three waterfalls surrounded by hardy tropicals and The Edible Garden, a highlydesigned formal garden with orchards, an herb wall and Outdoor Kitchen for cooking demonstrations by Atlanta's top restaurant chefs. A bumper crop of giant sparkling fruits and veggies hanging from the trees or nestled in beds make up Blown Organics: The Glass of CohnStone Studios, an exhibition garnishing the new Edible Garden. The dozens of hand-blown pieces, some nearly 2 feet in diameter, are the critically-acclaimed work of the California husband-and-wife team of artists Michael Cohn and Molly Stone. The two-part exhibition, which extends through October 31, continues the Garden's tradition of pairing its renowned plant collections with fine art glass. For more information, visit atlantabotanicalgarden.org or phone 404-876-5859.

Atlanta Jazz Festival

MAY 1 - 31 (31 Days of Jazz) MAY 29 - 30 Memorial Day Weekend Festival Whether it's out-ofthis-world improvisation or boogie-woogie notes of Big Band music that moves you, the 33rd Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival embodies the spirit of Jazz and will unite the City of Atlanta for 31 days of amazing music during the "31 Days of Jazz" this May. The month-long celebration culminates in Piedmont Park on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30, with music from local and nationally-renowned artists including Marcus Miller "Tutu Revisited the music of Miles Davis" featuring Christian Scott, Spyro Gyra, MF Production's Celebration of Lionel Hampton featuring Diane Schuur & Jason Marsalis, Stanley Clarke Band featuring Hiromi and more of all that jazz. For more information including lineup and a schedule of events, please visit: www.atlantafestivals.com.

Run, Walk ‘N Roll

Confederate Hall at Stone Mountain Park MAY 1 The 10th Annual Run, Walk 'n Roll and Fun Run will take place on Saturday, May 1 with proceeds going to provide wheelchairs, medical supplies and other equipment to the disabled and elderly. The run is 5 miles and the walk is 2 miles. Registration begins at 7:30 am. The Fun Run begins at 8:30 am and the Walk 'n' Roll begins at 9 am. Master of Ceremonies is Former UGA and NFL Offensive Tackle Matt Stinchcomb. Participants are needed to run, walk or roll (in their wheelchairs) and raise at least $50. Event is sponsored by Friends of Disabled Adults and Children. For more information, please call 770-491-9014 or visit www.fodac.org.

Georgia Shakespeare

Shake at the Lake, Piedmont Park MAY 5 - 9 Shake at the Lake 2010 will feature a weeklong run of last summer's hit A Midsummer Night's Dream in the heart of Piedmont Park May 5 - 9. As in years past, each performance is free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available at 10:00 a.m. the morning of each performance. Tickets are distributed at the Piedmont Park Visitor's Center as well as at the Georgia Shakespeare Box Office at the Conant Performing Arts Center on the campus of Oglethorpe University. All performances start at 7:30 p.m. Venue opens for seating 90 minutes prior to showtime. For more information, visit www.gashakespeare.org.

Taste of Underground Atlanta Kenny’s Alley, Underground Atlanta APRIL 8, MAY 6 AND JUNE 3

On the first Thursdays in April, May and June, you can visit Underground Atlanta during lunch time and enjoy eats from their restaurants, live entertainment, giveaways and special offers, all while being outdoors. If you're on a budget Taste of Underground Atlanta is one of the best deals in town. The cost is a $3 donation or five canned goods which will be donated to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Taste of Underground Atlanta is a rain or shine event.

Entertainment line-up, vendors and restaurants are subject to change. For more information, please call 404-523-2311 or visit www.underground-atlanta.com.

Taste of Alpharetta

Old Milton Pkwy. at Willis Park MAY 13 Taste of Alpharetta has become an annual tradition for festivalgoers, families and food connoisseurs for 20 years. Guests can dine in Downtown Alpharetta at over 50 restaurants in one fun night. Sample delicious appetizers, entrees and desserts from the top menus in town. Enjoy culinary demonstrations, activities and entertainment to please every palette.

Admission is free and food samples are $.50 each and restaurants participating in the Taste will charge $1-3 per sample. Spread your blanket on the Culinary Art and Music Stage lawn to enjoy competing chefs and live music. Party with local Atlanta radio stations and play at the Fun Zone. For more information, call (678) 297- 6000 or go to www.alpharetta.ga.us.

March of Dimes Dining Out

Dinner at Various Restaurants; After Party at The Buckhead Theatre MAY 14 March of Dimes will hold its annual "Dining Out" followed by "Stepping Out" on Friday, May 14. Dinner at one of the participating premiere restaurants begins at 7pm and the "Stepping Out" after-party at The Buckhead Theatre (formerly The Roxy) goes from 9pm - midnight.

Atlanta's finest restaurants, including new culinary hot spots and favorite classics, will be participating. The cost is $1,000 or $1,500 for a table of ten, depending on the restaurant selection. For a complete list of participating restaurants, visit www.marchofdimes.com/georgia or call 404-350-9800 x208.

the 1,500 participating athletes as they compete in aquatics, athletics, soccer, badminton, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics, and table tennis with over 600 coaches to guide them in competition. Also happening that weekend is The 21st Annual Spring 3Day Bike Ride which begins in the Virginia Highlands. The 300-mile ride tours West Georgia from urban Atlanta through rural West Georgia and ends in Virginia Highlands on the 23rd. Riders will raise money for Special Olympics Georgia through sponsorships. For more information, visit www.specialolympicsGA.org.

