TH E DEAD

Mo’s Pizza 3109 Briarcliff Rd. 404.320.1258 well as outside w ith plenty of seating on their popular p atio. Smith’s Olde Bar 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404.875.1522 www.s mithsoldebar.com March Madness! Where to Head to When the Tournament Tips off

You may know about the burrito chain w ith the same name, but the original Mo’s resides o n the corner of Briarcliff and Clairmont Roads just off the I-85 exit. T hey have b een serving up great piz za for over 25 years.

Mo’s menu isn’t limited to pizza either: sandw iches, subs, wings, nachos and salads ensure t hat anybody who comes here can f ind something they like. Mo’s uses the freshest ingredients; t hey make their own dough and grind their cheese daily.

Come t o Mo’s t o catch all the tournament action. They have a great deck to hang out on, and plenty of new pla sma TVs to watch the games. Mo’s i s one of the longest running pizza joint s in A tlanta, come in and see why they are one of the best! The Red Door Tavern 3180 Roswell Rd. (1 Block N of Roxy) 404.846.6525

The Red Door Tavern who just celebrated their 5 Y ear Anniversary, has quickly become a f avorite watering hole among locals in Nort h Buckhead. They are loc ated on Roswell Road, one block north of the Roxy T heatre.

The Red D oor Tavern f eatures a large out

door dec k in the f ront that offers a great v iew down Roswell Road in Buckhead’s West Village. They offer “Bucket Specials” of Bud, Bud Light and Bud S elect. They a lso have a “Draft Tower” a g lass featuring 120 o unces of beer. The dec k will be the place to be Saturday March 14, as The Red Door holds their annual St. Patrick’s D ay Blowout. It will feature green b eer and Irish drink specials as well as an a ctual dancing Leprechaun on the bar.

They are open 2pm t o 3am each day and closed on Sunday. During the tournament , they will open a t noon to catch those early round games. Tavern at Phipps 3500 Peachtree Rd. 404.814.9640 www.TheTavernAtPhipps.com

Voted B est Happy Hour, Best Patio, Best Bartender, B est Looking Waitstaff, and Best Martini, B uckhead’s The Tavern at Phipps is the place to be during March Madness. They have l arge HDTV’s behind the main bar as

At Smith ’s you will find t otal entertainment. The downstairs bar i s divided into three rooms. The Game Room f eatures five Pool tables, Dart b oards and Golden Tee Golf. Adjacent t o it is their Dining Area. They have plenty of s eating where tables can be combined for large parties and generous b ooths surrounded by l arge screen TV’s. During the tournament , Smith’s will hang the brackets on the wall t o keep track of your favorite teams. They have a full menu, but what are most popular are their w ings, chicken fingers and burgers. Another f avorite is their BBQ b rought in exclusively from Fox Brothers. During the tournament a sk for their March Madness spe cials. Next to the Dining area, holds one of the most impressive bars in the city. The r oom is surrounded by booths and new pla sma TV’s for those looking for the p erfect seat to watch the games. After the games have f inished, go upstairs to watch some of the best live music Atlanta has t o offer. There is live music 7 nights a wee k. Everyone has played here, from your favorite local band to David Bowie.

Chicago Nancy’s Pizza Midtown 265 Ponce De Leon 404.885.9199 Buckhead 3167 Peachtree Rd.404.842.9997 www.nancyspizza.com

Chicago conjures up images of some of t he best piz za in the country and Chicago’s Nancy’s Piz za does it to perfection here in Atlanta. The B uckhead location is a full sit down restaurant with full b ar. It boasts 120” flat screens which will b e tuned to your favorite game. They are o ffering $2 Draft Beer Sunday and T hursday throughout the basketball tournament. Buckhead is also offering a “One for One” lunch combo t his month. Receive a slice of cheese pizza, a small g arden salad and soft drink for one low price of $6.95 (Dine in only). Midtown is offering a chance t o win lower level seats to H awks games by j oining their Loyalty Club. The Corner Tavern East Pointe 2783 Main St. 404.768.0007 Little 5 1 174 Euclid Ave. 404.521.0667 Ed gewood 464 Edgewood 404.577.2310 www.thecornertavern.com

