INsite Atlanta March 2013 Issue by INsite Magazine

MARCH 2013

insiteatlanta .com

VOL. 21, NO. 8 FREE

St. Patrick’s Day Guide! Michelle Williams is Back with Destiny’s Child and FELA! Jermaine Dupri Celebrates 20 Years with So So Def

GOLDEN

GIRL

Jennifer Lawrence Talks Oscar Gold & Next Steps

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT TICKETMASTER.COM AND AT ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS. TO CHARGE TICKETS BY PHONE, CALL (800) 745-3000.

PG 2ATL_InSite_Bodies-Titanic_10X7.indd • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com 1

2/21/13 8:23 AM

CONTENTS • MARCH 2013 • VOLUME 21, NO. 8

#1 Chinese Restaurant in Atlanta

Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

INTERVIEWS 06 10 15 16 17 22 23 24 25 27 27 28 28

Michelle Williams The Chieftans Jennifer Lawrence David Koechner Stars of The Host Jermaine Dupree Baba Salah Director of Bully Tiffany Celebrity Apprentice Joelle Carter Swingin Utters Cowboy Junkies

CALL TO ORDER TAKE-OUT (404) 816-2229

LUNCH SPECIAL

$4.99 (Brookhaven Location)

ORIGINAL AWARD WINNING CHEF

1998-2012 Best Chinese by Creative Loafing | "Mouthwatering Chin Chin spices things up." – AJC Best Chinese – Atlanta Jewish Times | 2 1/2 Stars – Knife & Fork

3887 PEACHTREE RD • 404-816-2229 1100 Hammond Drive • 770-913-0266 Sandy Springs BUCKHEAD/BROOKHAVEN

FEATURES 08 11 12 25 26 29

March Madness Dining Best Irish Bands St. Patrick’s Day Top Romantic Cities Travel Feature March Madness

617 Johnson Ferry Rd • 678-560-5550 East Cobb

1715 Howell Mill Rd • 404-609-5618 Atlanta

699 Ponce de Leon • 404-881-1511 Midtown

270 Rucker Rd. • 770-569-9883 Alpharetta

DELIVERY (LIMITED AREA; MIN $10) CARRY OUT • CATERING • FULL BAR SERVICE

WWW.CHINCHINATLANTA.COM

Healthy Vegetarian Items Always Available

COLUMNS

04 05 05 07 13 18 19 19 20 21 30 30

Around Town On Tap On A Dime Events Under The Lights Movie Reviews Concert Calendar Road Warriors We Got Next Album Reviews Vidiots Favorite Things Fanatic

(Brookhaven Location)

www.insiteatlanta.com STAFF LISTING Publisher Stephen Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Managing Editor Bret Love bret@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Nick Tipton graphics@insiteatlanta.com Sports Editor DeMarco Williams demarco@insiteatlanta.com Local Events Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com Music Editor John Moore john@insiteatlanta.com

Contributing Writers / Interns: Jon Latham, Ryan Loftis, Rodney Hill, Alex S. Morrison, Steve Warren, Dave Cohen, Jennifer Williams, Matt Connor, Ed Morales, Sacha Dzuba, David Weinthal, Benjamin Carr, Kalena Smith, Justin Patterson, Lee Valentine Smith, Amanda Miles, Patrick Flanary, Ian Coverdale CONTACT US 130 West Wieuca Road, Ste. 111 Atlanta, GA 30342 phone (404) 256-4328 • website insiteatlanta.com ADVERTISING INFORMATION (404) 256-4328 • advertising@insiteatlanta.com 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 responsibility should such advertising or editorial appear. No content, i.e., articles, graphics, designs and information (any and all) in this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from publisher.

Check out our Jennifer Lawrence interview on page 15!

MARCH 2013

insiteatlant a .com

VOL. 21, NO. 8 FREE

St. Patrick’s Day Guide! Michelle Williams is Back with Destiny’s Child and FELA! Jermaine Dupri Celebrates 20 Years with So So Def

GOLDEN

GIRL

Jennifer Lawrence Talks Oscar Gold & Next

Steps

insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 3

Around Town

Atlantic Station hosts the Titanic Artifact Exhibition all month. Come see artifacts from the world’s most famous sunken ship. There are 212 pieces of history ready to discover. Go to titanicatlanta.com for tickets and event times.

ALL MAR

Don’t miss “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics, And Painting” all month at the High Museum of Art. More than 120 paints and drawings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are available as well as an important group of photographs by artists who captures the couple’s shared passion for each other and Mexico’s revolutionary culture during the 1920s and 1930s. Visit high. org for more details.

ALL MAR

The Center for Puppetry Arts will host “The Adventures of Mighty Bug” through March 17. The center takes audiences on a trip to Bugville, a jumpin’ little insect community that swings to the Bugville Boogie and the sweet sounds of WBUG Radio star Morpha Butterfly. Watching over the ants, fleas, crickets, water spiders, beetles and bees is the one and only Mighty Bug, a superhero with super strength, smelling, hearing and flying abilities. Go to puppet.org.

ALL MAR

Beginning March 2, visitors to Fernbank Museum of Natural History will stand in the shadow of the largest land mammal that ever lived – the 16-foot-tall Indricotherium. Don’t miss the new exhibition “Extreme Mammals: The Biggest, Smallest, and Most Amazing Mammals of All Time.” Visit fernbankmuseum. org for more information.

MAR 02

Theatre/Film/Performance

Other Stuff

The Gwinnett Center plays host to the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament from March 6-10. Tickets for the entire tournament are $90. Call 1-800-745-3000 for tickets and information. Visit secsports.com for more details.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will host Beethoven’s “Pastorale” Symphony March 14-16 at the Woodruff Arts Center. Tickets are $24-$75. For more information, go to atlantasymphony.org to receive showtimes.

MAR 14

The Atlanta Film Festival returns from March 15-24 with as strong a lineup of films as ever. The festival opens with “Mud” starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Jeff Nichols. The Plaza Theatre will host the opening night events at 7pm on March 15. For a complete listing of films and times, go to atlantafilmfestival.com.

MAR 15

The Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech presents Acoustic Alchemy on Saturday, March 16 at 8pm. The bands mix of jazz, pop and world music intersect in a perfect blend for an evening of music. In more than two decades of performing and recording, the group has established themselves as an ever evolving, powerhouse force in contemporary jazz. The two-guitar attack of Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale makes their music instantly recognizable, leading them to three Grammy nominations. Visit ferstcenter.gatech.edu for tickets and show details.

MAR 16

EGG DONORS NEEDED

Make up to $8,000 Plus Free Annual Exams Reproductive Biology Egg Bank is seeking women between the ages of 21 and 30 who would like to donate their eggs to infertile couples who otherwise could not conceive. The advantages of donating to the RBA egg bank include: Quick compensation of $6000-$8000 as no recipient matching is required Free annual exams up to age 30 Completely anonymous process Free Medical Screening in accordance to FDA guidelines Donation planned around your busy schedule Increased compensation with additional donation FREE Apple® iPad or $500 Referral Reward* Giving someone the gift of life!

For more information about our EGG DONATION PROGRAM call 404-8430579 or visit our website at www.rba-online.com.

New hope. New life.

1100 Johnson Ferry Rd., Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30342 404.257.1900 / 888.722.4483 www.rba-online.com *Donor must complete the entire cycle PG 4 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

Music/Comedy/Sports

MAR 06

Women helping women

• • • • • • • •

Museums/Exhibits/Arts

Acoustic Alchemy Saturday, March 16 Ferst Center Gwinnett Center will host the world famous Harlem Globetrotters on March 17 at 7:30pm. Take in the smooth moves, acrobatic play and inevitable defeat of the Washington Generals. Tickets start at $27. Go to gwinnettcenter.com for details.

MAR 17

The Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center in Decatur will host the 2nd annual “Unity Concert” hosted by the Ken Ford Foundation and “How Big Is Your Dream?!” Foundation. Visit alistco.com for more details.

MAR 23

Music legend Eric Clapton will play Gwinnett Arena this month on March 27 with special guest The Wallflowers. As one of the greatest guitarists of all time, this is not a show to be missed. Tickets range from $59-$99. Go to ticketmaster. com for more.

MAR 17

Say goodbye to the winter blues and a big hello to Spring FUN Break at Stone Mountain Park. Starting March 30, the park will host a variety of fun events including “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – The 4-D Experience,” and Geyser Towers, a one-of-a-kind adventure featuring multiple levels of suspended rope bridges and net tunnels connected to towering platforms that overlook a gushing geyser. For more information go to stonemountainpark.com.

MAR 30

Relive the story of “Charlotte’s Web” on March 30 at Zoo Atlanta. Live the story with a special overnight adventure, in timely conjunction with the Alliance Theatre’s production of the classic children’s story. Meet some of the animals that inspired the book, hide your own message in a spider web, and enjoy hands-on activities. Book a program today on zooatlanta.org.

MAR 30

LoCaL

LOCAL EVENTS

On Tap this Month

EVENTS HAPPENING FOR SMALL CHANGE IN ATLANTA

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

EMAIL EVENTS TO ONTAP@INSITEATLANTA.COM

March 13-17: Georgia World Congress Center

ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

It’s time again for Atlanta’s annual showcase of more than 400 new 2013 import and domestic cars, light trucks, vans and sports utility vehicles. The Atlanta International Auto Show comes to the Georgia World Congress Center. There will be factory and dealer representatives on hand to answer questions with 31 different lines of cars and trucks represented consisting of Georgia’s largest public event for area auto dealers. Tickets start at $10 for adults and $5 for children. Visit goautochow.com for additional details.

March 14-17: Cobb Energy Centre

SANDY HACKETT’S RAT PACK SHOW

Celebrating 50 years of The Rat Pack, Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show has been hailed as the next best thing to seeing the original group themselves. They were style with substance, swing with swagger and a non-stop party that everyone wanted access to. Now audiences can experience this critically acclaimed, hugely entertaining theatrical production. Check out this special event at the Cobb Energy Centre from March 14-17 for five shows. Tickets run from $17-$46.50. Go to cobbenergycentre.com for more.

March 17: Centennial Olympic Park

PUBLIX GEORGIA MARATHON & HALF MARATHON

Maybe you hate yourself. Maybe you think running 26.2 miles is an acceptable distance to burden your body with. If so, time is still available to register for the Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon on March 17. The event will host more than 16,000 runners and head through some of the most noteworthy and historic areas in greater Atlanta, including Piedmont Park, and the start and finish area in Centennial Olympic Park. Online registration closes on March 13. Go online to georgiamarathon. com for more information.

March 23-24: Stone Mountain Village

BLUES GRASSROOTS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

Need something fun for the whole family this month? Stone Mountain Village plays host to a family-friendly event for music lovers this month. Head to historic Stone Mountain Village for music, folk dancing, arts, crafts, food and a kid’s area. The event will feature a bluegrass jam session and two stages of music. The festival runs from 10am-6pm on Saturday and from 11am-6pm on Sunday. The central point of the even is 922 Main Street in Stone Mountain Village. Be sure to visit stonemountainvillage. com for additional community events and details.

March 27: Philips Arena

MAROON 5

If you haven’t had your fill of Adam Levine in film, television and vocal judging reality shows, here’s yet another opportunity. The Maroon 5 front man actually was a musician first. To celebrate the good ol’ days, get to Philips Arena on March 27 as Levine and Maroon 5 state the center stage. Special guests Neon Trees and Owl City will serve as appetizers for what is sure to be a fantastic show. Ticket prices range from $29.50 to $79.50. Get yours before they sell out. Go to ticketmaster.com for more information.

April 2: Cobb Energy Centre

BRIT FLOYD

Celebrate the music of Pink Floyd with the Brit Floyd Pulse World Tour on April 2 at the Cobb Energy Centre. Featuring note-for-note performances of five full album sides from ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘The Wall’, ‘The Division Bell’ and ‘Animals,” this is not a show to be missed. Having performed to over a half a million fans around the world since its first show in Liverpool, England in January 2011, Brit Floyd returns to America with a new tour. Go to britfloyd.com for more.

SIPS IN THE CITY CALLAWAY GARDENS PHOENIX FLIES ATLANTA FAIR

August, forLANDMARKS” Deals Through 28, Check FREE March 1 –Feb. 30,CELEBRATION Children agesWebsite 2-11 - $1 “CITYWIDE OF LIVING Various Downtown Restaurants Callaway Gardens Adults and up - $5 Marchages 5-20,12Free www.atlantadowntown.com 17800 US Hwy after 27 6Around ($8 on Saturday p.m.) the City Various Landmarks Pine Mountain, Georgia Children 2 and under are free. phoenixflies.org This Field summer Turner – Grey Lot promotion encourages callawaygardens.com

atlantafair.com patrons to experience DowntownofAtlanta The Phoenix Flies: A Celebration Living

on ice! Throughout the heated months of Admission Callaway Gardens is Landmarks wastocreated in 2003 by The Atlanta For overAugust, 25 years, the restaurants Atlanta Fair at July and featured in the complimentary through the end of this Preservation Center as abringing way to celebrate the Turner Field has been the thrills, Downtown Dining District willrescue be offering month (Price is normally $15 for adults, 25th anniversary the dramatic of the excitement and of sounds of theguests Midway to refreshing signature cocktails, hip happy $6.50 per child) providing with Fox Theatre, an event that changed Atlanta’s Georgia residents. What was once only a hours and deals that you won’t want tothe miss. the opportunity to forever. enjoy time with their preservation outlook This year, list dream of three carnival-loving brothers from Participating restaurants Atlanta family reconnecting in Theatre, nature. includesand freefriends guided tourshas of include The Fox Southeastern Kentucky blossomed into Grill, Azio Downtown, BLT Steak, Max Free admission includes the Virginia Piedmont Historic one of thePark, largest inner Oakland city fairsCemetery, that the Lager’s, No Mas! Cantina and The Hand Callaway Discovery Center, Day Civil War Atlanta Walking TullieSundial Smith Southeastern United StatesTour, offers. Restaurant. Visit the website for a complete Butterfly Center, Sibley Horticultural Farm House, Margaret Mitchell House, the list deals. Center, Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden, PHOENIX FLIES “CITYWIDE CELEBRATION newofBeltline Park and much more. Callaway Azalea Bowl, Overlook OF LIVINGBrothers LANDMARKS” Garden, Discovery Bicycle Trail, Pioneer March 9 - 24, Free COUNCIL AMERICAN CRAFT SHOW IN ATLANTA Log Cabin, Ida Around Casonthe Callaway Memorial Various Landmarks City March 10-13, Regular admission: $13 phoenixflies.org Chapel, nature trails and daily programs. Children under 12: free Cobb Phoenix Galleria Center The Flies: ACIRCUS Celebration of Living THE UNIVERSOUL Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta in 2003 by The Landmarks was created Feb. 10 - 27, Tickets range from $15 - $35 craftcouncil.org/Atlanta Atlanta Preservation Center as a way Turner Field Green Lot to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 521 Avenue, Atlanta ThisCapitol 3-dayrescue event is the juried fine craft dramatic of the largest Fox Theatre, an event universoulcircus.com Showchanged in the southeast. The show has been that Atlanta’s preservation outlook

By Marci Miller 2011 SOUTHEASTERN HUNGER WALK/RUN HUNGER WALK/RUN 5K 5KFLOWER SHOW Feb. 25 27, Adults $18 in advance) March 13, Noon-4pm, $25($15 for runners 8th ANNUAL BIERFEST March 10, 12:00pmGERMAN – 4:00pm

Youth/Student $7, Kids under Free walkers Saturday, August – 7pm5 are Free $25 forforrunners, free27, for2walkers Cobb Galleria Centre Parking is free ($25 donation encouraged), Parking is free $30 Online, $35 At the Door Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta Turner Field Green Lot Turner Field Green Lot Woodruff Park, Downtown Atlanta 755 Hank Atlanta sehort.org 755 HankAaron AaronDrive, Drive, Atlanta www.germanbierfest.com hungerwalkrun.org hungerwalkrun.org Presented by celebrates the Southeastern This summer event the greatness Join thousands of runners and walkers at Horticultural Society, this annual premier Join thousands of runners and walkers at of German beer in a family-friendly this annual event that benefits the Atlanta gardening event promotes preservation this annual event that benefits the Atlanta environment. Complete with authentic Community Food Bank and five other local and awareness of Community Food Bankflowers and fiveand otherplants local German food, activities forcanthe kids, music nonprofits. Participants register as a through education andBierfest artistic expression. nonprofits. Participants can register as a team and fun, the German is not team or individually online or registeronly the Show activities include speakers, or individually online register the juried dayfor of the authentic German Bierfest in day ofonly the event. Thereor will be activities competition, kids’ activities, Landscape & the event. There will be activities for all ages Atlanta, but the only family-friendly beer all ages including games, live entertainment Discovery Gardens and more. including games, livethe entertainment more. festival well. For price oftheadmittance, & more.asGates open at noon, 5K& run &

Gatesbegin opencan & walk attendees drink all5Ktherunbeer theybegin can walk atat 2noon, p.m. the at 2 p.m. safely consume. Designated drivers are 10th ANNUAL OAKHURST WINE CRAWL encouraged and can attend for free. No one A-TOWN DAY Saturday, Feb. 26, 4 pm-7 pm Saturday, March 16, of 12:00pm –be8:00pm, $10 per under the 21 will permitted to $25 in advance for Tasting Glass A-TOWN DAYage person, children 10 and under are free consume alcohol. A designated driver $30 day26,ofNoon-8pm, event March $5 Booker T. Washington HighbeSchool service will also on site for those who Oakhurst Business District Lakewood atownday.com find themselves in an unsafe condition to oakhurstga.org 2002 Lakewood Ave SE, Atlanta drive home. atownday.com A-TOWN DAY is a year’s healthevent care will festival, Participants in this get concert, and a major day of awareness to sample wines from around the world A-TOWN DAY a health festival, concert, PIGS & PEACHES BBQcare FESTIVAL celebrating all is things Atlanta. A-TOWN while exploring all the businesses in the and a major day of Awareness celebrating August 26 & 27, Friday 5pm 11pm DAY benefits the Washington High School Oakhurst neighborhood. There will be the 20 all Health, things10am Atlanta. A-TOWN DAY and benefits Saturday – 10pm, of Science andFree Nutrition participating establishments and the event the Diabetes Association ofThis Atlanta and will The Ben RobertsonFoundation. Community Center, Kennesaw B-AWARE event expects to sell outpoetry, quickly. The Bus B-Awarelive Foundation. This car event willFur feature www.facebook.com/PigsAndPeaches feature music, show and lots will be onfriendly hand to livefamily music, poetry, cartransport show and participants lots of family of events. from bar to bar. Tickets be purchased friendlyevent events.features acannon-sanctioned The from Steinbeck’s Ale House, ATLANTA BRAVES Backyard BBQ, Anything Butt andUjoint, Peach Opening Day April 1 and Karvana Coffee Shop, locatedCity in Dessert PARK Contest, as well as all a WEEK Kansas INMAN RESTAURANT Turner Field Oakhurst village. Barbeque Society March 28-April 3, $15sanctioned Professional braves.com Contest, is recognized $25 & $35which for three-course meal as a Georgia State NATIONAL Championship Cookoff. IHOP PANCAKEBarbeque DAY CELEBRATION inmanparkrestaurantweek.com The Braves cash kick off their 2013will season OverAtlanta $14,000 and prizes Tuesday, March 1,in7 am-10 pm, Free Pancakesbe on April 1. This year, the team has several awarded to House contest winners. food International of Pancakes Savor tohistoric Inman Park three-course ways save on your visitwith to Besides the ballpark. for sale, and free music from a number of Locations throughout Metro Atlanta dinners from 11 local restaurants. Proceeds “Coca-Cola Two-for-$30 Tuesdays” lets fans local and national acts, festival goers will IHOPPancakeday.com will benefit Project Open Hand, which helps get two tickets for $30 in the Club Level be treated to a Tuesday. large Kid “All Zone (with many people prevent or better manage chronic Pavilion every You Can Eat attractions FREE tounlimited families), vendor On thisthrough day, customers willunique receive one Seats” gives fans smoked BBQ disease comprehensive nutrition care. booths andstack sponsor exhibits. The Silver free short ofand IHOP’s sandwiches, chicken allwillbeef franks, $1 raffle tickets will(three) be wings, sold gofamous towards Wings paratrooper aerial exhibition buttermilk All they ask is team that potato salad,pancakes. peanuts, popcorn, chocolate the charity. The winner of the raffle will win returns toconsider thed’ouerves, event,making andbeer willaand jump intoparty the chip cookies, Coca-Cola products, and draft patrons donation to a hosted hor wine beer for on as low as $50. August Finally, $1through SkyLine festival Saturday, 27. Crowds support local children’s hospitals at Park’s Edge Restaurant for thirty of their Seats areEach available and a half will be treated totwo aPark wonderful display of Children’s Miracle Network orhours other local friends. Inman restaurant willbefore bring every home game at the Turner Field Ticket aerobatics performances in charities. Since beginning tastes from and their patriotic restaurants foritstheNational winner. Office. There discounts college the There will also be ainhuge, fireworks Pancake Day celebration 2006, IHOP The sky. winner willare bealso announced at for the end of students and members of the military. grand finale.more has raised $5.35 millionfortoa the restaurant week.than Check the website support in the communities complete charities list of participating restaurants. in

forever. This year, the list includes The Fox the premiere marketplace for regional fine UniverSoul Circus Theatre, Piedmont Park, Rhodes Hall, Civil craft lovers and The collectors, and offers guests continues itsworksurge War Atlanta Walking Tour, Druid Hills, the chance to meet and purchase from YELLOW JACKET to the top themore. live Grant Park, Castleberry Hill and much esteemed artists from around theof country. To entertainment ranks All tours are free. FAN reachDAY first-time collectors and established craft with interactive funky Saturday, 6, 3pm –its6pm, Free collectorsAugust alike, the newest show category for BUCKHEAD RESTAURANT WEEK rendition of a traditional Bobby Dodd Stadium Grant Field Under $100. participating artists isatHandmade March 9 – 17, $15 UniverSoul has www.ramblinwreck.com Artists who sell workcircus. for under $100 will have $25 & $35 for three-course meal captivated audiences their booths specially marked for patrons Various Buckhead Restaurants around the world Festivities begin at from 3ap.m. on Callaway Plaza interested in starting collection. brwatlanta.com with its unique brand with music, prizes, inflatables and games for that blends circus arts, the kids. From 4-6 p.m. the gates will open ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY FREEand OPEN music. HOUSE During Buckhead Restaurant Week, theater and can enter stadium to meet brunch, and the dinner cuisine from the the Marchfans 12,lunch 11am-3pm, Free Founded in players Atlanta over 2011 Football will be neighborhood’s best restaurants will be AtlantaYellow Motor Jackets. Speedway 17$25 years ago, the at audience seated with their position groups various available on $15, or $35 prix-fixe menus. 1500 Tara Place, Hampton willthe watch infield. amazement as Paul stilt points on playing Head coach Prices are per person and exclude alcohol, atlantamotorspeedway.com walkers make their way across a tight Johnson will sign autographs from 4-5 p.m. tax and gratuity. Participating restaurants rope, horse riders perform death-defying and will be available for photographs from include the Atlanta Fish Market, Chops Visit the track’s Open House for free. Activities stunts, and into Lobster Bar, Aja,contortionists Cantina, Marketbend Buckhead, 5-6 p.m. Please limit autographs to ONE include championship legends racing on the incredible and beautiful shapes. Prime Steakhouse and many more. item per player or coach. be the quarter-mile “Thunder Ring.This ”, freewilldrawings first opportunity to get the 2011 football for big prizes, drive your own car on the track poster well2011 as ofschedule cards, ticket CHEERSPORT NATIONAL with theaspurchase Labor Day NASCAR information and other items throughout the CHEERLEADING & DANCE tickets, fans can select their seats for the Labor afternoon. Most campus parking lots will Day Race Weekend, tour the Speedway’s race CHAMPIONSHIP be available. it operates. FESTIVAL PEACHTREE LATINO control Feb. 18 –tower 20 and suites, take photos with which

the Atlanta $30 for 2-dayMotor pass Speedway pace car and a SIMON GAMEPLAY NASCAR Sprint Series winner’s trophy, $20 for 1-day passCup TOUR Saturday, August 20gift @ shop 10am,and Free discounts much more. Kids Under at5 AMS are Free Discover Mills Mall, Lawrenceville Georgia World Congress Center www.simon.com 285 Andrew Young International Blvd., Atlanta cheersport.net The Simon GamePlay tour will connect fans of all ages to the hottest video cheerleading games before Bring it on…this electrifying they are launched and available in stores. and dance competition features teams The recently launched Nintendo 3DS competing from across America. This gaming system will take center stage with year, it expects to grow larger than ever a “Nintendo Lounge, ” with couches, with over 9003DS teams participating, from snacks and games. Nintendo also offer ages three through college. will Cheersport “Street Pass,”bytournament-style play loved using was founded all-star coaches who Nintendo 3DS devices. GamePlay will competitive cheerleading and dance. feature 10 gaming pods, including 2 mature Check the website for the full competition zones, with products from instrusty leaders schedule. like SEGA, Capcom, 2K and Atari.

Sunday, August 28, 11am – 7:30pm, Free Piedmont Park www.festivalpeachtreelatino.com

Festival Peachtree Latino has been the largest family & multicultural event in the southeast since 2000. They have featured hundreds of exhibitions, family activities, sporting events, parades, arts & crafts, ethnic foods and outdoor musical performances featuring renowned international musicians on two stages. The best part about it is that the event is absolutely FREE!! This year, Festival Peachtree Latino has more to offer, with new attractions and a larger schedule of musical performances.