The

East Atlanta Beer Festival East Atlanta Village, Brownwood Park MAY 22

Sample over 130 craft beers from across the globe and visit shops and restaurants in East Atlanta Village. Enjoy live local music on the festival's main stage and enjoy a wide array of food. All proceeds benefit community projects.

Admission is $30 in advance, $40 at the gate. A 6oz. sampling glass will be provided at the entrance. You must be 21 to attend. Pets, backpacks/bags, and children are not permitted. For more information, please visit www.Eabfonline.com.

Zoo Atlanta’s Brew at the Zoo And Wine Too! MAY 29

Zoo Atlanta's annual signature summer event features over 30 brews and 12 wines, and live musical performances all night long. Come and take a stroll with over 1,300 animals from around the world while sampling award-winning brews and vinos. Advance tickets are $35 for Zoo Members; $40 for non-Members; $45 if purchased on the day of the event. Designated driver/under age tickets are $20. For more information, visit www.zooatlanta.org.

Decatur Arts Festival

Memorial Day Weekend Decatur Square MAY 29 & 30

The Artful Garden Tour

continued on page 24

BUCKHEAD: 39 West Paces Ferry Rd. Atlanta, Ga. 30305 (404) 237-4664

VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS: 778 N. Highland Ave. Atlanta, Ga. 30306 (404) 874-6604

Various Atlanta Gardens MAY 15

SANDY SPRINGS: 220 Sandy Springs Circle Atlanta, Ga. 30328 (404) 255-0026

The Artful Garden Tour provides self-led tours of six of Atlanta's finest gardens. Highlights include a garden with formal French area, endless hydrangeas, and several waterfalls; a 3-acre garden with native plants and fruit trees bordered by an in-town lake; and a garden with inventive places for both adults and kids to play.

Gardens are conveniently centered in Buckhead and Sandy Springs. Hosted by the High Museum of Art's social and volunteer group, Art Partners, all proceeds will benefit the High Museum. Several garden classes are offered throughout May, presented by the Education Series and Gold Sponsor, Pike Nurseries, as well as a lecture by Walter Reeves, the Georgia Gardener on May 13. For ticket pricing and additional information, visit www.high.org/gardentour

Special Olympics Georgia

State Summer Games at Emory University MAY 21 - 23 The Opening Ceremony will be on Friday, May 21 at 7:30pm at McDonough Field and competitions will be held Saturday and Sunday. Events are free and open to the public. Come cheer on

Decatur's biggest arts event kicks off with the unveiling of the official arts festival poster on May 6 and culminates with the main events on Memorial Day Weekend. Get started Friday evening, May 28, with the ArtWalk all around Decatur. The fun continues with the new dance festival, literary arts performances, musicians all day long on Decatur's community bandstand, a juried artists market, the fine arts exhibition, a special Kids and Teens Arts Festival and more.

For additional information, call 404.371.9583 or go to www.DecaturArtsFestival.org.

NORCROSS: 5161 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 606 Norcross, Ga. 30092 (678) 987-3600

WWW.VANMICHAEL.COM

Screen on the Green Centennial Olympic Park MAY 28 - JUNE 18

Peachtree TV presents Atlanta's popular Screen on the Green. The free summer outdoor movie festival that takes place each summer will once again happen at Centennial Olympic Park.

The 2010 edition of Screen on the Green is set to launch May 28 with Back to the Future and the remaining schedule includes: Dreamgirls (June 4), Field of Dreams (June 11) and Home Alone (June 18). Moviegoers are welcome to bring picnic baskets and food, but no glass containers or alcoholic beverages can be brought into the park. Food and beverage vendors will be available. Pets are not allowed and umbrellas and high-backed chairs are strongly discour-

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BEST HAIR SALON

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PG 25 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

aged. For additional information, visit www.peachtree-tv.com/specials/screenonthegreen.

JUNE

JULY National Black Arts Festival

This annual arts and music festival is held each June in historic downtown Athens, GA. For the past 12 years, AthFest has showcased the best in local, regional, and nationally recognized Athens-based talent. Over 175 bands and artists will perform over the course of festival, which will be held June 23-27. All performances on the two outdoor stages are open to all ages and are free of charge to the public. The evening's "club crawl" takes place on the Friday and Saturday nights of the festival. Wristbands may be purchased for $15.00 in advance or for $20.00 at the festival that will give patrons entrance to close to 20 music venues (venue age restrictions apply). For more info, visit www.athfest.com.

Centennial Olympic Park & Various Venues JULY 14 - 18 The National Black Arts Festival will hold the majority of its summer events at Centennial Olympic Park including its popular International Market Place, which will take place July 15 - 18.

Musical artists taking the main stage on July 17 & 18 at Centennial Olympic Park include Roy Ayers and Lizz Wright. This year's Legends Celebration will take place on July 16 at Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and honors Curtis Mayfield. Tickets for the festival will go on sale soon. For more information, please visit www.nbaf.org.

Flicks On 5th

Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival

Athfest

Downtown Athens JUNE 23 - 27

Technology Square, 86 Fifth Street WEDNESDAY NIGHTS, JUNE & JULY

Flicks on 5th will return this year with an incredible lineup of blockbuster titles. All movies will begin at dusk (approximately 9:00 pm). 5th Street will be closed between Spring Street and Techwood Drive so guests can bring their own blankets and chairs for viewing and dining. Moviegoers can eat in or carry out dinner at any of the many restaurants located on 5th Street at Technology Square. The event is scheduled rain or shine. Please leave coolers, umbrellas, grills and pets at home. For more information, visit www.flicksonfifth.gatech.edu or call (404) 894-2805.

april 21, 2010 Presented by

The Fabulous Fox Theatre JULY 29 - AUGUST 2

The Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival offers an outstanding line-up of the year's biggest releases as well as some of the classic movies of all time.