THE DEAD:Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Good

PG 24 • insiteatlanta.com • March 2009 S THE FIRST SPRING UNDER THE NEW administration’s rally cry of “yes we can” steadily approaches, the sense of optimism and hope that brought Barack Obama to the Wh ite Ho use brings with it the rebirth of a long-held, American tradition that spans the past four decades; the De ad is truckin’ yet again. Su rviving members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Ha rt have revived the group after a four-year hiatus that sent all four mus icians in separate musical endeavors amidst accounts of inner turmoil. As it seems, the bad vibes have been cleared away; the De ad first reunited to help raise funds for Pr esident Obama’s campaign in October of last year at the “Change Ro cks” benefit concert in Pennsylvania. Though Gr ateful Dead figurehead Jerry Garcia has been gone for over a decade, the band’s cultural significance continues to thrive, most evidently in the De adhead fan base that has grown out of multiple generations who have discovered the feel-good jams and improvisational creativity that the De ad pushed to the edge night after night through years of touring. Their influence is felt in the jam-based rock scene, heralded now by bands like Da ve Matthews Band, Umphrey’s McGe e, and the newly reunited Phish. Hearing them talk about their status as the De ad, it becomes clear that the music still has an impact on these four musicians that cuts deeper than the iconic, symbolic cultural importance that they have become. “Music is what we do and we do it together really well and it seemed like the right time [to regroup],” Ha rt explains. “We kind of cleaned out our closets and came back for the right reasons to play together.”

We ir shares his enthusiasm about the level of musiA BY JON LATHAM

cianship in the band. “I think all of us are playing a little less and listening a little more. This is something that happens to musicians as they mature but it’s happened to us and we’re benefitting mildly from it.” “The rest of it is going to be fulfilled in the music,” continues Ha rt, “That’s really where it’s all at. It comes right down to the experience on stage, and I look forward to bringing the best possible version of me to the stage and I’ m sure everyone else is going to do the same, so it can be really exciting, a lot of fun.”

If the Dead looks like a nostalgia act, it’s news to these guys. Fo r them, any chance to take the stage together is a chance to break ground in territories uncharted by the past incarnations of the band. “I’ ve been working with my own band now for almost 10 years and the perspectives of other musicians that have come through my band have helped evolve my appreciation for [the De ad’s] music in a way that makes me want to see what’s going to happen when we get back together [on stage],” Ph il shares. As for what would pull Lesh from his successful solo efforts, “A lot of it is curiosity on my part; it’s the question mark that’s really pulling me in, what’s gonna happen and the fact that we cannot predict what’s going to happen.” Coming together at this point has caused quite the

MUSIC INTERVIEW

buzz among the throng of De adheads that have been waiting since 2004 for the next go-round. The fans of the De ad, like the band itself, is somewhat of iconic proportion. Kreutzmann elaborates, “The audience is one of the most unique audiences there is and the peacefulness and love that they express for one another is probably the highest thing there is. One message that I hear really clearly from De adheads is that we miss you guys, we wish you guys were playing again--and that really makes you want to do it.” “[We have] three or four generations of fans,” chimes in We ir. “In the shows that I’ve been playing in the past five years or so, there are more and more young people showing up,” Lesh adds. “It ’s interesting because they’re all too young, or they seem to be too young, to have heard the Gr ateful Dead with Jerry, so somehow they found out about this music. It ’s touched them in some way and they’re coming to see what it’s all about.” The ability to bring the legacy of the Gr ateful Dead’s music to the younger demographic is an obvious point of pleasure for Lesh. Si nce starting up Ph il Lesh & Friends, the bulk of the material performed has been De ad tunes. “I’m personally very glad that we’re going to be able to get back together and give a great The De ad experience, from us.” Joining the four original De ad members on this trek will be Jeff Chimenti, who played keyboards in We ir’s solo project Ra tdog, and jam-scene mainstay Warren Ha ynes, who holds two notable day jobs as guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band as well as guitar duties in his very own group, Go v’t Mule. Though such talent

