Creative Loafing presents Ed Loves Bacon

Visual Artist Michelle Brotherton paints during outdoor concert Tuesday.

As people sat eating their lunch and enjoying the warm spring day at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, Paramount studios offered a free concert experience in celebration of The Soloist release this Friday.

The Instruments, a local experimental music group performed an hour-long show while local artist Michelle Brotherton created a custom art piece inspired by the organic sounds from the band.

From what looks like a hodge-podge group of musicians, The Instruments spun intricate sounds into haunting, memorable songs. Their music has no classification, its a fusion of styles from folk to classical and everything in-between.

While listening to the band, onlookers were mesmerized as Brotherton quickly created a mixed media artwork which she later named “House of Music.” The painting which symbolized the spiritual sound waves emanating outwards features a traditional japanese feudal palace with bright, neon ghostly streams flowing from its windows. After completing the painting, Brotherton will donate the artwork to a local youth charity.

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. opens in wide release Friday, April 24, 2009.

The Instruments’ latest album, Dark Småland is available on Amazon. Find more information about the band on their MySpace Music page.

Michelle Brotherton is participating in the “SK8 or Die IV” exhibit at Young Blood Gallery & Boutique May 2 – 31, 2009.

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DECI-BELLAS: Twilighters cut loose as they await the release of their faved film on DVD Friday.

Okay, I have to admit – I know nothing about this Twilight phenom. Before Friday, All I knew about the books and movie was that it is a tweener romance series about some angst ridden girl and a hot vamp. Their romance redefines chastity and there’s some butt whoop and smooching peppered throughout. But at the pre-release party held at Blockbuster Video in Brookhaven, devoted fans gave me a brief education about the series.

Here’s what I’ve learned from them:

1. The cutie vamp is named Edward (Robert Pattinson), all that matters is he’s hot.
2. Bella (Kristen Stewart) has a cool truck and she’s awesome.
3. Vampires don’t combust in sunlight – they twinkle. It adds to the cuteness factor as well.
4. Not everyone is in Ed’s camp, some are fans of a Native American shape-shifter named Jacob who’s also vying for Bella’s affections.
5. Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is hot, too.
6. Twilight fans are called Twilighters, their mothers are called Twilight Moms, they tend to be fans of the books as well.
7. Twilight is the greatest movie…ever!

That was enough to wet my appetite until I had a chance to check it out for myself. Their insights gave me several key points of reference when I finally sit down and review the DVD and extras. Since I’m not a pubescent girl swooning over the lead characters, I’m sure my perspective will skew in a different direction.

The two-hour long party was hosted by Star 94’s Street Team. Twilighters and their parents played games and won some cool gear including a poster signed by the cast and crew of the movie.

While fans screamed and swooned in the anticipation of picking up their movie, outside of the store Twilighters were encouraged to give blood and received a pint of Edy’s ice cream for their efforts.

QUEEN BEAGLE: Angel a.k.a. Chloe and handler Mark Anderson greet young fans.

On Friday, Atlantans and their primped pooches paraded downtown at Centennial Park as part of the Disney Dog Tour. Over 40 dogs were in attendance including Angel who recently starred as Chloe in Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

The Disney Dog Tour was in town to celebrate the releases of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Space Buddies and their most recent release, Bolt. As part of the festivities, Disney held a casting call for dogs big and small for a walk-on role in an upcoming “Buddies” film.

Buckhead finally has a taste of Wunderlust as the W Hotel’s latest location W Atlanta – Buckhead sparked the ATL’s nightlife with their opening party. Several celebrities were invited to hang out with Atlanta’s elite on Thursday, January 22, 2009.

W Hotel – Midtown tickles the senses once again with their latest groove, “The Sounds of Wonderlust” – a new music compilation CD produced for W Hotels. Check out the images from the launch party, November 20, 2008.

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