Come early to see the movies and join in an Atlanta tradition including wine tastings at the Fox beginning at 5:30 pm. Relax and unwind before the show while you meet up with friends and mix and mingle. Last season featured award winning movies: Slumdog Millionaire, Up and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Dates and movies for 2010 were not available as of press time but for more information on movies shown this year, keep checking their web site at www.foxtheatre.org.

Nourish your soul.

Dine out for breakfast, lunch or dinner Wednesday, April 21st at any of nearly 150 participating restaurants, and at least 20% of your bill will be donated to the community nutrition programs of Open Hand.

Open Hand provides medicallyappropriate meals, nutrition education, therapy and coaching to homebound seniors and underserved individuals struggling with chronic, critical or terminal illness.

Visit DiningOutforOH.org for more information and a current restaurant list.

Platinum Sponsors

PG 26 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

MUSIC

PUNK OF THE IRISH

The Return of Dropkick Murphys

BY JOHN B. MOORE

A

SIDE FROM MAYBE THE POGUES and The Chieftans, no other band is more closely associated with St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. than Boston’s Dropkick Murphys.

According to singer and bassist Ken Casey, the Celtic punk band was never really supposed to leave the basement of the barbershop where they screwed around, blending bagpipes with distorted guitars. So it’s as much a surprise to the band as anyone else that, 15 years later, they are spending the week leading up to St. Patty’s Day playing night after night to sold out crowds (seven night in all) at Boston’s House of Blues.

For those not able to make the pilgrimage this year to Mecca for the Guinness crowd, The Dropkick Murphys are releasing a live record (culled from last year’s shows) and DVD. Casey, who is quite possibly the nicest guy in punk rock, spoke with us recently about the band, jamming with hippies at Bonnaroo and the group’s newly minted charity.

Congratulations on the new record and DVD. I’m interested in why you wanted to put out another live record?

I think the main reason is because we did the first live album after we had three studio releases and we have since done three more studio albums and occasionally we would look at the track list of the live album and go “Wow, there’s a lot of songs that we play now that aren’t on here.” And what I’m most proud of about the whole new album is that it’s a completely different track listing than the first one.

One song, “Forever”, is on both, but it’s a completely different version. I know some of my favorite bands growing up, I bought every single live album they put out – Live in London, Live in Belfast, Live in Germany – but it was the same songs over and over again. I thought it was pretty cool that we had enough material to span two live records.

Because you guys have so many songs you’ve done as a band, do you ever have a problem putting together a set list every night?

Yeah, absolutely. You want to make it different, but you want to give people the songs they definitely want to hear and some times, between playing the standards and wanting to change it up from the last time you were in town, we end up playing 28 songs a night. There are only 20 on the album, because that’s all that would fit on the CD. It also goes to show that our songs are getting longer… We go to a great deal of effort in changing it up. We save our set lists, so we can see what we played last time we were in town and make sure they get a different set the next time. I’d say that’s probably one of the most burdensome things with this band. I spend hours every day looking over the set list a thousand times and trying to write it so it gives people their money’s worth.

You guys are playing Bonnaroo later this year. Do you know what to expect?

I looked at the line up and it’s pretty diverse. But we play that stuff in Europe in the summer time – just massively diverse festivals – so I think even though we haven’t done the Coachellas and Bonnaroos in America, we’re very much accustomed to doing those types of shows and I think our music is suited for festivals and just being party music to a degree. We do very well in that setting in Europe and I imagine it will be a good time. I don’t know if I’m supposed to say because they haven’t announced it yet, but they’re putting some other punk rock bands on the bill on that day with us.

It certainly had that reputation of being just for hippie jam bands, but I know they’ve been broadening the line up a bit, with Bruce Springsteen playing last year.

If it’s good enough for Bruce, it’s good enough for us!

You guys got to play with him recently didn’t you?

Yeah, twice last year. That all came about because we’ve become friendly with Bruce through his son turning Bruce on to the music. We’ve been backstage when he was doing two nights at the Garden and on the first night he said “When are you going to do a song with me?” and I said.

“Whenever you want.” He said, “How about tomorrow night?” So obviously we were there the next night and this past summer, he came back and was down at Great Woods (in Massachusetts) and me and my wife were in the audience just watching the show and all of a sudden during the show I get a text from the tour manager “Bruce just told me he wants you up here for the encore.”

Honestly, talk about inspirational, I’ve met a lot of musicians that I look up to and 90 percent of them have kind of somewhat let me down with their personality or how they’ve carried themselves in a business way, but he’s just a class act through and through. Here you are up on stage singing with, in my opinion, the greatest rock band in the world and you feel like you’re singing with your buddy’s band in a bar because they make you feel that comfortable and at home.

It’s seems like it would be tough for guys in bands who spend a lot of time on the road, being away from family and friends. But you have a few kids and a wife and you guys spend a ton of time touring the globe. How difficult is that?

Yeah, it’s very, very hard and it’s probably the toughest on me because when it’s the day to go to the airport I always feel like it’s the first day of school. You just don’t want to leave. “My wife will call me from the car and say “(the kids) started bawling, but 30 seconds down the road they stopped.” You just got to make the most of the time you’re together. Right now we’re on a ski trip up in New Hampshire. I just have to make sure that when I am home I make up for it. If it all came out in the wash, I probably have more time at home with my kids then the guys on my street that are leaving for work at 7 in the morning to beat rush hour and are not going to be home until 6 o’ clock at night. When I am home, I’m taking them to school and all the sports and stuff like that, so I get to be around to catch a lot of the stuff other dads miss. I get to take the good with the bad and realize that I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunities that I’ve had in this band and to be able to provide for my family. If going away for a bit is what it takes, I always say I could be going to Iraq or Afghanistan, so I’m very fortunate. We’ve also brought the kids on some of the trips, so they’ve seen the world, so it’s just very cool.

