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ENTERTAINMENT! Atlanta Jazz Festival Atlanta Caribbean Carnival WETBAR Bill Burr
No. 5
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Arts & Culture
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Movies
Events
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29 Food Reviews
Music
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People
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Arts & Culture
SHARK TANK PROTE’J, FASHION BAZAAR II, PHOTO MIXER
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SHARK TANK PROTE’J The next generation of entrepreneurs
On June 6th, the ProtéJ project hosted their first ever Jewish Shark Tank. Considering the sold-out packed house, it proved to be a huge success! Fans of the hit show, Shark Tank are sure to be familiar with the set-up. Young entrepreneurs pitching their business model to a panel of successful judges. The key difference in this “shark tank” was that one of its main focuses was the Jewish community. The event included six Jewish Atlanta entrepreneurs pitching their business models to attendees, as well as a distinguished panel consisting of Co-founder of Home Depot and prominent Atlanta figure, Bernie Marcus, Spanks CEO, Laurie and Michael Kogon, and CEO of Definition 6. All content and Ann images Goldman, are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwiseFounder noted 4
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To give a little background, the ProtéJ project (which is directed by Jennie Rivlin Roberts) is a fairly new initiative to support young Jewish entrepreneurs. This is accomplished through the matching of each entrepreneur with an already successful mentor. These mentees were the very businesspeople to pitch their models at this event. Each person was given about ten minutes for their pitch and question-answer session with the “sharks” before the ominous John Williams classic Jaws theme began to play, indicating that their time was up. The overall winner received the proceeds from ticket sales, and audience members could text their pledges of support for the businesses of their choosing throughout. Attendees were also given five $10 “shark bucks” to put into fishbowls corresponding with the different businesses, so there were many opportunities for support. All of the business plans pitched focused not only on profitability, but also enrichment of the Jewish community and Jewish identity as a whole. Businesses such as Adamah Adventures and the Jewish Kids Group focused on development of Jewish identity for children and adolescents, while the goal of Atlanta Jewish News.com is to bring news concerning the Jewish community directly to Jewish Atlanta residents. Punk Torah is an internet-based Jewish community, and one business previously featured by The Peach Review® was Russell Gottschalk’s Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, which aims to bring about a Jewish music experience for festival goers. Each entrepreneur had pretty well-defined business plans, and definitely gave the “sharks”, who thoroughly probed those plans, a difficult decision. In the end, however, there had to be a winner and that was Rabbi Chaim Neiditch with the Jewish Student Union (JSU). The JSU works to bring Jewish groups and a sense of Jewish identity to adolescents attending public schools. All-in-all, the Shark tank was a blast! Kudos to Jennie and the ProtéJ project, which managed to make a huge city like Atlanta feel like a small community helping to boost, and support these local business endeavors. For more information on the ProtéJ project, or any of the businesses pitched at the shark tank follow these links: Prote’J Shark Tank
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-EDB
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June 9, 2013
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PHOTO SHOOT MIXER
On Sunday June 9, 2013 Diamonds and Pearls Couture Boutique (DPC) teamed up with RunwayInk to host a Trunk Show/ Photo shoot mixer.
Fashion continues to grow in Atlanta Location: Downtown Photography by X Lewis
Diamonds & Pearls Couture & RunwayInk presented a Spring Trunk Show and Photo Shoot Mixer. Backed by InCrowd Atlanta, everyone “in” with the fashion crowd were present. That Sunday afternoon the extravaganza featured vending, a live couture All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
fashion exhibit, complete with a photo shoot mixer. All guests and friends who came had the option of doing a professional photo shoot at the mixer, while mingling and shopping with Atlanta's Elite in Fashion.
Vending was set up throughout the venue, with fierce top of the line buys at obtainable prices. The fashion exhibit featured some of the fashion industries most fabulous models on the runway for a well constructed runway show.
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THE PEACH REVIEW® FASHION June 9, 2013
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“Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.” Christian Dior
The mixer gave attendees a chance to switch places with the models.
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It wasn’t just an opportunity for women, men also took part in the festivities.
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THE PEACH REVIEW® FASHION JUNE 9, 2013
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“Evening is a time of real experimentation. You never want to look the same way.” Donna Karen
Photo Shoot Mixer
Start time was around 1:30pm and by 2pm things were up and running. There was a dressing area for those that wanted to change during their shoot. It was suggested to arrive camera-ready but the RunwayInk Glam Squad was prepared to add or do touch ups.
Very few media outlets were allowed so we at The Peach Review® were more than happy to be in attendance and stay around for the It was a great time festivities. Be sure to and people should look follow RunwayInk on out for the next one. It Twitter was a great opportunity @RunwayInkceo for to network, explore more fashion events new fashion options and updates! from vendors, take part This photo shoot in your own personal mixer was an exciting photo shoot, and to just event that featured food enjoy an overall good -TPR and a live DJ courtesy time.
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of DPC and RunwayInk. All the pictures from the mixer were posted within a day’s time (as promised) from the hosts.
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FASHION BAZAAR II All content and images are property of The Peach Review™ unless otherwise noted!
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FASHION BAZAAR II On Saturday, June 29th, Fashion Bazaar II took place in Atlanta, GA at Colony Square Midtown. Hosted by Atlanta socialite Ms. Bo Talley, guests experienced an evening of fashion, shopping, live art, and musical performances from all-girl band Kkool Chixx. Event attendees enjoyed the sounds of DJ Roots Queen, while viewing collections from some of Atlanta’s top designers and boutiques. Models, including LHHATL cast member Mary Jane, graced the runway in designs from House of Adrene, Couturestatis by Raquel Reed, SisKani Showroom, and Carlos Wayne. Fashion Bazaar II welcomed R&B group Jagged Edge, Designer Rafael Cox (Project Runway), Erica Dias (Celebrity Stylist), Fred Williams (WNBA Atlanta Dream Head Coach), Julian Lark (Celebrity Stylist), K.Micole (Celebrity Hair & Makeup Glam Squad), Zoey Clarke (Pop Artist), and over 200 of Atlanta’s fashion elite. Sponsors included Brickus Brand, Sapphire Ink Public Relations, S&B Magazine, StarStyle, and Variety 6.
-TPR
Bottom Left: DJ Roots Queen Bottom Right: Ms. Bo Talley
All photos by Damon Peebles. Photos from this event can be found HERE
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Top Left: Kkool Chixx Above: Jagged Edge and Zoey Clarke Bottom Left: Mary Jane, Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta Cast Member Bottom: Mary Jane, Zoey Clarke, Ms. Bo Talley, Julian Lark
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ATLANTA Events 12
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Brew at the Zoo
Zoo Atlanta This Memorial day weekend had the city packed! On Saturday May 25th we were invited to cover this year’s event. This was our first time covering this event and we weren’t quite sure what to expect but man,were we in for a treat! As soon as you walk in your ears are greeted with the pleasant tunes of some of Atlanta's local bands/artists like Majestic Dub Kru, The Hey Byes, Danny Ray Cole, Kelly Jarrad, Pink Pompeii and Tongo Hiti. Once you receive your glass for the brew experience, you can proceed to any of the Brew or wine stations. Walking throughout the park you get a chance to reunite with nature while tasting different beers and wines. We had
a few of the beers but we definitely preferred the wine, as it went perfectly with the setting.
This event was another success! Great venue, great music, great people and another great event held by Zoo Atlanta! You guys rock!
While there you’re free to roam Find more of Zoo Atlanta’s events around the park and look for your HERE favorite animals. In between the stations there were a few transportation companies such as Safe Ride America and Uber promoting their services to the guests. There was a Giant tent where other performances were being held and a main stage. They also -Johnny Hill had the Atlanta Hawks Basketball truck there for a bit of physical entertainment. They even had ping pong tables that Desmond and I couldn't help but play on.