UPDATED EVENTSWEEKLY. WEEKLY. SIGN UP BY RECEIVERECEIVE UPDATED EVENTS SIGN UPEMAILING BY E-MAILING SUBSCRIPTIONS@ATLANTAONADIME.COM SUBSCRIPTIONS@ATLANTAONADIME.COM

ENTER ON SUBJECT LINE:SIGN SIGNME MEUP UP INSITE! INSITE! ENTER ONTHE SUBJECT LINE: insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 5

THEATER

DATE WITH DESTINY

Hot Off A Destiny’s Child Reunion At Super Bowl XLVII, Michelle Williams Hits Atlanta in FELA! that surprise Destiny’s Child reunion, her transition into acting, and where she hopes to take her career from here.

BY BRET LOVE

HEN I SPOKE TO MICHELLE Williams, it was two days after her surprise appearance alongside Destiny’s Child band mates Beyoncé Knowles How was performing at the Super Bowl? How long had you guys been planning that? and Kelly Rowland during the halftime show It was exciting! It was really, really nice. We of Super Bowl XLVII. planned it for a while– a couple of months It was exactly one week after the release now. We come from an of the band’s new era where we tried to IT SEEMS LIKE I’M compilation CD, Love keep things private and a Songs, which features SEAMLESSLY ABLE TO surprise. We don’t speak a new single called DO IT ALL, AND I WANT much, we just try to do it. “Nuclear” that Williams We were trying to respect co-wrote. TO CONTINUE TO DO SO. the integrity of Beyonce’s It was two weeks before EVENTUALLY I WANT show, so I didn’t want to say the announcement that and still don’t want Williams would star in TO DELVE INTO SOME anything to say much. But it was a a new reality show, My great moment. OF THE BEHIND-THESister’s Keeper, which will follow the recording SCENES THINGS, SUCH What was the feeling like to of her new gospel solo AS DEVELOPING ARTISTS be back with your girls on album. And it was 3 weeks again? AND HELPING THOSE stage before the singer came It was an amazing to Atlanta to star in a THAT ARE COMING UP. experience. It was like we touring production of the just picked up right where Broadway smash FELA!, we left off. It was a big deal for us, but we’re in in which she plays the Nigerian legend’s muse, touch with each other all the time. Sandra Smith. In short, the 32-year-old Illinois native has Can you talk to me about making the an awful lot going on. So we were grateful transition into acting? What’s the difference to get some time on the phone to chat about between controlling everything as a singer vs

. . . x t I e s n e o Whmes t IgnoranCe Is Co

DefInItely not BlIss

at the feminist Women’s health Center’, we provide all the FACTS you need to understand your own body and to make the best choices for your health care. • Empowering gynecological exams • Free pregnancy testing • Birth Control • Emergency Birth Control • Confidential Abortion Care (6 to 25 weeks) • One-on-one decision-making counseling • STD Tests & Treatment • Anonymous HIV/AIDS tests • Transgender Health Services • Donor Insemination Services 1924 Cliff Valley Way atlanta, ga 30329

404-728-7900 www.feministcenter.org PG 6 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

surgi-Center license 044-287

being part of a larger creative community in a movie or play? When you’re performing as a musical artist, you’re pretty much making your own calls on stage, and there is a little more freedom in how you interact with people. With this show, FELA!, it’s different because it’s reenacting his last concert at the Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria. In this show, your interaction with the audience reminds me of someone at a concert. But the thing about theater is that they’re a little more strict about your placement and blocking. If you move here when you’re not supposed to, you can mess up the whole scene or a dance routine. So you’ve got to pay attention.

Did you ever get to meet or talk to Sandra in your preparation for the role? Yes, I talked to her and we emailed each other. She is everything that I knew she would be. I figured she would have to be very feisty and headstrong in order for Fela to really listen to her. I was like, “She’s a baaaaad girl!” He was able to listen to her and wanted to do what she knew he could do. I think she saw his true potential. I think he was very passionate about things, and he had every right to be passionate, but it’s like when you’re arguing with someone and they don’t know the facts. I like how Sandra Izsador wanted to teach him history so that, when he went out and talked about things, he had a great foundation to stand on. What’s funny is that his mom was telling him the same stuff Sandra was telling him. But sometimes it takes someone else telling you in order to get you to see it. He respected, honored, and adored his mother. But I think it’s the same with us growing up: Our mom and dad can tell us things and we act like we’re not listening, but then someone else can come along and tell us the same thing and we hear it. There was an amazing African-American cultural renaissance in the 1970s. Can you talk about that part of the show, and the way it captures that Afrocentric movement where consciousness was staring to expand exponentially? The past two nights that I’ve been back with the cast, every time we do that part in the show, people in the audience clap because they name some amazing names– Malcolm X, Nicki Giovanni, Muhammad Ali.... I think they clap because it takes them back to those times. I do appreciate how that stuff is in the show. I think Sandra wanted Fela to also know that, from Africa to America and America to Africa, we were all dealing with the same thing. But we all still have a long way to go to realize the things that Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were trying to teach us back then. We’re getting better, but we’re not all the way there. Where do you want to go from here in your career? Do you want to keep dabbling in all of these different things? It seems like I’m seamlessly able to do it all, and I want to continue to do so. Eventually I want to delve into some of the behind-thescenes things, such as developing artists and helping those that are coming up. I know you wrote a new song for the Destiny’s Child compilation. Have you guys talked

about doing any future reunions? When we did the compilation, we knew that we should definitely put one new song on this album because people have been soooo supportive of Destiny’s Child throughout the years. We were very excited to do this song together. Like I said earlier, it’s like we picked up where we left off. We were excited because we were, like, “Man, we sound great together!” The harmonies are beautiful. So every now and then, it’d be great to get back together to do something. But we don’t have any specific plans.

Under The Lights MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET MARY POPPINS March 12 - 17 The Fox Theatre Tickets (855) ATL-TIXX foxatltix.com/mdq

April 2 - 7 The Fox Theatre

Tickets (855) ATL-TIXX foxatltix.com marypoppins.com

THE TONY® AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL

Million Dollar Quartet the Tony Award winning Broadway musical inspired by the true story of four rock ‘n’ roll icons, is making its premiere in Atlanta. On December 4, 1956 an auspicious twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley together. Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” who was responsible for launching the careers of each icon, brought the four legendary musicians together at the Sun Records storefront studio in Memphis for the first and only time. The resulting evening became known as one the greatest rock ‘n’ roll jam sessions in history. Million Dollar Quartet brings that legendary night to life with an irresistible tale of broken promises, secrets, betrayal and celebrations featuring an eclectic score of rock, gospel, R&B and country hits including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Hound Dog” and more.

THE WHIPPING MAN

Mary Poppins the hit Broadway musical returns for a limited one-week engagement. Mary Poppins is a story of the Banks family living in a big house in London and in dire need of help. Mary Poppins answer to their prayers, but in the most peculiar way. The musical encourages people to remain hopeful and find the magic in everyday life. With four productions currently running on three continents, Mary Poppins is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years winning 44 major theatre awards around the globe. The entire original creative team has reunited to bring this magical story of the world’s most famous nanny to audiences around North America.

ZORRO

April 3- May 5 Alliance Theatre Box Office (404) 733.5000 alliancetheatre.org/zorro

March 8 - April 7 Alliance Theatre Box Office (404) 733.5000 alliancetheatre.org/whippingman

The Whipping Man the critically acclaimed historical drama and set in Richmond, VA at the close of the Civil War, appears at the Alliance in its first production for Atlanta audiences. In 1865, the Jewish holiday of Passover began the day after Robert E. Lee’s surrender. It’s in this historical moment that Jewish Confederate soldier Caleb returns to his home, finding it in ruins and occupied by two of his former slaves – Simon and John. Bound to each other by their shared faith, history and secrets, the men come together to celebrate the Passover Seder, realizing that it holds even more meaning to them in this moment of uncertainty and newly realized freedom. “This play will blow up your notions of history, family, race and religon” Susan Booth.

North American Tour Cast. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

INSPIRED BY THE ELECTRIFYING TRUE STORY

MARCH 12-17 FOX THEATRE FoxAtlTix.com/MDQ 855-ATL-TIXX GROUPS 10+ SAVE! CALL 404.881.2000

Zorro the legendary character will appear in a swashbuckling new musical set to the thrilling flamenco sound of The Gipsy Kings. Zorro tells the story of Diego de la Vega, the man behind the masked outlaw fighting to restore order in Spanish colonial California. When Diego returns home from Spain, he discovers his father is dead and his brother is running Los Angeles… badly. Diego must resort to extreme measures to free the people from his brother’s oppressive rule without being discovered. The theatrical origin story of this legendary hero is told through the lens of flamenco culture. This musical production consists of more than twenty songs including Gipsy Kings favorites “Bamboleo” and “Djobi Djobi,” as well as new musical numbers created for the show.

“

!”

R HIT E P U S A

– NY Po

As a healthy young female

, you have the power to give the gift of life and love. You can help a couple build the family they’ve dreamed of by donating your eggs...and receive $7,000 for doing it! Donation is completely confidential and health screening is provided at no charge. If you are a non-smoking female between the ages of 21 and 31 and are interested in more information about egg donation, please visit our website or e-mail us at

donor@ivf.com

One Week Only! APRIl 2-7 • FOX THeATRe Groups Call (404) 881-2000 insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 7

MARCH MADNESS Dining Guide

Where to get a bite with friends during the Basketball Tournament Tin Lizzy’s

the middle and thick around the edges. All their menu items are reasonably priced. Their Calzones start at just $5.20 and the Stombolli is $8. Find 11 subs on the menu for just $5.60. The Cheshire Bridge location featured has lunch specials from $6 to $7.40 and offers $5 pitchers of PBR. Call your nearest location for special catering menus being offered for this year’s tournament.

5 Atlanta Locations TinLizzysCantina.com New Location at Emory Point

Chin Chin

Tin Lizzy’s is a fun and casual cantina and taqueria. With five locations you are sure to find one near you. Meet up with friends and catch all the tournament action on their many TV screens. The Taqueria menu goes perfectly with bracket watching. During the tournamant enjoy $3 Tacos and $4 Margaritas. Tin Lizzy’s offers a variety of build your own quesadillas and salads along with great nachos, dips and starters. All locations offer plenty of outdoor seating.

Johnny’s NY Style Pizza

1810 Cheshire Bridge Rd. 404.874.8304 Multiple Locations at JohnnysPizza.com

Brookhaven 3887 Peachtree Rd. 404-816.2229 Multiple locations ChinChinAtlanta.com

Chin Chin is consistently voted Atlanta’s Best Chinese restaurant. Their menu offers the best in Chinese cuisine at affordable prices. The Brookhaven location featured currently is offering an amazing lunch special for just $4.99. You get an entree along with Egg Roll, Soup and Fried Rice. Chin Chin offers dining in, catering and take-out.

Hudson Grille

Five Atlanta Locations HudsonGrille.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

Hudson Grille is the perfect place to catch the game, to meet friends for a great meal, or enjoy drinks from one of their

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

BEST PIZZA!

& Multiple Atlanta Locations: www.JohnnysPizza.com PG 8 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

expansive bars. Favorites from the menu include their 1/2 pound hand-pattied Brasstown Beef burgers, steaks, craft sausages and brats as well as fresh seafood. Hudson Grille offers 50+ draft beers, party rooms and 360-degree views of HD TV's. During the tournament they are offering $2 shorties and $2 beer specials.

Twin Peaks

3365 Piedmont Rd. Buckhead 404.961.8946 TwinPeaksRestaurant.com Twin Peak’s mountain lodge-style sports restaurant is becoming a Buckhead landmark, while the beautiful Twin Peaks girls create scenic views. Twin Peaks offers highquality comfort food with a wide array of sandwiches and salads to choose from. They have an extensive selection of draft beers served from 32 taps. This is a perfect place to sneak out of the office for a couple of hours during those early round games or after work and get together with friends. They have private rooms that may be booked and a lively rooftop patio adorned with the beautiful Twin Peaks Girls.

The Elder Tree Public House 469 Flat Shoals Ave. East Atlanta 404.658.6108 ElderTreeatl.com

This European-style Irish pub serves gastro fare rooted within authentic Irish tradition. The menu, heavily peppered with housecured meats, features hearty pub food, sta-

ples like Fish-n-Chips and Bangers and Mash. You will find great appetizers like Crab Cakes for just $10 and sandwiches like Lamb Sliders and Corned Beef for just $9. Dinner entrees start at just $12. At the bar, there are 13 European beers on draft and a full range of whiskey cocktails. During the tournament their TV’s will be turned from the Premier League to the NCAA.

Agave Restaurant

242 Boulevard SE 404.588.0006 AgaveRestaurant.com

Come to Agave for March Madness and enjoy Two for One Appetizers at the bar from 5pm - 7pm. It’s the perfect spot to watch the games. Looking to celebrate your bracket victory? Enjoy one of the over 100 tequilas and their award winning margaritas. Be sure to sign up for Agave’s VIP email list which features huge monthly discounts and info on all their specials and events.

Chicago’s Nancy’s Midtown 265 Ponce De Leon #A 404.254.5103 NancysPizza.com

iting Mo’s for the first time are sure to find something they like. There is ample space for dining indoors and outside on their patio with plenty of screens throughout. Mo’s also offers take-out and delivery.

Stout Irish Pub

56 East Andrews Drive 404.869-1151 StoutIrishPub.com

agave restaurant

an eclectic southwestern eatery & tequila bar . est. 2000

Reservations at 404 588 0006 or online at : www.agaverestaurant.com 242 Boulevard S.E. Atlanta . 30312

agave restaurant agave restaurant

an eclectic southwestern eatery & tequila bar . est. 2000

Reservations at 404 588 0006 or online at : an eclectic southwestern eatery www.agaverestaurant.com 242& Boulevard . 30312 tequilaS.E. barAtlanta est. 2000

Reservations at

Chicago conjures up images of some the best pizza in America, and that great pizza can be found in Midtown Atlanta at Chicago’s Nancy’s. Part of what has made Nancy’s so famous is the freshness of the pizza. The dough is made from scratch every day, vegetables and toppings are delivered daily and their fresh spices are imported from all over the world. Nancy’s in Midtown has multiple TV screens and seats 70 inside and 25 on their patio. They provide take-out and delivery to the area.

Mo’s Pizza

3109 Briarcliff Rd. 404.320.1258 mospizza.com

404.588.0006

or online at: www.agaverestaurant.com 242 Boulevard S.E. Atlanta 30312 Buckhead's Irish Pub has tons of flat-screen TV's, Golden Tee, Jukebox, Corn Hole and Darts. Their screens are normally tuned in to international football (soccer) weekend mornings but will be carrying all the tournament action in the afternoon and evenings. Stout offers a full premium bar along with wide selection of over 50 beers, dark ales, refreshing lagers and rich stouts on draft. Their menu includes great sliders, salads starters and pub fare sandwiches like the battered fish and award winning reuben.

2012 BEST SOUTHWESTERN CUISINE

Fellini’s

7 Area locations FellinisAtlanta.com

You may know about the burrito chain with the same name, but the original Mo's resides on the corner of Briarcliff and Clairmont Roads. They have been serving up great pizza, sandwiches, wings, and salads here for over 30 years! Mo's has a loyal fan base many whom have been coming for years. Those vis-

Like The Varsity is to hot dogs, 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 PHOTOS BY Mushroom, Ham and Pineapple and Fellini’s MARK PETKO Special. Fellini’s also has great salads and calzones. All locations offer seating indoors and Consistently Voted One Of Atlanta’s BestVoted Restaurants Consistently One Of Atlanta’s Best Restaurants out. Fellini’s is open Monday - Saturday 11am until 2am; 12 INsite noon until Magazine 12 midnight Best of Atlanta Winner INsite Magazine Best of Atlanta Winner on Sunday (most locations). Best Southwestern Cuisine & Best Margarita !! Best Southwestern Cuisine & Best Margarita !!

Over 100 Blue Agave Tequilas ATLANTA’S ONLY OPTION FOR CREATIVE SOUTHWESTERN FUSION

Taste of the month: Wings! Hudson Grille

Stout

Hudson Grille jumbo wings come bone-in and boneless with original Anchor Bar Buffalo wing sauce. The boneless wings are tender, juicy, premium pieces of 100% chicken breast, lightly seasoned and fried. Also try their other flavors: Maker’s BBQ, Sweet and Spicy, Thai Ginger, Lemon-AKI, Jerk, Lemon-Pepper and Sumurai. Wash down their wings with one of their 50+ draft beers. During the tournament they are offering $12.95 Sam Adams pitchers (any variety) and $12.95 Angry Orchard pitchers. The beers are also available at $3.50 a pint.

Stouts Signature Wings come dripping in four degrees if hotness, Southern BBQ, Irish Whiskey-Honey Glazed, Coca Cola-Teriyaki Glaze, Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, Honey Mustard, and Lemon Pepper. You can also order them dry in Chipotle BBQ Spice Rub with Bacon Ranch, Garlic-Parmesan, Ranch Powdered, Sea Salt and Pepper. Wash down their delicious wings from their wide selection of over 50 beers, dark ales, refreshing lagers and rich stouts on draft. Come in for Wing Wednesday and compete to eat 20 Hot Wings. The fastest ten times advance to the finals on July 3rd to win a trip to Mexico!

5 Atlanta Locations HudsonGrille.com

Hooters

56 E.Andrews Drive StoutIrishPub.com

13 Atlanta Locations Hooters.com

Taco Mac

Hooters wings are fresh, never frozen and have been their signature menu item since the first Hooters opened in Clearwater, FL in 1983. Hooters now offers 12 wing sauce varieties on boneless, traditional or naked wings. Every Monday from 6 PM to close, guests can enjoy all you can eat wings for just $10.99 (check with location). Hooters makes you happy!

In 1979 a couple of guys from Buffalo NY were driving down I85 on their way to Florida and stopped in Atlanta. They decided to stay and open up a restaurant that featured the great chicken wings they loved from home and the Taco Mac concept was born. Their buffalo wings have been an Atlanta favorite ever since. Taco Mac wings are fresh, never frozen and offered in Signature, Boneless and Jumbo varieties.

25 Atlanta Locations TacoMac.com

insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 9

MUSIC

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

The Chieftains Frontman Paddy Moloney On the Irish Band’s 50-Year History BY BRET LOVE

Ireland in a small cottage without running water or electricity, and going there for summer holidays was just like paradise. In the evening after work, the melodeon would come down off the dresser and the music and stories would start. My mother bought me a tin whistle when I was six and I taught myself how to play, then I progressed to the uilleann pipes when I was nine or ten, and it all developed from there. I was fascinated by and loved all forms of music.

EGENDARY TRADITIONAL Irish music group The Chieftains– Paddy Moloney on Uilleann pipes and tin whistle, Matt Molloy on flute and tin whistle, Seán Keane on fiddle and Kevin Conneff on bodhrán and vocals– was founded way back in 1962, and though they’ve lost a few members over time, the current lineup has been together for over 30 years now. One of world music’s first breakout success stories, The Chieftains were named Group At what point did you realize you wanted of the Year by London’s prestigious Melody to make a career of it? Maker magazine in 1975 and have racked I was going to be an accountant at one up an impressive range of accolades in the stage! (Laughs) In the late ‘50s, we’d been years since, including winning six Grammy invited to play at various radio stations and Awards (and 18 nominations), being the add music to TV shows. I wanted to put first Western band to play the Great Wall of together a combination using all the old China, and being named Irish instruments, playing Ireland’s official musical traditional Irish music. I ambassadors in 1989. I HAD GREAT came in at the right time. The They’ve worked with The Chieftains 1 came FAITH THAT ONE album practically every legend out in 1962, and it got into in the music business, strange places: The BBC’s John including Luciano Pavarotti, DAY WHAT WE DID Peel was playing it alongside the Rolling Stones, the BEST– PLAYING the Beatles and Rolling Stones. Who, Willie Nelson, Paul I remember meeting him while TRADITIONAL IRISH McCartney, Van Morrison playing the Edinburgh Festival and Elvis Costello. And MUSIC– WAS GOING in 1968. We were all still semitheir last album, 2010’s professional at this stage, and Ry Cooder-produced San TO SOAR, AND I we did a week there and blew Patricio, proved that The everybody away. WASN’T GOING Chieftains have lost none of their creative verve even TO BE STEPPING I’ve read that The Chieftains as Moloney and company DOWN THE LADDER was originally designed to be approach their mid-70s. a one-off project. We recently spoke with BY CHANGING THE That’s true, because there the charming and witty wasn’t much interest in Chieftains frontman about STYLE. traditional Irish music! But the band’s evolution, I wasn’t going to let this go. the challenges of staying I thought there was a big world stage out together nearly 50 years, and the indelible there for The Chieftains to play on. The guys imprint they’ve left on the music of Ireland. didn’t have to leave their jobs until ’75, when I realized the market was there. We sold out I’ve read the Chieftains’ history, but don’t the Albert Hall in London with three weeks’ know much about your life before you notice, and it was time to pull the stakes up. started the band. How did you get into playing music? The folk music scene in the 1960s was My grandfather was a flute player. They centered around singer-songwriters. Did you encounter resistance lived in rural to your all-instrumental approach?

I had great faith that one day what we did best– playing traditional Irish music– was going to soar, and I wasn’t going to be stepping down the ladder by changing the style. Our first concert in the Albert Hall was just music– no flashing lights or smoke screens, and we didn’t have dancers or singers– so to see the crowd dance around the theatre, coming back for encore after encore, was just magic. There were tears in our eyes that night. We didn’t realize that people from the rock world were listening to us, like The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull and Paul McCartney, so the whole social thing started to develop and word got out. We were taking our time and gradually creeping in. Then in ’75, we were on the front page of Melody Maker as Group of the Year. That was huge! You beat out legends like the Stones and Led Zeppelin at a time when you were still working day jobs to make ends meet. How did that recognition change things? We didn’t want to get carried away. There were lots of decisions to be made, and managers came and went because I wouldn’t give in. I wasn’t out there for the quick buck. It was all going to be done a gradual scale… and it still is! We’re in the performing arts, not rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a great living and we’ve had great records, even the last album South Ventricio, did so well and to get an editorial in the New York Times, to get an article written about you in that paper that was something. I know you played your first U.S. concert in 1972. How have audiences for world music changed over the past 40 years? I never knew about this thing ‘World Music’ I was just out for Ireland. I hadn’t even started to mix at that stage. I started playing in Scotland with maybe a Scottish tune thrown in for good measure, incidently we do have a Scottish singer on this tour Alist McCormick who comes from the Island of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland and she sings in some ScotchGaric. She has the voice of an angel. She’d be on tour with us for the concerts in Atlanta.

PG 10 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

You guys have lost a few members over the years, but the core of the band has been together for decades. What have been the keys to a healthy, successful long-term musical partnership? Mat Maloy, Mat put it as I’m the Mammy. I started this whole thing and I’ve kept it together in such a way our order is a democracy, but I come up with something and all the sudden it’s there before they know what’s happening. Sometimes we go on stage and I haven’t even set the program. It all looks very laid back, buts it’s hard work for it to happen. I think good old traditional Irish music everybody in the band has the opportunity to perform- solos, etc. and they trust me and what I do and where I’m coming from. Still no dictatorship or anything about what you should sing or what you shouldn’t play. They are all great musicians in their own right. I have total respect for everybody. We’re like a big family. We still have falling outs, although not so much lately. I remember in the 70’s coming home from Belgium for Christmas and we used to work everyday of the year almost. Two of them hadn’t been getting along and both of them come along saying they were leaving the band after Christmas. I say to myself I’m only going to have four left, but we got over that and talked everything and to everybody. You do get moments like that, but not anymore. Your music has obviously influenced practically every musician to emerge from Ireland in the past 40 years. What artistic legacy do you hope the Chieftans will leave on Irish music? We have influenced quite a lot of young musicians and at the moment we’re the musicians in residence for the World Academy at the University of Limerick. We go down there and give master classes. We’ve got huge respect from our own people. We’ve opened up to people who didn’t know about Irish music that never came to an Irish music concert. That happens at every concert. They’re invited to come along or Van Morrison fans who have listened to Irish Heartbeat and they’ve shown up at concerts. With Gerry Garcia, he was very interested in the band. It’s like one of these great calling cards without pushing it down people’s throat. They came and listed and saw and conquered themselves. They love it or they hate it. Thank God it’s been growing and getting bigger every year. I’ve got to stop, I meant it’s been 50 years, for heaven’s sake.

MUSIC

The Place to Be This St. Patty’s Day!

for St. Patrick’s Day BY BRET LOVE

FEW YEARS AGO WE RAN OUR exclusive Q&A with The Chieftains frontman Paddy Moloney, a legend on the traditional Irish folk music scene. While The Chieftains and some of the more modern Irish artists they’ve influenced (including The Pogues, U2, Sinéad O’Connor, The Cranberries, Damien Rice and Glen Hansard) are all world renowned, there are a host of other traditional Celtic bands worth seeking out as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Here are a few of our favorite traditional Irish folk music artists:

ALTAN

Formed in County Donegal in 1987, this folk band’s sound centered around the fiery fiddle playing and melodious vocals of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (who followed in the footsteps of her famous fiddler father, Proinsias) and her husband, flute/tin whistle player Frankie Kennedy. The duo’s first album together featured a little-known singer who would later become known as Enya, and the critically acclaimed band has since collaborated with legends like Dolly Parton. Although Kennedy died from cancer in 1994 and Ní Mhaonaigh released a solo album in 2008, the band continues to record and tour today.

THE BOTHY BAND

Considering its mere four years of existence, The Bothy Band’s influence on traditional Irish music has been immeasurable. Founded in 1974 after a 25th anniversary celebration for Ireland’s Gael Linn record label, the expansive ensemble included accordion, fiddles, flutes, tin whistles, bouzouki, guitars, harpsichord, bodhrán and vocals. Although they only released three studio albums before their dissolution, members of the Bothy Band went on to join influential acts such as The Chieftains, Nightnoise and Planxty, while fiddler Paddy Glackin established a formidable solo career.