Another thing I wanted to ask you about is the foundation you started, the Claddagh Fund.

We’ve had some great opportunities through the success of the band to be able to help different people, whether it’s sending out tickets to shows or signed CDs for auction items to lending the band’s name and sometimes playing at charity events. It’s just become something that over the years we’ve become more and more involved in over the years. As we did things for other causes, I always felt as great as this was we were missing the potential to tap into our fan base – who are the most generous fans in the world. The few times we have gone to them in a public way or via the Web site to help a cause, the response has been overwhelming. It makes

me very proud to say that. As we started the Claddagh Fund we’ve done several events. We did a skate at Fenway Park when the Winter Classic ice was down; We just did a celebrity bartending night at McGreevy’s and what we’re getting ready to launch – which is kind of the end goal of The Claddagh Fund – is the Friends of the Claddagh Fund, where basically people can pledge their help to raise funds in other cities. Kind of almost satellite chapters of the fund.

When you think about the potential, if a kid takes on that role in Seattle or Sydney, Australia, you have an army of people raising money and at that point, you’re talking raising millions of dollars for good causes rather than $100,000.

I’m really excited about this and to see the response of fans.

Are there specific criteria for where the money goes?

Yeah, the mission statement is obviously about community and friendship and helping each other out and those are the attributes of the Claddagh: Friendship, Love and Loyalty. As far as who we directly help, the three causes we mainly focus on, are children’s issues – whether its financial or medical or just things like a Boys and Girls Club, Anything that aids in easing their hardship in any way. The second was veteran’s issue s and third was alcohol

TRICKY from Page 18 As a high school student you’d already worked with artists such as Aaron Hall and Chanté Moore through your mentor, Louil Silas Jr. What did you learn from him?

Everything that got me to where I am now in my career came from Louil Silas. He was the first person who gave me an opportunity, and not a lot of people were giving [production] budgets to people who were still in high school! (Laughs) The biggest thing I learned from him is that the record is always King: If people don’t react to it or show some sort of emotion, you probably don’t have a hit record. Even if it sounds perfect from a technical standpoint, if it doesn’t strike a chord in people then it’s not gonna connect.

How did meeting L.A. Reid and moving your company to Atlanta impact your career?

The biggest thing he taught me was how to go from being just a producer to being an entrepreneurial creative person. He was preaching ownership and encouraging me to build my own studio, which is the same studio I’m in today. It was about learning to hit the business from a different perspective.

Why do you think Atlanta remains such a hotbed of urban music talent?

Atlanta didn’t just pop onto the scene.

L.A. and Babyface were some of the hottest guys in the business, and they came and put a flag down here. Anybody who wanted to be affiliated with LaFace Records and be involved with what these guys were doing had to be based in Atlanta. That was actually the first line in my contract! But there’s also a natural attraction for anybody in the Southeast with Atlanta because it’s the hub

and substance abuse, because unfortunately that has affected many people in my life. As of right now, with the first event we gave to eight local charities, from Boys and Girls Club to the Franciscan Children’s Hospital to Boston Family Services to the Fisher House, which is a place where family of veterans can stay when the veterans are receiving treatment in Boston. The last event we did, the celebrity bartending, was for Haitian orphans. At the moment it seems bizarre to not be doing something to help out when there is such a tragedy so close to home.

We’ll always try to focus on things close to home and pick some national charities as well.

Have you guys started working on any new songs yet for the next album?

Yeah, we’re about six, seven songs into it and the goal, depending on what the touring schedule does to us, is to be in the studio by the end of the summer. We’re excited about that prospect. By the time an album does come out this will probably be the longest time between records…

It seems like maybe waiting a bit will get people excited.

Either that or they’ll forget about us and move on to someone else. I guess we’ll see.

of where music is now. It’s more accessible than New York or Los Angeles, and people here will extend a hand to help.

What are the key ingredients that make a songs like “Umbrella” or “Single Ladies” into pop classics?

“Umbrella” is extremely melodic and catchy and had a new sound to it, and I think the lyrics meant something to a lot of different people. [The success of ] “Single Ladies” is totally surreal, the way it developed into a cultural phenomenon that you know is gonna be around forever. The night we won the Grammys and were a part of Beyoncé’s moment in history, it was just an amazing feeling.

You’ve got records with Christina Aguilera and Katy Perry scheduled for forthcoming releases. What can we expect from those albums that we haven’t heard before?

With Christina I basically try to develop a totally different sound, because she never wants to hear a record that sounds like anything she’s heard before. She encourages me to stretch out and try new things or find new sounds, so that one was really fun, electro-infused hip-hop stuff. It’s really cool. I’m right on the middle of developing Katy Perry’s record right now, and hers is more a fusion of rock, techno and hip-hop.

Who are the artists you’re listening to these days who inspire you?

I love Lady Gaga. I think she’s amazing, bringing artistry back into the business. I really admire what the Black Eyed Peas do, and I love Kanye West. He does it so well, making the transition from being one of the best rappers in the business to making an album like 808s & Heartbreak. I thought it was amazing.