2013 Atlanta Caribbean Carnival
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Celebrating 25 years
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There’s a saying that, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, and the pictures from the 25th annual Atlanta Caribbean Carnival and Parade speaks for itself. This year’s parade honored past and present presidents and the parade Grand Marshall was the one and only Dwight Eubanks from the Real Housewives of Atlanta. The many vibrant pictures, costumes and floats were seen along Vine Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard before ending at the Festival Village at the Morris Brown Football Stadium. The Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Bandleaders Association, Inc (A.C.C.B.A.) is a diverse group of individuals representing many Caribbean islands who came together to form the Carnival back in 1987 (officially named A.C.C.B.A. in 2003). Their purpose back then was to educate the Atlanta community on the Caribbean culture through a West Indian style carnival. Needless to say 25 years later, not only have they accomplished their goal but this event brings in many visitors from all over the world in various carnival themed costumes and floats ready for a ‘bacchanal time’. In 2011, thirty percent more attended and this year there will be even more mas bands, troupes, and organizations participating in the parade. “Mas Band” refers to the participants in a group, with a single theme. The Bands may have more than one “Section” (masqueraders wearing different costumes but all with the Band’s single theme). The masqueraders dance throughout the parade and their method of dance/rhythm is called “Playing Mas”. The event was a huge success and enjoyed by all, whether on the streets of Atlanta or inside the stadium. So if you missed this year’s Carnival, make sure you mark your calendars for 2014!
Photography by: Jonathan Davis Hakim Wright Corey Armstead
-Desmond McLennon Page 18
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Summer at WETBAR Summer in Atlanta has officially started and the best place to be is WETBAR at the W Atlanta-Downtown! Look forward to the following: o Saturday (DJ) 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. o Sunday (DJ) 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. o WETBAR is open Friday through Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. with house music playing unless otherwise scheduled for a DJ or party · $20 cover for everyone who is not a guest · Table reservations: Carolina.mejia@whotels.com · For more information and a calendar of events: There’s everything you need. We’ll have more to bring you in the coming weeks but as for the weekend? You can’t say “there’s nothing to do.” We’ll see you at WETBAR!
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Bill Burr We were lucky enough to review a comedy show of one of the funniest comedians I’ve ever seen! Atlanta was fortunate enough to host the amazing comedian Bill Burr recently at the Tabernacle and it was outstanding! The openers for him were pretty good too and once he came out his set must’ve been close to two hours long. Every bit of it was hilarious and even involved the audience at certain points. One of the more memorable moments was when he picked a young lady out the audience who incorrectly yelled “dumber is a word!” To which he responded “Oh really? because I hear a few hundred people that disagree with you.” Now anyone who goes to a comedy show knows 2 things: First, be weary of sitting within eyesight (the first 3-5 rows) because there’s a 95% chance the comedian will talk about you. Second, if you’re going to interrupt their set, you better be funny or correct about whatever the comedian was talking about. In this case she was neither... and once she gathered “dumber” was not a word she proceeded to say “I can google it if you want?” while the crowd laughed he said “No I don’t want you to ****** google it. I hate it when people give incorrect statements with such confidence, like they know what the hell they’re talking about!” He probably went 15 minutes in another direction just because of her, it was hilarious. We would definitely suggest seeing him live, even if he’s not in your city but close by. We absolutely promise you it will be worth the drive! We saw him recently on Showtime doing stand-up but he’s also been on two episodes of Breaking Bad and has his own podcast called The Monday Morning Podcast. Learn more about Bill Burr and his tour schedule on his website here BILLBURR -Jon Jones
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Atlanta Steeplechase 2013 Kingston Downs, GA Saturday April 13, 2013 April 13, 2013 marked the 48th Running of the Atlanta Steeplechase presented by and benefiting the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.
This years events included Jack Russell Terrier Races, pony rides, hay rides, camel rides, rock climbing and even shopping in the infield. There was a full day’s worth of events there at Kingston Downs which made the drive totally worth it! Along with the horse racing there were bagpipers and a Von Maur Hat Parade organized by globalspeak.com
The sponsors for this year’s event included Maserati Atlanta, Coca-Cola, Terry Reid Hyundai, 14 Hands Vineyards, Enghouse Transportation, Tanner Healthy System, Omega Jewelers, J. McLaughlin, Celebrity X Cruises, Living Social, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, The Capital Grille, Von Maur, FD&M, All Points, Remax of Georgia, and many more amazing organizations. !
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History of the Steeplechase 1966-1970 "Good for cotton and good for racing" described the late John Wayt Sr.'s sandy bottom land at Horseshoe Bend on the Chattahoochee River, once farmed by pioneers. It was there on a hot Sunday in March, 1966, that the first NSA-sanctioned Atlanta Hunt Meeting and Steeplechase was run. 1971-1980 In 1971, the Steeplechase moved 40 miles north to Seven Branches, yet again a Wayt property. In 1979, the Board of Stewards changed the Hunt Meeting date from March to early April. By 1980, the race purse had climbed to $34,000. Attendance had nearly doubled from the approximately 9,000 at Horseshoe Bend to 18,000 at Cumming. 1981-1987 Atlanta gains a reputation as the testing ground of champions with the change of date to later in the spring, owners, trainers and riders considered Atlanta the testing ground of the '80's for their horses. 1988-1992 Atlanta's premier spring fling was named Best Charity Event by readers of Inside Buckhead and other metro publications in 1988. That same year, Mickey Free, ridden by Chuck Lawrence, was winner of the feature race that, for the first time, paid $100,000. 1992 brought a new competition to the infield, a tailgate contest, with a prize for the most creative presentation. All that brings us to now, where the current home is Kingston Downs and owned by De Clerck Hanssens. For the past 6 years the primary beneficiaries have been Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of Atlanta and the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. History of Atlanta Steeplechase HERE
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Story & Photos by -Ashanti Smith TBZ 22
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SWEETWATER 420 FEST
SweetWater 420 Flyer
APRIL 19TH - 21ST, 2013
This spring we had the opportunity to embrace the SweetWater Experience, where you will be able to taste your way through more than 20 unique styles of beers, all from the brewers at SweetWater. Of course they had their year-round offerings, plus the freshest Catch and Release seasonal brew; but here’s where it gets fun. Experimental IPA’s, barrel-aged stouts, Dank Tanks galore, a bevy of cask ale offerings – all tapped and together within The SweetWater Experience. Not to mention, the ample knowledge alongside the great beers, as their brewers, partners, and industry friends were a part of the experience and shared their insight on stage. Throughout the weekend guests had the opportunity to sit in on free beer/ale sessions, visit various tents for entertainment, and had a long list of music choices to listen to: G e o r g e C l i n t o n & Pa rl i a m e n t Funkadelic, Robert Randolph & The Fa m i l y B a n d , I va n N ev i l l e’s Dumpstaphunk, Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears, Anders Osborne, Papa Grows
Funk, Honey Island Swamp Band, The Mosier Brothers, Earphunk, Deep Blue Sun feat. Yonrico Scott, Blair Crimmins & the Hookers, The Bitteroots, The Higher Choir, Chipotle Cultivate Beats winner, The Endless Energy, and Involution.
Every year on April 20th, step into The SweetWater Experience for topics and tastings as wide as their brewer’s bellies.
-TPR
photo from sweetwater 420 website
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Awesome Beer and awesome music! Atlanta Summer Beer Festival! I would say that beer festival season is here, but with all of the great events that Atlanta Beer Festivals brings us year-round, it looks like the season never ends! This year’s Atlanta Summer Beer Festival at the Masquerade Music Park provided fun around every corner. And there were many corners to turn! For all who have never been to the Masquerade or who, like me, had only ever gone to shows either in “heaven” or “hell”, there is a lot more within the park’s perimeter than the exterior lets on. Along with the upper and lower levels of the building’s interior, there’s quite a large outdoor area as well, all of which made for the perfect beer festival experience! The beer and food were mainly outdoors, and of course there was something for everyone. I am always amazed at how many great local breweries there are in Atlanta at each festival I attend, and this one was no different. From Sweetwater and O’Dempsey’s to Red Brick and Monday Night, all
were in attendance. As we all know, a nice salty treat is the ideal beer accompaniment, and the local Knotty Pretzels’ delicious seasoned pretzels delivered. Along with the beer, another Atlanta beer festival regular is Frozen Pints’s beer ice cream. Their Peach Lambic flavor was a surprisingly perfect blend of Georgia peaches and cream with a hint of IPA (who knew?). Now for my favorite part of the festival (besides the beer of course), the music! And man was there music! Despite not, being able to see all six of the acts, the ones that I did see were all quality. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by the soulful, bluesy voice of Marshall Ruffin upstairs in heaven. As always at the Masquerade, the atmosphere and the sound were perfect for good music. Everyone was there to have a good time, and Marshall definitely provided. Directly after him, keeping the good times rolling, was Delphonzo. With a full band, including bongos and a saxophonist, they covered
To find out about past, present, and future Atlanta Beer Festivals events visit www.atlantabeerfestival s.com
everything from Curtis Mayfield to Daft Punk. They got the crowd dancing, and kept us going until the end of the festival. The music, however, was not only indoors. Outside in the front with a little tent of his own was Ian Schumacher. With only an electric guitar, an electronic drum, and looper he played some very nice covers including some Marvin Gaye and even Tenacious D. With a wide variety of beer, great talent, and awesome people, this beer festival was yet another win for Atlanta Beer Festivals. You know I’ll be at the next one! Will you?
