Thurs., July 31
9 Lives Saloon
8 p.m. Shamgod -- A tirelessly self-promoting machine of '80s-influenced pop music and '60s-inspired pop-art gig posters, Shamgod should fit right in with the Atlantis aesthetic. Unlike many of the hyped-up acts on the conference's slate, Mary Byrne and company are a fine-tuned and tastefully hard rocking, Pretenders-like unit. (Smith)
9 p.m. Hot Lava Monster
10 p.m. United
11 p.m. Mighty Fine Machine
midnight Ether Seeds
1 a.m. Something Left After Misfortune

10 High
8 p.m. Homeroom -- Goofy, good-natured geek rock that actually rocks. Their debut album It's Not Me, It's You is a low-fi statement of how witty and wacky powerpop can be. The unassuming combo take nothing seriously, resulting in mindless fun. (Smith)
9 p.m. Swagger
10 p.m. Runaway Cab
11 p.m. Left Front Tire -- See article, p. 98. (Moreau)
midnight Tripwire
1 a.m. Eliot James and the Snakes

Apache Cafe
10 p.m. Crop Circle
10:45 p.m. Herb and Skills
11:30 p.m. The Firemen
12:15 p.m. Mojo 99

Charlie & Barnie's
8 p.m. SonicDrag
9 p.m. M80
10 p.m. Gordon Vaughan
11 p.m. SPY
midnight Over October
1 a.m. Travis Steele

Eleven50
9 p.m. HOT 107.9 Mixer
10:05 p.m. Rico Love
10:15 p.m. Copywrite
10:25 p.m. Ruffa
10:35 p.m. Apostle
10:45 p.m. Spokken
10:55 p.m. HOD
11:05 p.m. Lil' Ma
11:15 p.m. The Ill Relatives
11:25 p.m. Big Nod and Caskit
11:35 p.m. Bone Crusher -- Hip-hop's newest incredible hulk is still riding high on the success of the Excedrin-proof single "Never Scared." Crusher's unapologetic brand of crunk (as heard on the rapper's Arista debut AttenCHUN!) is all good fun, but one hopes executive producer Jermaine Dupri isn't putting all his eggs in this one-note basket. (Moreau)

Masquerade -- Heaven
7 p.m. Tinker's Punishment
8 p.m. Biv
9 p.m. Three Days Grace
10 p.m. Smile Empty Soul
11 p.m. Trapt

Riviera
8:20 p.m. Jovan
8:40 p.m. D.R.E.S. tha Beatnik -- See article, p. 92. (Radford)
9 p.m. Algebra
9:20 p.m. Tehran
9:40 p.m. Tori Alamaze
10 p.m. Kerisha
10:20 p.m. Jonz
10:40 p.m. Myshel
11 p.m. Tony Rich -- See article, p. 91. (Penrice)
11:25 p.m. Joi -- See article, p. 91. (Penrice)

Smith's Olde Bar - downstairs
9 p.m. Pete Schmidt
10 p.m. Mission 19
11 p.m. Gareth Asher
midnight Jason Salzer

Smith's Olde Bar - upstairs
8 p.m. Ryan McDougall
9 p.m. The Wrights
10 p.m. Sugarland -- See article, p. 95. (Smith)
11 p.m. Y-O-U -- Skillfully blending the best elements of '80s new wave with hooky '70s AM radio gold, Y-O-U defy strict classification. Offering nutty theme shows and matching outfits while soulfully crooning heartfelt soul-tinged ballads, you never quite know what to expect from these alternately nutty and seriously prolific mirth-makers. (Smith)
midnight Luna Halo
1 a.m. DROPSONIC -- This hard-rocking outfit plays by the loud, fast rules of testosterone-fueled classic rock, and it's clear the aim is to bend those regulations to the breaking point. At its best, Dropsonic stomps thunderously through a field of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC comparisons while also recalling The Bends-era Radiohead. (Moreau)

Velvet Underground
8 p.m. The Abdomen
9 p.m. Joy
10 p.m. Justincase
11 p.m. Cameron Connerty
midnight Pacifico
1 a.m. Favorite

Vinyl
8 p.m. The Brian Bonds Theory
9 p.m. Revelation Darling
10 p.m. Pageant
11 p.m. Evoka
midnight Copper
1 a.m. Crash into June

