Sideshow Atlanta

Fusion! is an Atlanta-based project founded by Emory students whose goal is to bring together people of different cultural backgrounds through art, dance, fashion, and music. This year’s competition featured dance teams from several Georgia universities, including Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, and Morehouse.

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Photos by Alan Friedman

On Thursday night, Eyedrum hosted a concert supporting the School of Americas Watch, an organization that seeks to close the US Army School of Americas through protests, vigils, and demonstrations. Dozens of bands, songwriters, and storytellers took the stage to support the cause. The annual vigil at Fort Benning takes place this weekend in Columbus, Georgia.

Photos by Alan Friedman

Last night The Bench, Atlanta’s urban clothing boutique and art gallery, hosted the indie music festival, which featured several local hip-hop groups. Crowds gathered around the outdoor stage to hear their favorite underground artists and enjoyed the party after the show.

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

The Hyatt downtown was the place to be last night as the election results rolled in. A band entertained while people watched CNN on the huge projection screen. When Obama was finally projected to win, the room erupted – people were screaming, crying, dancing, and hugging total strangers. Driving home, the streets of Atlanta were filled with the sound of horns honking and screams of “O-bam-a, O-bam-a!”

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

On Halloween, Trader Vic’s was a bizarre sight. The restaurant/bar was packed with diners in costume, a crazy monkey-woman running around feeding people bananas, a marching band, and general mayhem.

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

Rock 101.5 held the Bouhaha Spooktacular Halloween party at the Masquerade Friday night. Departure, a Journey cover band, and DJs played all night while hundreds of people showed off their elaborate Halloween costumes.

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

Front Page News in Little Five Points hosted the Halloween Hookup party on Friday night. Michael Phelps was in attendance, as well as “The Dude.” The Devil also showed up, all the way from Hell, and reluctantly posed for a photo with an angel.

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

Netherworld, a gigantic wholesale carpet warehouse turned gigantic haunted house, attracted thousands of screaming teenagers Saturday night. Even waiting in line was fun, as monsters and creepy old men dressed as axe murderers patrolled the lines, keeping everyone perpetually terrified.

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(Photos by Alan Friedman)

Saturday night at the Drunken Unicorn, a benefit show was held for a local named Chris (seen below in gray cap and tie) who was mugged and shot in the leg in his front lawn near Sampson Street about a month ago. Several bands played, including the Khans, Van Heineken, and Cadillac Jones, and all proceeds from the show went to support Chris in his recovery.  

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Saturday afternoon at the Lenox mall food court, competitive food eaters, aka “gurgitators”, competed against several randomly selected locals in a contest to see who could eat the highest number of Krystal burgers in 8 minutes. Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, the 23 year old Chicago native and 2nd ranked competitive eater worldwide (pictured below with a mohawk) won the contest, downing 66 burgers in 8 minutes. For more information on the contest, see the official blog.    

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