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-EDB
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Food Reviews All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted
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The first restaurant we want to tell you about is Kouzina Christos. Youʼve probably heard of it as just “Christos” (which is what the sign bears), but either way if youʼre looking for a great Greek option for a meal? This is the place to go. Indoors is very comfortable as you have booth and bar options or you can eat on the patio. It was a beautiful day so we ate on the patio where you have the option of eating under a part of the roof (so its covered) or being in a more open area to catch the sunlight. Since we went Greek for the day I decided to go with a Chicken Wrap Gyro, which was absolutely delicious. Itʼs Grilled Chicken with fresh tomatoes, feta, and tzatziki dressing on pita bread. They had lots of items that looked delicious such as: Jimmy the Greek WrapGrilled chicken, pastrami, french fries, fresh tomato, feta, and tzatziki dressing on pita bread. Grinder- Boars Head premium meats with provolone, lettuce, and tomato on a toasted sub roll. Gyro Pizza- Gyro meat, sliced tomato and feta cheese
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Kouzina Christos 26
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Kouzina Christos
You can take a look at the full menu HERE. We heard their pizzas are amazing as well so next time we come by, a Gyro Pizza is a must! The food was delicious and our waitress Ashley was extremely nice. We even had the chance to meet the real Christos! Theyʼre open until 11pm on Fridayʼs and Saturdayʼs and they also feature live music on those days, rain or shine! Did we mentioned we paid for our meal on an iPad? Trendy, techsavvy, and they make delicious food. 9 out of 10 for sure!
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Yard House is the creation of founder and entrepreneur Steele Platt, who came up with the concept shortly after relocating from Denver, Colorado to Southern California in the early 1990s. Platt, along with partners Harald Herrmann and Carlito Jocson, wanted to create a restaurant that would offer one of the largest selections of draft beers, a diverse American menu, and play a heady selection of classic rock music on a state-of-theart sound system. On December 7, 1996, the flagship Yard House opened along the Long Beach waterfront in Southern California. The restaurant took its name from the 3-foot-tall glass containers originally designed in Great Britain. All of that brings us to Yard House at the always exciting Atlantic Station. Yard House is one of those places that you can bring visitors because they can accommodate everyone. They serve all types of food, the patio is covered so you can eat outside rain or shine, and when thereʼs a game on they have TVʼs strategically angled so no matter where you sit thereʼs a view.
Yard House
Food is great, atmosphere is good, my only qualm is for a bar (in my opinion) its a tad pricey. Aside from that, great staff, great location, and great food! 9 out 10 All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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MOVIE
REVIEWS All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted
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In the 6th installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) reassemble their crew in order to take down a boss with a hi-tech team of his own. Directed by Justin Lin, Fast & Furious 6 takes us on a new adventure with the same repetitive theme “We need your help to save the day and it revolves around cars” (yeah that theme). But that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise since the entire franchise is based off of cars. The problem arises when Dom and the gang discover that the cars they’re going up against aren’t like any they’ve ever seen before. They’re aerodynamic, quick, and are stocked with weapons. There are surprises at every turn (which we won’t spoil) and the re-emergence of an old friend. Once Dom and Brian are set to get the old crew back together, you get reunited with fan favorites like Roman (Tyrese GIbson), Tej (Ludacris), Gisele (Gal Gadot), and Han (Sung Kang). In this film there’s more action, more stunts, and more laughs than the last, not too mention the surprises in store! We give Fast & Furious 6 a grand 8.5 out of 10. There were some weak lines from characters scattered in there but aside from that the movie was great. -Jon Jones All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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The series ending we’ve all been waiting for has arrived in The Hangover Part III. In what is “supposed” to be (and we mean that lightly) the last film to mark this a trilogy, director Todd Phillips sends the boys out with a bang. The film opens with the discovery that during a prison riot Mr. Chow has somehow escaped in a ShawShank Redemption-esque kinda way. The Wolf Pack gets disrupted by having one of their own kidnapped and have been forced to be a part of Mr. Chow’s sneaky schemes to save their friend. Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) stole money from Marshall (John Goodman) and it’s up to the Wolf Pack to retrieve it. During their journey the guys haphazardly discover a woman named Cassie (Melissa McCarthy) for Alan (Zach Galifianakis), request the services of old friend Jade (Heather Graham), and even have to deal with a very sour Black Doug (Mike Epps). We’ve heard lots of complaints about the 2nd and 3rd Hangover movies not being as funny as the first. But what people have to remember is it’s hard to replicate the first one because it set the trend, it set the standard. We thought this one was pretty funny and you see a lot of Mr. Chow in this one as most of the movie is centered around him. We give this a 8 out of 10. Be sure to see it for yourself and as it may not be as funny as the initial movie, it’s still funny! -TPR All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), one of the most confident and accomplished men in the world starts to get panic attacks after an alien invasion in New York. To nullify this and still conduct business as usual he created multiple Iron Man “suits” but with this has created friction with his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). If that wasn’t enough he’s now faced with terrorist attacks from the “Mandarin” and delivers a direct, televised threat to him which ends up placing his home in the line of fire. So now it’s up to Iron Man and the former War Machine now branded as “Iron Patriot” (Don Cheadle) to go save the world. An interesting note about this movie for everyone. There’s a character in the film who plays Tony’s top security guard at Stark Labs named Happy Hogan. Happy Hogan is played by John Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man films and reprised his role as an executive producer. Cool huh? Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black, has grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide which puts it in the top 5 highest grossing film of all time! So obviously we have to suggest it if the whole world loves it right? 9 out of 10 and this is another one that’s actually worth the extra money for the 3D version.