THE CLANCY BROTHERS & TOMMY MAKEM

One of the earliest groups of the Irish folk music revival that began in the ’50s, the Clancy Brothers– Paddy, Tom and Liam (and, for a short time, Bobby)– are widely credited

• Mondays: $7 Fish-n-Chips • Tuesdays: Poker @ 8pm • Wednesdays: $5 Burgers, $1.50 Tall Boy PBR • Saturday: Brunch until 3pm • Sunday: Brunch & $3.50 Draft Beers All Day!

Irish Man Whiskey $4!

Specials

TOP 5 IRISH FOLK MUSIC ARTISTS

$3.50 Drafts All Day! $3 Fire Ball! $5 Jamesons Car bombs

Kids Allowed Mon.–Fri. • Noon–8pm Drink Specials: $2.50 All Domestic Bottle $3 Well Drinks & Fire Ball $4 Margaritas

The Elder Tree Public House

469 Flat Shoals Ave. East Atl • www.eldertreeatl.com • 404-658-6108 ALTAN

with popularizing the sound in the United States. The brothers emigrated to Toronto in 1947 and wound up in New York, where Tom and Paddy established successful Broadway careers. They’re best known for their work with multi-instrumentalist Tommy Markem (who eventually became known as “the Godfather of Irish Music,” and their influential sound inspired American folk artists such as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan.

THE DUBLINERS

Though many people may think of pubfriendly drinking songs when they think of Irish music, the Emerald Isle is also known for some of the greatest protest songs ever written. Named after the famous James Joyce novel, these Irish folk innovators formed in 1962 and went on to widespread acclaim (particularly in Europe) after appearing on the popular BBC program Hootenanny. The band turned down their sociopolitical rhetoric after the conflict broke out in Northern Ireland, but remained influential on artists ranging from Roy Orbison to Jimi Hendrix, and even recorded with The Pogues in 1987.

PLANXTY

Named Ireland’s Greatest Living Musician back in 2007, singer-songwriter Christy Moore had already released two solo albums in the early ’70s before forming Planxty with old schoolmate Dónal Lunny and frequent jam-mates Andy Irvine and Liam O’Flynn. Several critically acclaimed (and commercially successful) albums followed before Lunny left to join The Bothy Band in 1973, and the band broke up in 1975. They’ve reunited several times over the years, adding famous members such as Matt Molloy of The Chieftains and keyboardist/composer Bill Whelan of Riverdance fame. They broke up for good in 2005, though Moore remains a popular solo artist.

St. Patrick’s Day 2013! Saturday March 16, 6am–2:30AM & Sunday, March 17 12:30–Midnight

11 Musicians • 3 DJ’s • 11 Bars • $1 Green Beers $3 Irish Whiskey Shots • $6 Irish Whiskey Cocktails

Worlds Largest Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament! Grand Prize trip to Las Vegas!

Weekly Lineup

MARCH MADNESS BASKETBALL! Great Subs, Sandwiches, Salads & Wings WE Carrying All The Deliver! Tournament Action!

Since 1980

$7.50 LARGE CHEESE PIZZA

(Mondays Only)

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

3109 Briarcliff Rd. | 404-320-1258

$1 DRAFTS

ALL DAY EVERYDAY

AndrewsDistrict.com insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 11

Saint

Patrick’s Day2013

Parades, Races, Events and Festivals

CITY EVENTS FOR A CAUSE St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2013

Saturday, March 16 12:00 Noon Peachtree Street at Ralph McGill stpatsparadeatlanta.com

Celebrate Georgia’s rich Irish heritage at the 131st annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade! This year’s parade features the Budweiser Clydesdales and 2013 Grand Marshal Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. There will be floats, bands of every kind, military units, bagpipe & drum corps, thousands of children, Irish dancers, clowns, high tech firefighting equipment, police units, drill teams, dogs, horses, antique cars, and dignitaries from Ireland. The Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade begins at noon Saturday, March 16, Peachtree Street at Ralph McGill, and proceeds down Peachtree toward Woodruff Park. For additional information, visit stpatsparadeatlanta.com.

St. Patrick’s Day Festival

Saturday, March 16 After Parade Underground Atlanta underground-atlanta.com

On Saturday, March 16 from noon until 6pm, the celebration continues at Underground Atlanta at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Festival goers will enjoy Irish dancing troupes, bagpipers, magicians, and a vendor’s market. Last year the Celtic tunes of Danny Ray Cole and the Seed and Feed Marching Abominable performed. Final planning was still taking place as of press time. to find out more up to mdate information regarding this year’s events visit underground-atlanta.com. PG 12 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

Shamrock ‘N Roll Road Race

Sunday, March 10 Atlantic Station shamrocknroll.org

Celebrate this St. Patrick's Day with music, good food, and a run for charity. The Junior League of Atlanta’s 9th annual ShamRock 'n Roll Road Race presented by Verizon Wireless and Belk hits the streets of Atlantic Station Sunday, March 10. The event raises funds to train and educate the membership of JLA for effective community service, as well as to continue its work in the community. There is a Tot Trot at 8am, 5K race kicks off at 8:30 am, and followed by the 10K at 9:00 am. Dogs and strollers are welcome. Participants will also enjoy post-race festivities including food, beverages and sponsor booths and activities. Action takes place at the Pinnacle Lot off 20th Street downhill from Target. Registration is $30, $35 at packet pickup and $45 on race day. The Tot Trot is $8.00.

Shamrockin For a Cure Saturday, March 9 Alpharetta shamrockinforacure.org

Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade Irish and honorary Irish visitors each year in addition to locals. Festivities begin with the Greening of the Forsyth Park Fountain on Friday, March 8 at noon. The 189th Annual Savannah St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held Saturday, March 16 at 10:15 am. For more info, visit savannahsaintpatricksday.com.

BAR SCENE Fado Irish Pub - Buckhead fadoirishpub.com/atlanta

On March 16, Fadó will open at 7am so rugby fans can settle in to watch 6 Nations Rugby Super Saturday matches live starting with Italy v. Ireland at 10:30am The Outdoor party starts at 6PM with $10 cover charge at the door. Outdoor street festival starts at noon with Irish Dancers, Bagpipers, Andy Birdstall, Secret Sauce, Astral Freaks and the best U2 tribute band in the world, Desire at 9pm!

Stout - Andrew’s District stoutirishpub.com

Eat, Drink and Cure CF. The 5th annual benefit for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will take place on Saturday, March 9 at 7pm at The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta. ShamRockin' For A Cure features a live 80s band, great food and drink, live auction, silent auction and more. Dine on delicious delicacies from 7-9:30pm in the “Taste of ShamRockin” tent. Tickets are $95 per person and includes: admission, entertainment, all food and drink. Every dollar raised at ShamRockin' for a Cure goes to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to support the research vital to combat this deadly disease. Visit shamrockinforacure.org for more info.

ROAD TRIPS

Savannah, GA savannahsaintpatricksday.com

The St. Patrick's Day celebration in Savannah, GA is the city's largest annual celebration and the second largest St. Patrick's Day event in the United States. Likened by some to Mardi Gras, the spirited St. Patrick's Day festivities in Savannah go on for several days, attracting roughly 400,000

The St. Patrick’s Day celebration takes place over two days Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17 at Stout Irish Pub in Buckhead. Things begin at 6AM on Saturday with Kegs and Eggs. There will be live bands, DJ’s, 2 Ice Luges and worlds largest Rock, Papers, Scissors tournament. Two-day passes are available for $10; One Day passes are $8. For more information visit www.stoutirishpub.com

Meehan’s - Atlantic Station meehansdowntown.com

On Sunday, March 17, just a stone’s throw from the starting and finishing line,

Meehan’s Public House is inviting all Georgia Marathon runners to stop by their Downtown location for a St. Patrick’s Day and marathon celebration! Opening nice and early for dedicated runners and spectators alike, there will be plenty of offerings to take the pain of a long run away. There’s nothing The Full Irish Breakfast can't fix, and if you show your runners number, you can enjoy $5 Pints and “Irish Smoothies” until 1 p.m.

The Elder Tree - East Atlanta eldertreeatl.com

The Elder Tree is gearing up for the biggest St. Patrick’s Day event in East Atlanta Village. They will be serving $3.50 Drafts all day, $4 Irish Man Whiskey, $3 Fire Balls and $5 Jamesons Car Bombs. For more information on the days events visit www.eldertreeatl.com.

Park Tavern - Midtown parktavern.com

The Park Tavern located at Piedmont Park will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day all month long! It starts Saturday, March 2nd with Get Shamrock’d featuring Yacht Rock Revue. Then on Saturday, March 9 Spiral Entertainment is hosting Luckyfest 2013 with live performances by Girlz, Girlz, Girlz, Desire and Unzipt. Then on Saturday, March 16th Social Mess presents LEPRE*COM 2013 with Original Beastie Boy DJ Hurricane.

Twin Peaks - Buckhead twinpeaksrestaurant.com

Twin Peak girls dressed up for St. Patrick’s Day! Need we say more. There will also be beer specials and festivities throughout the day. Visit www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com.

COMING NEXT MONTH Festival Issue Call Steve 404-256-4328 to advertise

FILM FILM

TRUMP Movie Reviews CARD BEYOND THE HILLS (NR)

 If the title Ice Age hadn’t been used it could be applied to Cristian Mungiu’s (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) glacially-paced drama of an attempted exorcism in an Orthodox Romanian monastery ruled by a priest whose philosophy is better suited to the Stone Age. Based on an actual 2005 incident, the story is an interesting one that’s told in the most boring way possible. Scenes lasting several minutes are filmed in a single take with a stationary camera. People rarely raise their voices, or even put emotion in them; they may as well be chanting. It begins with the reunion By B. Love of two young women who haven’t seen each s one of AmericA’s most other in three years, since Alina (Cristina successful and high profile businessFlutur) moved to Germany. She and Voichita men, Donald trump was well known (Cosmina Stratan) been mark roommates long before survivor had producer Burnettin an orphanage. Alina wants to resume tapped him to star in the Apprentice. Buttheir relationship, takingthat Voichita back show to Germany there’s no denying the reality with her. Now a nun, Voichita has no intention turned trump from a cartoonish curiosity of leaving. Alina, who doesn’t deal well with into a bona fide phenomenon, with his signanot catchphrase– getting her way, becomes disruptive ture “You’re fired!”–a inextricaforce in thethe monastery andlexicon. most of the film bly entering pop culture isAlthough a series of attempts to control or flounget rid of the Apprentice initially her, culminating in the exorcism attempt, little dered a bit in the ratings, Burnett and trump of whichupon is shown. In theformula aftermath Beyond stumbled a winning by recruitthesecondHills becomes a police procedural ing and third-tier actors, athletes,for a few minutes, but evenforthen it bogs edition down at models and musicians a celebrity the point of wrapping up. A good story is of the show. now in its third incarnation, sabotaged by Apprentice a lot of bad directorial choices. the celebrity tosses disparate Warren stars such as rocker Bret michaels,–Steve wrestler

political repercussions in Japan and the U.S. are more important than Hirohito’s guilt or innocence, MacArthur decides the case hinges on whether the emperor ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor. He assigns Japanophile Brig. Gen. Fellers (Matthew Fox, whose acting makes Channing Tatum look like Daniel Day-Lewis) to get evidence by any means necessary. In scenes that could come from Snitch, Fellers tries to persuade members of the Japanese high command to save the emperor by implicating each other. This triggers long stretches of expository dialogue. When things threaten to become interesting they’re interrupted by about flashbacks look like through reading them (which for so many douchebutcommercials) Fellers’ romance with years, a lot of timesofsomebody that you a Japanese girlsohe met turns in college don’t think of highly out toand be visited a star. in Japan shortly before thewill war. Though You just don’t know what happen withon a deadline and for his pressure the urgent heat ofmission, battle. he finds time to search for her. At one point he interrupts What does a celebrity have to“Idodon’t to really an interrogatee’s soliloquy: need a set themselves and feel showthe thatsame they’re history lesson.”apart If you way, in it to Emperor! win it? caveat i can tell you from seasons 1 and 2 and –Steve Warren

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

from the regular Apprentice, people really want to win. every once inEARTH a while (PG) you’ll ESCAPE FROM PLANET have a quitter, but it doesn’t happen often.  iNot thinklikely the reason do itinis the to be they a factor the level next ofBest intensity feel for race, their charity. AnimatedtheyFeature but a Unlike perfectly the regular Apprentice, where somebody serviceable entertainment if you have kids works for for me 90 for minutes, a pretty good salary a to divert Escape fromfor Planet year, with this one the money goes to charEarth might have been created by overity. Last yearadolescents we raised millions of dollars. caffeinated fed a steady diet of everybody has a charity that they love; rivalry some 1950s sci-fi movies. It’s a story of sibling Goldberg, baseball legend Darryl strawberry, are foundations they’ve set up themselves and loyalty (with family values prevailing in DARK governor SKIES (PG-13) former ron Blagojevich and sharon years in advance of the show. so the i think they the end) and a plot to dominate universe.  together for a variety of teamosbourne really fight more intense because it’s a charThere’s an underused, overkill cast of voice Dark Skies is a haunted house designed movie with building exercises and challenges to ity they’re fighting for. extraterrestrials instead of supernatural talents, including Ricky Gervais as the voice test their business mettle. “the Donald, ” as the crazy-coiffed real from of a computer, in this story of two brothers beings. It begins with a great quote What are your favorite challenges to watch on the planet Baab (pronounced Bob). Gary estate magnate if often known, recently held Arthur C. Clarke about conflicting theories: the celebrities tackle? (Rob Corddry) is the brains who court withwe reporters to discuss the show’s “...Either are alone in the universe or we Supernova Well, we do have a lot of different challengruns mission control, Scorch (Brendan Fraser) current are not.season. Both are equally terrifying.” Keri es, whether we go back to the selling of the the brawn,or adoing dimwitted astronaut who can Russell plays a suburban wife and mother lemonade something else very basic Can us estate. a little bit the selecfight hishaving way out of most of the situations whoyou sellstellreal Sheabout has two boys, an without to deal with Proctor & Gamtion process? he stupidly stumbles into. When Scorch adolescent in a hurry to grow up and a six- ble or Kodak, etc. sometimes [sponsor-based it’s very interesting, many gets trapped by General year-old who’s easilybecause spookedso by his older challenges] areon sortEarth of interesting, butShanker they’re celebrities want boys, to be ifonyou thecount showher after the (William Shatner), who steals technology brother. Three husband expensive for us to do. the ratings suggest success of the previous seasons. We fromtheallfans’ thefavorite aliens part who ofland in Area (Josh Hamilton), who’stwofeeling emasculated that the show by 51, wanted some athletes, some actors, some Gary comes to his rescue, without because he’s out of work. Strange things far is the boardroom, and the initially boardroom models and some around wrestlers, i would say success. should appreciate a riff start happening thesohouse, especially has gottenGrownups longer over the years because ofon probably or seven per spot evolution and an introduction to Earth shown to the six younger son,people involving a we creature that. the challenges still have plenty of time were down.goes thewithout hardest triggering thing is that to visitors. The rest family-friendly that turning comes and the and we’re focused onisboth aspects, butwithout we we really have some good peoplestuff that but wantwell being unbearably juvenile. alarm. It’s standard spooky have been trying to lengthen the boardroom todone, go onforvery But iThen guessRussell maybeconsults we’ll thebadly. first hour. because of strong viewer requests.–Steve Warren save them for the next show, because it looks J.K. Simmons, an expert on these matters like that’s how goingdid to she happen. A GOOD TO DIE HARD (PG-13) (though know what to look for, You’re likeDAY a prosecuting attorney in the  even assuming the world’s foremost authority boardroom. Do you meter your approach to How this season to be different than This movie’s silliness can be wrapped up in one livesisquietly there going in Missouri?). He presides different personalities? past seasons? scene: (Brucepeople Willis) Yes, i think youJohn deal McClane with different over the most interminable exposition scene numbing Well, when you have a success like we’ve “borrows” ai Mercedes-Benz SUVdifferently from a nondeal with Goldberg in recent memory, setting up a climax that’s differently. had, you don’t like to do too many changes. too-pleased Russian driver Blagojevich. to chase afteri some i deal with Governor as disjointed as it is dishonest, which leads to than What we do have is a different tone. the cast baddies his son dealt withthreatening Dennis rodman and(Jai JoanCourtney). rivers a WTF ending. Two thirds of a good movie has been very interesting: they’ve been very Now, you’ve seen wildofcar before, but differently than some thechases other contesis better than none, but be prepared for the tough and very nasty, but there’s also a lot of tants. You have have thatJohn ability. this one from todirector Moore (Max inevitable letdown. fun and humor with respect to what happens, Payne) laughs at any semblance of believability –Steve Warren which i don’t think we had in the last one. How do you the feel vehicle going back in the by having scale pilesboardof other With Joan [rivers] and with Piers [morgan], room after a little hiatus? automobiles, barrel through concrete walls EMPEROR (PG-13) it was really nasty people really hating each i just get a great kick out of it.decent i really likeall and actually come out halfway after  other. these people hate each other, but it’s a lot. they want to renew itunrealistic. for anotherAnd carnage. It’s inexplicably American it is,biggest it would itthe also funny. ieducation think thatbeing mightwhat be the two or three seasons, and we’re thinking But then be a spoiler to revealofthat we won World on top of all that, it’s not even cool. differentiation in terms the three casts. about that. i like having a little bit of a breakin again, nothing about this fifth installment War II… except that that’s the starting point between shows, where it goes on once a year. of Emperor, which about ourbat attempt Can you usually tell is right off the who isto the aging action series really works: Not the storyline (McLane’s son is in Moscow, living win the post-war peace in Japan. Like Hyde going to do well and who isn’t? Do you ever feel someone, a dangerous lifebad Johnabout knewfiring nothing about); Park on Hudson, it wraps a kernel of a good that’s always the most interesting quesor is it just part of the job? not the stunts (Listen, directors, just because historical story ini’da like thickto husk tion to me because think of of verbiage myself always feelsmashes bad… no, intonota always. buildingsomein slow romance. Tommy Gen. a ihelicopter asand being okay with people.Lee ButJones oftenplays i’ll say, times i don’t like people. the hard ones arenot motion does not make it memorable); Douglas is ”sent Japan “this one MacArthur, is going to bewho a star, andtothen he to when you really like and respect somebody decide Emperor Hirohito should turns outwhether to be a dud. You never really know.be squat. The whole time, Willis looks like he’s mistake. an ex-paced justthey theremake for athe check.Like, The astepidly hanged as ayou’ve war criminal. Although potential and You feel like known these celebrities

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER “For families seeking fantasy in the post-Harry Potter world, it’s a fine, serviceable telling of a timeless tale. But for those seeking rip-roaring adventure and the pulse-pounding excitement of the Lord of the Rings films, it’s best to look elsewhere.”

Our review:  movie climaxes in Chernobyl, which, when It’s got a classic fairytale storyline. It’s got an you think about it, makes perfect sense: A impressive supporting cast– including Ewan Good Day to Die Hard is a disaster of epic McGregor as a knight, Ewen Bremner as a henchman, Ian McShane proportions. It turned out to Be a good phrase, ButasIta king– wasbuoying a –DeMarco Williams a genial Nicholas Hoult in the title role. FLuke. durIng the very FIrst show I was a LIttLe And it’s got a director, Bryan Singer, with a exasperated contestants andaction I used IDENTITY THIEF (R) wIth one oF the proven track record for tackling epics. when [producer] Mark the LIne, “you’re FIred!”Unfortunately, that’s where the film’s positive Additional evidence Hollywood to only doattributes end. The is wooden. Burnett andthatI agreed the show wedialogue dIdn’t have comes tothat. Atlanta towe makethought bad movies, Identity The pacing crawls like a wounded snail. The we’d say, “get the heLL out Thief is passably mediocre at the outset, with characters tend towards one-dimensional oF here” soMethIng. Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy playingor caricatures (particularly Stanley Tucci’s to theirscott strengths; but itfrom goesthedownhill fast. power-mad baddie, like he might fact that you raisedwho suchlooks self-sufficient ample, Hamilton, last season. in Florida, thefanidentity his moustache and tie a screaming vixen children? iMcCarthy, had to let scott go. i’msteals a great of scott:of twirl Bateman, in Colorado, wrecking his acredit a railroad track).a lot TheofCGI giants appear i’m getting credit on the chilHe won olympic gold medals and he’s great to Well, and getting him in trouble with the law. so cartoonishly unrealistic, every close-up dren. everybody’s been asking about ivanka champion. But he understood that he made hasn’t violated faces takes completely andtheir the answer is yes,you she’ll be back onout theof aApparently mistake on McCarthy the show and i really had no any of federal ilaws, because hasbecause to go to the movie. And while and his co-star, show. But they’re very Hoult good kids. they went choice. felt very badlyBateman about that, apprehend hera great and bring herbutback Eleanor Tomlinson (asand the they Princess to very good schools, wereIsabelle), great iFlorida, considered him to be person, i to Denver by himself to clear his name and are cute and charming, their relationship on the have to do what’s right. it’s never fun, but it’s students. i couldn’t wait to get them restorewhen his credit. such a flimsy lacks families fantasy the show.spark. i had For no idea the seeking show would be in into easier i don’tWith like somebody or premise when a moviereally, had really betterbad. offer up big laughs to post-Harry it’swhich a fine, isserviceable itsninth andPotter tenthworld, season, pretty they’re keep us from dwelling on it as the odd couple telling of aintimeless tale.ofBut for those seeking amazing the world television. bondsline, on their roadfired, trip”while being pursued rip-roaring adventure and the pulse-pounding That “You’re became a pop culby police, bounty Can hunters There’s been of news surrounding NBC excitement of lots the Lord of the Rings films, it’s ture phenomenon. you and talk mob aboutkillers. the lately, and elsewhere. your show does well for them. origin it? has small and medium-sized best Identityof Thief to look get back it turned to be a good phrase, but it for What you think NBC needs to do to–Bret laughs but out represents a steep decline Love in the ratings game? was a fluke. theafter very Horrible first showBosses. i was director SethDuring Gordon Well,DIES i know (chairman of nBc aMcCarthy’s little exasperated onebackstory of the con-makes JOHN AT Jeff THEGaspin END (R) possiblywith true Universal television entertainment) and, as testants used line,sympathy “You’re fired!” Batemanand andi us feelthesome for her,  know, he’s at newthe to the think he’s When [producer] Burnett and i agreed laugh endrole. of ithe opening after she’s stolen mark hundreds of thousands of Ifyouyou going to do a spectacular at nBc. they to do thefrom showcountless we didn’tpeople. have that.Maybe We the sequence of John Dies at thejob End, a convoluted dollars need more Apprentice. not thought we’d say, “Gethave the hell out of here” or riddle that shows revealslike “thethe awful secret behind screenwriters should counseled Bernie necessarily from a reality standpoint, but something. And all of a sudden America went the universe,” you’ll be hooked and eager to Madoff’s lawyers. theywhat needelse shows that capture Don the imaginacrazy over the show. it happens to–Steve be a Warren great see writer-director Coscarelli tion. catchphrase. tV Guide or one of the major (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep) has in store for frankly, certain that are as onthe should entertainment magazines a poll and, after you. JACK THE GIANT SLAYERdid(PG-13) Sadly, you mayshows get unhooked movie be changed because, while they get some “Here’s Johnny!” and one other great, it was  grows increasingly unhinged, with Coscarelli pretty good get people #3 on the phrases television hisThere wastop time100 back in thein‘80s when fantasy throwing allreviews, mannerthey of don’t weirdness at the watching. tory! thatLabyrinth, was a prettyNever-Ending big honor. it’sStory, been screen it’swhat nice sticks. to get both. We’ve films so(see: to see On the otherhad hand, an amazing thing and anLegend, amazing phrase that those emmywho nominations a lot good acDark Crystal, Willow, The Princess complain and about TheofHobbit being just seems work. and colades passed way,films and that’s always Bride, etc.)towere all itthereally rage.caught On theon,surface, stretched over our three may appreciate it’s an amazing thinga to watch. to that one nice.movie But ultimately to have people thisbeen 3D fable looks like throwback crammed you withhave enough ideas for a watch. nBc is going to really do well. know golden era, halfway between Snow White & trilogy. Along with his wingman, David iWong What do you think is your biggest accomtheir leadership and (the i think they’re winners, the Huntsman and Jason & the Argonauts. (Chase Williamson) Caucasian changed plishment, your business success or the

so i think they’ll turn it around.

insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 13

his name “so I’d be harder to find,” Wong being the world’s most common surname), fellow slacker John (Rob Mayes) experiments with the benefits (hallucinations, temporary psychic powers) and side effects (including death) of a new street drug, Soy Sauce. After encountering all manner of creepy-crawlies, a talking bratwurst, animated inanimate objects and “white fuzz from another dimension,” our heroes wind up in an alternate universe charged with saving a world or two. As police detective Glynn Turman says, “Stuff is both real and not real at the same time.” Maybe you have to be on Soy Sauce to fully appreciate John Dies at the End. –Steve Warren

LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE (NR)

 There’s more than one way to establish a character’s profession. When she first appears you can put a bold subtitle on the screen: HOOKER. Or you can do as Abbas Kiarostami does with Akiko (Rin Takanishi) in Like Someone in Love and show her for over ten minutes in a series of conversations, mostly dealing with her troublesome boyfriend Noriaki (Ryo Kase), but also revealing that she’s a college student and her grandmother is visiting Tokyo for the day. Only gradually does it emerge that the middle-aged man giving Akiko relationship advice is her pimp. He persuades her to see a client, Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), a kindly old professor. He’s apparently just looking for someone to talk to because another long conversation ensues. The next morning Takashi drives Akiko to school and has a long conversation (is there another kind?) with Noriaki. More conservations follow, with occasional long, wordless sequences between. The viewer pans for nuggets of information amid the chatter. Like his characters, Kiarostami doesn’t lie so much as he fails to correct misconceptions. When talk is finally replaced by action he pulls the plug with a cliffhanger ending sure to infuriate some viewers. It’s a difficult, daring style of storytelling, one I would honestly not expect to enjoy; but Kiarostami has surprised me before, and he’s done it again. A FrenchJapanese co-production with an Iranian writer-director and a title from an American song, Like Someone in Love is as Japanese as sushi and as universal as its credits suggest. –Steve Warren

