Clermont Loungin, Shaky Knees, and My Favorite Band
ATLANTA, once my favorite city, hasn’t felt right for nearly half a decade. The year 2020 took a toll on so many of us, and from my perspective ATL wasn’t spared from the wreckage. Its been some time since the energy felt right, and I’d feared it would be too long before it inspired me like it once had. Last month, May 5th and 6th to be exact, Atlanta got her groove back. . . at least a little bit. I felt like things are finally looking up.
SHAKY KNEES, one of Atlanta’s best music festivals was underway and I was to be there for my second time. . . with the band. I arrived late Friday night without a plan for a hotel and only a vague idea of how the weekend would play out. I drove to east Atl and and nabbed a seat a bar called the Flatiron. It was buzzing with energy- your typical local tattooed types, college kids, punks, hipsters, and festival goers, but it was nothing wildly spectacular. I watched a portion of Jumanji that was playing on the tv above the bar and ordered what the bartender told me was the last high life in the place. I dunno why, but this seemed delightfully significant to me. After this I went back to my truck to sit and listen to the 2 diss tracks from Kendrick and Drake that had just dropped, and then meandered about midtown before reluctantly choosing a hotel to take a $300, 5 hour nap. Sheesh!
SATURDAY: Checked into the world famous Hotel Clermont. I’ve been traveling to Atl regularly for 20 years now and had never been to the notorious hotel or its more infamous basement Lounge, but I was finally there and it seemed just right. I supposed I’d missed out on the seediest years of the hotel’s history, and in recent times it has been upgraded and “hipsterfied” a bit to justify a rate hike and a kitschy new vibe that verges on corny. I was perfectly happy with the accommodation. My room was listed under the group booking for Portugal the Man- my favorite band. Although I’d never heard of them when I met them in 2017 and didn’t at all understand what they were trying to say when telling me the name of their band. . . they have become my favorite band, because they are my favorite people. It had been almost 2 years since we’d been together and I was thrilled to catch up, and hang out under these circumstances. I took the afternoon to lounge around and peruse the neighborhood. I hit up Ponce City Market for some Pizza Jeans (the name of the spot) and Sugar Shane’s for a big lumpy ass cookie. I got a pedicure and then kicked back on the rooftop lounge of the Clermont before joining the band for some wings across the street at The Local.
THE CLERMONT LOUNGE: holy shit what a vibe! I thought maybe with the upgrades, and the hotel popularity that the energy at the lounge may have subsided some or at least shifted into something a bit more hip, but I don’t think so. Its a bizarre layout, as most basements are, and it seems to be sectioned off into various usable spaces, but the most densely occupied area was directly around the bar. The bar served as a kind of moat around a central stage behind the bartenders where “dancers” got busy. I mean got busy, because some were dancing, and some were not so much, but everyone was working. The ladies were of all walks of life, all ages, shapes, and displayed varying degrees of entertainment as well as nudity. Some stripped full nude while others barely at all, but they all had one thing in common. . . they all carried a bucket. Yes, a bucket. A bucket for catching and carrying the bills that you have to ball up into pellets in order to heave them over the gorge and past the barkeeps. The goal is to try and land the bills in said pail, or into the front of their cleavage or bikini bottoms or whatever challenge has been presented. It was quite an interesting and entertaining setup, which makes the whole strip club element much more playful and goofy as opposed to the typical. My favorite dancer had a large tattoo across her abdomen that read “EVIL CUNT” and I certainly don’t remember for sure but I’m hoping her dancer name is “Audacity.”
SUNDAY: show day! we had a call time of around 2 to head to the venue, so John and I got busy putting together some artwork for a few little tattoo bangers before we wrapped the weekend. We did 4 tattoos: a drawing by his daughter Francis, an ode to Blink 182 and “work that sucks” and a couple others drawn by John. I like tattooing his artwork, because his drawings are rad and he enjoys a bit of humor with his collection.
SHOWTIME: short and sweet. It rained for about an hour right before the show, just enough to destroy the entire festival grounds and turn it into a messy, shitty mudpie of an event. People were slipping and sliding and sliming everything with brown. During the squish I ventured over to catch a glimpse of Billy Idol doing his rebel yell, but quickly retreated to dry ground and back to the artist area. PTM performed an incredible set just after the rain stopped. The set featured a few new players and singers, all of whom I met for the first time that weekend, and of course instantly felt a kinship to. These people seem to have a knack for surrounding themselves with the most incredible people. They are human conscious, thoughtful, active, self aware, and fearless. With the programs and organizations that they (PTM) have created and are associated with they continue to use their platform to fight the good fight for the people of indigenous origins and frankly for anyone living under oppression, or suppression. You might think this band is pop, or pop-adjacent because of their massive hit “feel it still” and its motown inspired melody, but Portugal the Man is a goddam rock band, and these guys are essentially punks. . . the absolute best kind! With such an energy and passion for humanity, culture, freedom, and a mastery of style, I’m proud, and honored to call them my friends and for them to consider me the same. I look forward to what we will get to experience next.
you can see the tattoos I did from this trip on my ig @thebutcherbrand
AND YOU SHOULD
Check out my new friends I met along the way this time:
and of course