Fri., Aug. 1
9 Lives Saloon
8 p.m. Miseryhead
9 p.m. Grout
10 p.m. Mimic
11 p.m. Gargantua
midnight Asphalt Blaster
1 a.m. Ill Mic

10 High
8 p.m. Sunday Munich
9 p.m. David Roland
10 p.m. CAFU
11 p.m. Trances Arc
midnight Lights Out
1 a.m. Supafuzz

Apache Cafe
8 p.m. Womackk
8:25 p.m. Red Lights
8:40 p.m. kia star
9:05 p.m. Farrago
9:30 p.m. Baby Jane
9:55 p.m. Slick & Rose -- Atlanta-based songbirds Slick & Rose refuse to dumb themselves down for mainstream approval and flip hip-hop stylings into soulful ear candy in a way that has won them a multicultural fan base. (Garnes)
10:30 p.m. Lauren
10:55 p.m. Julie Dexter -- Elton John is not the only British singer taking up residence in Atlanta. He is joined by the Jamaican-rooted, Birmingham, England born-and-raised Julie Dexter. Internationally, Dexter's soulfully funky and jazzy voice has been critically acclaimed. Here, in the States, her audience is still largely underground but growing. (Penrice)
11:25 p.m. Divinity
11:55 p.m. Dionne Farris

Charlie & Barney's
9 p.m. Taryn Murphy
10 p.m. Charm School
11 p.m. Brandy Rich
midnight Melanie Denard
1 a.m. Waterproof Feat

Dailey's Downstairs
9 p.m. Jabari Grover
10 p.m. Rachael Sage -- The Cliffs Notes buzz on singer/songwriter Sage is that like Ani DiFranco (who gets credit for "discovering" her), she's a female performer succeeding at the grassroots, no-major-label thing. But Sage's real accomplishment is in her winsome (if sometimes slight) music, a pop-jazzy strain of neo-folk with an ethereal fairy-dust vibe: Tori Amos as a folk-punk grrl. (Moreau)
11 p.m. Gwen Hughes -- Local chanteuse Hughes makes good use of her one-time aspiration to be a rock singer, discarding the affected croon of most jazz singers in pursuit of a jazz-pop hybrid sired by Frank Sinatra and Nancy Wilson. Her prowess as an emotive siren of swing has earned her Grammy nods and mention in This Joint is Jumpin', a study of the genre. (Moreau)
midnight tee-m -- Short for Tariq Mirza, tee-m is visiting Atlantis from Santa Monica where he is a local scenster. He brings with him folked-up dream-pop and lyrics sung in both English and his native Urdu. (Swaminathan)
1 a.m. The Katie Todd Band

Masquerade - Heaven
8 p.m. Rise
9 p.m. Groove Stain
10 p.m. eLeMeN.O.P
11 p.m. Phunk Junkeez
midnight Kottonmouth Kings

Masquerade - Hell
8:30 p.m. eNTERTAINME.nt
9:30 p.m. Salome's Wish
10:30 p.m. The Last Dance
11:30 p.m. Bella Morte
12:30 a.m. slowEarth

Masquerade - Purgatory
8 p.m. Refill
9 p.m. Royal 7 - Energetic and maddeningly hook-laden, Royal 7 avoid Green Day cliches, managing to create their own Southern-fried take on the ol' tired power pop genre. The 7 stuff their songs with rock, pop, Americana and delightfully unpretentious hip-hop ingredients. The result is royally raucous. (Smith)
10 p.m. LZO
11 p.m. American Motherload
midnight Ed Zachary
1 a.m. Masque

Red Light Cafe
8 p.m. Sam Smithwick
9 p.m. Beale Street
10 p.m. Taffether
11 p.m. Glen Phillips -- Since the late-'90s dissolution of Toad the Wet Sprocket, ringleader Phillips has toned down his trademark earnest modern-rock balladry on solo efforts Abulum and Live at Largo. On his own, Phillips has yet to regain Toad's chart success, but the tradeoff -- a subtler, more mature songwriting approach -- is no doubt a welcome one. (Moreau)
midnight Paul Christianson

Riviera
8 p.m. Mad Margritt
9 p.m. Valor
10 p.m. To Whom It Concerns
11 p.m. Slangbanger
midnight Johnny Socko
1 a.m. E.X. Vortex