A PLACE AT THE TABLE (PG)

 An eye-opener on the subject of hunger in America, A Place at the Table shows the link between poverty and obesity – that prices rise on fresh fruits and vegetables while they fall on processed foods because agribusiness lobbyists get subsidies from Congress while family farms struggle. The film introduces the vague concept of “food insecurity” – not knowing where your next meal is coming from – and says 85 percent of families in that situation have at least one working adult; but working for a living doesn’t mean earning a living wage. We see Congress debating the Child Nutrition Act in 2011, reducing Obama’s request for $10 billion to $4.5 billion and paying for much of that by cutting money to food stamps; so the kids can eat in school but starve at home. For those who can’t add two and two it’s pointed out that the money the government saves on feeding children today will be spent many times over on healthcare later, with one in three children expected to develop diabetes, among other conditions. Actor Jeff Bridges, who founded the End Hunger Network 30 years ago, adds some starpower; but the real stars are the people struggling to feed their families and those trying to educate children and adults about what they should be eating, and to make it possible for them to afford it. –Steve Warren PG 14 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

SAFE HAVEN (PG-13)

 Nicholas Sparks is the most successful brand name in romantic fiction of the past two decades. Film adaptations are automatic, and sometimes look like they were made on automatic pilot. Out of eight, only one – The Notebook – was really good. In the hands of director Lasse Hallström, Safe Haven looks like it could be another exception. It begins with Katie (Julianne Hough, looking and acting like the young Meg Ryan) as a girl on the run details to be filled in later. She changes her appearance and jumps on a bus, then gets off in a sleepy North Carolina coastal town where the convenience store is conveniently run by Alex (Josh Duhamel), a drop dead gorgeous widower with two kids, a precocious girl and a moody boy. Katie tries to keep to herself, other than working as a waitress in a popular oceanside restaurant and being befriended by Jo (Cobie Smulders), another semi-recluse. Back in Boston a determined police detective (David Lyons) is going all Inspector Javert on Katie’s ass, combing the eastern seaboard for her. The romance between Most Wanted and Most Eligible develops organically, with a cloud hanging over it to give the film an edge. It’s carefully set up for the dramatic fireworks to coincide with actual fireworks as a sweet romance devolves into a cheesy thriller with a final twist you don’t need a Sixth Sense to figure out but you won’t believe they went there. –Steve Warren

SNITCH (PG-13)

 If you saw the trailer for Snitch, you think you know what to expect. Dwayne Johnson’s son gets busted in a DEA sting. He’s semiinnocent but faces ten to 30 years in prison unless he turns in a real drug merchant – or sets up a friend as his friend did to him. The film shines a spotlight on a dirty little secret of our “War on Drugs” that ruins young lives, often without catching real criminals. Anyway, the boy can’t help and won’t betray someone even more innocent; so his dad makes a deal with the US attorney/congressional candidate (Susan Sarandon) prosecuting the case: To offset undue process and get his son released sooner, he’ll infiltrate a local gang by offering a truck from his construction company for transportation. By the time the feds renege on the deal in hopes of catching bigger fish, a lot of asses need kicking and fans of The Artist Formerly Known as The Rock know he’s the man to kick them. Until then he gets beat up, shot at, held at gunpoint repeatedly and even sheds a tear. Eventually you’ll get the action climax you’ve been waiting for, but it may be too long a wait for people who didn’t come to see a tense, well-constructed drama. Johnson’s Oscar is still a few years off but his range increases with each film. He’s as convincing as anyone could be, which is more than you can say for the script, which paints itself out of a corner to deliver the only ending audiences will accept. –Steve Warren

21 AND OVER (R)

 This movie is offensive, crude, infantile, full of foul language and nudity. It’s also one of the funniest films of the last few years. Miller (Miles Teller, Footloose) and Casey (Skylar Astin, Hamlet 2) go to celebrate the 21st birthday of their best friend from high school, Jeff Chang (Justin Chon, The Twilight Saga). Unfortunately, Jeff’s father’s gotten him an 8AM interview for medical school the next morning. But Miller convinces Casey to pressure Jeff into going out for one drink. Predictably, one beer leads to barhopping, body shots, projectile vomiting in slow motion, breaking into a sorority house, a buffalo set loose on campus, a psych ward…

SNITCH “Johnson’s Oscar is still a few years off but his range increases with each film. He’s as convincing as anyone could be, which is more than you can say for the script, which paints itself out of a corner to deliver the only ending audiences will accept.”

Our review:  Writer/directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Hangover) once again manage to show the world how stupid guys can be when old friends get together. The interplay between the Loose Cannon, the Straight Man and the Butt Of the Jokes is very well-written. The pace moves from one excitement to another, rarely allowing lag time to drag the movie down. The raw humor is briefly offset by terrible personal realizations, but overall this is a nonstop festival of crude humor and bromance. Though not necessarily a must-see, 21 And Over is a movie tailor-made for people who began drinking heavily before they began to watch. –Justin Patterson

THE WAITING ROOM (NR)

 I never watched ER but maybe I should have, if their fictional stories were as absorbing as the real-life ones shown in Peter Nicks’ documentary about a day in the life of the Highlands Hospital emergency room in Oakland, CA. “Waiting” is the operative word, with one man said to have waited seven hours for a bottle of Tylenol. A triage nurse, a wonderful woman who’s one of the film’s heroes, ranks people as they arrive, according to the urgency of their complaint. Whatever their rank, everyone moves back a step each time an ambulance arrives with a shooting victim or whatever. A doctor, another hero, tries to keep people from falling between the cracks, including a substance abuser with nowhere to go because his rehab facility won’t take him back. Sure, some people are just there to score drugs; but you can believe the stories of economic hardship, from the independent contractor who hasn’t raised his rates in 35 years but is being underbid by illegal immigrants, to the proud, unemployed, divorced man whose young daughter suffered a throat obstruction on his watch. Film students will want to compare The Waiting Room with 1970’s The Hospital, a similar effort by Frederick Wiseman, one of the fathers of the

modern documentary. Everyone else can just appreciate it for its own considerable merits. –Steve Warren

WEST OF MEMPHIS (R)

 If you’re among the sheeple who believe America’s capitalistic system is still interested in “liberty and justice for all,” you clearly haven’t kept up with the West Memphis 3 controversy. In brief: 20 years ago, three young boys were brutally murdered in Arkansas, and three “alternative” teens were charged with the crimes based on a coerced confession (from a boy with an IQ of 72) and ZERO evidence. Celebs like Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp and Henry Rollins contributed to their defense, as did director Peter Jackson (who co-produced this film with Damien Echols, the alleged WM3 ringleader). Finally, in 2011, the three men copped a bizarre Alford plea: The state of Arkansas agreed to let them go free after they admitted being guilty to crimes that everyone involves clearly knows they didn’t commit. Although the story has been well documented in three Paradise Lost films for HBO, West of Memphis digs even deeper into the crowdsourced investigation that ultimately freed the WM3, and into the soul of Echols himself. The result is an inspiring, often infuriating look at how far the American legal system has fallen, where DAs, judges and law enforcement officials are more interested in career advancement than catching criminals. The WM3’s freedom ultimately comes at a great price, with negligent Arkansas government officials off the hook, innocent men still technically regarded as guilty, and the guilty (a.k.a. Terry Hobbs, the sociopathic stepfather of one of the murdered boys) left to walk the streets. It’s joyous to see Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. set free after spending half their lives in prison for crimes they did not commit. But in the end, the viewer is left well aware that in no way has justice been served. –Bret Love

FILM

SILVER & GOLD

Jennifer Lawrence On the Ups & Downs of Hollywood Stardom BY ALEX S MORRISON

ENNIFER LAWRENCE IS ARGUABLY the finest actress of her generation. Someday, she could be the best in the world. At age 20, the Louisville, Kentucky native became the second-youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscar history for her harrowing turn in Winter’s Bone. Now, at 22, she appears to be the frontrunner to win that category for her role as a recovering sex addict in director David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. At the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Lawrence took time out for a press conference in which she discussed everything from her early career and taking on the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games to working with Robert DeNiro and the stress of Oscar season. Do you like where you are, right now, being this world-famous star? I find that the more I stay in my house, the less I’m overwhelmed by it. So I’ve just been spending a lot of time at my house. It’s overwhelming, but it’s an honor. This is what I want to do. It makes me so happy. I find that I can enjoy myself for the few hours that it takes to do a red carpet, and then I’m ready to go home. Then it’s over and I go back to being normal. How did you get your start as an actor? My mother and I went to New York on spring break because it’s close to Louisville. I’d never thought about acting as a possibility until I was 14 and some man asked if he could take my picture. I was like, “Yeah, sure!” Then he called and said that all these agencies wanted to meet us. So we got in the car and, on the way from our hotel to the modeling agency, I decided I didn’t want to be a model. I was going to be an actress, and I’d only sign with an agency that would let me act. I was turning down these modeling agencies, and my mom thought I was an idiot. She told me all the agencies were lying because they just wanted my money, so we didn’t sign with anybody. We went back to Kentucky and I just begged, every day, [for my parents] to let me try it. They weren’t supportive? Not at first. My parents would’ve never let me go out to New York, but my two older brothers called them and said, “You’ve traveled all over the country with us, for baseball, football and basketball. This is her baseball game. You have to support her.”

I FEEL LIKE THERE ARE A MILLION DIFFERENT SIDES TO PEOPLE. I HAVE A SERIOUS, INTENSE SIDE, BUT I ALSO LIKE TO WATCH STEP BROTHERS.

Did you immediately take acting seriously? Yeah. It was the first time I was ever good at anything. I wasn’t that great at school: I got As and Bs, but I felt dumb every day. We had to do sports in our family, but I never really liked sports. I couldn’t find that thing, which is normal for a 14-year-old. When I found it, I didn’t want to let go of it. I think my mom saw the same thing and didn’t really want to send me back to school, where I wasn’t very happy. She saw how happy I was, living in a ratinfested apartment by myself, just auditioning.

Why were you hesitant about taking on the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games? Because I was happy with my life and I didn’t know if I wanted it to change. I’ve always had this imaginary future in mind where I’d be a soccer mom that drove a minivan, and my kids were normal, and I had the same family I grew up with. That just didn’t fit with taking on a giant franchise. I’d only really done indies before that, and my mom said, “Every time people ask you why you don’t do studio movies, you say it’s because you don’t care about the size of the movie, but about the story and the character. But you’re a hypocrite: Now you have a story and character you love, but you’re not saying yes because of the size of it.” So I said yes, and I haven’t regretted it. What spoke to you about the character of Tiffany, when you read the Silver Linings Playbook script? I loved what she taught Bradley Cooper’s character. I love how she tells him, “You’re not always going to be able to fix yourself, but just like yourself.” I loved her strength and her weaknesses, but her strength is accepting her weaknesses. There was just something about her. I think it’s probably the same reason that audiences have fallen in love with her. What made you decide to do a Skype audition and fight for the role? I’d never done that before. I heard that it was [directed by] David O. Russell and I was like, “Yes!” Then I read the script and fell in love with it. We know he’s the most brilliant director, but he’s also an unbelievable writer. But they didn’t want to hire me because I was too young. He was only going to meet with me on Skype, so I was like, “I guess I’m going to have to learn how to use Skype.” But I had to fight for Winter’s Bone, as well. When it’s the right one, you’ve gotta fight for it.

What was he like to work with? It was probably the best experience of my life because of his passion and spontaneity. It’s really rare that a genius can actually communicate, but he can. He can communicate technically and emotionally, and I’ve seen him tailor himself to whatever an actor needs. Most of my favorite performances from my favorite actors are in his movies. I’ve always wanted to work with him, just to see what that would be like. He’s also one of the warmest, nicest, funniest people that I’ve ever met in my entire life. How intimidating was it to take on Robert DeNiro for that one scene? I never actually read my lines until I show up, and that was not a good day to do that, with a two-page monologue. So I was just focused on memorizing it and trying to get through it. When it came time to do that scene, it was great. I didn’t realize it until mid-way through the monologue, and then I thought, “You are Robert DeNiro, and I am shouting at you!” I was just so busy trying to remember [my lines]. Why don’t you read your scenes ahead of time? I don’t have a specific way of doing anything, so I like to mold myself to whatever the director likes. I find that a lot easier to do when I don’t already have something set in my mind, and I can just show up. Also, acting is just talking: If I start over-thinking it, then I don’t feel natural. You seem to be naturally able to tap into any emotion. Does that come easily for you? I guess, but I feel like everybody has that. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t take pictures. My friend can write the most beautiful songs you’ve ever heard, in 10 minutes. I could never do something like that. Everybody has their gifts. Fortunately, mine is very lucrative.

Do you see a pattern in the type of roles you’ve played and that you’re attracted to? I think good stories follow really strong characters. I remember Jodie Foster telling me that, one day, I was going to look back and see a pattern in the movies I was doing, and that it would reflect something going on in my life. But I don’t know yet. When I look back at them now, it’s like I was a young person with way too much responsibility, and then I turned into an ex-sex addict. Hopefully, a few more movies will help give me a better perspective. Why do you think you’re attracted to dark dramas? I don’t know. I’d hope that every actor who does a dark, intense movie isn’t dark and intense all the time. I’m not. When I was younger, I loved sitcoms. Lucille Ball was my hero. It wasn’t until I started reading scripts that I started gravitating towards those roles. I feel like there are a million different sides to people. I have a serious, intense side, but I also like to watch Step Brothers. How does the Oscar nomination feel the second time around? Are you enjoying it more this time? I think so, yeah. The first time, I was so new to the industry that it was my introduction into this business, which was terrifying. I felt like I didn’t really get a chance to enjoy it because I was so scared. Now, I’m still scared, but I know more people. It’s an incredible honor. I’m afraid I’m going to go my whole life, just being scared like a Chihuahua. It’s not my comfort zone. Making movies is where I belong. I don’t belong on a stage. I shouldn’t be heard, just talking. When you put me on a red carpet or a stage, I turn into Chihuahua Jennifer, so awards season is always terrifying for me. insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 15

COMEDY

THINKING SMALL

Whether It’s Indie Films or Web-Based Comedy, Funny Man David Koechner Keeps On Truckin’ BY IAN COVELL

AVID KOECHNER HAS HAD a very successful career portraying highly memorable comic roles. He’s played opposite Will Ferrell as Champ Kind in Anchorman and opposite Steve Carrel as Todd Packer in The Office. His latest film project, Small Apartments, is about a misfit dreamer trapped in a cramped L.A. apartment complex who finds his grotesque reality intruding on his fantasies of moving to Switzerland. It’s a highly visual, off-beat comedy directed by Swedish director Jonas Akerlund (Spun) with a killer cast including Matt Lucas (Little Britain), Billy Crystal, Rebel Wilson, Johnny Knoxville, and many more. Koechner recently took a few minutes to speak with INsite, and what we found was a gracious, down to earth guy who loves his job and his family.

So you were in a real apartment complex? Yeah, the apartment complex was about to be demolished, so it looks like it could have been in post-war Beirut. I need to update my references, by the way. You’ve been in this business a long time and worked with some pretty amazing comic actors. But how do you handle it when you have to work with a legend the size of Billy Crystal? Did you have an out of body experience? You know, I’m in show business and I’ve met a lot of people, but there’s this part of you that is watching yourself a little bit. When you meet him, you’re like, “Okay, be cool, Koechner!” You don’t want to gush because you don’t want him thinking, “We’ve got to do a scene together. Are you going to be present in it?” He’s a really focused and dynamic performer and… you know, this is a different role for both of us. I get to play a bumbling cop and he plays an alcoholic fire investigator.

Small Apartments has such an amazing cast of actors including Billy Crystal, Dolph Lundgren, James Caan, Johnny Right, this is a very different role for you. Knoxville, and more… how did you get But there’s a thread of similarity to the involved in this project? I am a huge fan of Jonas Akerlund’s work. characters you’ve played in Anchorman or on The Office. What attracts you to His movie Spun blew me away and the a project? script for Small Apartments is, dare I say, Here’s what attracts me audacious. It’s crazy good. HERE’S WHAT ATTRACTS ME to a project: it’s work. Chris Millis wrote the most actors, my novel and the screenplay TO A PROJECT: IT’S WORK. Unlike wife and I have been adaptation. Obviously UNLIKE MOST ACTORS, blessed with five children. between the script and MY WIFE AND I HAVE So if there’s a job lying Jonas, that’s what drew the talent. This is a modestly BEEN BLESSED WITH FIVE around I say, “Yes, what do I need to be budgeted movie at under CHILDREN. SO IF THERE’S time there?” That’s part of it. $2 million. No one was A JOB LYING AROUND I SAY, You have to work. Who making bank on this one. “YES, WHAT TIME DO I knows why I normally get They also shot it really cast as this misogynistic, quickly. NEED TO BE THERE?” homophobic, loud moron. It’s a bit ironic because I couldn’t be further What was the environment like on set? from that type of personality in real life. I Jonas is just a really cool guy. He’s not have a wife, three daughters, and two sons. demonstrative. As he works, you can I love my girls and I’m not in the least bit literally see the gears turning in his brain. homophobic. Who knows? Here’s what I He’s got a translucent head… and he’s a love: I get to play characters like that in robot! I’m kidding. It was a ton of fun. At movies like Piranha-3D, and I also play Fat one point there was a camera strung across Uncle Earl on Hannah Montana. Tell me the top of the apartment complex, much THAT’S not range! like the NFL cameras are strung across the top of the field. It was crazy and wonderful. I know you have an extensive improv

Best Martial Arts

PG 16 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

background, and you got to use it during the filming of Anchorman. Did you get to improvise much in Small Apartments? Well, everyone in Anchorman has an improv background, including the writer, Adam McKay. It’s a rare thing when the writer gives you that much free reign. In that situation, we might do a few takes as written and then do a few more where we we’re allowed to add our take on the scene we’re filming. Small Apartments didn’t really call for that. It’s a modestly budgeted film, so we didn’t have the same luxury with time. It’s also a much more visual picture than Anchorman, so that’s not really the focus. Fair enough. Tell me a little about your new web series, Full On Koechner. It’s really funny and I love your character, Roy. I was watching it by myself at 1:30 in the morning and laughing out loud. Oh good! I love it. I was going to plug that next. This was a partnership with Official Comedy (on YouTube), and they were looking to build content. They funded the production, and we shot 15 episodes for them. Like any web series it needs to be short, so people can watch it at work and not get caught, I guess. So I pitched them a

bunch of characters that are easier to digest in a setting like that instead of me trying to pitch them on a larger series. It gives me an outlet to present them. You know, the Internet is a very democratic platform and there are very popular web series out there with huge subscription bases. These are series that are generating boatloads of money, but most of America might not even know about them. But I think people are still trying to figure out how to harness the power of the Internet as a way to distribute entertainment and get eyeballs to view it. Well, that’s all I’ve got for you today. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. This was fun! You’re welcome. Oh, I want to mention my wife’s website, www.absoluteleigh.com. When people visit they’ll wonder why such a beautiful and funny woman married me. Small Apartments had a limited release February 8th and is also available for viewing on DVD currently through most Redbox locations in the Atlanta area. Full On Koechner can be found on the Official Comedy Channel on YouTube. Also, follow along with David’s adventures on Twitter @ DavidKoechner.

FILM

THE NEXT BIG THING!

Jake Abel and Max Irons Who Star in “The Host” Could Be Hollywood’s Newest “IT” Boys BY MARCI MILLER

HE NEW FILM ADAPTATION of Stephenie Meyer’s book THE HOST already has fans in a frenzy! With close to 350,000 combined Facebook and Twitter followers, fans of the novel are anxiously awaiting to see if the movie lives up to the book. And those in Hollywood are wondering if the next Bella, Edward and Jacob have arrived – only this time it’s Ian, Jared, Melanie…AND Wanda! Yes, actress Saoirse Ronan takes on the dual role of Melanie Stryder, one of the only humans left after a “peaceful” alien invasion and Wanda, the “soul” that has now taken over her body. While Melanie fights from the inside not to give into the alien that lives inside her, the story gets even more complicated when alien Wanda falls for human Ian (Jake Abel) while Melanie’s beau Jared (Max Irons) hangs on hoping that Melanie will one day return to him. All are hiding out in a cave in New Mexico along with a small group of humans determined to fight off the alien invasion. We recently had the chance to speak with both Jake Abel and Max Irons while in town on a press tour to promote the film. Both of these smart, young actors are on the cusp of striking Hollywood gold. While they each boast solid resumes (Jake has appeared in numerous films including the Percy Jackson series and The Lovely Bone – Max is the son of acting legend Jeremy Irons and has appeared in Red Riding Hood and Being Julia), THE HOST may be just the thing to change these unknowns into Hollywood a-listers. Do you think the movie stayed true to the book? ML: Absolutely. I hope that when people see it, they’ll see the essence of the book is there. JA: Even Stephenie herself said that Andrew (director Andrew Niccol who also adapted the screenplay) elevated it at times. How the Seekers look and how the people dress in the world. And the location of Shiprock, where our cave is. She thought it was much more cinematic than she even envisioned. Not only did he take the best parts of the book and condense it down to about 100 pages, visually he brought it to life. Can you tell us a little bit about the film’s locations, specifically the cave in the desert? Well the interior of the cave was in a sound stage in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was amazing though. It was a life size cave. The only thing that wasn’t there was the mirrors that they ended up putting in during post. But our exteriors were out in the deserts of New Mexico. It was incredible. It was really beautiful. We have this really nice shot of us trekking through the desert towards the cave. We did that for about two miles. They kept rolling and they had a helicopter that came right in and skimmed right over us, it was pretty nice. It was really unadulterated land…pure and beautiful. You both have long resumes, but this movie could put you officially on the Hollywood “IT” list. How do you feel about that? JA: That’s the great unknown and I’m glad it’s not our job to worry about it. I will say that if that would allow us to work with the directors we really want to work with and really respect than absolutely.

ML: I think if you think about the Hollywood “IT” list, you are doomed to fail. I think the Hollywood IT list from this year bears little resemblance to the year before so if you think about it in those terms you will eat yourself up. What you’ve got to do is worry about the work and do the work. By doing it, you try to book the next good gig. Its lovely to be appreciated but you can’t control it, it goes up and down.

Jake - you worked with Saoirse on The Lovely Bone – how was it working together again? I did get to know her then. We spent time together in Pennsylvania and a little time in New Zealand. It made it a little easier when I finally had to do a screen test with her. And seeing Saoirse again was a real treat. It was an intimate scene and it took down some of those walls because there was a hint of familiarity. That really helped. She is an incredible talented actress and working with her makes our job easier. What was the most challenging part of filming? JA: There was a day where I had a scene where I was thrashing wheat and they had sprayed it with some sort of chemical and after the first slice, it kicked up all these particles, shimmering particles that were choking and very unhealthy. Then we did a fight scene and all that dust kicked up. There was pretty gross conjecture happening on set. How involved was Stephenie Meyer in the production and did you get to work with her every day? ML: She was there every day and she was great. It’s her creation and her baby. And we’d go up to her and say, “Stephenie, are we doing okay? Tell us what we’re doing wrong, tell us how to do it.” And she would say “No, you’re Jared now, you’re Ian now. If you’re doing something wrong I’ll tell you, but just go with your instinct I trust you, take the wheel.” JA: There was never that type of tone brought into the set. The week rehearsal was an integral part of making this film. We were able to make mistakes, make suggestions. And really figure out all of our relationships as a whole, together. Which is so important because of this cave mentality, survival mentality. So there was really no pressure at all. In a true, apocalyptical scenario, where would you go? ML: I thought about it quite a lot. I’d like to think I would survive. I think I’d build an underground den in the forest. People always stay in the cities in these movies. Why would you stay in the city if you know the aliens are buzzing around? Get out, get a gun, hide in the forest. Steal food, eat squirrels. It’s so obvious. Were the actors who played the “Souls” wearing contacts? ML: Contacts, with a bit of post work to enhance. And I think it was very difficult because when you wore them, you lose your peripheral vision, you get tunnel vision. That plus the dust, it was not a good combination. How much of the film has been digitally enhanced? JA: Its funny for a sci-fi movie, there is very little CGI. It’s all pretty functional and physical. We feared that the exterior of the cave in the

desert would come off as CGI because it was so breathtaking in person. Besides the eyes being enhanced, there’s not much else. Kind of keeps you in the story. No laser guns, real guns. If you had the chance to make the case for humanity of aliens came down, what would you say? Watch “The Host”. Before I saw the film, people would ask the question, “Are Aliens better than humans?” and I didn’t know. But after watching the movie, I’m like “Humans” all the way. Look at all we can do, look how

amazing we are. Look how we survive, look how we can learn and change. What are you working on next? ML: I just spent the last six months in Belgium dressed up in 1450s clothes doing The White Queen for the BBC. I play the king. People bow to you when you walk in the room, and you get to wear a crown. JA: The sequel to Percy Jackson… Sea of Monsters comes out August 22 in 3D. It was supposed to come out originally the same weekend as The Host, but they thought it was too much Jake.