-TPR All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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So here we have another retelling of the story of Superman. One may question “how many times can it be retold?” But I have to be honest, this time it was done in a way that went more along with what I read in the comics when I was growing up. Casting was pretty solid in this one too. This go-round Superman was played by a very swole (buff) Henry Cavill and an always happy/adorable Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I like how they start from the very beginning and explain the turmoil happening on Krypton which lead us to Superman going to Earth to begin with. His name on Krypton is Kal-El and he’s sent to Earth by the actions of his brave parents Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer). Krypton is literally falling apart and Kal-El is sent away to start anew on another planet with the future of Krypton with him. But not everyone is congruent on the subject, especially General Zod (Michael Shannon) who vows no matter what happens “I will find him!” Other familiar faces include Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Christopher Meloni as General Nathan Hardy. The action scenes were incredibly fast-paced, and it was a sight to see every time Superman took flight! We definitely recommend this one in 3D (it’s definitely worth the extra dollars) as the flight patterns, debris, and action sequences were almost purposely made for three-dimensional awesomeness. I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews but we believe it to be a 9 out of 10. Good storyline and lots of action make for a great Man of Steel film. Definitely enjoyed it more than the last one. -TPR All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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Starbuck is a hilarious French-subtitled movie that had a short theatre life in the States but definitely made its point. The movie is about a man named David Wozniak, an underachieving 40 year-old who’s on-and-off girlfriend just announced her pregnancy. If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, our slacker receives other lifechanging news: 142 people, all of them the result of artificial insemination, have filed a class action lawsuit against him, their biological father. Add to that an $80,000 debt to a loan shark, a crazy family, trouble at work, and your attorney in the lawsuit is your best friend. All of this makes for a one of a kind comedy brought to us by director Ken Scott. David (Patrick Huard) is hilarious in the film, as is his longtime friend and lawyer played by Antoine Bertrand. All of David’s short-comings bring him to this point: the announcement of a child. This was all before he found out that he was a part of a class-action lawsuit. But he vows to his love interest he’s changing and being more responsible, which we come to find out is true. Out of the hundreds of children he’s responsible for fathering, here’s a few you get to meet in the movie: A meth addict, an emo, a lifeguard, a re-enactment character, an aspiring actor, a soccer star, a musician in the subway, and the most touching child has down’s syndrome. It’s a great comedy with good lessons taught and a touch of seriousness with taking responsibility and showing not just oneself, but others to do the right thing. Also anytime people see the word “subtitle” they immediately lose interest. Well that’s what we’re for, to tell you that the subtitles aren’t bad and in this case its like a fun surprise. You can’t wait to read the next line because the last line was so funny you couldn’t believe they had a word for it in French! Great film, prepare to laugh, we give it an 8 out of 10. All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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Itʼs the most common question youʼre asked as a child “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Well for our one-eyed friend Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) we discover his desire to be a Scarer. If youʼve seen Monsters Inc., youʼll see more than a few familiar faces as we travel back to their youth to discover how the dynamic duo, Mike and Sully (John Goodman) came to be. Itʼs almost impossible to dislike a Pixar film. With classics like Toy Story and Cars under their belt itʼll be interesting to see if they continue to expand the “Monsters” umbrella into a complete series. I thought the film was great. They even have an actual Monsters University website for those looking to enroll ..... yeah. Itʼs the classic Disney outline: We can win if we work together, good always conquers evil, moral of the story. As much as Disney uses this its sheer brilliance how it never gets old. You swap out characters, names, settings, and youʼre still getting great results? Thatʼs beyond impressive in my opinion. When you see the film notice the real life occurrences of a university that would completely go over a childʼs head. If you were under the age of say 14? There are multiple events that take place that may look like nothing to your child. But that same scene will either make you reminisce, laugh, or remind you of something similar that took place during college. Monsters University is a fun time for all and good job for Disney for making it tolerable for adults (for those of you hosting parties and carpooling 6 kids around town). 9 out of 10 -TPR All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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42 tells the amazing story of Jackie Robinson and how he changed Major League Baseball. in 1946, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) made history when he signed the first black player ever in Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman), breaking Major League Baseballʼs infamous color line. Unfortunately for the two the union was not received well by press, fans, teammates, and other members of the Brooklyn Dodger organization. But as opposed to Rickey or Robinson responding to any of the criticism, Rickey kept his faith in his star player and in-turn he let his talent on the field do all the talking for him. The film shows how everything came to be and also gives a slight idea to the type of racism and discrimination Robinson experienced during those times. An admirable amount of restraint is shown throughout the movie and truly shows the type of hero was. Jackie Robinsonʼs number 42 is the first number in universally retired (aside from Jackie Robinson Day which is April 15th, then it re-emerges). 42, written and directed by Brian Helgeland gets a 8 out of 10 from us. A nice story and great history lesson never gets old. A movie thatʼs long overdue for a hero that endured what many could not.
-TPR All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted
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MUSIC
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The 3 - in - 1 Tour On Tuesday night April 9th The Peach Review® team had an opportunity to attend a much anticipated concert in Marietta, GA --- the Three In One Tour made its way to The Piedmont Church, which served as the venue for this very special evening of music by some of today’s greatest contemporary Christian artists: Brandon Heath, Mandisa, and Atlanta’s own Laura Story. Laura Story is a 2012 Grammy Award winner in the contemporary Christian category for her album ”Blessings”, and she had her Grammy Award winning talents on full display as she belted out inspirational song after inspirational song --- from “Indescribable (You Are Amazing God)”, which she wrote for Chris Tomlin in 2004, to “Hallelujah You Are Savior”. Brandon Heath kept the vibe alive with cuts from his latest album “Blue Mountain”, including “Jesus In Disguise”, “Love Does”, and “You Put The Light In Me”. Brandon also treated the crowd to some of his past hits like “Give Me Your Eyes” and “Your Love”. Brandon is a five-time Grammy Award nominee that delivered an electric performance to the adoring crowd. Mandisa Lynn Hudley, more commonly known as just Mandisa, is a three time Grammy Award nominee who was catapulted into our living rooms on a weekly basis as an “American Idol” participant; after completing that experience (and surviving Simon Cowell), Mandisa parlayed her new found notoriety into nothing short of a phenomenal professional career. Mandisa is currently riding the wave of her latest album “What If We Were Real”. This is Mandisa’s follow-up to “True Beauty” (2007) and 2009’s “Freedom”. If crowd response is a barometer, Mandisa may be well on her way to surpassing her previous two projects; “Freedom” and “My Deliverer” (one of my personal favorites) got the crowd on its feet, and kept them there throughout the night. The highlight of the evening would have to be all three of these successful artists on stage together supporting each other, as they sang each other’s songs! Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the great contribution that the band made --- they were really tight! The entire night was very inspirational, and was truly a missed treat for those that couldn’t be there. The Three In One Tour was down to its last four stops on this 23 city tour, which ended in Raytown, MO on April 14th. Be Blessed! KJ All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted!
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Party in the Park
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This year’s Party in the Park was spectacular! It was a massive gathering of high energy, great music, delicious food, and a great location. A weekend forecast of nothing but rain from Friday to Sunday couldn’t keep the 10,000+ crowd from Centennial Olympic Park. With a fairly grey sky the weather held up for the entire day, making for a warm day with a light breeze (which was great since umbrellas weren’t allowed in for the concert). This year’s lineup consisted of Electric Sons, Yeasayer, Grouplove, Ellie Goulding, and
Passion Pit. Each band performed great and as time passed, the crowd grew in size and excitement! The concert began at 3pm and ended late into the night, without any signs of fatigue from the crowd. While in attendance you could see .... well quite a bit actually. Perhaps a mermaid? Or maybe enough girls who dressed like “I dream of genie” to start their own fan club? Oh yes, there were plenty of cat t-shirts, neon lights, crowd surfing, glow sticks, face paint, food, a myriad of beverages, and if you wanted you could buy a NASA space outfit (it’s a party in the park, anything goes!). -Jon Jones
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Magnetic Music Festival
Aptly scheduled on 4/20, Magnetic Music Festival (MMF) invaded the North Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw and brought a heavy lineup of musical acts to entertain the masses! The people made their way to Kennesaw State’s Soccer Stadium and found 3 stages at their disposal. With the festival beginning at 1pm and the last
act starting at 10pm there was a Tommie Sunshine, Third Party, full day of food, bubbles, Cazzette, Markus Schulz, Dash costumes, music, fun, and Berlin, and Kid Cudi. bright colors. DIGITAL DISTORTION Along with food trucks, a VIP Opening DJ, Dunsker, Sorted, area, and a spot for vendors, Darth & Vader, Flosstradamus, attendees had 3 stages to Funtcase, Adventure Club, choose from: Zed’s Dead, and Flux Pavillion. MAGNETIC FORCE FIELD Which featured Corporate Slackers, Luis Valencia, Kazell,
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ENCHANTED VILLAGE Sugar Kayne, Kidd Luke, Krush Mode, Midnite Panda, SYL-O, Van Baumer, Izeroi, Versatile, MK Ultra, Satoru, Bad Robotz, and Gemneye. As the day drew on, the stadium continued to fill with students and fans alike, and as
attendance went up (prices did not) and still, people were strolling in until around 10pm. Liquified did a great job of rounding up local and globally recognized talent and picked a great venue that could accommodate the crowd. We can’t wait to see what else Liquified has up their sleeves for
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the year! You can follow Liquified events on Twitter HERE and check their website LIQUIFIED You can see videos of MMF on Vine @thepeachreview Now stay tuned as we share with you Angie’s exclusive with DJ Midnite Panda! !
