Stars at Variety Playhouse

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Triple D's Productions and Speakeasy Promotions present...
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Wednesday June 20
at Variety Playhouse
Tickets on sale Friday June 12 @ 11am
http://ticketf.ly/2miRZYm

Unknown Mortal Orchestra w/ special guest Shamir
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Doors 7:00pm | Show 8:00pm | All Ages
Tickets on sale 1/26 @ 10am!
Presented by Zero Mile Presents

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
The threads of our past never unravel, they hover like invisible webs, occasionally glistening due to a sly angle of the sun. On Multi-Love, Unknown Mortal Orchestra frontman and multi-instrumentalist Ruban Nielson reflects on relationships: airy, humid longing, loss, the geometry of desire that occurs when three people align. Where Nielson addressed the pain of being alone on II, Multi-Love takes on the complications of being together.

Multi-Love adds dimensions to the band's already kaleidoscopic approach, with Nielson exploring a newfound appreciation for synthesizers. The new songs channel with the spirit of psych innovators without ignoring the last 40 years of music, forming a flowing, cohesive whole that reflects restless creativity. Cosmic escapes and disco rhythms speak to developing new vocabulary, while Nielson's vocals reach powerful new heights. "It felt good to be rebelling against the typical view of what an artists is today, a curator," he says. "It's more about being someone who makes things happen in concrete ways. Building old synthesizers and bringing them back to life, creating sounds that aren't quite like anyone else's. I think that's much more subversive."

While legions of artists show fidelity to the roots of psychedelia, Unknown Mortal Orchestra shares the rare quality that makes the genre's touchstones so vital, constant exploration.

The Connells at Variety Playhouse
June 23rd, 2018
7pm Doors | 8pm Show
All Ages

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based jangle-pop outfit the Connells formed in the spring of 1984. Fronted by guitarist Mike Connell and his bassist brother David, the first incarnation of the group also featured vocalist Doug McMillan and drummer John Schultz, who was soon replaced by former Johnny Quest percussionist Peele Wimberley. In late 1984 the quartet recorded a four-song demo; after one of the tracks, "Darker Days," was selected to appear on the North Carolina compilation More Mondo, the Connells' ranks expanded with the addition of singer/guitarist George Huntley, who made his debut on a March 1985 session co-produced by Don Dixon.

With the help of the band's friend Ed Morgan, the resulting demo made its way to the offices of the British label Demon, which agreed to fund the recording of enough additional tracks to complete a full-length LP. Darker Days was released in Europe by Demon in 1985, and when Morgan returned to the U.S., he formed his own label, Black Park, to issue the album domestically. After the low-budget videos for the tracks "Seven" and "Hats Off" garnered MTV airplay, the Connells won a contract with the TVT label prior to entering producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios to record 1987's brooding, more assured Boylan Heights, which featured the superb single "Scotty's Lament."

The edgier Fun and Games followed in 1989, and a year later the group resurfaced with One Simple Word, scoring an alternative radio hit with the single "Stone Cold Yesterday." After a three-year tour which saw the Connells add keyboardist Steve Potak to their lineup in 1991, they finally returned to the studio to begin work on 1993's Ring, highlighted by the single "Slackjawed," as well as "74-75," a major hit throughout Europe. After another three-year hiatus, the Connells issued 1996's Weird Food and Devastation, released concurrently with Huntley's solo debut brain junk. The group returned in 1998 with Still Life.

Michael Che at Variety Playhouse
June 26, 2018
Doors 7pm | Show 8pm | All Ages
Tickets on sale Friday, 4/13 @ 10am
Presented by Zero Mile Presents

Michael Che
Having been named one of Rolling Stone?s ?50 Funniest People,? Buzzfeed's "50 Hottest Men in Comedy," and Variety?s ?Top 10 Comics To Watch,? Che is quickly leaving his mark on the media landscape. A native of lower Manhattan, Che?s comedy uses humor to identify humanity in the most controversial actions. He applies street culture to world issues with a delivery that The New York Times describes as "a reflective, laid-back stage presence with jokes that draw as much from his city upbringing?as from blunt, insightful points that bring the abstract into focus.?

Che is currently the co-anchor of Saturday Night Live?s iconic ?Weekend Update? segment where he is also a co-head writer writer for the show. Prior to joining SNL, he was part of ?The Best F*&#ing News Team Ever!? as a correspondent on Comedy Central?s Emmy & Peabody Award-winning program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Che has performed stand-up on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers and on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. In 2016, he released his first hour-long stand-up special entitled Michael Che Matters on Netflix. His first special aired in 2014 on Comedy Central?s The Half-Hour stand-up series.

Che has made numerous other television and film appearances including Chris Rock?s Top Five, Comedy Central's hit series @midnight, and as a weekly cast member on Vh1?s Best Week Ever.

In August 2013, Che headlined a successful month-long run of standup shows entitled ?Cartoon Violence? at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with The Guardian raving, ?his effectiveness as a comic is instant.?

Che has performed on the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity festival tour, at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival, The Montreal Comedy Festival, Comedy Central?s South Beach Comedy Festival, The Moontower Comedy Festival, and Bonnaroo, where The Nashville Scene proclaimed ?Straight up: Michael Che is going to be a star.? He was crowned the winner of the New York?s Funniest Stand-Up competition at the 2012 New York Comedy Festival, and both Time-Out NY and Comedy Central have listed him as one of their "Comics To Watch." He headlines comedy shows nationally and internationally.

Proper Vinyl Restoration for your soul....

Shlump
w/ leet, CHARK, and The Morkestra
Friday June 22 at Aisle 5
9pm / All Ages / $18 - $20

Esseks
CRIMES
Friday June 29
Aisle 5
9pm / $13+ / All Ages

Presented by Speakeasy Promotions + Envisioned Arts ATL

Blackbird Blackbird
Tuesday June 26
at Aisle 5
9pm / All Ages / $12adv
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2IHTh8y (on sale Friday April 13 10am)

Presented by Zero Mile Presents and Speakeasy Promotions