Twain's Springfest 2011 is today!

Starting at 1 p.m. today, in cooperation with our newly-revised and most beautiful weather forecast, Twain's is hosting its third annual Springfest, a multi-faceted event consisting of family-friendly fun, tons of music and more, all to benefit the Atlanta Food Bank. For more information, click on the poster above, visit the Twain's website or check out their informative blurbage below:

Twain’s proudly presents the 3rd annual SpringFest benefiting The Atlanta Community Food Bank. Family fun with kids’ DJ Amy Handler of The Kids Are Alright fame will be spinning tunes to get little feet tapping, and the Imperial Opa will dazzle with their circus antics until 2:30. Thereafter, bands will alternate between outside and inside stages late into the night. Great local talent on hand include The Shathouse Rats, The Mermaids, Abby Wren and What It Is, Blair Crimmins and the Hookers, and Gentleman Jesse and His Men. Enjoy smoked pork sandwiches and Twain’s brews out on the patio, get some great deals at the silent auction, and take in some of the best bands in town, all for a great cause. $10 admission/person goes entirely to ACFB, kids 10 and under are free.

Meat Puppets photos and wrap-up

We'll be the first to admit we've had Meat Puppets fever the last few weeks. But hey, can you blame us? They were fantastic Tuesday night! Just ask Twitter, which was all abuzz with both words and photos and more words and more photos (with dogs!) before, during and after the performance. It's nights like these where you have to appreciate the real-time obsessive nature of social-networking sites. Thanks to all who posted, and remember you can follow us @DecaturCD.

Meanwhile, the tireless chroniclers over at inDECATUR shot some video footage and paired it with a nifty photo slideshow. Have a look and be sure to visit inDECATUR for some comprehensive local blogger coverage of the little town DCD calls home:



In related news, our friends at PAWS Atlanta took home a fat wad of cash thanks to our many generous customers. And we can't round things out without mentioning Twain's, who brought a keg filled with delicious Heaven for Climate Golden Ale (A beer they describe thusly: "Pouring a beautiful gold color, with light malt and hop nose. Clean and dry. A refreshing ale for all tastes.") for all of the 21+ set to enjoy. A keg that was promptly emptied in just shy of an hour. (You animals!) Many thanks, again, to Twain's. Go visit them and try the many brews they craft right here in Decatur.

Oh yeah, and the music! The Pups covered a wide breadth of their career in the span of about 50 minutes or so, mixing in new jams from their just-released Sewn Together alongside classics like "Lake of Fire" and the glorious "Backwater." Suffice it to say, they totally still got it; no question about that. We can say in all honesty and without exaggeration that it was one of the best DCD events in the store's five and a half year history. Thanks to the band, the folks who packed the place, OK Productions for helping initiate contact on this event, Davis for lending his drum kit, Richard Parsons for the vocal microphone and always-friendly helping hand, and of course, PAWS and Twain's. We're gushing, we realize, but we just can't help ourselves.

Finally, we took loads of photos, which you can see below. Remember, you can click to enlarge if you want to plaster them all over your desktop, walls and so on. Also, there are even more photos here. Enjoy:

Meat Puppets in-store performance reminder

We excitedly rambled on a good bit last time about the Meat Puppets in-store on Tuesday, so in the name of brevity, here are the details:

* Where: Here, silly.

* When: Tuesday, June 16th @ 6:30 p.m.

* What: A few things, actually:
1. Meat Puppets, performing a handful of songs live at Decatur CD.
2. A keg of Heaven for Climate Golden Ale, courtesy of Twain's.
3. Cool signed stuff from the band for anyone who buys a Meat Puppets CD or ticket for The EARL show later that evening (or brings their previously purchased ticket or CD).
4. The evening will benefit PAWS Atlanta, so please bring a few bucks to drop in the donation can. And feel free to bring your dog if he/she digs on that good old rock 'n' roll.

That's it! See you Tuesday night!

Blake Guthrie and FREE beer from Twain's on Thursday!

Boy, have we got a treat for ya'll this Thursday night. Local singer/songwriter Blake Guthrie will be stopping by to play a few songs for us at 7pm. Check out his MySpace page (linked on his name, natch) for some tunes, or take a look at how he describes his sound: "Lou Reed with a better voice. Jonathan Richman without the sinus problem. Springsteen if he wasn't from Jersey."

Not one for having music without tasty refreshments, we've talked with our kind and generous friends at Twain's, and they've agreed to donate some beverages for the event. As such, we'll have a delicious (and completely FREE) keg of Sleepy Conscience ESB for everyone 21 years and older. A medium body, well-rounded brew made locally at Twain's, this beer's name was inspired by the following Mark Twain quote: "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: This is the ideal life." We're inclined to agree. See you then!