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THE PEACH REVIEW® Where did you get your name? I got the name Midnite Panda while I was pledging a fraternity in West Chester, PA. I was called a panda cause I'm black and i played hockey. Midnite just cause I'm a particularly dark individual lol Where are you from? I’m From Central NJ, Princeton pretty much How long have you been DJing? I’ve been Djing since i moved to Atlanta… October 29th 2011 Which DJ’s influence your sound? Dj's who influenced my sound were a lot of dubstep DJ’s, Funtcase, Zeds Dead, Old Datsik, Early Skrillex. But what really influenced my sound was attending shows in Atlanta and watching guys like Mayhem, Heroes and Villians and some really dope locals spin (Drill Cosby, Hpntk, Baels, Gwann, Nuk) Tell us about your experience at MMF? Magnetic was the best moment of my life. To have 400 to 500 people absolutely raging to my set, and at my first festival? It was a dream come true. I got to meet Funtcase and Flosstradmus. The coolest
moment was probably when I went up to adventure club and they knew who I was. That felt great.
How do you feel about the Atlanta underground EDM scene? ATL doesn't have a How did you land that underground scene gig? anymore other then horrible My manager at the time children shows. EDM is was under contract with pretty much its on little Liquified. He talked to the economy stimulator for the proper people in the super city of ATL. With venues like super super early stages of Quad who have 1,000 kids Magnetic and I was put on come out for a tuesday to board. I knew I was playing hear some heavy bass, the festival since last Opera to get down to some October. House Music, East atlanta to hear some of the dopest EDM music has Trap DJ's/Producers, or opened up to a larger Rush Lounge on Saturdays market in the last few for IRIS events cover all years. Why do you think genres of EDM, ATL is the this has happened? place to be in the south east I feel like the popularity for EDM. Its something of festivals has contributed about ATL and the whole heavily to the popularity of crunk movement of the early the music. I have always 2000's that really steer loved EDM, since 2008 I people towards really heavy was listening to skream and bass music, its a perfect benga, it was a underground home for me. I love the thing. You would play atlanta scene dubstep at a college party and only me and like a few How did you get people would get down to it. involved with Play Pro I remember getting yelled at Media and what are you for playing house music my doing with them? freshmen year of college in My buddy Tyler Morris 09. EDM has come a LONG really convinced me to go to way since. Ultra is 100 times Kennesaw to participate in bigger then it was in its early the play pro media TARSTE stages, Tomorrow World has II program. I walked in with expanded to the U.S. some original music and a There’s one day festivals mix. I spoke with brad the across the whole country owner of play pro and we now. I just hope all these really hit it off. He called me promoters trying to bank in the next week to DJ a on EDM don't kill it as well sorority event and since
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then Play Pro books me regularly with some amazing events and they help me with promotion and networking. Its a great relationship What's Midnite Pandas next move? The next move for Midnite Panda is Swoop Gang. Its a collective group of 4 DJ’s/producers. I play mostly swoop tracks in all my sets for the last year. We are trying to go on the road, with a possible tour/festival opportunities in the near future. Until then I play regularly at the Union in East Atlanta for my residency and I play throughout Atlanta with bookings across the city at multiple venues. -Y0 Angie!
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THE 36TH ANNUAL
ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted !
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36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival “The 36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival will shine a spotlight on the wealth of emerging talent in the jazz world as we celebrate Generation Next,” states Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. This year’s AJF presented some of todays’ most vibrant and innovative jazz artists including Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dominick Farinacci,Meshell Ndegeocello, José James, Tia Fuller, Aruán Ortiz, Gretchen Parlato, and Rudresh Mahanthappa. The festivities took place in Piedmont Park, located in the heart of midtown Atlanta, and proved to be the perfect setting for the festival. The historic location includes meadows, tennis courts, a swimming pool, gardens and a picturesque lake. It is conveniently located near numerous hotels and inns, and is within walking distance of some of the city’s best bistros and restaurants. MARTA, Atlanta’s rapid transit system, is just blocks away. Could there be anything better about a 3-day jazz festival? Only what we had, which was a 3-day FREE Jazz Festival. Events like this are great for the city because it brings jazz lovers from all over together in one place for a laid back, chill experience. During the holiday you could see patrons from miles around walking with chairs, coolers, umbrellas, backpacks, spray fans and more. Lining Peachtree Street down to 10th Street and to Piedmont Park, there were jazz fans as far as the eye could see! It was great! The 36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is presented by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. The Atlanta Jazz Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization whose mission is to educate and entertain a diverse audience of jazz fans and to nurture the next generation of jazz musicians. Join the AJF on Facebook at AtlantaJazzFestival and visit the official festival web site at www.atlantafestivals.com for all the latest news!
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-TPR
The Peach Review®
J. Cole In a surprise announcement on Twitter, hip-hop artist J. Cole announced he was doing a $1 performance at The Loft in Midtown. As part of his “Dollar and a Dream” tour, J. Cole made a stop in Midtown Atlanta on June 13th to perform for fans who had been lined up for hours before the 8pm announced start time. This secret performance in Atlanta was presented by D’Ussé ATL and the show was awesome! Enjoy the pictures we have for you and be sure to follow all the latest from J. Cole on Twitter @JColeNC
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-TPR
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PEOPLE All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted!
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The Big
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October All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted!
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The Big October Clothing Hey! We had the opportunity to talk to Josh Brown of The Big October clothing line and wanted to share their story with you. We hope you enjoy! So how did you link up with Sekou and where did you get this idea for the line? Me & Sekou were originally friends. I’ve known him for a long time... since middle school. So we started out as a production company, and I didn’t want to do just photography and videography. When I was in high school I had a clothing line but I stopped, then later I wanted to do it again and Sekou was like “lets do it! But let’s name it something else.” So the idea behind The Big October is that’s my birth month, but I didn’t want my name in the brand like ‘Josh Brown Clothing.’ I also wanted to be something that was big that the world should know, so that’s where ‘The Big’ came from. That’s great Josh. So how long have you guys been in production of this line officially? 2 years now.
Now if someone wanted to find you guys what type of events do you attend? Or let’s say instead what events have you attended representing your brand? I’ll start with the biggest events: Street Execs Charity Concert 2011 & 2012, A3C Music Festival 2012, Magnetic Music Festival, Trinidad James concert 2012, Big Krit concert, Big Sean concert. Hey that’s a lot of concerts! Yeah we try! So you know how on Instagram clothing lines show different celebs or notable people wearing their clothes. Is there anyone like that people can see? Yeah, we actually have a picture of Big Krit wearing one of our pin-up buttons. There’s also an artist out of California named Sean Christopher. People that have helped/liked the brand would be people like... Sonny Digital, DJ Holiday, DJ Kut Throat, KP on the Beat, and the list goes on...
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inspire me to make something similar.
Wow that’s hot! So we’re approaching the middle of 2013, so what can we expect the rest of this year from TBO? You can expect more summer gear. After the summer gear comes out we’ll start pushing the winter gear. We’ll have long sleeve shirts and sweaters come out.
That’s pretty cool. Ok so here’s the fun part! So for people that want to know more give them everything. Twitter, website, you know how it goes! You can find us on thebigoctober.com Twitter is @thebigoctober Instagram is @thebigoctober we’ll follow you back, we’ll retweet you, just let us know that you’re there! We’re not like other brands we actually like the fans, free photo shoot when you buy a shirt (that’s not a misprint, free photo with a shirt purchase)
That’s great, we’ll be looking forward to that. Are there any designers or brands that you look up to or get inspiration from? Yeah! Shouts out to Supreme! Companies that are long lasting and ahead of the game when it comes to designing. Stussy... brands that have been out 10 to 20 years. I look at their garments, their garments 57
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“We’re not like other brands, we love our fans”
If you’re not a resident we’ll post you up on the blog if you IG your picture we’ll put you on there. Free stickers or pin-up buttons, things residents wouldn’t get. But if you’re a resident? Free photo shoot when you buy a shirt! Salute to the fans! Salute! That’s a heck of an incentive right there. Josh! Sekou! The Big October! lookout for them they have big things coming! Man shouts out to The Peach Review magazine! All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted!