PG 27 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

SPORTS

DON’T RUSH TO JUDGE

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE ASPECT OF THE GAME ITSELF [THAT IT] IS MOVING ON AND GUYS ARE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOU’RE GETTING OLDER AND A LOT OF GUYS THAT YOU STARTED WITH ARE NO LONGER PLAYING. YOU HAVE TO GET OVER ALL THOSE THINGS. IT’S MORE MENTAL FATIGUE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

NFL great Emmitt Smith tackles his family tree, retirement and the pro prospects of Tim Tebow

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

L

aDainian Tomlinson is at a career crossroads. The 30-year-old running back can either ride off into the sunset álà Barry Sanders or he could postpone retirement a while and sign with Minnesota or some other franchise looking for a little help in the backfield.

So, what’s the former San Diego Charger to do?

For starters, he needs to get Emmitt Smith on the phone. The NFL’s all-time leader in touchdowns and rushing yards, Smith has been in the very spot LT currently finds himself. Smith, who excelled on the high school level and at the University of Florida, won two Super Bowls and was invited to eight Pro Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys before furthering his career with the Arizona Cardinals. Some thought the move showed guts. Many said it was just a stupid way to tarnish a legacy.

Eight years after making the decision to keep the cleats on, does Smith have any regrets? In INsite’s candid with the football legend who recently traced his genealogy on NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are, the 2010 Hall of Fame inductee answers that question, offers LaDainian some advise and shares a few thoughts on that Tim Tebow guy on the eve of the April 22 NFL Draft.

Hip Hop DX: So, tell me what made you want to take this journey publicly in front of America to discover your family roots with Who Do You Think You Are. Well, number one it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a complete family reunion because of, obviously, football activities run throughout the summer and my commitment to my sport. So, when this opportunity presented itself I thought it would be a great way to connect back to my family heritage and take a journey that I thought would be very, very exciting and eye awakening for myself. That’s one reason why I chose to do it.

What do you think that your fans and viewers will get out of watching your episode and the whole season of the NBC show?

I think they get a sense of truly some of the hurt and pain that I was able to feel, especially when you start thinking about loved ones who were mistreated during the darkest times of American history. And, I think, that in itself is moving because then I think the message for me was that opportunities that we do have as African American people here in this great country of the United States of America is for us to take full advantage of those opportunities and handle those open doors so to speak with a great deal of humility. And not only that, but take it to a whole other level because we do add value to this nation that we live in. Our ancestors also added value. Although some of that value has gone unnoticed or unrecognized by some people but times have changed. The legacy of Martin Luther King, where he envisioned a world of blacks and whites and Hispanics and all people coming together to work as one, is starting to happen and has happened. We just need to continue to move the ball forward to make this nation better.

PG 28 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Sports fans obviously can be so obsessive about their athletes. They think they know everything about you. So, what would these people be most surprising to them to find out?

Probably how emotional I really am as a person. For some reason, most people probably have never seen an athlete that is supposed to be this gladiator-type athlete truly getting emotional. And they’re probably completely shocked at how connected I am to, not only my manhood, but also to the emotions of what the world brings and the emotions of other folk. I’m passionate and I’m sympathetic or empathetic to the feelings of others. And so those might be some things that people might see that they may not have known about me.

Your Dallas uniform No. 22 is legendary. Is there a story behind that and your famous number or was it just a case of when you were in college they gave you a number and it stuck?

The story is pretty simple. There was an upperclassman [at Florida] who had Number 24 and I was a freshman, so they just put me into 22 just to go behind John L. Williams. Considering that I was built similar to him, that’s just how it ended up happening.

So, [it was] nothing that I did on my own; just the fact that it just worked out that way.

And you were just like, “I’m cool. This number is as good as any,” right?

Without a doubt. I mean, I couldn’t complain. I mean, I’m a freshman. I’m not going to stomp my feet and bump heads with the upperclassman and try to bogart my way. And not only that, but when you’re an upcoming freshman and you’ve been highly recruited from a national basis, it wouldn’t have been the wisest thing to do to go in with a bunch of arrogance.

When it comes to football these days, do you root for the Cardinals or still the Cowboys?

I root for both of those teams. Now, the Cowboys are my only team that I really truly love. But I root for the Arizona Cardinals because I’ve got guys on that team that I played ball with when I was out there.

And as far as your stats, how protective are you of them? Do you look forward to Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson topping you or do you want to keep some of those as yours?

I don’t even care. I don’t.

LT, Thomas Jones, Brian Westbrook - they’re all at a career crossroads right now. Being someone who has flourished with one particular team and gone on to Arizona, what words of advice would you give those guys as they start new endeavors?

Well, I would look at it this way: One door has closed, another door has opened for a number of reasons. One [opens] to afford you the opportunity to continue to play and to test whether or not your heart is truly in the game or it’s time for you to leave the game. I know every athlete thinks that they want to continue but what they’re going to really find out is how connected their heart truly was to the organization that they played for. And this is an opportunity

for them to, obviously, extend their career. But if they do when they do it, they need to understand that the challenge is. They’re going to have to bring their emotions and sometimes, when you play with the organization for a long period of time and you’ve been in this game, it robs some of the essence of who you are as a football player from you. So, it’s kind of hard sometimes to go and sit in a stranger’s locker room or someone that you’ve normally competed against in their locker room and say, Wow, this is weird. Sometimes you have to deal with the aspect of the game itself [that it] is moving on and guys are getting younger and you’re getting older and a lot of guys that you started with are no longer playing. You have to get over all those things. It’s more mental fatigue than anything else.

If you had a second chance, would you have played out your career like you did and moved on to Arizona?