Sandy Springs: 6500 Roswell Rd NE • Sandy Springs, GA 30328 • (404) 497-0701 Little 5 Points: 1111 Euclid Ave NE • Atlanta, GA 30307 • (404) 658-1988 Mon–Sat 11am–8pm and Sun 12pm–7pm • www.ragorama.com

Join the Club • Become a Member

Receive Deals at Retailers and Win Free Tickets to Movies, Concerts, Theatre Shows & Events

More info at www.cinemoms.com insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 17

CONCERT CALENDAR FRIDAY MARCH 1 529 Jungol EARL Aku You EDDIE’S ATTIC Grayson Capps FAT MATT’S John Sosobee FIVE SPOT Mercury Orkestar Brass Band MASQUERADE Mod Sun PHILIPS Pink SMITH’S The Acorns STAR BAR Ken Stringfellow VINYL Stage Affair SATURDAY MARCH 2 529 Whores CENTER STAGE Rahsaan Patterson EARL Efterklang EDDIE’S ATTIC Kurt Thomas Band FAT MATT’S Seminole Jackson FIVE SPOT That 1 Guy MASQUERADE Wicked Winterfest PEACHTREE TAVERN Mama’s Love PHILIPS Nuclear Cowboyz SMITH’S American Aquarium STAR BAR Rod Hamdallah VARIETY Buddy & Jim VINYL Offbeat Hooligans WILD BILL’S Randy Houser SUNDAY MARCH 3 EARL Snowden EDDIE’S ATTIC Cowboy Envy FAT MATT’S Snake Legs MASQUERADE Time & Distance PHILIPS Nuclear Cowboyz SMITH’S Scott Boyer Benefit WILD BILL’S Jessta James MONDAY MARCH 4 529 Featureless Ghost EARL Faun & A Pan Flute FAT MATT’S Pead Boy & The Pork Bellys FIVE SPOT Prentice Suspensions TABERNACLE Dropkick Murphys TUESDAY MARCH 5 529 K. Flay EARL Acid Baby Jesus EDDIE’S ATTIC The Rouge FAT MATT’S Gray Sartin SMITH’S Kevin Scott’s Musicians Jam TABERNACLE Coheed & Cambria VARIETY Eels WEDNESDAY MARCH 6 529 TV Dinner EARL Lily & The Tigers EDDIE’S ATTIC The Last Bison FAT MATT’S Billy George MASQUERADE Bad Rabbits PEACHTREE TAVERN Ocean Street SMITH’S Wild Feathers STAR BAR Fiend Without A Face VINYL The Rocketboys THURSDAY MARCH 7 529 DAMS EARL He’s My Brothers, She’s My Sister EDDIE’S ATTIC Richard Shindell FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE The Gaslight Anthem PEACHTREE TAVERN Deadstring Brothers SMITH’S Aggrolites STAR BAR Abby Gogo VARIETY Here Come The Mummies FRIDAY MARCH 8 529 Mac DeMarco EARL Chelsea Light Moving EDDIE’S ATTIC Ari Hest FAT MATT’S Little Joey’s Big Band FOX Jerry Seinfield MASQUERADE Trapt PEACHTREE TAVERN Cody Canada SMITH’S Adam Klein & The Wild Fires STAR BAR The Defibulators TABERNACLE Excision VARIETY Cowboy Junkies VINYL Afton Showcase PG 18 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

SATURDAY MARCH 9 529 Mood Rings CENTER STAGE No Sere Feliz Pero Tengo Marido EARL Ducktails EDDIE’S ATTIC Mindy Smith FAT MATT’S The Jumpin Jukes MASQUERADE Texas Is The Reason PEACHTREE TAVERN COPE SMITH’S Sol Driven STAR BAR Barreracudas VARIETY The Zombies VINYL Alexz Johnson WILD BILL’S Rockin’ Country Jam SUNDAY MARCH 10 EARL Turbo Fruits EDDIE’S ATTIC Amena Brown FAT MATT’S Snake Legs MASQUERADE The Orwells SMITH’S Rickolus WILD BILL’S Blacklight Teen Party MONDAY MARCH 11 529 Single Mothers FAT MATT’S Pead Boy & The Pork Bellys MASQUERADE Today Is The Day SMITH’S The Old Ceremony STAR BAR Atlanta’s Best Amateur Comedy TUESDAY MARCH 12 529 Masta Killa EDDIE’S ATTIC Stevens Layne FAT MATT’S Gray Sartin MASQUERADE French Montana SMITH’S Natural Vibrations STAR BAR DDDave WEDNESDAY MARCH 13 529 Vaz EARL Yale Women’s Slavic Chorus EDDIE’S ATTIC Aaron Carter FAT MATT’S Billy George MASQUERADE Sleeping with Sirens PEACHTREE TAVERN Eddie Bush STAR BAR Stevie Tombstone THURSDAY MARCH 14 529 deadCat EARL Kishi Bashi EDDIE’S ATTIC Erin Thomas FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE Zomboy PEACHTREE TAVERN Whitey Morgan & the 78’s SMITH’S Zac Martin STAR BAR The Forty-Fives TABERNACLE Gabriel Iglesias VINYL Volt Music Series FRIDAY MARCH 15 529 Swank Motel EARL Smithsonian EDDIE’S ATTIC Sierra Hull FAT MATT’S Sly Dog MASQUERADE Demonaut PEACHTREE TAVERN Revival SMITH’S High Strung String Band WILD BILL’S Green Solo Cup w/ Cup Ford

MONDAY MARCH 18 529 Neutral Fixation FAT MATT’S Pead Boy & The Pork Bellys SMITH’S Thao & The Get Down Stay Down STAR BAR Atlanta’s Best Amateur Comedy

MONDAY MARCH 25 529 Goth Danse Party EARL Mykki Blanco FAT MATT’S Pead Boy & The Pork Bellys SMITH’S The Stone FOXes

TUESDAY MARCH 19 529 Guardian Alien EARL Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles EDDIE’S ATTIC Rachael Sage, Marcel Fruet FAT MATT’S Gray Sartin SMITH’S Kevin Scott’s Musicians Jam STAR BAR Cristo Disco VARIETY Altan VINYL St. Lucia

TUESDAY MARCH 26 529 Javelin EARL Family of the Year EDDIE’S ATTIC ASO Principals FAT MATT’S Gray Sartin MASQUERADE Pyschostick SMITH’S Kevin Scott Musicians Jam

WEDNESDAY MARCH 20 529 Sinkane EARL Parenthetical Girls EDDIE’S ATTIC Sam Lewis & Striking Matches FAT MATT’S Billy George SMITH’S Spirit Family Reunion STAR BAR Ora Cogan TABERNACLE A Day To Remember VINYL Dessa THURSDAY MARCH 21 529 Bambara EARL Tyler Ramsey EDDIE’S ATTIC Elephant Revival FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE The Rocket Summer SMITH’S Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers STAR BAR Cute Boots FRIDAY MARCH 22 529 The Left Field Experiment CENTER STAGE Five Iron Frenzy EDDIE’S ATTIC Eliot Bronson & Yonder Orphans FAT MATT’S The Blues Barons MASQUERADE The Summer Set SMITH’S The Giving Tree Band STAR BAR Calm White Noise TABERNACLE Knife Party VINYL Hey Marseilles SATURDAY MARCH 23 529 Spindrift CENTER STAGE Bilal EARL Noot d’Noot EDDIE’S ATTIC Dala FAT MATT’S Big C & Velvet Delta LOFT The Dear Hunter SMITH’S Ray Wylie Hubbard VINYL Brian Wiltsey SUNDAY MARCH 24 EDDIE’S ATTIC Southern Storytellers FAT MATT’S Snake Legs LOFT The Revival Tour MASQUERADE Otep VINYL Secondhand Serenade

WEDNESDAY MARCH 27 529 Outer Gods EARL Caitlin Rose FAT MATT’S Billy George GWINNETT ARENA Eric Clapton MASQUERADE 4th Dimension PEACHTREE TAVERN Generation NOW! PHILIPS Maroon 5 SMITH’S Brynn Marie STAR BAR Ghost Bikini THURSDAY MARCH 28 529 WYMYNS PRYSYN CENTER STAGE Incognito EARL Brain EDDIE’S ATTIC Mama’s Love FAT MATT’S Chickenshack MASQUERADE The Story So Far SMITH’S Buck O’ Five FRIDAY MARCH 29 CENTER STAGE Incognito EARL Cloudeater EDDIE’S ATTIC Girls Night Out FAT MATT’S Spanky & The Love Handles LOFT The Soul Rebels PHILIPS Alicia Keys SMITH’S Dangermuffin STAR BAR Black Juju VINYL The Apache Relay SATURDAY MARCH 30 CENTER STAGE Satter EARL Big Jesus EDDIE’S ATTIC Michelle Malone FAT MATT’S Jigsaw Johnson SMITH’S LiQUID STAR BAR Desperate Encouters VARIETY Dr. John & The Nite SUNDAY MARCH 31 EDDIE’S ATTIC Jeff Brinkman FAT MATT’S Snake Legs MASQUERADE Sugar Glyder

SATURDAY MARCH 16 529 Behold..the Arctopus CENTER STAGE Passion & Poetry EARL Mission of Burma EDDIE’S ATTIC Roxie Watson FAT MATT’S Mr. Chapman’s Quarterly Revue MASQUERADE The Bastard Suns SMITH’S Sam Holt STAR BAR Carnivores VARIETY Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories VINYL Tortured Soul SUNDAY MARCH 17 CENTER STAGE A Private Dream EDDIE’S ATTIC Buddy O’Reilly FAT MATT’S Snake Legs LOFT Modestep MASQUERADE Hinder TABERNACLE Deftones VARIETY KMFDM VINYL Little Green Cars

PHILIPS ARENA presents Alicia Keys (March 29)

Road Warriors

This Month’s Hottest Shows BY SACHA DZUBA

MARCH 4 – DROPKICK MURPHYS

The Tabernacle The Dropkick Murphys are working-class Boston Irish punk rock with bagpipes, guitars, and semi-chanted lyrics. This Celtic/ Irish/American punk band sounds alot like a mash-up of the Sex Pistols and the Pogues. They’re perhaps best known for their song “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” as featured in the film The Departed. Their latest album, Signed and Sealed in Blood, hit number 9 on the Billboard charts. Grab a guiness and expect a rowdy night of drunken raucousness, blazing bagpipes, and pure unadulterated fun.

MARCH 7 – HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER

The Earl He’s My Brother She’s My Sister are an eccentric blend of musical styles, swaggering and flamboyant with a vaudevillian flair. Brother Robert and Sister Rachel harmonize their vocals along with playing guitar and tambourine, respectively. Oliver Newell provides upright bass grooves and Aaron Robinson haunts with lap slide guitar. Their fantastic sound is rounded out by the glorious Lauren Brown, who adds full-body percussion and energetic

tap dancing as their rhythmn section. “Flamboyant Folk”, “Psych-Acoustic”, with their unique instrumentation and a bent to the theatrical, these performers have a sound that is joyous and infectious. Their audiences tend to erupt in a flurry of dancing, embracing the unusual melding of the modern, the antique, and the bizarre. Check out their first full-length album, Nobody Dances Anymore, and be sure to catch them live in the intimate setting of the Earl.

MARCH 17 - KMFDM

Variety Playhouse KMFDM helped originate the signature sounds of industrial music; the techno/metal crossover that has now become their signature style and is so often emulated by other bands of the genre. This industrial band is credited with bringing the sounds of Nitzer Ebb, Ministry, and Skinny Puppy into the musical mainstream. Their album, Angst, really injected itself into public consciousness with the single “A Drug Against War”; going so far as to be featured on Beavis and Butt-head. Check out the recently released “Kunst”, their eighteenth studio album. Grab your jack-boots and stomp the dance floor along with these German industrial artist’s “Ultra Heavy Beat”.

MARCH 22 – LEONARD COHEN

The Fox Theatre Leonard Cohen is a singer/songwriter, musician, artist, and poet. His work often explores introspective themes such as isolation, sexuality, religion, and interpersonal relationships. Cohen was the subject of fantastic bio-documentary, “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man”. Many famous performers and musicians consider this man an inspiration; most of you will know Jeff Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen tune “Hallelujah”. His twelfth studio album, Old Ideas, was release just last year and was one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 50 albums of 2012. Prepare to explore areas of your soul that you may never have delved into as this consummate artist brings you songs of reflection, loss, beauty, loneliness, and life.

MARCH 27 – ERIC CLAPTON

The Arena at Gwinnett Center Eric Clapton is often considered one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. He is the only person ever to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, as a member of bands Cream, the Yardbirds, and as a solo performer. Clapton was ranked fourth in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. His soon to be released 21st studio album, Old Sock, is filled with covers of Clapton’s favorite songs as well as two new compositions. You’re sure to recognize his hits “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven”. I’m hoping he pulls some things out of obscurity, but I really would love to hear his version of “I Shot the Sheriff ” live. Do not miss this opportunity to see one of the greatest guitarists still alive!

MARCH 29 – ALICIA KEYS

Philips Arena The R&B piano princess with mad clas-

WE GOT NEXT ELECTRIC RIVER

MARCH 30 – MORRISSEY

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Morrissey has had a tough time of it, postponing and canceling tour dates due to his ailing mother and then a bleeding ulcer! He’s better now, rested, and ready to bring his soulful croon to Atlanta. Described by music magazine NME as “one of the most influential artists ever” Morrissey is regarded as an important innovator in indie music. Jangly shoe-gazing guitars, bleak and funny lyrics, catchy choruses, and melancholy emotive crooning is what Morrissey’s music is all about. He’s about to release his own autobiography, and 2013 sees him embarking on what may be one of his last ever tours. Announcing that he’s retiring at 55, this may be one of the last chances to see this legendary performer live. Don’t miss it!

Artists on the verge of making it big

Latest Project: In Your Name (self-released) For Fans of: The Clash, The Killers, The Replacements Why You Should Care: Because these British dance punks may not be big a name in the U.S. (yet), but they are wildly

BY JOHN B. MOORE

sical skills rocks the Phillips Arena. Her latest album Girl on Fire debuted at number one and returns Keys to her classicsoul style of R&B and piano ballads. The 14-time Grammy winner has remarked excitedly that “Girl On Fire has been such an empowering and freeing experience for me as an artist.” Keys has a passionate and raw voice which conveys her every emotion, truly bringing the listened in to understand the emotions and experiences that she is trying to convey. Combine her vocals with her mesmeric and masterful piano proficiency and you have an indomitable musical artist at the top of the genre. Expect a jazz meets classic meets R&B evening of musical performance that will touch you, heart and soul.

HE BEAUTY OF THE INTERNET, beyond porn at your fingertips any given minute of the day, is the ability to discover phenomenally amazing bands, from across the globe, months or years before the tastemakers on high ever get a chance to hear a note. One such band is the UK-based Electric River (www.electricriver.co.uk). The nine-year-old group– probably best described as eclectic punk rock combining influences as disparate as The Clash and The Killers– played a string of massively popular shows at London’s Hyde park to coincide with the Summer Olympics a few months ago. Yet they’re still relatively unknown to U.S. audiences. But they’ve emerged as a favorite among American bands who have been sharing stages with Electric River in Europe over the years, including Gaslight Anthem, Mad Caddies,

popular in their native UK and quickly becoming the go-to tour mates for visiting American bands.

Elway, and on and on. And their latest EP, In Your Name, is likely to knock down even more doors for the band and will hopefully get the attention of a U.S. label and a stateside tour. Will Whisson spoke with us recently about the new EP and filled in some of the band’s background for us. For those in the U.S. who are unfamiliar with the band, how did you first come together? The current lineup of the band was formed way back in 2004 through a mutual understanding of Rock, Pop, Metal and Punk music. We were really fortunate to build a lineup based on friendships first and foremost, before worrying about anything else and I think with us now going into our ninth year it has served us really well. A lot of the early days were solely spent in a garage learning our chops by covering our favorite songs whilst attempting to write our own, or if we weren’t playing music - drinking cheap beer and listening to our prized records. What can you tell me about the new EP? It’s a collection of poignant, catchy, memorable, well-produced songs that stand somewhere in between the lyrical and melodic richness of The Gaslight Anthem and The Killers, to driving vibes of The Clash and Against Me. Are you releasing it in the U.S. via a label?

If given the opportunity, we’d love to but for now we’re happy doing things the old fashioned DIY way; taking orders via our online shop and delivering things ourselves. We’ve been grounded on our DIY ethic for as long as we can remember, so there’s no reason for us to change now, especially as the Internet gives unsigned bands no excuse for not getting things out to those who support them. You guys got a lot of attention from playing Hyde Park during the Olympics. What stands out the most to you about playing those shows? Everything came together really well that day. Over here in the UK a lot of people - and rightly so- were quite pessimistic about the actual benefits of the Olympics to the local community, but politics aside, it was really refreshing to see the human spirit really show itself in its appreciation for music in general that day. The mood and atmosphere was great and one of the best highlights of the gigs happened when we had a jam on “Chariots of Fire” (the Olympic Theme Tune) and got the crowd to slow motion run across the field. The stupidity of the moment made it equally as epic and it was nice to see so many people having a laugh. Do you have any plans to tour the U.S. next year? We have always wanted to come over to the U.S. as we’ve grown up on so much of your

music and know you guys love your bands. As long as we’re unsigned, it’s very hard to see where we’ll get the money to do it but the dream is always there, and hopefully it won’t be long providing our new EP serves us as well as we think it should. You guys are doing a great job getting info out about the band via Facebook, YouTube, etc. Are you surprised by how many people outside of the UK have heard about the band? It amazes us to be receiving such supportive messages from places as far as Japan and Hong Kong as much as it does to get them from places nearer home (i.e. Sweden, Germany, Serbia and of course UK). What’s nice is that the people who do give up their time for us are as real music fans as they come. They don’t need to be told what to like or what to listen to by some mass market publication/reality TV show. That’s something we really dig. Do you anticipate a full length record anytime soon? We’ve been demoing songs for a full length record for the last 18 months and have a huge collection of material that we can’t wait for people to here. Currently we’re just building up funds to produce it to a high standard ourselves and are looking to build and conceive our brainchild for early 2013. insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 19

MUSIC

Album Reviews Reviews by B. Love, John B. Moore, & Lee Valentine Smith

The Dean’s List BLOODKIN – One Long Hustle (Terminus) Perennial underdogs rise again

BL: If there were a dictionary of rock ‘n’ roll history, you’d find a picture of the At h e n s - b a s e d Bloodkin under “Persistence.” Despite the fact that they’ve never garnered anywhere near the notoriety, critical acclaim or commercial success of hometown peers Widespread Panic (who’ve covered numerous Bloodkin songs) or Drive By Truckers, lifelong friends Daniel Hutchens and Eric Carter have been writing, recording and touring together– for better or worse, for richer, but mostly poorer– for the last 25 years. Along the way, they’ve battled alcoholism, obscurity (they don’t even have a page on Wikipedia!) and their own propensity for giving the music business the middle finger. And yet, as the title of 2009’s Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again suggested, somehow Bloodkin keeps finding ways to emerge from the ashes of irrelevance. One Long Hustle is arguably Bloodkin’s most ambitious undertaking to date– a 5-CD boxed set containing 88 tracks spanning the band’s entire career. The project began in 2005, when singer/guitarist Hutchens set up shop in Athens’ Chase Park Transduction with producer David Barbe, wading through over 130 previously unreleased songs. The results, which include everything from early 4-track recordings to an entire CD mostly recorded at Chase Park, offer snapshots of what Patterson Hood has called “one of the most underrated bands on Earth.” From the wild-eyed abandon of opening track “Privilege” and the laconic folkblues of “Can’t Get High” to the more slickly polished “Henry Parsons Diedand the hilariously punk-influenced closer, “Southern Jam 1983,” this is an impressive collection that suggests Bloodkin could’ve been great heirs to the Replacements’ ramshackle bar-band throne. And, who knows? With steadfast support from their Athens admirers and another studio album to rival Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again, maybe they will be.

THE VIEW – Cheeky For a Reason (429)

Scottish indie-rockers get a proper U.S. introduction JM: Over the past year, the label 429 has been building a reputation as a safe haven for ‘90s musicians exiled too soon from the majors (see: Lisa Loeb, Camper Van Beethoven, Soul Asylum, etc.). But if their latest signing, Scottish indierockers The View, is any indication, they have a hell of a knack for picking the next PG 20 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

big thing as well. Cheeky For a Reason– the band’s fourth full-length, but the first that’s been readily available in the U.S.– is a fantastic introduction to a new audience. With a sound that falls somewhere between power pop and indie-rock, The View have a sense for writing catchy hooks and pairing them with cleaver lyrics (you need only listen to “Tacky Tattoo” to be sold on their charm). The driving “Hole In The Bed” sounds like something Squeeze would’ve proudly called their own, while “Lean On My World” manages to come off as beautifully emotional without sounding forced. The View may have started out as highschool kids playing cover tunes. But, with Cheeky For a Reason, they prove that they have enough talent to write the songs other gangs of high school kids will one day be covering.

THE REDWOOD PLAN – Green Light Go (Fish The Cat) More quirk than a Zooey Deschanel movie marathon

LVS: For the follow-up to their 2010 debut, Racing Towards the Heartbreak, Seattle quartet The Redwood Plan defiantly offers an unblinking glimpse into modern melodic punk, circa now. Melody is the band’s key ingredient as usual, but this collection finds singersongwriter/keyboardist Lesli Wood’s songs and delivery at maximum quality and quirk. The catchy anthems have so many hooks, the listener is still grooving on the previous one when the next one pushes it out of the way with an edgy insistence, topped by great vocals. While many bands struggle to have one just great track on a full-length album, the pop-savvy, DIY members of The Redwood Plan have just released 11. Opening with a dramatic synth wash, “Panic On,” throbs as the fast and catchy, emphatic pulse of the disc. Crisp production by veteran producer Martin Feveyear (The Presidents of the United States of America, Brandi Carlile) allows Wood and her band– guitarist Sydney Stolfus, bassist Larry Brady, and drummer Betty ST– plenty of room to pogo this mess around. Green Light Go is a strobe-light party set of songs that are sure to please any ‘80s new-wave aficionado or literate pop-rocker. The title track, cleverly held for the finale, is so infectious, melodic and alluring, it compels the listener to simply hit repeat and shake through the whole collection again.