-Jon Jones
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Victor
Wooten
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR WOOTEN Prior to bassist Victor Wooten’s arriving in Atlanta for his April 27th concert at The Variety Playhouse, TPR’s Music Editor Keith Jones had an opportunity to spend some time with Victor. The following is an excerpt from that exclusive interview:
your thoughts about that a little more? Music is nothing more than tones; but it’s a way to communicate; think about the slaves that were brought to this country aboard ships, one of the reasons why slaves weren’t allowed to play their music, or even sing, is because their captors knew that they The double CD could communicate through “Swords & Stones” / their music. Think about it, I “Words & Tones” is can make you laugh, or awesome; what was the want to cry --- make you thought behind the title? want to get up and dance, Swords & Stones – If or be sad – all thru the you take the letter ‘S’ from music that I play. I can each word it becomes describe how I feel thru my Words & Tones; my brother music. You don’t even have Reggie brought this to my to understand what’s being attention; we pull words said, all you have to do is from tones (like pulling the feel it! Think about it, sword from the stone), we there’s a reason why babies utter tones and eventually understand their parents pull words from them; words even before they can speak are powerful & have actual words --- they meaning that we may not understand the tones. notice, for example: mother (While we were speaking, a means “more than” or dog was barking in the simplicity meaning “a simple background) For example, city” can you hear my dog barking in the background? I’ve heard you mention I can tell by the “tone” of my before that you consider dogs bark whether he’s music an extension of happy, sad, or mad; even language; can you unpack though he’s not speaking
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words, his tone tells me all I need to know! I’ve always liked the way you give you brothers props --- especially Reggie; even though your personal career has taken off into the stratosphere, you always recognize your brothers --- I think that’s real cool I really appreciate you recognizing that; I’m just being honest! Some people may brag about going to this University or that --- I went to the University of “My Brothers and Parents”! Speaking of your family members; your brothers’ musical skills and prowess are pretty well documented; however, on this CD I
noticed a lot of other Wooten’s that I haven’t heard before; it appears the next generation of Wooten’s are making their marks as well, huh? Yeah; as my kids are getting older their musical skills have reached a point to where they are valid; in other words I appreciate what they do musically, not so much because they’re my kids, but because they’re good! I’m at a point to where I can bring my 15 year old daughter Kaila into the studio with me, ask her to do something, and she makes a real contribution musically to whatever project I’m working on. My 9 yr old daughter Arianna is a great singer as well --does a wonderful job of singing harmonies. Both my boys are very rhythmic; my son Adam is 12 and is an excellent drummer. He’s at a point to where he gigs around town (in Nashville) with an adult band and can really hold his own. He plays on the song entitled “It’s Alright”. My wife sings on “Heaven”
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“Think of it as a language (music).” Was your kids’ migration towards music a natural gravitational pull, or did you steer them in that direction? They grew up around music all their lives, so it was natural for them; even before they began actually playing on my records, I would always ask them their thoughts and opinions; so, I was actually getting them involved in the business before they really knew they were involved. What lyric do you like best? What chord do you think sounds best? Etc. So they were involved before they even knew it. Whatever I ask them to do, I always allow them to add their own “flavor” as well Give me the ages of your kids …. Kaila is 15, Adam is 12, Arianna is 9, Cameron is 8. On the song “I Am Still Your Baby”, Kaila was only 5 when she sang that; I told her to sing it with some attitude, and, well you heard her! I guess the fruit doesn’t fall very far from the tree; since you and
your brothers got into the business pretty early in life as well …. Right? Well again, think of it as a language; if a kid doesn’t start speaking until 5 years old, we think something’s wrong with them; but if they start playing music at 5, we call them a prodigy. That’s the way it was with me; I began to learn music at about the same time that I was learning to speak, so music, for me is just an extension of the language I speak ….
Kings, so it was great to hear Saundra Jones on the album – she represented! My manager introduced me to Saundra just before I recorded “Soul Circus” and I’ve been using her ever since.
The song she sang on “Brooklyn”, I noticed there was a killer guitar solo by a guy named Vinny Fodera; now I’m sure it’s not just coincidence that you have a guitarist named “Fodera”, and you On Words and Tones, play a Fodera guitar; is you decided to have all Vinny associated with the female artists; and you’ve guitar company? got some iconic ladies --Yeah, I met Vinny what was your thought Fodera back in 1983 and he process behind the all owns the company; in fact, female lineup? on that guitar solo, there’s a I’ve always enjoyed guy playing bass behind him playing and supporting named Joey Laricella, he’s female vocalists; a lot of Vinny’s partner at Fodera them I’ve known and guitars! They started the worked with before; I think it company in 1983. Actually, takes a special kind of if you listen closely to the sensitivity to support female lyrics on the song, it’s about artists, and I’ve always the company; I’m paying enjoyed working with them, tribute to the Fodera factory; so it was just something that “I spent time on a small I wanted to do. street in Brooklyn”
Wow, as Paul Harvey would say: Now we know The Rest of the story! (Mutual Laughter) I’ve gotta tell you, I’m really a Stevie Wonder snob, so when I saw that you were covering Stevie’s “Overjoyed”, I thought to myself “OK, I hope Victor does Stevie’s song justice”! and then I heard Krystal Peterson’s vocals. She nailed it! Tell me a little about her? She’s amazing. That version of Overjoyed was recorded 9 years ago! All I did was added live strings --- some cello’s and violins. That’s how good she is, that the song still holds up today! I ran across her singing at a Christmas Spectacular that the city of Nashville was putting on; I heard her sing on a few occasions and eventually just invited her to come to the studio --- she came over and sang Overjoyed, just for fun. Krystal is touring with me live, so you’ll see her when we come to Atlanta on the April 27th. She’s phenomenal.
Well, I’m a big fan of Sharon Jones & The Dap
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“We’re starting our 14th year of the camp” Outstanding, I’ll definitely look forward to seeing her. Can you tell me a bit about your Nature Camp and how it’s going? In fact I’m in the car now as we’re speaking, heading up there right now to get set up for our new season beginning on April 10th. We’re starting our 14th year of the camp. For a number of years we had rented the place where we’d hold the camps, but recently we’ve actually purchased the camp, so now we own it! (Congratulations!). It’s a 150-acre farm; we’ve been building the place over the last 5 years with the help of a lot of friends as well as past students. It’s called Wooten Woods Retreat; you can go to www.wootenwoods.com and check it out. What started out as a bass camp has now evolved into a camp for multi-instruments plus vocals; I’m at every camp. Interested students can go to my website at www.victorwooten.com if they’re interested in registering for one of our camps.
Victor, your collaborations with other bassists like Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke are well documented via your “SMV” CD; I was wondering if you had given any thoughts towards collaborating with some of the other outstanding bassists our there --- perhaps a Christian McBride or an Esperanza Spalding? As a matter of fact, yes! I’ve had conversations with the ones you mentioned; haven’t done any work with them, but most of the ones you’ve mentioned, I’ve had them at my camp; usually at each camp I hold, I’ll usually bring in a surprise guest for the students, and I’ve had Esperanza, Christian, Stanley Clarke, Dennis Chambers, Marcus Miller – they have all come thru and taught; most of Beyonce’s band came thru at one camp; Divinity Roxx played with Beyonce for about 5 years, and she’s come thru and taught. Our camp is truly like no other; we look at your entire being, not just your instrument; so we concentrate on teaching you music --- not just your
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instrument. We have staff members who are nature specialists; we feel that music and nature are closely associated; think about it, when someone is really good at their craft what do we say? We call them “a natural”. Well, our nature specialists try to show the students the direct correlation between nature and music and eventually how that will impact their instrument. We’re part of nature but sometimes we neglect our natural musical gifts; so we try to wake that up in our students. When I talk to people who are not familiar with Victor Wooten, the first thing they do is try to have me pigeon-hole you into a particular genre of music --- which I can’t do. I usually tell them that if they come to a Victor Wooten concert and want to hear some R&B, or straight ahead jazz, smooth jazz, blues, some Bela Fleck styled blue grass, or some good old fashioned greasy funk --they’ll hear it all at one of your concerts! How do
you feel about that assessment? I love hearing that assessment. Most musicians are put into the genre of music that the listener first heard them play. So if a first-time concert attendee came and heard me play straight ahead jazz, they would probably put me in that category --- but I like to keep people guessing. One of the things I was really happy to see on this latest project was you playing more strings; I really enjoyed seeing you on the upright bass as well as cello’s, viola’s, etc. It looks like you really stretched out on this CD … Yeah, in fact that’s what we all did on this project; we went into our closets, pulled out our old instruments and did some experimenting. In fact on our tour, we’re doing the same thing --- so you’ll see me on upright, you’ll see Anthony Wellington on keyboards, Steve Bailey on trombone, etc.