Oh yeah. I still would do it for two reasons: 1)I was able to get closure when I went to Arizona and I love the Bidwills (the Cardinals owners) because they took great care of me. I mean, I played 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys and those other two years when I left the Cowboys, I said to myself I can continue to do this and I can do it at a high level. I’m better than the guys that they’re trying to replace me with. So, when I went to Arizona, it gave me an opportunity to prove that. It gave me an opportunity to really check myself and really see how much I really love the game. And at that time, I realized that my love for the game was tied so much, so much, to the team that I was playing with which was the Dallas Cowboys. That’s where my destiny lies and I realize that to this day. I was able to say the door is closed.

I’ve played as long as I needed to play. I’ve done all the things that I needed to do. There isn’t anymore for me to do. I don’t need the money. My love for the game is no longer there like it used to be so it’s time for me to

go. I was able to get closure and I think that’s what every athlete truly wants.

As a University of Florida alum, I’m sure you’re interested in the life of Tim Tebow. Obviously, there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding him and how he’s used his fame to endorse his political and religious views. What are your feelings on that and what’s your relationship with him?

Well, the amazing thing is people say he uses his fame for political views etc., etc. We use our fame for everything else, why not to help change the way America is run and the way we think about our homeland? I mean, obviously you’ve got people with different views. So, you’re trying to tell him he shouldn’t use his platform to assist in change? To me, I think that’s absolutely wrong because we use every mechanism that we possibly can in order to win an election or even to make change or affect change.

I think it’s kind of hypocritical of people who walk around with this double standard like he shouldn’t do this, he shouldn’t do that. This is a free country and we leverage every aspect of who we are as a country to get the best that we possibly can for this nation as well as for our own individual families. It’s a shame.

And what do you think of Tebow’s chances in the NFL? I think Tebow has an opportunity. Now, obviously he has a lot of work to do. He has to prove that he can read defenses and make the throws that he needs to make at the next level. It’s not going to be easy, but, I mean, he’s a great leader. He’s probably a hard worker and given the opportunity, I’m sure he’s going to probably make the best of it.

Where do you keep your Dancing With the Stars trophy?

It’s in my family room. It’s still in good shape too, by the way.

2010 MLB Preview Catch. Pitch. Swing. Repeat.

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

S

IMPLE MATH SAYS IF THE 2009 New York Yankees can win a World Series, the 2010 version with many of the same players should be able to add a 28th trophy, too. Of course, the calculation depends on who’s doing the figuring, right? Crunch data with somebody in St. Louis and he’ll tell you the Cardinals are the team to beat.

Present the equation to a fan in Philly and you’ll get Chase Utley and Co. as the answer.

Folks in Atlanta and Seattle only multiply the confusion by stating how they really, really feel like their respected number will be called this year. And while any of those factors could play a role in October, as of now, INsite’s again backing the boys from the Bronx. Derek Jeter. A-Rod. Mark Teixeira. Newly-acquired ace Javier Vasquez. Folks, sometimes the math is just that darn simple.

NATIONAL LEAGUE 1. PHILADELPHIA During a recent preseason game, phenomenal Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said he was “getting stronger and faster.”

People, Howard hit 45 HRs and got 141 RBI a year ago! New ace Roy Halladay may not be stronger, but rest assured his fastball has plenty of zip to it.

2. ST LOUIS Guys like Skip Schumaker and Brandan Ryan, with their combined seven homers, don’t exactly leave opposing pitchers shaking in their stirrups. But the thing is, once they get past them in the order, things get very (Albert Pujols), very (Matt Holliday), very (Ryan Ludwick) scary.

3. LOS ANGELES Manny Ramirez has already gone on record that this would be his last season in Dodger blue. Though we have no reason not to believe him, we can’t but think his mind will change after repeatedly seeing Matt Kemp, James Loney and Andre Ethier go deep.

4. ATLANTA So much talk has surrounded new bats (Jason Heyward) and older bodies (Tim Hudson, Chipper Jones) that a guy fitting somewhere in between, 34-year-old Troy Glaus, might actually be the X Factor to Braves manager Bobby Cox’s swan season.

5. COLORADO Quietly, the great Todd Helton had his best batting average (.325) in five seasons last year. Even more stealth is how Troy Tulowitzki moved into elite shortstop territory.

What should no longer surprise baseball fans is Jim Tracy’s gritty club battling for a pennant.

6. ARIZONA Looks like we were a year early with talk of the D-backs’ renewal. If pitchers Brandon Webb and Dan Harden are healthy, and unheralded sluggers Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton are hungrier, this could be a special year in the desert.

7. CHICAGO CUBS The loveable losers have gone 101 years without a World Series crown. No. 102 is all but assured. However, if Aramis Ramirez is pain-free and Alfonso Soriano earns his money with the bat, the Cubbies could make a Wild Card run.

8. FLORIDA The scrappy Fish have a few questions at

with a lineup that didn’t include Chone Figgins or big-game pitcher Cliff Lee. Having both, alongside the peerless Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Lopez and Ken Griffey Jr, should equal at least six or seven more victories.

8. DETROIT We’ve all but given up on the Tigers around here. Too many seasons now we’ve held out hope on Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera’s postseason quest only to be disappointed. Still, knowing that erstwhile ace Dontrelle Willis has worked his way back to the mound is reason to root for the guys.

ATLANTA’S TROY GLAUS the back of the rotation (Chris Volstad? Anibal Sanchez?), but they have all the answers in the middle of the batting order (Hanley Ramirez! Jorge Cantu! Dan Uggla!).

9. SAN FRANCISCO No offense, Giants fans, but your team simply has no offense. Aubrey Huff (15 HR, 85 RBI in ‘09) and Mark DeRosa (23, 78) just aren’t enough at the plate. Back-to-back Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, however, is more than plenty on the hill.