For more than four decades now, music critics have struggled to properly classify the Cleveland-based band (of which frontman David Thomas is the only constant), tossing out terms like post-punk, New Wave and artpunk in a futile effort to find a shorthand for describing the group’s sound. Lady From Shanghai, the band’s 15th album, is not exactly going to clear things up for anyone. The band remains just as uncompromising as ever, putting occasionally hard-todecipher vocals over layers and layers of sounds that are still a challenge for the casual listener to get into. But, with repeated listens, there are a number of songs that start to stand out from the rest (most notably “Nothing Happened” and “Musicians Are Scum”). While you’re never going to catch yourself humming these songs in the shower, spend enough time with the record and you’ll begin to realize how Pere Ubu has built up such a loyal (though admittedly cult) following over the years. (B)

TONY BENNETT – As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook Classics (Concord) Timeless classics from the vault

LVS: While Tony Bennett continues to have great success with his popular “Duets” series and live shows, one of his former labels has raided the ol’ dusty vaults again. There’s a cache of great stuff in there, just waiting to be heard by a whole new audience, including some recordings that were “lost” or underappreciated at the time of original release. This collection features tracks from his mid-’70s period; songs originally released on his own label, Improv Records. Now in the hands of Concord Records, the material is getting proper respect as well as periodic retrospective releases. As the turbulent events of the decade unfolded for the music scene (and for Bennett himself ), the prolific entertainer worked the showcases of Vegas, as he continued to issue a number of great sides with little or no promotion. Material from “The Great American Songbook” has always been a staple of his live performances, and this edition gathers familiar songs by Rodgers and Hart (“Blue Moon,” “The Lady Is A Tramp”), the title track (from Casablanca), and even a Cole Porter medley. Remastered and packaged with new liner notes, the album serves as a reminder of how great Bennett was, even at a low-point. As a bonus, a rare live version of his signature PERE UBU – Lady From Shanghai tune, “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” (Fire) closes out the cozy set. The arrangements– Odd Cleveland rockers, still confusing 40 years later mostly by his musical director of the era, Torrie Zito– complement the oft-rendered JM: To call experimental rockers Pere Ubu songs as enduring treasures to be enjoyed… an acquired taste is an understatement. as time goes by. (B+)

Rest of the Class

THORCRAFT COBRA – Count It In (Plaza Bowl)

New duo boasts an impressive list of influences JM: Somewhere between Big Star and Urge Overkill records, you’ll find Count it In, the first full- length from Thorcraft Cobra. Comprised of Billy Zimmer and Tammy Glover (each a refugee from other bands) and a handful of guests, including Steve McDonald of Redd Kross, Thorcraft Cobra is a pop-rock band completely stripped of pretentions, crammed with myriad influences, and amazingly satisfying. There’s not a single weak track out of the 14 that make up this debut. Big fat hooks and sweet harmonies are apparently the hallmarks of the band, with songs like “True Love,” “Obsession” and “Bemused, Bored and Deranged” standing out in a field crowded with other strong contenders. The duo also has an EP to its name, and Count It In apparently took a while to come together, so there’s always the danger that this will be an infrequent collaboration (or worse, a brilliant, one-off experiment). Let’s hope not, because, in a year where every other band is desperately trying to folk it up for Mumford & Sons-like success, it’s great to hear a group like Thorcraft Cobra that clearly likes making music that’s trying to do more than simply sell a ton of downloads. (B+)

THE BLUE NILE – A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats (Virgin) Scottish ambient band gets re-release treatment

JM: Though not the same sort of household names as peers like Bryan Ferry and Kate Bush, Scottish ambient/ soft-rockers The Blue Nile built up a tight cult following thanks to an impressive collection of songs in the ‘80s. The bulk of their success was spread out over two solid albums– A Walk Across the Rooftops and its follow up, Hats. They had a comeback of sorts in the mid-‘90s, and again 10 years after that, but neither could match their first two efforts. Digging into the crates, the folks at Virgin/ EMI have re-released those albums with an added CD each of previously unreleased songs and mixes. The additional CDs are far from a massive dump of anything old lying around (A Walk… only includes seven additional songs and Hats includes a half dozen), but the additional songs continue to add to the band’s reputation for crafting beautiful, cinematic sounds. The synth-heavy trio has long been a favorite among critics, but their JD Salingerlike sparse output has been a tad frustrating for diehard fans, making these re-releases all the more satisfying. The band last played together in 2008 and is onto other projects now, so this very well could be the last new music fans hear from the group for the foreseeable future. (B)

VIDIOTS UPCOMING DVD RELEASESAND REVIEWS

BY B. LOVE & JOHN B. MOORE

BULLY Recent studies estimate that 13 million kids are bullied in the U.S. every year. This gripping documentary from award-winning director Lee Hirsch (Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony) follows the lives of five students who face bullying on a daily basis, as well as the families of two students who committed suicide as the result of constant abuse. Whether you’ve been a victim of bullying (as Hirsch was) or not, you’ll get emotional at the sight of kids being physically and verbally abusive to one another, and to the apparent apathy of some of the parents, teachers, administrators and government officials whose job it should be to make it stop. In the end, the film serves as a rallying cry, a call to action, to end systemwide ignorance of a problem that needs to be addressed as much more than mere “kids being kids.” GAME OF THRONES: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON Amazingly, the team behind HBO’s brilliant Game of Thrones managed to make the second season just as thrilling as the first. The Stark family– the closest thing this series had to the Cleavers– is scattered across the territories with their patriarch now dead. Their frenemies the Lannisters are a little scattered as well, with war between kingdoms sending some off to fight. Meanwhile the creepy, evil, sadistic boy King Joffrey Baratheon sits on a throne (and you just know that kid is going to meet a satisfyingly gruesome death at some point before the series’ conclusion). Though there are brilliant performances throughout, Peter Dinklage’s portrayal of Tyrion Lannister remains simply sublime, award-worthy stuff. Who knew that a pseudo-medieval fantasy could be so damn entertaining? A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY Thirty-three years after the madeup autobiography of the late Monty Python member Graham Chapman was first published, the movie adaptation is finally out on DVD, delivered in Python’s trademark quirky comedy style. The animated movie will be hilarious to Python fans, but likely little more than headscratchingly odd to those who never got into the troupe. It includes narration by Chapman himself (courtesy of a taped reading of his book prior to his 1989

death), as well as the voices of fellow Monty Python alumnae Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Jones. The content of the “autobiography” is obviously complete BS, making it even more wildly entertaining. NURSE JACKIE: SEASON FOUR It’s pretty remarkable to consider Edie Falco’s TV career. Most actors are lucky if they land an amazing role on one great show in their lifetime. But, like Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under, Dexter) before her, the 49-yearold Falco made the seamless transition from one great cable show (HBO’s The Sopranos) to another (Showtime’s Nurse Jackie) look effortless. In season four, the titular character is more out of control than ever in both her personal and professional life, experiencing the karmic payback of some of her bad choices. While struggling to confront her crippling addictions, she also contends with an ambitious new hospital admin (Bobby Cannavale). Arguably the show’s finest season yet, the expert dynamic build in dramatic tension will leave you jonesing for season five. ROBOT & FRANK It’s easy to see why film festival audiences fell for this quirky indie charmer about an elderly retired cat burglar (Frank Langella) whose well-meaning son (Peter Sarsgaard) gets him a personal butler robot to help him cope with the onset of Alzheimer’s/ dementia symptoms. As the stubborn, crotchety curmudgeon who resists the robot’s attempts at striking up a friendship even as he falls for his local librarian (Susan Sarandon), Langella has never been more endearing. And though it may seem slight on its warm, crusty surface, the story has a deeper message about the elderly seeking a sense of purpose in life, especially as they begin to question what to do with what little time they’ve got left. Honestly, this one got the shaft in theaters and deserves to find a home viewing audience. WEEDS: THE FINAL SEASON What a long, strange trip it’s been over the past eight seasons for Nancy Botwin and clan. From a young suburban widow and mother of two selling weed in her upper middle class neighborhood to pay the bills, to the wife of a Mexican politician/drug lord, and back to a widow selling weed, the protagonist of this dark comedy was numbingly stupid with her decisions, but it made for great TV. The eighth and final season of the sometimes wobbily series ended satisfyingly, with Botwin and a few hangers-on settling in suburban Connecticut to start over one more time. The hour-long, future-set finale thankfully tied up all the loose narrative ends nicely. This was the rare show that remained highly addictive up to the end.

BARRETT PARKWAY 50 Barrett Parkway Next to Barnes & Noble 770-425-3472 MALL OF GEORGIA 3260 Buford Drive Between Starbucks & Brusters Ice &UHDP 678-546-5835 ROSWELL 10800 Alpharetta Hwy At Mansell Road 770-518-3300 DULUTH Pleasant Hill at Satellite Blvd %HKLQG IHOP 770-623-1552

WE BUY & SELL BLU-RAY DISCS, VIDEO GAMES AND DVDS!!!

LAWRENCEVILLE 860 Duluth Hwy (Hwy 316 @ 120) Between Hooters & Starbucks 770-963-5710

VOTED BEST CD S

TORE!

WWW.CDWAREHOUSEATL.COM

ttt͘ t Z ,Kh^ d>͘ KD CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK!

Used Blu-Rays! CDs Be WAREHOUSE st Selection ofATLANTA Atlanta’ insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 21

MUSIC

BEAST OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Hip-Hop Impresario Jermaine Dupri Talks Atlanta Music History and So So Def’s Future BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

So So Def is that So So Def is a company that was driven by young [people]. We HEN WE LOOKED AT Billboard’s “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop was young money before [Lil Wayne’s record label] Young Money. That’s what Songs” chart in late February, this company is built on. So like, when a third of the songs had an Atlanta-based the company was being built, I always got rapper or producer connection. Directly or indirectly, Jermaine Dupri is the reason criticism because I was always working with young artists. Now, when I’m talking for that. Some 20 years ago, JD was an upstart music producer who created a rap to people, I hear people trying to tell me, “Jermaine, you don’t understand, man, music label called So So Def Recordings. The imprint would kick up dust with Kris there’s so much. They’re younger out here now.” And I’m like, “It can’t be younger Kross and change the urban landscape than what I was doing.” It’s funny because forever with hitmakers like Da Brat, Bow everybody wants to be young now and Wow, Xscape, Lil Jon and Jagged Edge. So So Def has been super young. So, like And as much as Future and 2 Chainz the difficulties that I had is that we was dominate the charts today, without JD, like a younger company and that was their swoons might have fallen on death not the thing, that wasn’t the thing back ears. On February 23, the iconic hip-hop label celebrated two decades of pioneering then. People were more respectful of older artists as opposed to all the young radio smashes at the Fox Theatre. Today, artists that I was coming out with. Like, INsite does its own tribute if I made a ballad with via a sit-down with Dupri, Xscape, we couldn’t get WHEN YOU GET Atlanta’s unofficial mayor. on adult contemporary OLDER IN MUSIC, radio. Like a Keyshia Cole I know you’ve heard this [today], she comes out PEOPLE START a million times by now, and adult contemporary but congratulations on TRYING TO TELL YOU radio will add her record the label making it to 20 years. Most will never see THAT YOU’RE OLDER, immediately. Adult contemporary radio was five. RIGHT? AND WITH ME telling the record company Thank you. Xscape was too RECENTLY, I HAD A that young, the image is too What’s been the best part young for our station; it LOT OF PEOPLE TELL of the ride so far? don’t really fit with our Umm, probably not ME, “JERMAINE, station—the song would paying attention to it. You YOU’RE LIKE THE [fit], but the image of the know, because it’s like, to artist wouldn’t really fit get to that destination… O.G. IN THE GAME” with the station. And I will I feel like I don’t even tell you, every artist had AND BLAH, BLAH, know where the 20 years that same problem that went, you know? I wasn’t BLAH, RIGHT? was on So So Def, whether even paying attention it was Jagged Edge, all the to the time. So, I guess singing artists. Until I got to Anthony I was having fun and, you know, paying Hamilton was I able to break that mold attention to other things that you get for my company. So, there were a couple to 20 years and you don’t even realize little things that are out there that are it. And when I look up and think Kris funny about today and in the past. Kross’ “Jump” is 21 years old this month. I can’t even believe that I did that song 21 Now, when you think about when the years ago! Jagged Edges and Xscapes came out, you didn’t have your iTunes and Spotify That is amazing. Your roster is and everything else that is all over the incredible. Lots of hits, just a few lows. industry today. Tell me a few ways So What has been the hardest part of So Def ’s approach is going to change in staying relevant and keeping it going in 2013 going forward. ’91, 2001 and 2011? I’m going to be everywhere. You know, I Nothing. You know, the funny part mean like there are so many more outlets of music is this: When you get older in to hear my music now. I mean, we are music, people start trying to tell you that going to cover every outlet. It’s not going you’re older, right? And with me recently, to be one outlet that plays the music. I had a lot of people tell me, “Jermaine, you’re like the O.G. in the game” and blah, We’re going to get all the outlets to play blah, blah, right? But the funny part about all the music. You’ll hear more of the

PG 22 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

music moving forward. I can definitely say that because you got no way for it not to happen. And then I’ve got my own social network (Global 14), which is going to always prompt more people to hearing the music immediately as opposed to it not be heard. And it’s not going to be a situation where I put out artists and you ain’t heard about it, because I got an outlet to project the artist even more now. JD, when you’re away from the studio, what are a few things that keep a smile on your face? Umm, I play video games all day. And then I created my own social network, so now that’s a 24-hour job a day, basically— just on there watching what’s going on and being active. It’s not a company that I just created and posted and let it go about its business. I’m probably the most active member on my social network, so in the past couple of years, that’s been my real focus. And I get real enjoyment out of that, both me building something and watching. I am one of those people that really likes to put my influence on something and really build it and turn it into something, so that is pretty much my focus of what I do when I’m not in the studio. And DJ-ing, DJ-ing brings a smile to my face because I love the fact that I can play a record that don’t nobody know is ready to come on, but I can make you extremely happy when I drop that record. There is something fascinating about that to me.

Right, it’s a powerful feeling. Yeah, because I mean it’s like, you as a person don’t know what I’m about to do. And I don’t know what you as a person want to hear. But when I pick a record and the crowd screams because I dropped a song, it feels like I hit my mark. So, in my set, I’m trying to do that as many times as possible. How many times can I make the crowd scream about a record that I drop that they weren’t expecting? That brings huge enjoyment to me. You’ve had 20 wonderful years with So So Def. Now, lay out the next year or two for me. Tell me a couple of projects that you are excited about. Well, I don’t really speak on the projects, but… right now we got Leah Labelle. That’s one of my artists that I’m really excited about. Dondria, her new album is going to be a really incredible R&B album. I’ve got a couple of rappers that are coming…you know, Fresco Kane is a new artist from St. Louis. I mean, I always got new artists. The one thing I can say is just prepare. You won’t ask me where the new music is coming from. You won’t have to ask me when you going to come out with some new music. That is one thing I can say. I plan to drop a slew of new artists because I always look at the bar of what is going on and what I see that’s not going on is nobody’s putting out new talent.

MUSIC

REDEMPTION SONGS

Mali’s Baba Salah Urges His People To Rise Up in the Face of al-Qaeda’s Occupation BY BRET LOVE

’VE DONE OVER A THOUSAND interviews in my 20 years as a journalist. But few affected me emotionally quite like my interview with Mali-based musician Baba Salah. Though relatively unknown in the U.S., Salah has been a star on the Bamako music scene since the mid- ‘90s, when he played guitar for legendary Malian diva Oumou Sangare. But now, with the release of his excellent new solo album, Dangay, the African blues artist is emerging as a light of inspiration for the people of Mali in their darkest hour. For around a year now, the forces of al-Qaeda have been spreading like a virus throughout northern Mali. In a country where music is the very heart of the culture, they took instruments from people’s homes and burned them as an offense to Allah. They infiltrated Salah’s hometown of Gao, raped the women, killed and mutilated the men, and recruited children into their rebel army. Though the French thankfully swooped in to help the Malian military beat back the alQaeda forces, nobody involved in the conflict seems to believe the battle is over for good. So when I spoke to Salah in mid-February, his concern for his country and his people was palpable. In this extensive, exclusive interview, we discussed everything from how al-Qaeda established such a strong foothold in Mali to his hopes for the future of his wartorn country. In America, music is primarily regarded as popular entertainment. Could you talk about the importance music plays in the everyday lives of the Malian people? Music is entertainment here as well, but also an important way for the population to get valuable information. In a culture that has a high literacy rate, people have many ways to get information. But in Mali, the society depends on artists to inform and educate. Life can be hard here, so music should allow people to dance, unwind and leave their problems behind. But at the same time, I am aware of my social responsibility. I am actually taking night classes in communication. I have a big audience in Mali, and to some degree internationally. So I can’t pass up this opportunity to pass on a clear positive message. I’m fascinated by Mali’s Griot tradition. How would you describe the Griot’s role in Mali today? The Griots are the guardians of history. In our culture, everything is oral. There isn’t a written language. A majority of the people here can’t read. So it’s the Griot who transmits the history from father to son, mother to daughter. That’s why in Africa we say, “When an old person dies, it’s like a library has burned down.”

my family is noble caste– but music is my destiny. I have so many influences. Of course, people like Ali Farka Toure have had a great influence on all of us, and rock guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. But people like Jackson Brown have also influenced me. I knew about his music, and then he saw me play with Oumou Sangare in New York. After the show, he said he was really impressed by my playing. One day in Bamako I was practicing in my room, and there he was. He had flown all the way to Bamako to give me a guitar. It’s the same one I played on this album. Mali has obviously been in the news a lot lately for the al-Qaeda activity there. What is the political situation that allowed them to gain such a strong foothold in the country? The North of Mali is vast, and the borders are porous. Mali is a poor country, and we don’t have the means to secure this area. Most of the population considers themselves to be Malian, but there are separatist rebels in the North who want to secede. Many of them fought with Khadafy. When Khadafy fell, they returned to Mali, well armed. They joined the rebels and teamed up with foreign militants– Jihadists who are involved in trafficking. These are al-Qaeda (mostly from Algeria and Mauritania), and they have been operating in Mali for the last decade, moving cocaine and collecting hostage ransom from Europe. Together, they started to attack, and the Malian army suffered big losses. This led to a military coup in Bamako. During the chaos, the rebels and Jihadists advanced on the key northern cities and the Malian military fled.

Were you in Gao when the fighting broke out? No. I was in the region doing concerts in December of 2012, and then played New Year’s Eve in Gao. After that, I left for Bamako. It was just after that that separatist rebels WE HAVE A GREAT began attacking military PAST, BUT WE CAN’T outposts in Kidal. But we had an idea that this was LIVE IN THE PAST. coming. When Khadafy WE NEED INITIATIVE was killed, we knew the Tuareg that were in his AND INNOVATION. army were coming to Mali, THAT HAS TO COME heavily armed. We knew what this would lead to.

FROM THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES. THERE IS A LOT OF WORK TO DO.

When did you decide you wanted to be a musician? I’ve always known. In Mali, traditionally only people who are born into certain families are musicians. I am not Griot caste–

One of the first things the militants did after invading was to destroy the musical instruments. Why do they see the music of Mali as such a threat? Islam has been in Mali for centuries. The Islam we practice is older than the version the extremists want to impose on us. Timbuktu was an important center for Islamic scholarship. True Islam is moderate.

being recruited as soldiers. Childhood is sacred. If we want to have a peaceful future, we must protect the children.

It’s tolerant. As I said, in Mali, music is an important medium for communication. We are a poor country, but our culture is rich. It’s empowering. So taking away music is a form of control. They want us to forget who we are. But we’ll never forget. Your album, Dangay, is described as “an act of defiance against the very forces of intolerance that seek to destroy Mali.” Can you talk about the sociopolitical messages you want to convey? In Dangay, I let the people who were suffering under occupation and terror know that the world had not forgotten about them, and that we would rescue them. I promised the Jihadists that we would sing and dance again in the North of Mali. I called on the politicians, the military, and all the religious leaders to come together for a solution. I called upon the international community to help. Women were being raped, people were being unjustly tried and then publicly mutilated. Their liberty and identity had been stripped from them. I had to say something. I also sing about children. We are constantly involving our children in our adult problems. Children are being forced into prostitution. In Gao, children were

How did the current turmoil in Mali play into your decision to release this album now? Did your work feel somehow more necessary in response to al-Qaeda’s actions? When we started the album, we weren’t thinking all this would happen. Things unraveled quickly. But when I saw how my family and friends in Gao, and in all of Mali, were suffering, I was even more determined to finish the music and release it. Even before the coup and occupation, I was singing to give hope to my people. Mali is a poor country, and when the global economy suffers, we really suffer because so many people here live on the edge of survival. That’s what the song “Ay Derey” is about. I ask people to not give up. Rebellions aren’t new to Mali, and neither is ethnic tension, which is what “Amidininé” is about. We have worked though our differences before. I also sing to farmers, and ask our leaders to invest wisely in agriculture so it can be a motor for the economy. If the economy is strong and people have work and enough money to live on, there is no place for al-Qaeda here in Mali. If people are desperate, they can more easily be exploited by criminal elements. What changes do you hope to see in your country in the future, to ensure the music and culture of Mali continues to thrive? People need to have security. This is important. The North needs smart, sustainable development. For this, we will need good, honest leadership. People are going to have to change. We have a great past, but we can’t live in the past. We need initiative and innovation. That has to come from the people themselves. There is a lot of work to do. We need people who are willing to share ideas and knowledge. We need people who are working for Mali and for our children’s future… not just for themselves. insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 23

FILM

FIGHT THE POWER

Bully Director Lee Hirsch On His Controversial Film BY BRET LOVE

ECENT STUDIES ESTIMATE THAT 13 million kids are bullied in the U.S. every year. One of those kids, Lee Hirsch, grew up to be an awardwinning documentary director (his debut film, Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, won the 2002 Audience Award at Sundance). With his latest documentary, the critically acclaimed Bully, Hirsch is hoping to spark a nationwide anti bullying project that will effect change for years to come. The film, which was just released on DVD, follows the lives of five students who face bullying on a daily basis, as well as the families of Tyler Long and Ty Smalley, two students who committed suicide as the result of constant abuse. We recently spoke with Hirsch in an exclusive interview about his own experience with bullying, his emotional response to making the film, and the ways the Bully Project is firing up the anti bullying movement. How did your personal experiences with being bullied influence your anti bullying project? I was one of a couple of kids who were on the receiving end of bullying in my school. A lot of the kids involved would make it part of their daily ritual to punch or gang up on me. My parents were 20 years older than the

other parents. My dad’s attitude was, “Just toughen up and deal with it!” I couldn’t make it stop on my own, and I couldn’t express what was happening very well. Those are the things that made me want to make the film. The hope was that, if I could show through a documentary what actually happens– how violent and scary it is– that it would be an end to people saying “boys will be boys.” It amazed me that that was still an acceptable response in our country. So it was a very personal drive.

Why do you think it has taken so long for a prominent anti bullying movement to rear up? I think we’re in an age of these types of movements now. If you look at sex abuse and domestic violence in America, for a very long time people didn’t feel like they could come forward. I think its time has come, because we in our country are more open. I don’t have the perfect answer to the problem. But I’m glad that we’re addressing it and that so many journalists, politicians, community leaders and educators are willing to look at how they can create change in their communities. On a personal level, I got angry seeing these kids going through what we’ve been through. How did you maintain any sort of journalistic distance from it while at the

Like us on Facebook! Look us up to connect with insiteatlanta.com MAR CH 2013

insiteatla nta

.com

VOL. 21, NO. 8 FREE

For 21 years INsite has been your monthly entertainment source for what is happening in Atlanta. Become a Fan to stay informed and be the first to know about great events and online ticket contests. Check Us Out on Facebook at: facebook.com/insiteatlanta

Call Steve at

St. Patrick’s Day Guide! Michelle Wil liams starring in FELA! The Mu sical Jermaine Du pri Celebrates 20 Years with So So De f

GOLDEN

GIRL

Jennifer Law erence Talks Oscar Gold

& Next Steps

(404) 315-8485 insiteatlanta.com • 404-256-4328

PG 24 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

same time having emotional empathy? I don’t think I identify as a journalist, per se. I saw myself as an ally to these kids. I worked hard to understand where they were coming from, and to establish that they wanted to tell their stories. They were more like partners to me than subjects. In a lot of moments, I was pissed off immensely, but I also had the sense that I was involved in a much deeper act of intervention on their behalf. I knew in those moments that they knew I was there for them.

with a PG-13 rating. So it was an important fight to have. Ultimately the MPAA came to their senses and allowed us to make some very small changes, which gave us the PG-13 rating and allowed us to keep the integrity of the film.

Since the film’s release, have you seen the anti bullying project gaining steam? Absolutely! I’m super optimistic. When we screened at the White House, President Obama announced his support for two important pieces of anti bullying federal How did you keep yourself in check when legislation. That was a big step. We’ve had it seemed like the message wasn’t getting three Congressional screenings, and there through to school administrators, local was a bipartisan anti bullying caucus formed politicians and police officers? during one of them. But we’ve seen more You talk about being pissed off: I was parents, concerned individuals, and even MUCH more affected by kids organizing huge events the level of indifference I around the film. We raised THE HOPE WAS THAT, IF money so that over 250,000 was seeing. When you talk I COULD SHOW THROUGH kids could go on buses to to parents of kids who are A DOCUMENTARY WHAT see the film, with 10,000 struggling with this, you hear that there are too many educators getting training ACTUALLY HAPPENS– people who do not step up– and webinars on how we can HOW VIOLENT AND particularly adults– when use this film to reflect on our SCARY IT IS– THAT IT this is going on in their where our schools are and buildings. A huge part of our WOULD BE AN END TO how we can make changes. PEOPLE SAYING “BOYS CNN has produced a 1-hour work with the Bully Project WILL BE BOYS.” movement was to use the special on the anti bullying film as a motivator to create project, called The Bully change, starting with people’s hearts and Effect, which will air on February 28. And minds. We’re learning to be more strategic then you have celebrities like Lady Gaga, and effective, and I think it’s having an Justin Bieber and Ellen DeGeneres speaking impact. When a school comes together and out, and the media telling these stories. So I watches Bully, I think it forever changes think the national conversation is changing, the conversation there. The same goes for and all this stuff combined can create families: It helps them understand and lasting impact. communicate what might be going on with their kid. The parents might open up about What advice would you give to kids going what they went through, and in turn their through the torment of bullying, or the kids might open up. That’s where the work parents of bullied children? for us is the most impactful. First, watch the film together as a family and talk about it. Invite your neighbors. What was your reaction to the MPAA’s Have a community conversation. The controversial “R” rating when they reviewed other thing is to engage with us. We have this film? an active community on Facebook. We I fought it really hard because I thought have an incredible Bully Project website it was hypocritical. We had a lot of help, with resources and tools for kids, parents especially from a 17-year-old student from and educators. Most importantly for the Ann Arbor, who started a petition on parents, make sure your kids know that Change.org that got over a half a million you’re on their side when it comes to signatures to compel the MPAA to change bullying; that you’re in the fight for the the rating. It felt like they’d absolutely gotten duration and you’re going to support them. it wrong. It didn’t go unnoticed that The It’s really important for kids to know that Hunger Games was released at the same time they’re not alone.

MUSIC

TRAVEL

TIFFANY

‘80s Pop Princess Sets Up Shop in Tennessee BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

WENTY-FIVE YEARS HAVE passed since country-pop singersongwriter-actress Tiffany Darwish first burst on the music scene with an undeniably catchy remake the Tommy James’ hit “I Think We’re Alone Now.” Internationally known by her first name, the engaging performer has been too busy to officially mark the occasion with any sort of retrospective. Instead, she continues to look forward, with an incredibly diverse career and a full calendar of live shows. The Californiaborn singer made history in the ’80s as the youngest female artist to have an album in Billboard’s coveted number one spot. Since then, Tiffany has appeared on reality and variety shows, in Playboy magazine, battled mega-monsters in movies and has eight full-length albums–including the impressive, country-rockin’ Rose Tattoo on her own label -- and six greatest hits compilations on her shape-shifting resume. Now 41, the strikingly attractive singer-songwriter recently spoke with INsite at Tiffany’s Boutique, a cozy clothing shop in her adopted hometown of White House, Tennessee. In three decades, you’ve managed to be a part of every facet of the industry at one time or another. I kind of go in spurts, you know. I lay low for a while and think about the next thing I want to do, and then work on that. I try to have a balance. And you have a very die-hard group of fans, who follow every new turn. I’m very lucky to have fans who will allow me to take time off and regroup, and then they’re still there for me. In the meantime, I’m a mom and a wife, learning things about myself along the way and changing things I don’t like. I really believe in that. I think that’s probably how you don’t get burned out. I really love what I do, even after 30 years. And I’m glad I don’t have to roll my eyes and go, ‘Ok, we’re gonna do ‘I Think We’re Alone Now.’ I really love singing that song, still.

You are labeled now as country, but you’ve always been a country artist in many ways. Yes, I’ve always loved country music and I’ve always seen myself as a country singer, although I‘m very grateful to have my pop hits. But mending those two worlds together takes time. Many of your pop hits of the ‘80s could easily be marketed to country radio at this point. Yes! Well, look at ‘Could’ve Been.” that’s a country song. Now the market is so open, an artist like me can work in a lot of genres and still be true to their influences. And I know the fans will follow.

