gub and i always get a kick out of the dudley’s food & spirits sign off i20 near the stone crest mall. it’s totally falling apart and features these hilarious hamburger and bartender graphics. gub used to work in madison, ga, so we would drive by dudley’s quite a bit. we have yet to actually go to the restaurant though.

– ryan

have you ever noticed the murals under the train tracks on ralph mcgill blvd near freedom pkwy? one side of the street is more graffiti-style and the other side has these cool bicyclists. the bicyclists side also has a beltline of atlanta logo, so it’s somehow affiliated with the atlanta beltline.

– ryan

UPDATE: these two murals are part of the art on the atlanta beltline campaign’s permanent collection. the bicyclist is by loss prevention collective and the abstract is by hence.

i was looking through photos recently and realized i never did a write-up on the lcd soundsystem concert at the tabernacle last october. my brother and i were pumped to see what a current lcd show was all about and gub came along since sleigh bells were opening up.

i have to say lcd soundsystem was quite impressive! they were great in the same way that broken social scene is great live. they tour with lots of musicians who are able to play all of the intricate parts of songs. plus that many live instruments, especially playing dance music, makes the experience so much better than an album can convey.

lcd opened up with dance yrself clean, which is the first song off their latest album. it was a fairly simple setup as the song built up until all of the lights and instruments came crashing in for the awesome upbeat ending. it was a great way to open a show and set the tone for a fun, dance-filled evening.

lcd soundsystem put on a great concert! they sounded amazing and had an awesome light show to go along, i’ll definitely go see them if they tour again.

sleigh bells opened up and were awesome as usual! there was lots of smoke, bright flashing lights, and extremely loud rock music! their live show was very fitting for a venue like the tabernacle. we were glad that we got to see them again.

– ryan

have you ever explored the suntrust building and surrounding areas in downtown atlanta? it’s a pretty area to walk around in case you’ve never been. the building is another design by john portman, and besides the cool architecture, there are lots of sculptures around the interior and exterior, including works by pablo picasso. there are also numerous surrounding fountains with great reflections of the downtown skyscrapers.

be sure to check out our previous posts on the americasmart building and connecting hallways.

– ryan

check out this great dairy queen drive-thru sign i saw it near the airport! i wish all dq’s had lit up cones!

– ryan

as mentioned on our blog before, john portman is a famous architect who designed many of the buildings in downtown atlanta. one such famous design is the americasmart building 3, which is home to various trade shows. the interior is quite impressive. it’s completely open with an amazing view of the many floors.

– ryan

i recently went to fat matt’s rib shack for the first time. this atlanta establishment has been on my list of bbq spots i’ve wanted to try for years. i’m not sure why i waited so long; the ribs were definitely some of the best i’ve had in town! they reminded me of maddy’s ribs, which are also some of my favorites. they were tasty, but not too saucy, and the meat fell right off the bone. i also sampled fat matt’s bbq chicken and various sides dishes, all of which were tasty as well. and although i didn’t get to eat my food there, i really enjoyed the atmosphere while i waited and would love to go back!

one quick note, i did see signs for live music pretty much every night of the week at fat matt’s. if you’re into the whole bbq and live music thing, then you’ll be way into that. but for others, like us, who actually enjoy conversing while eating bbq, then you should probably try fat matt’s for lunch or an early dinner.

– ryan

fat matt’s rib shack

1811 piedmont avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30324
404-607-1622

yesterday morning was super foggy. downtown atlanta was pretty as the skyscrapers tried to peak out from behind the haze.

– ryan

broken social scene was amazing at the buckhead theatre on thursday! after a recent dull evening seeing yo la tengo, i was ready for one of my favorite bands to rock it out, and they did. for over two hours broken social scene played a perfect mix of hits from forgiveness rocks (their most recent), you forgot it in people and their s/t. they even played a song from kevin drew’s solo effort sprit if! my highlights were kc accidental, anthem for a 17 year-old, and ibi dreams of pavement. here’s the setlist.

in case you haven’t seen them before, broken social scene is a band you should definitely check out in concert. i think they are better live than on album, and i love their albums. they tour with a large group of rotating musicians, including numerous people on guitars, percussion, drums, horns, keyboard and more. that many live instruments creates their unique anthem-rock sound that is quite amazing in concert, and hard to mimic on an album. it’s a similar experience to a live arcade fire show.

another note, even though the big-named female singers (see feist, emily haines/metric, amy millan/stars) don’t tour with broken social scene anymore, their shows are still totally fun and worth checking out! go see them if you can.

– ryan

we woke up to a little bit of snow today!

– ryan