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Speaking of Steve Bailey, it seems the two of you guys have a really nice synergy and relationship. How and when did your paths cross? Our paths crossed in the early 90’s --- maybe ’91 or ’92. We met at a photo shoot for a bass / amp company. I had heard of him because he had played with people like Dizzy Gillespie, Pico D’Rivera, etc. When we met we just hit it off; we’re like the ying / yang of each other; even though we’re like opposites of each other, it’s like we need each other to feed off of --- just like the ying/yang. We just hit it off. Our lives are very parallel in many ways. I remember getting a phone call in the middle of the night from him when his father passed; and as fate would have it, a few weeks later I ended up making a call to him in the middle of the night when my father passed. We’ve done a lot of projects together, and he’s at most of my camps. I’m really proud of the fact that he’s now the new chair of the Bass Department at the Berklee College of Music; I’ve always spent some time
in the Boston area, but now I’ll be spending a lot more because this summer I’ll be conducting the first Victor Wooten /Berklee College of Music Summer Bass Program. Wow, that sounds awesome! By the way, speaking of Christian McBride, I actually had him sing on my Soul Circus album; I did a tribute to bass players (dead and alive); I had Rhonda Smith, Christian, Oteil (Burbridge), Will Lee, - we were all singing about the bass legends that impacted us --Larry, Marcus, Jaco, etc. It’s called Bass Tribute, and when we say Stanley Clarke’s name you’ll hear a Stanley Clarke riff being played in the background --- but it’s being played by one of us! You mentioned Rhonda Smith’s name; what do you think of the influx of female bass players – Me’Shell, Divinity, Rhonda, Esperanza, etc. What are your thoughts of all these highly skilled “badass” female bass players that
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out there who can hold their own with the guys.
are currently on the scene? I love it!! I love female musicians period. They kind of just cut to the chase; it may even be unconscious; but it’s like they say, hey, I’m not going to just pound on this bass like my male counterparts; but what does come out is so musical. I see it at my bass camps all the time. We’ll begin a discussion of a certain musical concept, and immediately the guy begins to bang on his bass, where the female is still listening and absorbing; Carol Paige has been around for a long time, but it used to be where if a female was going to be around they had to be a singer. There are so many awesome female musicians
Yeah, speaking of that, about 6 months ago I checked out Teri Lynne Carrington – she is truly a drummer extraordinaire --- serious skills! I know. Speaking of female drummers, you’ve also got to check out Cindy Blackmon (who just married Carlos Santana) --- she is awesome; she toured with Lennie Kravitz for many years, and is absolutely an excellent drummer! But there are so many outstanding female musicians on the scene, and musically I think we’re all better because of it!
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pictured left: Victor Wooten and band
Agree! Final question --- I don’t know if this is part of getting older / more mature, or getting in touch with our mortality, but I noticed somewhat of a spiritual thread going thru this CD that I hadn’t noticed in past projects; can you comment on that? Actually, if you go back to my first CD (Show of Hands) and come to the present project you’ll find morsels of spiritual thoughts sprinkled thru all of them; on this CD “Heaven”, on the prior CD “I Saw God”. I think as I’ve gotten older, I’m 48 now, I’ve gotten a little bolder, and have just decided to
put it out there and let the chips fall where they may. As I’ve gotten older I’ve resigned myself to the fact that people are going to die, and I don’t want to sit around being sad about it all the time; my Mom always told me, “Ain’t none of us getting out of here alive”. So we came to the conclusion that we shouldn’t sit around worrying about how and when we’re going to die --- we should concern ourselves with how we’re going to live! So I’ve taken the approach that both life and death is something to be celebrated; that we should prepare ourselves for
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the inevitable but celebrate the time that we’re here! Sounds like a great point to end our interview. I appreciate your time! My pleasure.
-KJ
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Humble G
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Tha Fiddla All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted!
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“So much music in today’s society is disrespectful” Recently, The Peach Review® had the opportunity to talk with solo artist Humble G…tha Fiddla! If you know or get to meet him you would know the name suits him perfectly. Not only is this self taught violinist down to earth and well mannered but his music and art form delivers a message that is so needed in our society. That is the message of having a conscience. So the music he creates always has an awareness of moral/ ethical conduct with the urge to choose right over wrong. With that being said lets find out more about Humble G…tha Fiddla!
music and sharing my passion for all audiences. I have performed at several schools, churches, community events and jails across the country. My skill set includes singing, producing, rapping and of course playing the violin.
Peach: Explain the message in your music? Humble G: Well my message is more of a mission for hope and change! So much music in today’s society is disrespectful and can lead listeners down the wrong path in lifestyle choices. Contrary to the message in media and entertainment that lifestyle does not lead Peach: Tell our readers to prosperity but closer to poverty and failure. We all about yourself? Humble G: Well I was know that every generation born and raised in has to take care of the next Cleveland, Ohio and I am a one. So my expectation self taught violinist. To date, and hope is to show people by leading by example and I have done over 600 performances and some of remain true to myself while the most notable included being successful. As this is opening for Barack Obama being done, it will spark a in 2007 at a College event in new and correct way to open doors for many others Illinois. As well in 2011, I was featured at the US to pave the right way. It is Open Tennis okay to have good morals, Championships in New taste success and still York. I enjoy performing
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like Atlanta working with a new wave of artists through my Positive/Global Entertainment record label. Peach: How can our readers find our more about your amazing talent and upcoming performances? Humble G: Please visit, www.humblegthafiddla.com maintain responsibilities with a purpose. Peach: Who are some of your musical influences? Humble G: I have so many but here are some of the most critical to my development. (Kenny G, Concert Master Joel Smirnoff, Nas, Tupac, O.G. Shankster, KRS One, T.I., Ludacris, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, Musiq Soulchild, Marvin Gaye and Black Eyed Peas)
-Desmond
Peach: Where do you see yourself in five years? Humble G: I will be spreading my mission with others and have two successful albums in that time. Also, I would be more involved here in big cities
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RECREATION
TRAVEL
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Sky Scanner Sky Scanner has changed the way you think about travel and flying, using either the Desktop site or the Phone/Tablet application. I definitely appreciated being able to find the cheapest flights around the world without having to do so much research and looking for different times and dates to match my budget. The best part is that this service and app is free. This app and site make it so convenient and resourceful to find and book the cheapest flights. It also finds a lot of connecting flights which are usually cheaper, but if you don't mind waiting in another sate or country for a few hours its not so bad compared to the price of a direct flight. Now the desktop site offers you the ability to look for hotel and car rentals. The Sky Scanner App is available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows phones.
-Johnny Hill
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Duolingo Duolingo has completely changed the way you learn languages. The app Iʼve been using is available in the iPhone app store but its also available on its site duolingo.com Duolingo offers courses in Spanish, English, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian. Iʼve been learning French and I have to say Iʼve never had so much fun learning another language in my life! I learned Spanish in high school but with Duolingo you can learn at your own pace and as opposed to a lesson, itʼs setup like a video game. You are given a set of hearts (lets say 5) at the beginning of a chapter. For every answer you miss you lose a heart. Once you lose all of your hearts you have to restart the course. The game is so advanced that during the chapters you have to translate (for me) French to English, English to French, and you have to prove you know the pronunciations by speaking a sentence into your phone! As you can see in the picture to the bottom left, itʼs separated by different subjects. You have to complete certain subjects to advance and unlock others until youʼve completed the language. For some units you can test out if youʼre confident (I havenʼt reached that point yet). We definitely recommend this as a fun way to learn a new language!