ROMANTIC GETAWAYS BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

OMANCE IS ABOUT MORE than long-stemmed roses and cute Hallmark cards; it’s also an opportunity to grab that person you hold near and dear and reaffirm that you’ll do anything in the world for him or her. And there’s no better way to do that than by whisking her away to some magical place around the world that exudes romance. We found 10 such places that we’re absolutely in love with right now.

Ecotourism Australia, the continent has a set of universal guidelines to help keep man’s carbon footprint as minimal as possible.

NEW YORK

THAILAND

Photo Credit: Gina Rose

But now you are balancing your music career with the responsibilities of owning a store. You did those mall tours when your first album was out in the ‘80s, but how did you get back to retail in 2013? Doing those mall tours definitely inspired me to be a big shopaholic, And I continue to perform at least two weekends out of every month. So wherever I go, I make an extra day and I go shopping and pull from other wonderful boutiques, flea markets and whatever else I can get myself into. I’m getting to be quite a pro now, looking online. I try to find good bargains, one of a kind items, bohemian style, old school Hollywood, glamour and funky 80s inspired. How did the physical boutique come about? The store has only been open since November, so were you buying things before, just for yourself? It’s kind of like the Rose Tattoo project. I’d been wanting to do a country record for ten years, and waited and it just came along at the right time, with the right writers and producer. Before I knew it, the project was happening. Same with here; it was a blessing. I’d been looking for a place that was in a home, because I wanted it to be warm. It’s posh but not intimidating. I just wanted it to be a place where women can come in and get to know my sales staff. I’m here, in and out, so that’s exciting, too.

I KNOW CHANGE IS EXPECTED, SO JUST HAVE FAITH AND IT WILL WORK OUT…

You finally have a new album that bridges pop and your first love, country. Tell us about Rose Tattoo. It’s a project I’ve been working on for a long time. I’ve been doing everything under the sun I can do to get it out there, prove myself and show people that I can sing and the backstory about why I want to do country music.

The World’s Top 10...

One of the most beautiful destinations on Earth, Thailand regularly wins over lovebirds with its ideal year-round temperatures, mindblowingly clear waters and fabulous seafood. That many places around the resort areas of Phuket and Koh Samui also have taken a vow to keep Mother Nature safe —Peace Resort, for example, reuses waste water and cleans its beach every day— makes a visit to the Asian retreat even more attractive.

SAN FRANCISCO

With its Instagram-worthy views and internationally renowned restaurants, we’re not making any front-page headlines here by saying the City by the Bay gets couples going. What we will add to the conversation though is that while you’re feeding each other chocolates on an intimate cable car ride, be sure you have hotel reservations somewhere like Orchard Garden Hotel, a property that keeps green-inspired hospitality at the forefront of everything it does.

ARUBA

The Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts, the island’s only adult-only haven, is one of the most fabulous places Green Global has ever set foot —the beachfront massages provided by the Intermezzo Spa are something straight from a Karen Marie Moning novel— but there’s nothing more sensual about the place than the fact that it uses solar panels to heat water and sources out local suppliers for in-room items.

SPAIN

A few facts about Spain’s more seductive side: 1) The country has nearly 5,000 miles of beach; 2) Generally thought to be one of the most erotic languages in the world, there are over 329 million native Spanish speakers on the planet; 3) Spain is the world’s fourth largest producer of wind power… Now, that’s what we call sexy.

AUSTRALIA

So the store started with your own collection and turned into a sort of Tiffany’s Secret? I’ve been collecting pieces for over ten years, things I find that are beautiful but maybe didn’t fit me and my husband was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’ll find them a home!’ But there are so many boutiques, I wanted this one to be special, with a small town feel. That’s what I love about being here in White House. You seem to have it all balanced; a really good new album, on your own terms and your own boutique, also on your own terms. You’re the boss of you, right? Thank you! I just love what I do and I’ll take a chance, big or small. People that I look up to, do what they do; they keep going and it finds a home. They don’t put themselves in a box.

We’re still trying to figure out what’s the most appealing quality about the Big Apple, the fact that you can make out under the stars at Central Park or that swanky nearby hotels like The Benjamin have all-natural linen and hybrid limos. We’ll go with the former by the slimmest of margins, but only because we know a great place for lunch, Burger Joint, that’s only a few hundred feet from where you just puckered up.

ITALY

Venice and Florence are always in the conversation for being the most romantic cities. Another place that has a way with the intimacy (but gets little of the love) is Cinque Terre, a collection of five cliffside towns on the Italian Riviera. Because no cars or motorbikes are allowed in the villages, some unbelievable walking (and cute hand-holding) opportunities present themselves. This rings especially true for a breathtaking stroll between Manarola and Riomaggiore.

KENYA

While the East African nation sometimes makes headlines for negative news (a rash of elephant massacres being the latest), there’s a gentler side to Kenya that captivates tourists with its natural splendor. Inspiring properties like Diani Beach Resort & Hotel have created retreats that are subtly passionate, eco friendly (two recycling ponds, security patrol to deter animal shooting) and have a way of showing the country’s kinder persona without much extra effort.

MALDIVES

Located in the Baa Atoll UNESCO World Biosphere Preserve, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru is simply extraordinary. Because it’s a Four Seasons hotel, of course, the impeccable service and delectable cuisine comes at a cost. But if there’s one thing we’d put our bottom dollar on, it’s that there isn’t another place in the world we’d rather be with our significant other than Landaa Giraavaru’s airy, contemporary-styled Sunrise Water Villa.

FRANCE

Thanks to magical spots all around Sydney (Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Harbour Bridge) and Melbourne (Carlton Gardens, Yarra River), the Land Down Under is certainly up on its spots for fooling around. But because of forward-thinking organizations like

There wouldn’t be a “Romantic Getaways” bucket list if it didn’t include Paris. But this space isn’t meant to further trumpet lovely (if not numbingly clichéd) landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe. The thing we’re digging about the French capital most these days is how so many hotels (Best Western Premier Royal Regent’s Garden, Hi Matic) and restaurants (Cru) are embracing a more conscious business model. Magnifique! insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 25

TRAVEL

PATAGONIAN PERFECTION

Incredible Adventures in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park

BY BRET LOVE; PHOTOS BY BRET LOVE & MARY GABBETT PART I: THE ROAD TO TORRES DEL PAINE

We’re riding in a 4WD van, making our way north from Punta Arenas to Patagonia Camp (www.patagoniacamp.com), an ecoresort on the outskirts of Torres del Paine National. Rolling hills of multi-hued tundra pass by outside our window: It feels like traveling through an impressionist’s artful dream. The clouds boast a surreal depth of texture, mirroring vast herds of fluffy sheep that rest in the midday sun. Endless miles go by without a sign of human habitation, save for the ubiquitous barbed wire fences that section off wide expanses of unspoiled acreage. There’s a stark sense of isolation, yet the Chilean Patagonia region offers plenty of earthy comfort, color and light. Abundant lakes nurture nature against the harsh, arid climate. We see Guanacos (a.k.a. Patagonian llamas), horses, and gangly Ostriches roaming the open plain. The predatory birds known as Caracaras line the road with such frequency, I imagine them as the handsome welcoming guard to some grand Narnian castle. We stop at a picnic area, relieving our bladders on lichen-covered Lenga trees stripped nearly naked by the chilling wind (which can blow at gusts of up to 100 mph). As our guide, 28-year-old Santiago native Matias Espinosa, prepares a snack of tea and dulche de leche cookies, a flock of 6 brilliant green Austral parakeets lands on a tree nearby. As always when we travel, we find kindred spirits among those who love nature. Matias left behind a 12-year career as a surfer to pursue an Ecotourism degree. Though he still chases waves for personal pleasure occasionally, he’s working at Patagonia Camp to get experience in the field before completing his final thesis on making national parks more accessible for disabled people. “Everything in Patagonia is so giant, the sky goes on forever,” he says sagely. “It makes me see that I am tiny, and the world is so big.” From massive rock formations known as “The Devil’s Chair” and “The Castle” to fields of wind-blown grasses that look like shimmering ocean waves, everything we see on the road to Patagonia seems larger than life. Even tiny flowers such as “7 T-Shirts” boast impossibly brilliant colors, as if Mother Nature wanted them to compete with the picturesque scenery for our attention. I won’t repeat the expletive I uttered the first time we rounded a corner to see the mountains of Torres del Paine in all their glory. But suffice it to say that they were awe-inspired exultations of slack-jawed wonder. There’s something about the iconic Paine Massif that’s much more monolithic and majestic in person, and I felt truly humbled by its sheer grandeur. For nature lovers, the remote wilderness of Patagonia is something akin to a slice of heaven on earth. And, despite the fact that it had taken us 48 hours, 3 flights, 2 overnight layovers, and a 5-hour drive to get there, we were chomping at the bit to begin PG 26 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

exploring the natural wonders Torres Del Paine had to offer.

PART II: CHILEAN WILDLIFE

Torres del Paine’s “Fauna Trail” doesn’t appear on any maps. In fact, there’s not much of a trail to be found. But there was plenty of Chilean wildlife en route to seeing prehistoric paintings 3,000-8,000 years old, and hiking this nonexistent trail proved one of our favorite Adventure Life (www. adventure-life.com) excursions in Chile. We spotted plenty of wildlife on the way there, including a gorgeous red fox that allowed us to get within about 10 feet of it and a tiny grey fox kit that cowered in the entrance to its den. Eventually we reached Porteria Lago Sarmiento, a guard station located on the eastern side of the national park. We basically had the trail all to ourselves. We began spotting animals immediately, including grazing Guanacos, Caracaras and Andean Condors soaring overhead. Though we never saw Pumas, we smelled their pungent scent and knew they were nearby. The elevation climbed gradually and the wind blew gently, making for an awesome morning hike. Eventually we crested a hill to see Torres del Paine revealed in its glory, with a herd of Guanacos grazing peacefully in the foreground. After taking some photos of the herd, we hiked up a ridge to a rocky outcropping, where we found a small cave. You’d never know it was there if you didn’t have a guide (which is intentional, to ensure the Prehistoric cave paintings won’t be vandalized). The images there were painted with a mixture of iron dust and animal blood, and served as a message to hunters that there were predators in the area. In addition to the cave paintings, the summit provided expansive views of Torres del Paine, as well as Laguna Los Flamencos. We spent quite a bit of time there, enjoying a snack while watching a pair of male Guanacos chasing each other across the hillside. Weather is notoriously unpredictable in Patagonia: It’s said that you can experience all four seasons in one day. So, as storm clouds began to sweep in, we began making our way back down. In our absence, an even larger herd of Guanacos had assembled around the small watering hole, and I’m fairly certain I elicited a decidedly unmanly squeal when I saw there were several babies in their midst. Just when we thought the excitement was over, we rounded a corner and got a decidedly more adult sort of show. Our guides explained that the male Guanaco protects his herd by standing watch for predators on top of a hill. But one handsome lad was distracted when a filly pranced nearby, and soon they were mating like newlyweds listening to a Marvin Gaye marathon. Eventually the female had had enough, making her escape and leaping gracefully over the low fence that divided private land from public. For such a short hike, we saw a diverse array of Chilean wildlife, not to mention stunning views of the striking Paine massif. All in all, it was a pretty incredible day.

PART III: THE MILODON CAVES

From the outside, the Milodon Cave Natural Monument looks a lot like the rest of Patagonia. But on the inside, each cave holds secrets that date back more than 11,000 years. Discovered by German explorer Hermann Eberhard in 1895, the caves got their name when the remains of a giant prehistoric ground sloth known as the Mylodon were found there. Believed to have lived over 10,000 years ago, these ancient herbivores were twice the height of an average human, with bear-like bodies, long tails for balance, and reddish-brown coats. The 1896 archeological expedition also found remains of extinct animals such as the Hippidion (dwarf horse), Macrauchenia (prehistoric llama) and Smilodon (sabretoothed cat). Perhaps most importantly, they found fire pits, primitive tools and human remains, offering ample clues about the earliest human occupation of Patagonia. When we got to the second of the three caves, we were surprised to see a full-on archaeological dig in progress. University of Magallanes researchers Manuel San Román and Karina Rodriguez, with help from Mauricio Massone of the Museo de Historia Natural de Concepción, were digging through layers of rock and sediment. They would then carefully strain it in hopes of finding relics that would provide more information on early human occupation of South America. San Román said they’d found remains of fires and the bones of llamas and horses there, indicating these were essential elements in the diet of prehistoric Patagonians. He also said that their findings had helped experts to determine that both animals and humans occupied this area earlier than previously believed. The last cave we visited was more than 260 feet wide and 650 feet deep, with a 100foot high ceiling covered in stalactites. Here we found another team of archaeologists digging, lifting, moving and sifting dirt from a cordoned-off section at the center of the cave. One of our guides tried to get a moment of project director Dr. Fabiana Martin‘s time for an interview, but it was clear from the pace at which the team was working that they were in the middle of something important. Walking along the path that loops through the interior of this vast cavern, it’s easy to imagine the presence of the prehistoric humans and animals who were drawn to the Milodon Cave for protection. At the end, there’s a display of small artifacts found in the cave, including bits of Milodon fur, bones and teeth. There’s also a life-sized statue of the prehistoric sloth, which gives you a realistic depiction of just how massive they were. Unfortunately, to see the famous desiccated skeleton discovered there back in 1865, you’d have to go to London, where the British Museum stores it (along with innumerable other treasures stolen during the Colonial era). It’s difficult to describe the sense of awe and wonder we felt while walking the ground upon which these ancient creatures walked, bred, and slept. But there’s definitely a sense of deeper connection to mankind’s history there. For us, the Milodon Cave was easily among the most moving attractions we visited in Torres del Paine National Park.

THERE’S AN APP(RENTICE) FOR THAT BIG SHOT FROM THE BIG PEACH Trump’s Troupe Returns For An All-Star Round BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

ONALD TRUMP’S EXTENDED run of “Celebrity Apprentice” is now in its sixth installment and the thirteenth overall season of “The Apprentice” franchise. The show returns this month and features fourteen business-savvy celebrity contestants, game for a bit of televised drama and the admirable chance to raise funds and awareness for their chosen charities. The last person standing will be chosen as Trump‘s “Celebrity Apprentice” of the moment and will have the honor of contributing a $250,000 bonus check to their favorite charity. Recently, the mediasavvy entrepreneur, joined by singer-actress LaToya Jackson and Poison’s Bret Michaels, spoke with the press about the show’s new season and their favorite charities. Since you’re doing the “All Star” edition of the show, will this be the final season, a sort of Greatest Hits round? Donald Trump: Well it has been doing very, very well in the ratings, as you know. It’s the number one show at 10:00 on Sundays. So I would anticipate that it would continue onward. We’ve had fifteen copies of “Celebrity Apprentice” or “The Apprentice.” I guess there was another one last week, it was called “The Job” and that was just terminated, I understand. But fifteen copies and this is our thirteenth season. So we’ll see. What do you find so appealing about the show after so many seasons -- and so many imitations? Donald Trump: Well, more than anything it’s the success of the show. It’s like when I talked about “The Job” or I could talk about many, many other shows that have tried to copy “The Apprentice” and failed. They failed very quickly and miserably. As long as it continues to be successful, I enjoy it. Drama is always a factor in the show. Will this season be as overtly dramatic as in the past? Donald Trump: Well I’ll speak first. I think it’s certainly one of the most dramatic seasons and we’ve brought back—including Bret and LaToya—some of the people that everybody really likes. LaToya Jackson: There is so much going on. You will see a lot of confrontations! Bret Michaels: It is extremely dramatic and you’ll just have to watch, because it will keep you riveted. Bret, after actually winning “Celebrity Apprentice,” did you feel like you had an advantage or disadvantage for your return this season? Bret Michaels: Here is the absolute truth. I actually felt like I had, probably, a major

disadvantage. I feel it’s like the “Super Bowl Syndrome.” When a team comes back that has won it, everyone is gunning for them. But I loved everyone who was on it and listen, as a lifelong diabetic, it’s a great opportunity for charity. What was the greatest lessons you learned from the show? LaToya Jackson: I learned that personalities are individuals and you have to really be strong and steadfast. No matter what happens, or what you go through, stand by what you truly believe in. Bret Michaels: It was an amazing opportunity. And when you go in there, you’ve got to remember, for everybody in there, it’s a strange bittersweet moment. Because you’re all very much friends and at the same time, you’re all competing to win and win big money for your charity. When you get into the board room, you hope that you don’t get too badly thrown under the bus. The competition adds to the spectacle—and the continued success —of the series. Bret Michaels: Yes, it does. And I look at everybody as massive competition on that show because everyone wants to win. They didn’t go there to lose. And some of them are—I won’t mention any names—are pretty good TV professional villains. And as much as I think I’ve got nerves of steel they can rattle you. La Toya Jackson: And Bret you were a threat because, as we all know, Bret has already won, so at this point you’re thinking, “Oh no, Bret’s here, what are we going to do?” So yes, it’s very competitive. And that’s one thing that you have to really, really mentally get yourself prepared for, because people will do anything, and I do mean anything to win. Is there anyone in the cast that you were intrigued to meet? Also, was there anyone you specifically bonded with during the show? Bret Michaels: Everyone was great. LaToya was great, honestly, she’s fantastic. She is a unique person because she has a heart of gold and is fiercely competitive. We kind of share that same thing. You’ve got to have a good heart but you also want to be very competitive. La Toya Jackson: I have to say that I was really, really thrilled, and I’m not saying this, Bret, because you’re on the phone. He’s a big rock star. And he’s wonderful and I just could not wait to meet him. And I never really expressed that to you, Bret. Because once you get there, you get in work mode immediately, because the competition is on. NBC’s “All-Star Celebrity Apprentice” airs Sundays at 9 p.m.

Justified’s Joelle Carter Is A Hot, SouthernFlavored Anti-Hero Hero BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

NTIL 2010, ACTRESS JOELLE Carter was best known for her roles in “High Fidelity,” “American Pie 2” and the modern cult-favorite “Cold Storage.” Her profile quickly exploded when she landed the role of Ava Crowder in the F/X series Justified. The attractive and affable Southwest Georgia native has become an internet sensation for her spirited portrayal of the popular anti-hero in the gritty, often violent character study, set in the seamy shadows of Kentucky. During a break in production, the strikingly attractive Carter spoke with INsite at length about her impressive career and the allure of the south. Did you begin your acting career in Georgia? I didn’t really get a taste of it until I moved to New York City. I think, if had my family been theatrical, I would have started earlier, but that really wasn’t part of their nature. I actually signed up for acting in college, but it took a while to fall in love with the craft. It sort of happened a little later in life, compared to some people, but I’m glad it did. But you moved to New York at a pretty young age. Oh, I think my dad had a heart attack! You have to let go. I was young but I knew I wanted to see the world. New York was so exciting and so foreign at that same time! I just love the energy of New York, there’s always something going on.

Photo Credit: FX

a film. My manager said, ‘They love you for Ava, but they’re still out scouring the country.’ I said, ’Why scour when you have what you want?!’ I just kept coming back to it. I remember having a conversation with my friend, saying ‘I don’t know, I think if I could get this part, it could be the beginning of a career, that’s had a long life already.’ So I kept my fingers crossed.

Every bio of yours mentions the movie “High Fidelity,” so we have to talk about it. How was it from the inside? “High Fidelity” is such I STARTED OFF IN LIFE a cult favorite and it just stays alive. I’d had a girl- VERY SHY. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU’RE SHY, crush on Joan Cusack forever, so for me, it YOU SPEND A LOT OF wasn’t just a great part, it TIME IN YOUR OWN was like working with a cartoon character. I hadn’t WORLD, IN YOUR OWN really worked with a lot MIND. THAT MIGHT of stars up to that point HAVE HELPED MY and it was great. I loved ACTING CAREER, I’M that character, Penny Hardwick. NOT SURE. It’s no “High Fidelity,” but people also know you from “American Pie 2.” Was it fun to work with [“SCTV”-alumnus] Eugene Levy in that film? Oh, I loved working with Eugene Levy. It was a wonderful experience; you just never knew what he was gonna do. He comes from an improv background, you know, so he was always thinking of stuff to do. Sometimes even the camera people and director didn’t always know what he was going to do. Let’s fast-forward a few years to “Cold Storage.” It’s another, yet very different, one of your movies that was also a cult favorite. You know, Nick Searcy, who plays Art [on Justified] was in it. That’s where we first met. The filmmakers, Tony Elwood and Paul Barrett, were so great to work with. I’m actually talking with them about doing another project. But all of those movies pale in the wake of Justified. How did you get the part? A good, old-fashioned audition. They put me on tape and I had to go out of town for

How did they finally realize you were Ava? I didn’t have to audition again or anything, they just came back to me and said, ‘It’s you, so come on down to Pittsburgh and let’s shoot this puppy.’ And I did!

Obviously, your Southern upbringing must have helped with the gritty gothic Kentucky weirdness of the show. I think that background definitely helps. You can master the accent, but when you live in the South, it’s a different feel, a different language, even different food. A different culture. How much of the real Joelle do you bring to Ava? I think a lot of her is in me and I learn a lot from my characters. They say that in the arts, you will get the characters you need to get, to learn a lesson in your own life. So you know, life reflects art and vice versa. I think I haven’t had a completely easy life, so I feel for Ava when she wakes up in the morning and just keeps going. She’s a loner in the world and sometimes I feel that way, too. I started off in life very shy. Sometimes when you’re shy, you spend a lot of time in your own world, in your own mind. That might have helped my acting career, I’m not sure. But Ava provides me an outlet to be maybe bolder than I am in the real world and that‘s a lot of fun. Justified airs Tuesdays on F/X. Check listings for time and channel.

insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 27

MUSIC

SWINGIN INTO ACTION The Swingin Utters & Modern Action BY JOHN B. MOORE

OHN BONNEL AND JOHN ARMITAGE ARE TWO OF the hardest working guys in punk rock. Between the two, they are in about half a dozen bands, while Armitage also helps run Modern Action Records on the side. As if the guys aren’t already busy enough– Bonnel prepping an album and trek across the globe with Swingin Utters, and Armitage with a full slate of releases planned from the label– The Utters and Modern Action (the band) found time recently to put out two new songs on a brilliant new split 7” single. Both spoke with us recently about the record and respective plans for the rest of the year.

SWINGIN’ UTTERS Interview with John Bonnel How did the idea for the split with Modern Action come about? Johnny from The Bodies just asked us, and we’ve been fans of Modern Action since we heard them. Easy decision on our part. Do you know those guys pretty well? I ran into Johnny a long time ago at The Purple Onion. I was drunk and grumpy, waiting in line to get a Pabst, and I thought he was cutting in line. So I said something with a dose of asshole, not knowing he was playing or in The Bodies. My bad! We’ve been cool ever since, and it’s kind of rad to be friends with members of a band that you like. What can you tell me about your song on that one? It’s called “The Fake Rat of Dave Navarro,” and has nothing really to do with disliking Dave. The title is something I came up with when I heard Jack playing the music for the first time. It seems to me that people invest a lot of time and emotion in absurd shit. So what’s the most absurd thing that I, or anybody, could care about? I came up with Dave Navarro’s fake rat. You guys have a new album coming out? What can you tell me

about that one? We have a new album coming out Feb. 19 on Fat Wreck Chords. It’s called Poorly Formed, and I am excited. I’m really proud of Darius (Koski), Greg (McEntee), Jack (Dalrymple) and Miles (Peck). They did awesome! I wrote a lot of songs with Jack that turned out to be my favorite Swingin’ Utters’ songs ever. The album is very different, but still has the Swingin’ Utters vibe. What are the plans for the band in 2013? We’ve got tours in Europe, U.S., Canada. Also, Australia with Dropkick Murphy, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls!

MODERN ACTION Interview with Johnny Armitage What can you tell me about your song on the split single? The song on the split is one of only three new songs that we have written and recorded since our LP came out. It’s called “Where the Girls Are,” and it’s a little faster than most of our other songs. So what made the Utters a good partner for this one? The Swingin’ Utters are always a good partner for anything. They are a great band and are great guys to get along with. We (as the label, which is also run by a few of the guys in the band) had contacted them a few times about doing some kind of release on our label. Surprisingly, they came back to us saying that they liked our band Modern Action, liked what the label had been doing, and that they wanted to do a split 7” with us. Needless to say, we were very happy to hear that. Do you plan to tour much in 2013? Unfortunately, our singer lives in New Orleans, so we are only able to get together to record or play shows once or twice a year. Hopefully we will be able to put together a few long weekends where we are able to pick spots to go play for 3 days or so at a time.

What’s next for the band? There are still about 10 songs floating around on old practice tapes that we would like to record, in addition to a bunch of newer songs that we also haven’t recorded yet. Modern Action, along with our other bands we are in (The Bodies and Sharp Objects), are trying to set the record for most songs written and recorded on practice tapes, but that haven’t been properly recorded and released. Any new music planned after the split release? After this 7”, we have another single already recorded that will hopefully come out in late 2013. Hopefully all the stars will align and we can have our second full length done by early next year. Also, P-Trash Records in Germany just released a European pressing of our debut LP. What other releases does the label have planned for 2013? The label got kind of bogged down in 2012 with doing The Briefs - Singles Only 7” Box Set. We made the mistake of hand assembling/making all of the box sets which took an absurd amount of time. Because of that, it took nearly all year to compile, design, assemble and ship that release which created a big backlog of stuff that is ready to release. We are excited for 2013 which we have releases lined up from The Briefs, The Stitches, The Amoebas, The Bodies, Sharp Objects, Modern Action, Peripherique Est (from Belgium), The Beltones, New Town Animals, Boats!, The Cadavers, Bunker Sound and more. We got a busy year ahead of us!