winds up the line-up beautifully, the guys still keep an ear out for their fallen leader. “I hear [Jerry],” Weir explains. “I can feel him, ‘No don’t go there. Yeah, go there. No . No, don’t go there. Go there,’ and I either do it or don’t, just like I always did.” Mickey recalls fond memories of a De ad with Garcia at the helm. “He brought a nuance to [our music], besides the obvious melody and so fourth, inner workings and how it all flowed. It ’s inherent in the music now because that’s the way it is. It ’s all of that other stuff, the weave of it all. “He ’s all over; he’s all through the music,” Lesh adds. “Hi s presence will never diminish for us.” Wi th a new millennium in full swing, the Dead have steered away from new studio material, but continue to release archival live material using multiple sources of output. “Si nce we don’t make studio records anymore, we haven’t had an occasion to be dealing with that asp ect of [the] music distribution agenda,” explains Lesh. “We do have a download series that’s coming out from Rh ino [Records], of older shows. So in the future I’m sure that we’re going to be offering some of these tour shows for download depending on how good they are. And so you know, we’re trying to be with it. “ And thou the election is fully behind us, it is worth noting that the De ad remain politically minded. It might not be as preachy as Bono or Ed die Vedder, but it was the hope and spirit of change that Barack Obama that brought the four together in October. As Lesh puts it, “One of the things that Gr ateful Dead music tried to bring, and tried to convey to everyone we play to, is hope for the future, hope and joy in life and a feeling of infinite possibility.” Older and wiser, the De ad seek to bring a sonic depth to those possibilities, so that the hope they conveyed then will find its purpose in the here and now. It might be a comeback for this legendary traveling show, but it seems far from the truth when one ventures to think that the warmth and pleasure that their music has brought for the last four decades never really stopped at all.

Baldinos Giant Jersey Subs Marietta 80 Powers Ferry Rd. 770.321.1177 Doraville 5697 Buford Hwy. 770.455.8570 www.baldinos.us

Since 1975, Baldinos Giant Jersey Subs has been recognized as th e only true New Jersey subm a r i n e sandwich i n the S o u t h . Their in-store b akery assures the f reshest rolls b aked daily. Whether you are ordering B oar’s Head Golden Roasted Turkey Breast or one of Baldinos famous I talian Subs, the m eat is always sliced when you order to insure the freshest sub possible. If you like it hot, Baldinos C heesesteak i s the “Best in t own”. In fact, all their grilled subs, including S ausage Italiano and a variety of chicken subs are great b ecause they are hot off the g rill; not out of the microwave. Stuffed subs like Tuna, Marinated Chicken, Meatball and V egetarian Stir-Fry top off a variety of more than 30 subs and salads . When you walk i nto a Baldinos sub shop, you will f eel the difference. When you eat a Ba ldinos sub, you’ll know the d ifference. Like they say , “Yea we’re fresh, but in a goo d kind of way." March on in to baldinos and w atch your f avorite team or March on out w ith a Baldinos Family Sub and enjoy the game a t home with a few of your friends. Johnny’s NY Style Pizza Multiple Metro Area Locations www.JohnnysPizza.com

Johnny’s Pizza has co me to be synonymous with great pizza and subs in Atlanta. Th e first metro area location opened in East Point in 1977. There are now 65 Johnny’s Piz za r estaurants. The secret to their success i s in the preparation. They always use the fi nest ingredients in their fantastic Pizza, Subs, Salads, Sandwiches, Strombolis , and everything else on their menu! Pizza can be ordered by the slice for $2.00. Medium pizza start at $9.25 and large a t $12.25.

Johnny ’s restaurants offer dine-in, takeout and delivery . Please call your nearest loc ation for special catering menus being offered for t his year’s tournament. Chicago’s Nancy’s Pizza Midtown 265 Ponce De Leon 404.885.9199 Buckhead 3167 Peachtree Rd. 404.842.9997 www.nancyspizza.com

The name Chicago conjures up images of some of the b est pizza in the country. Mike Glover opened the first Chicago ’s Nancy’s in A tlanta in 2003. As he explains, “We commit ourselves to the customers being happy and make sure t o thank them for coming to Chicago’s Nancy’s.” Part of what k eeps them coming is the freshness of their piz za. Dough is made from s cratch every day, vegetables and toppings are delivered daily and their f resh spices are imported from all over the world.