10. CINCINNATI The Reds are like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Sure, there’s great direction (manager Dusty Baker) and some stunning visuals (Joey Votto and Cuban sensation Aroldis Chapman), but seeing the whole production unfurl before your eyes is a bit underwhelming.

fully, the young squad may have just enough ingenuity for some postseason cheers before the tears.

6. CHICAGO WHITE SOX In Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, John Danks, the Sox clearly have the necessary starting pitching. With Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones at DH, it’s the power situation that’s rather fuzzy.

7. SEATTLE The Mariners won 85 games a year ago

9. TORONTO Two questions fly above the Blue Jays’ dugout: 1) Can a rehabilitated Shaun Marcum be half the ace Halladay was? 2) Can Adam Lind repeat big numbers he put in last year’s breakout season? If the answer’s yes to both, the Jays are too low on this list.

10. TEXAS We all know how important staying healthy and being a little lucky is to a baseball team’s success. With the so-so Rangers especially, the two play an even bigger role now that Vladimir Guerrero is in town and Josh Hamilton is on the rebound.

WORLD SERIES: NEW YORK YANKEES 4, ATLANTA BRAVES 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE 1. NY YANKEES While questions have surrounded the Yanks’ starting pitchers (Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes starting? Andy Pettite retiring?), the things this team can do with a bat –No. 8 hitter Nick Swisher has had a 35-home run season!- are astounding.

2. BOSTON Talk of the Red Sox being slow and old is a bit exaggerated. Yes, David Ortiz, JD Drew and the newly-acquired Mike Cameron are in their mid-to-upper 30s. But baby, you’ve got another thing coming if you think this team’s conceded the AL East crown to New York already.

3. LA ANGELS The Angels are the Gwyneth Paltrow of the American League. Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui and Co. don’t blow you away with their looks, yet something about them just grabs your attention longer than it probably should.

4. MINNESOTA With $184 million and a brand-new ballpark (Target Field), all is very good in Joe Mauer’s world. If the reigning AL MVP gets 30 HR/100 RBI years from teammates Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel, the entire Twin Cities would be blissful.

5. TAMPA BAY Carl Crawford is the franchise’s career leader in doubles, triples, RBI and nearly every other meaningful offensive category.

If he leaves the Rays after this season, add Tampa-area heartache to the list. ThankPG 29 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

Intimacy Starts at Inserection!

FILM

AS REAL AS IT GETS Comedian-Turned-Oscar-Winning Actress Mo’Nique Returns To The Road

BY ALEX S. MORRISON

A

FTER RECENTLY WINNING THE Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Mo’Nique sat down with INsite to discuss her standup comedy roots, her decision to return to the road, and her historic Oscar win.

How does the career you have now measure up against the dreams you had for yourself when you started out in show business?

I’m still in the midst of that dream! I think when I take my last breath, that’s when I’ll come out of the dream. I always imagined it could be like this, so right now I’m just savoring it.

How do you think growing up in Baltimore impacted the way you approach comedy?

For me, Baltimore is a very real place. I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, and that community, the crabs and the harbor all gave me a real sense of home. I still remember Gatsby’s nightclub, where I told my first joke on stage; and Burke’s Comedy Club, where I first realized I wanted to do comedy for real. There’s a sense of realness about Baltimore that I carry with me today.

What were some of the biggest struggles you faced on the path to success in comedy?

The only time I’ve really experienced adversity as a woman in comedy was many years ago, when I was hosting a show. When it came time for them to pay me, they said, “No, you were auditioning.” I said, “You better call the police right now, because somebody’s gonna get carried away tonight!” (Laughs) Baby, I got my $75! It is a male-dominated profession, but I’ve always been able to hold my own. I’ve hardly ever run into situations where it was so blatant and obvious, but when I did it was quickly corrected.

Well, you’ve got this non-nonsense reputation that makes it clear you’re not someone to be trifled with.

Why should any of us tolerate nonsense? It’s like, let’s get the business taken care of, then we can have a great working relationship! But, you know… is that the persona I have, Bret? (Laughs) We just want to be people of fairness.

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For new fans who primarily know you from Precious, what can they expect from your live show?

I am the typical 40-year-old woman saying things on stage that the typical 40-year-old woman can’t say when she’s at her desk at work. She’s gotta wait until she’s at home, on the phone with her girlfriends. I believe that by the time you get to your forties, you’ve got that edge, because you’ve lived!

I obviously have to ask you about winning the Oscar last week. What was your feeling as you walked up to the podium, and how do you think that recognition will change your career?

As I walked up to the podium, I felt like I was walking beside Hattie McDaniel and she was saying, “Thank you for not wavering.” As for how it will impact my career, I feel very blessed and am thankful to God that I’ve had a career for 20 years. I have a late-night talk show, I’m going on my own comedy tour and I was in one of the biggest films [of 2009]. So I’m happy with my career right now, and whatever tomorrow brings is okay. But I’m not looking at that one night to define me.

I’m just curious if going from being an actress best known for Soul Plane to winning an Oscar makes the phone start ringing off the hook overnight.

Immediately, baby! IMMEDIATELY! You walk off the stage and it’s like, “Who is this on my damn cell phone?!”

There was this magazine that called me about a year ago, and of course I can’t give you the name, and they wanted to do a feature story. We said no because we were only doing cover stories, and the emailed back, “That’s a shame.

The only people who get on our covers are mega-stars and Oscar winners.” (Laughs) All you can do is laugh, stay focused and loving, and watch what will happen for you.