BACK FROM THE WILDERNESS

Low-key and Prolific Cowboy Junkies Return With Four Great New Records BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

ANADA’S COWBOY JUNKIES WERE formed in the mid-’80s, by siblings Margo, Michael and Peter Timmins with Alan Anton. Their sound was a moody mixture of psychedelic folk, blues and country and by the release of their second album, 1988’s The Trinity Session, the band became a fixture on college radio and a popular live act. The band is currently celebrating “The Nomad Series,” an elaborate four album set, released over an 18-month period. As he planned the band’s March tour, songwriter-guitarist Michael Timmins spoke with INsite from his home studio. A lot of bands never release four good albums in their entire career, but you did four in the span of 18 months. We are very proud of it, but I don’t think we’ve had time to really think about it. We were lost in the making of it and now we’re sort of lost in the touring of it. Maybe in a couple of years,

we can look back and go, yeah well that was pretty cool.

It’s certainly a bold move to release this much material, when the single track seems to be touted as the dominate format in so many circles. I guess the ironic thing is people are saying, “The album’s dead, the album’s dead” and here we go and decide to do four of them! But we kind of felt it was in keeping with our whole career, maybe. Everybody makes these grand pronouncements about the industry in general and we’ve never really considered our place in the industry; it’s more of just what inspires us. The package itself is impressive and the music is good, too. A rare combination. It’s on CD and vinyl and there’s a very limited edition box set in vinyl, which has an extra disc with all the songs that we didn’t put on the official records. And there’s a sixth disc, which is a four song EP from the “Paths Taken” tour, and a book as well. So its quite a package. It’s quite beautiful. We’re very tactile in this digital world. What inspired this huge undertaking, was it your trip to China a few years ago? Well, I have three kids and two of them are adopted, and born in China. Right, we went to China in 2008, the entire family. We basically lived there for three months. In the context of our lives, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but three months there is like three years. Every day is so intense. What was the experience like for a Westerner?

PG 28 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

We were put up in a small town outside of Shanghai, and my wife taught English and lived in that town. We were, quite literally, the only westerners that we’d see, on any given day. We were quite the sight. My son is blond, and my two Chinese kids and me, being 6 foot 2, so we were quite the toast of the town. Every night was filled with something unexpected. It was just an amazing, amazing trip and experience for all of us. I spent my time doing a lot of wandering and looking around, met a lot of musicians, really interesting people. Did you have time to work on any music? I did a lot of recording. Not necessarily of my own music, but street sounds, music in the park. I found the auditory part of the whole visit was fascinating. Once I got back to Canada, I had all these recordings and all these impressions of this great trip I just didn’t want to let go of, so it slowly turned into “Renmin Park.”

choice for covers. After two weeks of getting over the shock of it, we knew that the album would be Vic songs. But with a little bit of trepidation, because his music is so unique - and he was very much loved by his audience, they’re very fanatical. What he does is very individual, it’s driven by Vic himself. We were a little bit worried about taking it on, but we thought it would be a great challenge. And we thought, if we do a good job on it, it would be a good opportunity to expose Vic to maybe a wider audience, maybe get some more people into what he does. Obviously you spent a lot of time with him, on tour over the years and on the Trinity revisited sessions in 2007. Oh yes. He’s just such a great guy, his humor was so dry and his outlook on the world was so unique.

And that became the first album of the quartet of records. Yes, so by then we knew the first album would focus on my visit to China, and the last of the four would be new songs I’d already been working on. The middle two albums we didn’t know what they’d be. We did kick around the idea that one should be a “covers” album, whatever that means. But not just covers, we wanted a theme and some meaning behind it.

Vic was very “Southern” in many senses of the word and it seems that you enjoy the culture of the South -- and in your country and blues influences, as well. Well, the funny thing is, that wit, that dryness of humor, I know it’s a bit different, but there is a Northern, Canadian sense of humor that is much like the Southern humor, too. It’s very dry, self-depreciating, and I think it shares that in common. It’s very low-key, not in-your-face humor. You kind of have to know a few of the little in-jokes and references to get it. I think that’s what drew us to Vic, as well.

So that was the basis of the Vic Chesnutt collection [“Demons,” released in 2011]. When Vic died, it became the pretty obvious

Cowboy Junkies play March 8, 8 pm. at Variety Playhouse. Visit www.variety-playhouse.com for more info.

SPORTS

2013 NCAA Tournament Preview BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

INDIANA’S VICTOR OLADIPO

N OUR PRESEASON COLLEGE basketball guide, we predicted that the Kentucky Wildcats would make the drive down from Lexington to the Georgia Dome to defend their national title on April 8. As you know, earlyseason growing pains and a late-season Nerlens Noel injury all but squashed that forecast. Now, if you reference that same story, you’ll see that our second choice was the Indiana Hoosiers, a team that has looked the steadiest in this most unsteady college hoops season in recent memory. Though we can see nearly every school listed managing six straight wins in the tourney, we’re most confident in the Victor Oladipo-led Hoosiers…well, at least today we are.

DUKE’S RYAN KELLY Cowboys keep playing at the high level they did in February, you may get three or four chances to watch the fab freshman in the Dance.

14. SYRACUSE

The Big East is a tough, grueling place to call home. We get that. But for us to fully back Michael Carter-Williams and Co. in the tournament, we would have needed to see them put up better fights against the conference bullies.

15. BUTLER

These Bulldogs have been impossible to peg this year —They beat No. 1 Indiana in Dec. but lost four times between MLK Day and Oscar night— but if there’s one thing history has taught us it’s that once the calendar says “March,” Butler is impossible to ignore.

FAVORITE FOUR 1. INDIANA

Though Hoosier center Cody Zeller could play on our team any time, in crunch moments, it’s usually Oladipo —26 points and eight boards vs. No. 10 Ohio State and 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals vs. No. 4 Michigan State— who shows why the Wooden Award may belong in Bloomington this season.

2. DUKE

If Ryan Kelly can come back from a right foot injury in time to put on his dancing shoes, he’ll be all the complement Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and Rasheed Sulaimon need for another long Blue Devils postseason waltz.

3. MICHIGAN STATE

There isn’t a coach we’d rather have lead a team in March than the Spartans’ Tom Izzo. And from the looks of Keith Appling and Gary Harris’ fabulous February —27.4 ppg for the dynamic duo in five games— there isn’t another backcourt we’d rather have either.

16. MEMPHIS

through SEC wars (wins over Missouri and Kentucky), these Gators have an all-forone mentality that should serve them well this month.

6. GONZAGA

The Zags probably deserved “Favorite Four” consideration here. Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos aren’t much bothered by the placement though; they’re much more concerned with leading this offensive juggernaut to the Final Four.

7. KANSAS

around Peyton Siva and Russ Smith, the two-way studs will need to play huge to squash that nasty team rumor.

10. MIAMI

Any team that beats North Carolina and Duke by a combined 62 points in three meetings can’t be taken lightly. But then again, any team that loses by 15 to lowly Wake Forest in late February can’t be fully trusted either.

11. GEORGETOWN

Sometimes we wish we had a television with picture-in-picture so that we could watch Ben McLemore’s offensive highlight reel on one channel and Jeff Withey’s defensive clincis on another.

Otto Porter Jr. can light it up —33 points vs. Syracuse on Feb. 23; nine other games of 18-plus— but for the Hoyas to make it to the Elite Eight, the suffocating defense must insist that teams see nothing but dark jerseys.

At last count, Wolverines star Trey Burke had nine games of 20-plus points this season. If Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glen Robinson III hold up their ends this month, he’ll only have to explode in critical situations.

8. ARIZONA

12. NEW MEXICO

SO-SO SIXTEEN 5. FLORIDA

9. LOUISVILLE

4. MICHIGAN

Battle-tested out of conference (wins over Wisconsin and Marquette) and valiant

Outside of the Zags, these Wildcats are probably the team out West who pose the biggest problem. And after seeing Mark Lyons and Nick Johnson at work, you’ll know exactly where we’re coming from. Word is out that the Cardinals can’t beat any real schools. Though player-ofthe-year chatter has quieted considerably

This hard-working bunch didn’t just come from nowhere. Kendall Williams and crew beat UConn back in November, whipped Cincinnati in December and stopped UNLV in January.

13. OKLAHOMA STATE

If you haven’t seen Marcus Smart (15 ppg, five boards, four assists) play, prepare yourself for an offensive treat. If the

We know that the Tigers are roaring right now —At press time, they had won 18 straight— but before you find your seat on their bandwagon, there’s one thing you need to understand—Conference USA was abysmal this season.

17. VCU

As much as we love coach Shaka Stewart’s relentless defense, we’re not sure his 2013 crew of overachievers is built for the long haul like his ’11 bunch.

18. MARQUETTE

The Golden Eagles have played in three overtime affairs and were involved in six other contests in regulation that were determined by four points or less. You know what that means? They should grind their way to the round of 16.

19. KANSAS STATE

While the rival Kansas Jayhawks get all the headlines, the Rodney McGruder-led Wildcats just keep getting better. If they made it to the Sweet 16, the news wouldn’t shock us one bit.

20. OHIO STATE

Sure, DeShaun Thomas is precise from the field (nearly 20 ppg) and Aaron Craft is pesky from anywhere, but we just don’t know if these Buckeyes are physical enough to last longer than the first weekend in the bracket.

NCAA FAB FOUR insiteatlanta.com • March 2013 • PG 29

COLUMN

SPORTS

FANATIC A Monthly Sports Wrap-up BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

Alex TOMRodriguez BRADY

“Ultimately, I believe it would be gross negligence. We all know that when you go to a race you assume a certain amount of risk. But what people don’t assume is that a race car will come flying into the stands... That’s why they make the fences.” –Orlando lawyer Matt Morgan, who’s representing injured fans from the DAYTONA 500 WEEKEND CRASH Hoops fans know that the youngsters aren’t the only ones who conjure up the madness in March. In trying to jockey for playoff positioning, the NBA has its fair share of craziness, too. Here are the mustsee televised games this month that should send the hardwood hysterics up a notch or two: 5) Indiana vs. L.A. Clippers (April 1, NBA TV); 4) Chicago vs. San Antonio (March 6, ESPN); 3) Miami vs. Boston (March 18, ESPN); 2) Oklahoma City vs. New York (March 7, TNT); 1) Miami vs. San Antonio (March 31, NBA TV). “In agreeing to a three-year, $27 million contact extension that runs through the end of the 2017 season, when he’ll be 40, [New England QB Tom] Brady likely riled agents and players throughout the league, especially those of the elite-quarterback variety. From Joe Flacco, who’s currently negotiating a long-term deal with the Baltimore Ravens in the wake of a Super Bowl championship, to Aaron Rodgers, whose deal with the Green Bay Packers is well below market value, highly compensated passers can look forward to being guilt-tripped by employers, media members and fans imploring them to ‘Take Less For The Team.’” YAHOO’S MICHAEL SILVER “He’s 21 now, so the weight is not a concern. You don’t know how much a body is going to fill out. He’s running great. He feels great. He’s not too far from where he played last year. Everything he has is muscle. His body [composition] is still terrific, from what the trainers tell me. If a player is 28 and he comes in a little heavier, it’s probably more of a concern. These young kids in our lineup are still growing -- particularly the kids from Latin America. They’ll start to fill out quicker because of diets and strength and conditioning.’’ L.A. ANGELS MANAGER MIKE SCIOSCIA on AL MVP runner-up’s spring training body Mike Trout And finally… Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson has just six games of 20-plus points since Christmas… Though he’s been masterfully inconsistent over the past few years, Golfodds.com still lists Tiger Woods as the slight Masters favorite… On February 26, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and grabbed 20 boards, his first 20-20 game since April 2003… If you’re looking for a few potential bracket busters in the NCAA Tournament, keep a really close eye on the underrated trio of St. Mary’s, Wichita State and Middle Tennessee… Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer after collecting win No. 900: “‘I think it’s beyond words. I’m happy that it’s over. I can hardly breathe. It’s over and now I can just coach and smile, and get back to what I love to do because it’s never been about numbers.’’ PG 30 • March 2013 • insiteatlanta.com

JOE JOHNSON

OUR FAVORITE THINGS BY B. LOVE

DRIDOWN ZISSOU 12 (www.SierraDesigns. com) was named among the best Gear of the VERY YEAR AROUND THIS TIME, Show by Outside at the 2012 Outdoor Retailer hundreds of hikers from all around the Expo. The bag features revolutionary 700-fill world descend on Springer Mountain, DriDown insulation, treated where they begin the 2200KEEN BRYCE with a molecular level polymer mile Appalachian Trail to create a hydrophobic finish from Georgia to Maine’s Mt on each individual plume, Katahdin. Whether you’re a which stays dry 10 times badass thru-hiking backpacker longer and dries much faster or simply a weekend warrior than regular down. It’s also looking to get away from it ridiculously comfortable, like all, having the latest outdoor being wrapped inside your own adventure gear can help make warm, fluffy cocoon, keeping braving the elements a lot you snug as a bug at temps KELTY OUTFITTER easier. down to 12ºF. When I interviewed AT guru Whether you’re using it for Winton Porter a few years ago, GPS or contacting friends to he told me that buying shoes meet along the trail, these days is the single most important it’s impossible to get by without decision a hiker will make. a cell phone. But when you’re We’ve tried a lot of different hiking and camping for a week brands over the years. For long or more, charging it becomes hikes I love KEEN’S BRYCE an issue. For high-tech MID WP (www.keenfootwear. IBEX SHAKLITE backpackers, the JUICEBAR com), a lightweight, SOLAR CHARGER (www. waterproof, mid-length boot juicebarsolarcharger.com) with a breathable liner to could literally be a lifesaver. keep moisture out and a tread Its powerful battery can be outsole to help you stay steady charged via a USB port before on rough terrain. But for casual you leave, or via the solar cell day hikes, I’m also a big fan of while you’re outdoors, and will GOLITE’S LIME LITE (www. hold a charge for over a month. golite-footwear.com): They’re The slim (.5” X 4” X 2.5”), DRIDOWN ZISSOU rugged enough for the trail, lightweight (4 oz) stainless steel but have a cool leather design design makes it easy to fit in that looks great for a night out a pocket, yet it’s got enough as well. power to charge cell phones, At 8 lb 1 oz, the KELTY portable gaming systems, Tom OUTFITTER PRO 4 (www. Toms, iPods and most other Kelty.com) is just 19 oz heavier small mobile tech products. than their 2-man tent, but Finally, getting away from it for family campers like us it all doesn’t necessarily have to provides nearly twice the floor JUICEBAR SOLAR CHARGER mean “out of touch.” space (60 sq ft vs. 35). The If you’ve done much hiking, simple 2-pole construction you know that a backpack (including color-coded clips) can either make or break a makes it a snap to set up, yet positive outdoor experience. it’s durable enough to hold For this story, we tried out up to inclement weather. three different packs. Currently Taped seams work with the listed at $97 on Amazon, the trademarked ArcEdge design TETON SPORTS ESCAPE (which elevates ground level 4300 (www.tetonsports.com) TETON SPORTS ESCAPE seams) to keep the heavy-duty was easily the best deal. With floor dry even in a deluge, while 4300 cubic inch capacity, it’s mesh wall panels and fly vents designed for longer trips, allow breezes to pass through with a false floor, external once the weather turns warm. sleeping bag compartments, All in all, it’s a great tent that’s and 7 pockets giving ample clearly built to last. options for storing gear. The At this time of year, contoured harness and padded the weather can be crazy double wishbone waist also unpredictable, going from PATAGONIA BLACK HOLE makes it very comfortable for sub-freezing temps in the AM the price. PATAGONIA’S to 50-60º in the heat of midday. BLACK HOLE PACK (www. As we learned on our recent patagonia.com) costs about trip to Patagonia, layering is $50 more, and seems more key. My lady loves IBEX’S geared towards the urban SHAK LITE (www.shop.ibex. jungle than the trail. It’s sturdy com) line, which has earned enough, with waterproof fabric, accolades from Backpacker water-resistant zippers and a magazine. Available in huge inner compartment big hoodies, sweaters and more, enough for a 17” laptop. But their signature Shak fabric is we didn’t love the design, and the straps get a made from lightweight Montana-grown wool designed to be comfy and flattering to the form. little uncomfortable on a strenuous day hike. KELTY’S FLEET 55 is made for extended I prefer the New Zealand-grown merino wool adventures and heavy loads, with an Agile used by ICEBREAKER (www.icebreaker.com), which has been praised by Time for its softness, suspension system that keeps the weight on your hips as opposed to your shoulders. The breathability and warmth. By layering their spring-loaded back panel lends added comfort, technical base layer (a.k.a. fancy long-johns), long- or short-sleeve T-shirts and Blast jackets, with molded lumbar and scapula pads that provide support while increasing airflow to you can get protection from the elements your back. It’s surprisingly light for a 55-liter without needing a heavy, cumbersome coat. Sleeping bag technology has come a long way pack, but backpackers on a budget may prefer the Escape 4300, which is $100 cheaper. since I was a kid. THE SIERRA DESIGNS

Novak Djokovic

SPORTS

FANATIC A Monthly Sports Wrap-up SOUTHERN NIGHTS!

BEST ADULT VIDEO STORE! Since 1996

BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS

Now that SUPER BOWL XLV is over, football fans can get to the real issue: Will there be a 2011 season? If you let NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tell it, a new collective bargaining agreement is imminent. But listen to others close to the situation and they’ll say it’s not such a sure thing. While oﬃcials work out the numbers, Fanatic knows three things that’ll happen, lockout or no lockout: 1) An SEC defender (Auburn’s Nick Fairley or LSU’s Patrick Peterson) will be the No. 1 pick in the Draft; 2) An 18-game season will be approved; 3) Super Bowl XLVI will kick-oﬀ as planned on Feb. 5, 2012 in Indianapolis.

(Blake Griﬃn, L.A. Clippers); Coach of the Year (Gregg Popovich, San Antonio); Most Improved Player (Kevin Love, Minnesota); Sixth Man of the Year (Jamal Crawford, Atlanta); Most Surprising Team (New Orleans Hornets); Biggest Disappointment (Phoenix Suns). “He’s a beast. What can you say? Some of the shots he made, I was like, ‘Wow. Did he just make that in my face?’ A player like that, you have to live and die defending him one on one. If he makes big shots, you have to go to the other end and stay poised.” –New Mexico guard Dairese Gary, on JIMMER FREDETTE, BYU star and college’s leading scorer

Over 10,000 DVD’s for Sale & Rent!

“I feel like a better player now than I was three years ago, because I think that physically I’m stronger, faster, mentally I’m more motivated on the court. I know how to react in certain moments, and I know how to play on a big stage. I have been more focused and dedicated to the sport than ck Up I have ever been before.e ” -2011 AUSTRALIAN s of MEN’SPi d a h S 0 5 OPEN WINNER NOVAK DJOKOVIC Today! !

s Grey Item

“When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it. Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.” –GIL MECHE, 32, who retired instead of taking a guaranteed $12 million to pitch for Kansas City this season

“St. Louis was fourth in baseball last year in attendance, but only 13th in payroll. In other words the Cardinals have money to burn, and it’s time to light the match. So here’s what you do if you’re St. Louis: Whatever [Albert] Pujols reason, you give it to him. What’s XZewants, n 12within 00idea. TheFclosest within reason? No leshbaseball lighthas had to a Her eN free agent likeow this!wasN Alex Rodriguez in 2001, when he ow inThat Sto k! million received $252 million for 10 years. wasc$25.2 annually, and that was a decade ago. And Pujols is better.” –CBS SPORTS’ GREGG DOYEL

62 Channel Hi-Def Video Arcade is

NOW OPEN!

NIGHTS

Must-See TV

2205 Cheshire Bridge Rd. 404-728-0701 • Open 24/7 www.SNVOnline.com

TARA MOVIE THEATRE

SOUTHERN NIGHTS

1. NBA All-Star Game (Feb. 20, 8PM, TNT) We don’t know if there will be more celebrities on the hardwood playing or celebrating

WOODLAND

courtside at L.A.’s Staples Center.

2. AsMiami at Boston (Feb. 13, 1PM, ABC) much as Chicago and Orlando fans hate acknowledging the fact, this is probably your Eastern Conference Finals preview.

3. Ohio State at Wisconsin, Pittsburgh at Villanova (Feb. 12, 2PM, 9PM, ESPN) The top two teams in the nation go on the road to very, very hostile environments.

4. Daytona 500 (Feb. 20, 12PM, Fox) Gentlemen, start your quest to stop Jimmie Johnson from winning an unprecedented sixth straight Sprint Cup championship.

5. This UNC at Duke (Feb. 9, 9PM, ESPN) big meeting (and another on March 5) goes a long way in deciding North Carolina bragging rights and the ACC crown.

Top 5 Games This Month

We NOW carry Tobacco Accessories & Sensuals!

CHESHIRE BRIDGE

And ﬁnally… Hawaii pays $4 million to host the NFL’s annual Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium… If early estimates are accurate, Super Bowl XLV should be Stub Hub’s top-selling event ever… At press time, the Cleveland Cavs were in the midst of a 1-29 February, of course, marks the NBA’S halfway point. stretch, the NBA’s worst since 1996… If there’s an NFL work With that landmark also comes Fanatic’s midseason stoppage next season, it’s reported that Las Vegas casinos awards: MVP (Derrick Rose, Chicago); Defensive Player would take an $850 million hit on unplaced betting… A of the Year (Dwight Howard, Orlando); Rookie ofSOUTHERN the Year record 56 underclassmen declared for the NFL Draft.

For the adult in all of us.

g Our n i c u d Intro ew Line... Hot N e Toy Supremg Mist in n a le C e Toy Supremg Foam in n Clea

10 Speed Power Bullet

Twizzle Trigger Maxi Massager

Personal Super Lube

30 to 50% OFF Select In-Store Erotica!

Adult Movies Adult Toys Tobacco Pipes Lubes Designer Lingerie Body Oils D: VOTE Bondage Fetish Detoxification Bachelor Bachelorette Adult Games Aroma Candles Incense Body Jewelry & MORE! ATLANTA’S BEST!

SNIP & SAVE

All s ah o H ok ories s s e & Acc

FF! 25%e AO ’ Smokin Hav

ys!

St. Patt

HURRY IN! Offer expires 3/31/13 IN

St. Patty’s Day Erotica

Save Some Green On Adult Fun!

�� Take

15% OFF

Any Item With A Shamrock Sticker! Visit Our Fine Sister Stores:

��

22 Convenient Locations | 404.766.6993 FREE ADULT DVD with any $20 online order:

ShopStarship.com PG insiteatlanta.com 31 • insiteatlanta.com • January • March 2013 • 2011 PG 31

DINNER SPECIALS EVERY NIGHT!

Atlanta’s Favorite Middle Eastern Restaurant

NEW

BEER & WINE SELECTIONS! Candler Park 1655 McLendon Ave. 404.687.8888 Midtown 1001 Piedmont Ave. 404.874.8887 www.flyingbiscuit.com • Catering: 404-849-2283

2751 lavista rd • decatur ga 30033 404-633-8833 • www.mezzabistro.com

ys Monda $1 PBR Drafts $5 Pitchers of Beer Th ys Tuesda Trivia ursda

The Only Thing We Over Look is the Park! ys

DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS FROM $6

CHESHIRE BRIDGE

1810 CHESHIRE BRIDGE RD. 404-874-8304

parktavern.com

WE DELIVER!

1/2 Off Sushi Nightly from 10pm–Midnight Wine Wednesday – 1/2 Priced Bottles of Wine • When It rains We Pour $1 Drafts! Best Patio Scene

(after 5 PM)

The Place to Be This St. Patty’s Day!

Specials

Irish Man Whiskey $4! $3. Drafts All Day! 50

$3 Fire Ball!

• Mondays: $7 Fish-n-Chips • Tuesdays: Poker @ 8pm • Wednesdays: $5 Burgers, $1.50 Tall Boy PBR • Saturday: Brunch until 3pm • Sunday: Brunch & $3.50 Draft Beers All Day!

Landmark DINER CATERING AVAILABLE

N E P O

24 Hours

3652 Roswell Rd.

at the corner of Roswell & Piedmont Rd. 404-816-9090 www.landmarkdiner.com

$5 Jamesons Car bombs

Kids Allowed Mon.–Fri. • Noon–8pm Drink Specials: $2.50 All Domestic Bottle $3 Well Drinks & Fire Ball $4 Margaritas

The Elder Tree Public House

469 Flat Shoals Ave. East Atl • www.eldertreeatl.com • 404-658-6108

Tasty Sandwiches • Salads • Dinner Fare • Chicken & Veal • Seafood Platters • Greek & Italian Cuisine Breakfast Menu • Appetizers • Steak & Chops • Dessert Menu • Kid’s Menu

MARCH MADNESS! SPRING BREAK! SHOP HERE! Locally Blown Glass

$4 OFF

$5 OFF

*Minimum order required before tax & delivery. Not Valid with any other offer. Must mention coupon when ordering. Good only at location shown. Valid through 3/31/13

MIDTOWN www.nancyspizza.com 265 PONCE DE LEON • 404-254-5103

Any $25* Order Or More Online Coupon Code $4OFF

Any $30* Order Or More Online Coupon Code $5OFF

INDOOR DINING AREA • COVERED PATIO SEATING

HOOKAHS Starting at $24.95

DETOX PRODUCTS

Hand-blown Bubblers

PIPES

POSTERS

Red Dawn, GHRelease, Sleepwalker & Zan-X Starting at $6.95

SELF DEFENSE PRODUCTS

CIGARS & BODY CIGARETTES JEWELRY

ROSWELL: 710 Holcomb Br. Rd. #240 • 770-992-4485 SANDY SPRINGS: 6125 Roswell Rd. Suite 101A, 101B • 404-256-1116 ACWORTH: 3466 Cobb Pkwy Suite 120 • 770-974-5585 NEW LOCATION WOODSTOCK: 8265 Hwy 92 Suite 108 • 678-445-5550

ALL STORES OPEN 10A-2A EVERY DAY • WWW.SHOPSMOKE911.COM