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-Jon Jones
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Kouture Lounge
Kouture Lounge (formerly Fins, Leopard Lounge) is the perfect place to party for a mature atmosphere. Sporting plush VIP booths and a relaxed crowd, it’s the perfect place to go to hear music of all types without having to leave Midtown. Located right by 12th & Midtown its within walking distance of many apartments, condos, and parking lots along peachtree, 12th street, and Crescent Avenue. Specifically on Saturdays, Kouture Lounge hosts the best
party around as you can enjoy a different genre of music on each floor: The main level normally starts with old school and the bottom level with more current R&B/Hip-Hop titles.
crowded), here they’re trying to get you in, no gimmicks!
Now before we’ve mentioned a gentleman by the name of Foe Diddy. By simply following this man on Twitter Another cool thing about this you too can experience this place is that their food is good! entertaining Saturday spot for If it’s too hot inside you can take free. Yes, we did say FREE. your food (and the party) outside on their patio or So if you’re looking for a downstairs on their deck. change in the nightlife scene Waiting for entry isn’t a problem you should try Kouture Lounge. either (if you’ve been to Follow Foe Diddy on Twitter nightclubs in Atlanta they have @FoeDiddy and prepare for fun! a habit of holding people in line for no reason, to make it look -Jon Jones
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Photos by X Lewis & Yoh71Phillips
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THE HISTORY OF THE ARTMORE All content and images are property of The Peach Review速 unless otherwise noted!
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O THE PEACH REVIEW®
riginally built in 1924, The Artmore Hotel represents a lasting piece of architectural history in Midtown Atlanta. Punctuated archways and ornate Spanish columns offer a warm welcome reminiscent of a European villa. Aptly located in Midtown Atlanta’s Art District, this boutique hotel boasts the best of art and memories of the past with the technology of today.
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THE ARTMORE HOTEL
The Artmore Hotel: A Journey through Time
*1 Name: Kennedy Designer: Alice + Olivia Blouson Dress $330 Style #690027 CLICK for Nordstrom.com
Just being inside this amazing construct is like being in a time capsule. Scattered about are reminders of how past influences changed the way the world viewed people, music, and shaped the current state we live in. From hallway pictures of the Beatles to 1 candid pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, the Artmore has conjure their inner Marilyn Monroe blended the best of the past with the or Audrey Hepburn. Depending on your best of the present. accommodations your room may boast images of the Rat Pack or even head As a guest, once you reach your shots of Elvis Presley. assigned room the first thing you’ll notice is your door bell. Reminiscent of With this amazing setting this guest times past when the Artmore Hotel was was able to channel her inner Marilyn but a dream, and in its stead was a Monroe while simply reading a luxury apartment complex. Once you magazine. Once you enter the building enter your room you’re greeted by itself the TV in the lobby is set to Turner luxurious custom bedding, LCD TV’s, Classic Movies (TCM) to prepare you work stations with enhanced lighting, for a classic experience that the coffee makers and refurbished Artmore guarantees to deliver. bathrooms. As you can see below, the environment encourages guests to
Michelle Anderson alongside Marilyn Monroe. Channeling her vintage pinup while appreciating the luxuries of today.
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THE ARTMORE HOTEL
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Complimentary high speed internet access and iPod docking stations are just a few of the 21st Century amenities you’ll receive during your stay. Suites include large spacious living areas, refrigerators, microwaves, wet bars and some even have full kitchens. The rooms are generous in size and vary from King, Two Queen, and Queen rooms and suites as well as spacious loft style split level suites perfect for longer stays.
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The guest-rooms and suites were completely refurbished in warm tones of brown, shades of red, cream, woods, metals and leather with playful touches highlighting the hotels proximity to the Arts District. With it’s location being so close to the Woodruff Arts Center is reason enough to have packages such as the Art in Motion package. This package comes wit admission for 2 into the High Museum of Art, Breakfast for 2 at the Gallery Cafe, parking for one vehicle, and an Executive King or Deluxe Studio Suite. *2 Name: Hailey Designer: Adrianna Papell Mesh Inset Jersey Gown $138 Style #688109 CLICK for Nordstrom.com
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The Artmore’s gracious interior is laced with artwork throughout the hallways, suites, kitchens, and bathrooms. With this, residents receive continuous exposure to the best of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s with a gentle touch of today. With some vintage bathtubs and shower heads you’ll notice the presence of Aveda products as well, demonstrating the perfect balance the Artmore has perfected.
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As you can see, the outside structure displays bright colors featured in Spanish style roofing and yellow stucco walls. The look and feel of a villa on the outside with an updated, vintage vibe and decor on the inside. As displayed on the left, bright colors play compliment to the natural gleam of the structure. The courtyard (probably the most notable part of the hotel’s exterior) plays host to business meetings, luncheons, various social events, and it caters to the guest who simply wants to relax. If lounge chairs and plush couches weren’t enough, towards the evening time you can enjoy their incredible fire fountain with the rest of your scenery. Other amenities include:
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-Meeting rooms for groups up to 80 -Fitness Center -Lobby lounge and cocktail bar -Business center -Valet Parking -Laundry and Valet Service The Artmore Hotel is single handedly redefining southern hospitality with their guest options and top tier customer service. *3 Name: Lola Designer: Cynthia Steffe Textured Fit & Flare Dress $228 Style #903129 CLICK for Nordstrom.com *4 Name: Hailey Designer: Adrianna Papell Side Cutout Mesh Dress $118 Style #927439 CLICK for Nordstrom.com *5 Name: Roseanne Sandal Designer: Via Spiga $198 Style #662082 CLICK for Nordstrom.com All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted!
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THE ARTMORE HOTEL
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Conveniently located at 1302 West Peachtree Street, the Artmore is just steps away from the Arts Center MARTA Station, High Museum of Art, Symphony Hall, the Alliance Theatre, Center for Puppetry Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Center State Theatre, Rhodes Hall and numerous Midtown businesses and restaurants. With prices ranging from $99 to $199 and also a petfriendly venue, the Artmore Hotel plays host to all for a thrilling one-of-a kind experience you won’t find at a mainstream hotel. To find out more about this illustrious boutique hotel you can visit their website HERE
With Atlantic Station in its sight and about a block away from Center Stage, this one-of-a kind boutique hotel is the perfect place for anyone wanting to stay in Midtown and reside amongst culture.
A very big thank you to Richard Leon, Brook Lane, and Mae Manalastas! Photos: X Lewis & Yoh Phillips Fashion Creative Director: Joy Larkins Models: Michelle Anderson & Keisha Campbell Makeup: Keisha Campbell Merchandise: Nordstrom All content and images are property of The Peach Review® unless otherwise noted!
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Coming soon!!!!
Thank you for taking your time to read The Peach Review速! Do you recognize any of the images above? The Atlanta Street Food Festival is a Food Truck Festival at Piedmont Park and it WILL be delicious! As will Atlanta Downtown Restaurant Week and Gwinnett Restaurant Week. We have some BIG events coming up to share with you. The 2013 Gold Cup will make a pit-stop in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome on July 20th and we have some great things coming from our friends at Visit South Africa! So pay close attention because we have even MORE to bring you next issue!
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Editor in Chief Jon Jones Editor KJ Games/Mobile Apps Titus “TBZ” Rowell
The Peach
Beverage/Festival Contributor Erica “EDB” Bizzell Music Contributions Angie “Y0 Angie!” Caquias Photography Jonathan Davis
Review®
Yoh Phillips Malcolm “X” Lewis Jazz & Theater contributions KJ Event Contributions Desmond McLennon Johnny Hill Consultant Desmond McLennon Fashion Creative Director Joy Larkins Makeup Artist Keisha Campbell
Graphics Bob Jeffreys If you would like to follow us here at The Peach Review® you can do so via Wordpress, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We are “The Peach Review” on all social media except where spaces aren’t allowed (Instagram and Twitter). Check out our amazing advertising rates by emailing us at thepeachreview@gmail.com. We hope you enjoyed our publication and remember to go out and explore Atlanta!
-Jon Jones