But t hey offer more than just great pizza; salads and sandwiches a lso fill their menu. Nancy ’s is the perfect place to call when planning a ge t together large or small. Chin Chin Brookhaven 3887 Peachtree Rd. 404.816.2229 Multiple locations ww.chinchinonline.com

Chin Chin is consistently voted Atlanta’s Best C hinese restaurant. Chin Chin offers over 30 lunch spe cials between $6.50 and $7.50. They have a TV at the bar of their Bro okhaven location featured to catch up on the l atest games. Chin Chin is also a great option for t ake-out. Their appetizers range f rom the spring rolls ($2.95) to the Soft Shell Crab ($9.50). They have a variety of superb nood le dishes including Vegetable Lo Mein ($7.95). Other popular menu items include: General Tso’s Chicken ($11.50), Shredded B eef and Bell Peppers ($10.50) and Skewer Ch icken with Szechuan sauce ($9.95). MARCH MADNESS TAKE-OUT GUIDE Places to go for Grub before settling in for the Games DINING

All three Corner Tavern locations are fun hangouts o ffering billiards, darts, trivia and f lat screen TVs tuned t o the latest games. They also offer live music w ith bands playing at Little 5 on T uesday night and Sund ay night at the other locations.

The Corner Tavern is known for their upper class pub f are and g reat beer selection. Little 5 Point s has 27 beers on tap, East Pointe has 14 and t he Edgewood location, Atlanta's only American Taproom, has over 100 American m icro-brewed b eers & native wines. Enjoy $6 Car Bombs a t this location through the month of March. Locos Grill & Pub 3167 Peachtree Rd. 404.233.1989 www.locosgrillandpub.com

With a great deck overlooking Peachtree featuring a proj ection TV and many more of plasma TV’s inside, Locos i s the place to be for March Madness. The location featured is loc ated at Buckhead’ s Nort h End bar and shopping district .

Locos i s famous for their great wings and sandwiches as well a s for their assortment of beers. At this loc ation you will find 24 d ifferent drafts to choo se from among their full bar. Come on Frida y and enjoy their Giant Beers and Monster Marjarita s. Moondog’s 3179 Peachtree St. Buckhead 404.231.4223

This always happening party bar will be the place to be during the biggest games of t his year’s baske tball tournament. Moondog’s is made up of multiple rooms that include pool tables, tables for card games and dart boards. This allows large groups of fans from opposing

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

BEST PIZZA! &

Multiple Atlanta Locations: www.JohnnysPizza.com

www.baldinos.us VOTED BEST SUBS IN ATLANTA

teams there own space. They provide 8 f lat screen hi-definition pla sma TV’s on premises.

For the T hursday games they open a t 7pm and

then a t 8:30pm on Friday and Saturday. They don’t close each night until 3AM s o there is no nee d to head out to the party after the game; you are already there. Manuel’s Tavern 602 N. Highland Ave. 404.525.3447 www.m anuelstavern.com

Plan your tournament get together at Manuel's T avern. They offer free parking, a full catered m enu and do not charge a room rental fee. They offer event s paces, b oth private and semi-private, that hold from 25-150 people. In addition

PG 25 • insiteatlanta.com • March 2009 t o their private rooms, the 1st level h ouses their famous bar, large-screen TV and 2 smallers creened T Vs. The 2nd L evel has two smallerscreened T Vs. The Wing Factory Chastain Square, Roswell Rd. 404.255.4460 www.wingfactory.com With a truckload of new flat screens installed l ast Fall, the Wing F actory should be the place to be to catch every game of NCAA hoop madness this March. All t he games on T V, beers on ice and wings piled high on your t able – that’s a combo that is tough to beat.

In a Year With More Twists (and Turned Knees) Than We Can Recall in Recent Memory, these 12 Teams Likely Have the Gas to get Into the Final Four. SPORTS NEWS Which Way to Detroit?