Smith's Olde Bar - downstairs
8 p.m. Clay Cook -- Yes, he used to play with John Mayer in the Lo-Fi Masters and in the Marshall Tucker Band. Yes, he's in the country supergroup Sugarland. But don't let his "star" connections overshadow his solo material. Cook is a skilled singer/songwriter who offers vividly observational character sketches, presented in hauntingly astute vignettes. (Smith)
9 p.m. Justin Beckler
10 p.m. Jen Porter
11 p.m. Lee Hackney
midnight Six Strings & Vynl
1 a.m. Winslow Willard & Lunarleaf

Smith's Olde Bar - upstairs
8 p.m. Shurman
9 p.m. Big Sky
10 p.m. Caddle
11 p.m. Five Star Iris
midnight Three5Human -- Like a soul-dripping love child of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Mother's Finest, Three5Human pours out steaming buckets of molten guitar rock featuring Trina Meade's frenzied vocals. Far from mindless rawk, the Humanistic approach includes a liberal dose of politics and hard looks at domestic issues. Session vet Tomi Martin (Madonna, Michael Jackson) handles guitar duties. (Smith).
1 a.m. Maktub

Velvet Underground
9 p.m. ATL Giants
9:10 p.m. ETERNAL WARRIORS -- Atlanta-based teen hip-hop has come a long way since Kris Kross. Rappers Da'kulprit, Malice and Nemesis sound self-assured on the trio's debut, A Warrior's Anthem, midwifed by a laundry list of local production and engineering talent. Given the right attention, these Warriors could easily enjoy an artistic growth from boys to men. (Moreau)
9:20 p.m. Life
9:30 p.m. Hedonis
9:40 p.m. Whip
9:50 p.m. Lil' Scrappy--On the strength of his single "Headbusters," which caused a stir on Atlanta's underground, resulting in some radio play, Lil' Scrappy, along with his Trillville crew ("Get On My Level") recently signed to Warner Bros. via crunk king Lil Jon's BME label. (Penrice)
10 p.m. Scratch Track
10:10 p.m. Ax -- You may recognize Ax, whose moniker stands for Artist Extraordinaire, from few rap hooks such as "Let It Burn" by Playa Poncho, David Banner's "Fast Life" and his own track "Dream Eyes," featuring Killer Mike. (Penrice)
10:20 p.m. Rising Son
10:30 p.m. Yli Mayfia
10:40 p.m. Ramona
11 p.m. Sleepy
11:30 p.m. Bigg Gipp -- See article, p. 91. (Penrice)

Vinyl
8 p.m. Strain Busy Sky
9 p.m. Connor
10 p.m. Kelly Andrews
11 p.m. 3rd Degree --Miss the Marvelous 3? You may be interested in adopting this Brooklyn-based 3rd Degree as your second-coming (hell, Butch Walker even produced their latest EP). Hooks, sweet and sarcastic lyrics, and that crunchy chorded guitar sound are all in there. (Swaminathan)
midnight Bachelor Red
1 a.m. Red Letter Agent

Sat., Aug. 2
7 Stages
7:50 p.m. PRAISE Youth Choir
8 p.m. Tim Solomon
8:15 p.m. 2for1
8:30 p.m. Kam
8:45 p.m. K'tav
9 p.m. TWB
9:15 p.m. Ayanna
9:45 p.m. Dezzie
10:05 p.m. Two Edge
10:30 p.m. Canton Jones

9 lives Saloon
8 p.m. The deadRight
9 p.m. Fashion Bomb
10 p.m. Gush
11 p.m. Scullsoup
midnight Artimus Pyledriver
1 a.m. JaD

10 High
8 p.m. Blush
9 p.m. endochine
10 p.m. Uncrowned
11 p.m. Evenout
midnight Union Drag
1 a.m. Trucker

Apache Cafe
9 p.m. Allison
9:15 p.m. Temika Moore
9:30 p.m. Envy
9:45 p.m. North Ave.
10 p.m. Raysean
10:15 p.m. EeDe
10:30 p.m. Sera Hill
10:45 p.m. Jae
11:15 p.m. Inobe
11:50 p.m. Chiedza -- The introspective and soulful singer/songwriter's name means "bearer of light" and his songs usually bear testimony to the lightness of (his) being. The charming performer can hush a noisy room with his spiritually ripe anthems and earthy rhythms while raising the roof with glorious and Godly testimony. (Smith)
12:25 a.m. MD
1 a.m. Paul Mortin