A lot of comedians seem to get tired of the road as they get older. What made you decide to do such a huge tour rather than capitalize on your momentum as an actress? #1, I’m a standup comedian at heart. #2, I work for the people who come to my show, who’ve been buying tickets to come see my comedy shows for years. This is my way of saying that I didn’t forget them, that I appreciate them.

That’s why I’m calling it the “Spread The Love” tour, because they’ve been spreading it to me for years.

I THINK WHEN I TAKE MY LAST BREATH, THAT’S WHEN I’LL COME OUT OF THE DREAM. I ALWAYS IMAGINED IT COULD BE LIKE THIS, SO RIGHT NOW I’M JUST SAVORING IT.

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SPORTS

FANATIC

A Monthly Sports Wrap-up

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS Duke’s Nolan Smith, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler, Michigan State’s Durrell Summers and Butler’s Gordon Hayward certainly deserve all of the headlines they’ve received over the past few weeks. Still, a number of other COLLEGE BALLERS have stepped up and caught the attention of fans and NBA scouts alike. Here are 10 to remember: Ali Farokhmanesh (Northern Iowa), LaceDarius Dunn (Baylor), Omar Samhan (St. Mary’s), Jacob Pullen (Kansas State), Eric Bledsoe (Kentucky), Jordan Crawford (Xavier), Wayne Chism (Tennessee), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue) and Ryan Whittman (Cornell).

“Connecticut is certainly as good as advertised. I don’t think I’ve had a whipping like that since I was a little kid and I broke something of my mom’s.”

–IOWA STATE COACH BILL FENNELLY, after his Lady Cyclones were thumped by the Lady Huskies 74-36 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals

Fred Couples

And speaking of the Huskies, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to find the words to describe what the women’s version is doing on the basketball court. Winners of an NCAA-record 75 straight games when we last looked, it’s almost at the point you feel bad for the opposition. Just look at some of these statistics: During its first three Tournament smashings, UConn won by a combined 148 points. The previous record was 131… THE LADY HUSKIES have been to 10 of the past 11 regional finals… The Huskies have won 13 of their past 14 NCAA tournament games, the lone loss coming from the Stanford Cardinal in the national semifinal in ’08.

Think NCAA basketball tournaments are the only place where brackets can be busted? Just you wait until the NBA’S version –For giggles, let’s just call it April Anxiety- gets started. Fanatic is honing in on three teams that seem primed for postseason upsets: Atlanta, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.

While the young, gifted Thunder are a year from making a serious run, we feel sorry for whomever they face in the opening round. However, if either of the exciting, tightly-knit Hawks or Suns squad (both 47-26 at print) made the conference finals, INsite would be the least bit shocked.

“Even when we went through everything this summer, we thought we felt we were a playoff team,” he said. “This is where we thought we would be.

We thought we’d be in the playoffs this year… with [Coach Dave Tippett] coming in and the moves that [General Manager] Donnie [Maloney] made…

So this is not surprising.” –PHOENIX COYOTES PRESIDENT DOUG MOSS, after his team clinched its first playoff berth in eight years “Some of the trades have been tough on me. When Nick Van Exel left, that was hurtful. The Norm Nixon trade was very hurtful, but he made it easy for me because he understood and, still today, Norm and I hug as much as any two guys. So I feel good about that. Firing Paul Westhead was a very, very rough thing because, as a man, I really admired him. When Pat Riley and I realized it was time to part ways, that was sad, the end of an era.” –LA LAKERS OWNER JERRY BUSS “I had a great stretch of golf in 1992 [when I won the Masters], but I must say that these four weeks on the Champions Tour I’m not missing many shots…It was an unbelievable day. The first six or seven holes, there was an eagle, birdies and putts going in from everywhere.”

–GOLFER FRED COUPLES, after winning his third event in four weeks, a first in Champions Tour history And finally…

Of the 12 ESPN “experts” who revealed their Final Four picks before the NCAA Tournament began, only four chose West Virginia and three selected Duke. Not a single person got more than one team right… Here’s the breakdown of how the 4.8 million players in the ESPN Tournament Bracket Challenge did: West Virginia (18.7% picked for the Final Four); Duke (16.9%), Michigan State (1.1%) and Butler (0.3%)… Three NBA teams don’t have a three-game winning streak this year: Golden State, Washington and New Jersey…

Kobe Bryant only has two triple-doubles since the start of the ’06 season… ESPN baseball guru Peter Gammons’ six teams that are better than you think: Colorado, LA Dodgers, Cincinnati, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland and San Diego…

Seen on eBay on March 29: 2010 Masters four-day badge for $5,100.

Must-See TV threaten American Idol for week’s top spot.

2. With Thethe first NFLpick ofDraft (April 22, ESPN, 7:30PM) the 2010 Draft, the St. Louis Rams resurrect their franchise with QB Sam Bradford or DT Ndamukong Suh.

3. TNT/NBA NBA Playoffs, Round One (Starts April 17, ABC/ESPN/ TV, Various) If things hold up, a Thunder/Mavs and Jazz/Suns first-round battle could be epic fun.

4. ABoston at Washington (April 11, NBC, 3PM) likely NHL playoff preview affair.

5. How’s NY thisMets at St. Louis (April 18, ESPN, 8:05PM) for life’s irony? The Mets can’t stay healthy and the middle of the Cardinals’ lineup is just plain sick.

Top 5 Games This Month

1. IfThe Masters (April 8-11, ESPN/CBS, TBA) Tiger emerges from the woods to roar up Sunday’s leaderboard, TV ratings could

PG 31 • insiteatlanta.com • April 2010

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