EPENDING ON WHAT WEEK YOU WERE paying attention to college basketball, a different team looked like a sure thing. On e day it was North Carolina. Th e next it may have been Pittsburgh. Shoot, when we last checked in late February, Memphis had become world beaters. But such is the joy of March. 65 teams enter the tourn ament with a dream. Maybe 10 have a realistic shot at reachi ng De troit’s Ford Field. Oklahoma is one of those talented few, but Blake Gr iffin’s knees and concussion are a mild concern. Marquette is another, but Do minic James’ season-ending foot injury has certainly crippled its chances. An d then there’s Da vidson, the surprise of last year’s dance. Without a 100% Stephen Curry, they may not even get an invitation, let alone a win. But be it injuries or inconsistent play, no school looks invincible. Still, one in this dazzling dozen will win it –INsite’s money is on UNC- but its ride through the brackets won’t be an easy one. (THE ALMOST) FAB FOUR CONNECTICUT

The other night Hu skies head coach Jim Calhoun got his 800th career victory. He ’s got a chance to add six notches to that total with a tourney sweep. But to do it, Ha sheem Th abeet needs to man up in the paint, Jeff Ad rien’s gotta keep punishing opp onents like schoolb oys and A. J. Price has to hit threes like a wild child. NORTH CAROLINA

When Ty Lawson has the wheels turnin’ from the point guard slot and Ty ler Hansbrough is doing what he typically does in the center role, there isn’t a team on this list that can hang with the Ta r Heels. Combo guards Wa yne Ellington and Danny Green only make UNC that much more of a handful. OKLAHOMA Seeing what likely national freshman of the year Wi llie Warren could do in Al l-American Blake Gr iffin’s absence (50 points in two games) was eye-opening, yes. But it’s a resounding “He ll no!” to those who think the Sooners are championship caliber without Gr iffin in the middle. Here’s hoping all that ails him will be better by mid March. PITTSBURGH

If you haven’t seen Panther big guy De Juan Blair play…umm, hold up. Is that even possible? The fearless forward is not only 6-7, 265, but he’s also got gaudy stats: 16 points and 13 boards a night. A c onsistent Pi tt will easily advance four times in the postseas on if Blair plays like Blair and Levance Fields has his usual flair. (THE NEARLY) ELITE EIGHT DUKE The Blue Devils haven’t been to the Final Four since ’04, so there’s definitely some motivation here. Th at Kyle Singler, Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer’s names are sometimes prefaced with the word “soft,” might inspire too. KANSAS

On last year’s national title-winning club, Sherron Collins was more of a role player. On this season’s impressive squad, he’s the clear leader. Th e Jayhawks will need all of his 18 ppg and Cole Al drich’s 11 rebounds if they’re to have any chance at a repeat. LOUISVILLE

The Cardinals have been one of our favorite teams this year. In Te rrence Williams, Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels, they have three talents the NBA can’t wait to get its mittens on. If the trio keeps its minds off playing for the Pistons, they may end up in De troit for the Final Four. BY DEMARCO WILLIAMS D CONNECTICUT’S

JEFF ADR IEN NO RTH CAR OLINA’S TY LAWSON

LSU

The SEC hasn’t roared much on the national hoops radar this year. But that slight could prove bene ficial for a Marcus Th ornton-led Ti ger team that clawed its way past the likes of Florida and Te nnessee, and may pounce into the Sweet Sixteen.

MEMPHIS

Arguably the country’s hottest team (Th e Tigers were riding a 19-game winning streak at press time), Memphis will be no joke in late March if fine freshman Ty reke Ev ans and super senior Robert Do zier keep up their Batman-andRo bin routine.

MICHIGAN STATE

The Big 12 better hope the NCA A selection committee doesn’t put any of its teams in the Spartans’ path. Led by swift sophomore Ka lin Lucas, this Big Te n heavy has already defeated Ok lahoma State, Texas and Kansas this year.

UCLA With continual talk about talented underclassmen leaving for the league, we often forget to acknowledge the athletes who stay in college all four years. Bruins Da rren Collinson and Josh Shipp are seniors we suspect will be taking kids to school in the tourney.

WAKE FOREST

A 27-point loss to Miami and heartbreakers to an average Ge orgia Tech and North Carolina State might crush most teams’ spirits, but these De mon Deacons are far from typical. Jeff Te ague may get ACC player of the year. James Johnson and Al -Farouq Aminu get double-doubles nearly every night.

BIG NAMES, SH ORT STAYS: ARIZONA STATE, CLEMSON, GONZAGA, TEXAS AND WASHINGTON

IF THEY’RE INVITED, WATCH OUT: FLORIDA, DAYTON, UTAH, VMI AND WEST VIRGINIA