Charlie & Barney's
8 p.m. Angeles Drake
9 p.m. Bridge
10 p.m. The Accusations
11 p.m. The Mike Johnson Band
midnight Obsession Day

Cotton Club
8 p.m. Devil May Care
9 p.m. Suffrajett
10 p.m. Alastor -- See article, p. 97. (Smith)
11 p.m. Field Day
midnight [minus.driver]
1 a.m. Confliction

Dailey's Downstairs
9 p.m. Brian Webb
10 p.m. Kyler
11 p.m. Jon Harris
midnight Dolly Rappaport
1 a.m. Granian

Masquerade - Heaven
8 p.m. Killing Faith
9 p.m. Releese
10 p.m. American Devils
11 p.m. Muudha
midnight Slavemachine
1 a.m. Witches' Brew

Masquerade - Hell
8 p.m. Elcodrive -- An unapologetically bland, commercial rock band outta Boston, Elcodrive is as non-offensive (read: accessible) as it gets. (Stewart)
9 p.m. Punchline
10 p.m. The Unsatisfied
11 p.m. The Mooney Suzuki -- The Mooney Suzuki has spent the better part of time since releasing 2002's Electric Sweat picking up where the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion left off, as the most self-congratulatory (admittedly deservingly) purveyors of primal garage groove, fuzz scuzz and squawking blue-eyed soul. Of the new millennium's revivalists, nobody else attempting the Mooney Suzuki's Detroit-style swing rarely sounds more seedy, sweaty or swaggerin'. (Ware)
midnight Nuclear Saturday
1 a.m. dc-3

Masquerade - Purgatory
8 p.m. Metal Militia
9 p.m. Straight Line Stitch
10 p.m. Drill 187
11 p.m. Compound F
midnight Social Outcast u.b.
1 a.m. Armani Death Machine

Red Light Cafe
8 p.m. Zac Brown
9 p.m. Penny Jones
10 p.m. weaklazyliar
11 p.m. Nicole McKenna
midnight Brian Wiltsey
1 a.m. Zac Brown

Smith's Olde Bar - Downstairs
9 p.m. Nadine Goellner
10 p.m. Jason LeVasseur
11 p.m. Arlington Priest
midnight Naked & Shameless

Smith's Olde Bar - Upstairs
8 p.m. Zach Carr
9 p.m. Two Shades of Blue
10 p.m. Lithp
11 p.m. Bain Mattox -- Multi-instrumentalist Mattox, whether alone or backed by his gang of like-minded folk-rockers, creates disarmingly simple "sensitive poet" lyrics, evoking the deities of Dylan and Mitchell without pandering or plagiarism. His up-tempo tunes roll with a dark Springsteen-esque confidence. (Smith).
midnight Aerial -- Four years down the road, and Atlanta's own conduit of breakbeat expression have transformed from merely spirited to spiritual. From elastically rolling to gently lulling, the Aerial quintet's combination of atmospheric drum 'n' bass to tribal trip-hop with jacked to jazzy overtones has allowed many an audience to ascend alongside the band to an elevated consciousness even if just for one show. (Ware)
1 a.m. The Goodies -- Goofy and operatic, The Goodies try hard to please all. The over-the-top showmanship and occasionally freaky falsetto of loony frontman Holiday Childress is supported by his medicine-show guitar prowess. They are one of the few (probably the only) bands to cover both Barry Manilow and the Charlie Daniels Band in the same set. (Smith)

Velvet Underground
8 p.m. RS3
9 p.m. Barney's Jive Band
10 p.m. Heather Grrrl and the Hungover -- This fiery redhead's crowd-pleasing blues and rock recall Bonnie Raitt but with a bit more of an "alternative" edge. Do not let her punkish look and butterfly tattoo-covered body fool you, Heather Grrrl (aka Heather Luttrell) and her seasoned players are definitely not slackers. (Smith)
11 p.m. Pull
midnight Defriender
1 a.m. Transmission

Vinyl
8 p.m. Jenaphoria
9 p.m. The Spins
10 p.m. Donna Hopkins -- The blues label doesn't fit the diversely talented Hopkins, who blends blues, funky jazz and a little country/folk feel with a pronounced '70s rock edge. As she demonstrates on her recent indie CD, Free to Go, Hopkins packs a wallop as a vocalist, and is an effective guitarist to boot. (Powell)
11 p.m. Athenaeum
midnight Fusebox
1 a.m. Agent Cooper