Seed & Feed Marching Abominable brings fun to St. Patrick’s Day

Sham Rock & Roll at Meehan’s Public House

All Meehan’s Atlanta-area locations hope to get lucky this St. Patrick’s season. The Sandy Springs spot arguably stands out a bit from the pack with its Sham Rock & Roll party. Guests can support the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for Childhood Cancer by having their head shaved or simply donating to the charity. Of course, copious beer and cocktail specials will flow. Some patrons coat their tummies with Meehan’s barbecue. Live bands take the stage beginning at 5 p.m., most notably Ed Roland & the Sweet Tea Project.

Noon March 15. $15 through March 14; $20 day of the event. Meehan’s Public House, 227 Sandy Springs Place, Sandy Springs. 404-843-8058, www.ticketalternative.com/Events/26555.aspx

BUCKHEAD

St. Patrick’s Week events at Fadó Irish Pub

Irish revelry drops daily through St. Patrick’s Day at Fadó Irish Pub, so make sure and check its website for details. Highlights among the slew of events include an all-day celebration March 15. It begins at 7:30 a.m. with the RBS 6 Nations rugby tournament live on the pub’s TVs. The outdoor festival starts at noon. Live music takes place 1-10:30 p.m. featuring U2 tribute band Desire, Geek Band and others. Expect food tents and beer and cocktail stations. A DJ spins inside beginning at 9 p.m. Only those 21 and older are allowed after 2 p.m.

7:30 a.m. March 15. $20 beginning at noon. Fadó Irish Pub Atlanta, 273 Buckhead Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-841-0066, www.fadoirishpub.com/atlanta/st-patricks-day-2014.

PONCEY-HIGHLAND

ShamRock Music & Food Fest at Masquerade Music Park

Streams of green beer might be the lifeblood of this outdoor event, but organizers promise more than just suds. An array of tribute bands will plug in, including Departure (Journey), the Jagged Stones (Rolling Stones), the Georgia Blues Brothers (Blues Brothers) and more. Revelers can brave the mechanical bull, visit a collection of food trucks, and participate in St. Patrick’s-themed costume contests.

11 a.m. March 15. $19.95-$39.95. Masquerade Music Park, 695 North Ave., Atlanta. 404-577-8178, http://www.shamrockmusicfest.thrivemediapartners.com.

ATLANTA

Celebrate a Sober St. Patrick’s Day with host former Miss USA, Tara Conner. She struggled with addiction at a young age while under a national microscope. Hear her speak about achieving sobriety and changing her life with moderator Sharon Collins, host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s "Georgia Outdoors."

March 17, 6:30 p.m. reception with Irish music and sweets. 7 p.m. conversation. Georgia Public Broadcasting, 260 14th St. N.W., Atlanta. RSVP to Nancy Zintak by Friday, March 17, at AtlantaEvents@Caron.org or 404-805-1442

DAHLONEGA

Jamie Laval, U.S. national Scottish fiddle champion, with David Brown on guitar.

Nationally acclaimed performer, composer and arranger Laval has been hailed as “one of North America’s finest practitioners of traditional Scottish music” by the San Jose Mercury News. A unique approach to traditional Celtic music blends the simplicity of an ancient art form with contemporary flair.

8 p.m. March 14. (doors open for dinner at 5:30 p.m.). $22, $12 students. Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 North Park St., Dahlonega. 706-864-3982.

Whether they're weaving down the street like a multicolored amoeba in the Inman Park Festival Parade, busting out with an impromptu jam session at a MARTA station, or falling to the asphalt in unison while in mid-march, if you stay in Atlanta long enough, you'll likely stumble across the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable.

The costumed marching band, typically sprinkled in glitter, splattered in make-up and donning clothes straight out of a psychedelic yard sale, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Its next big gig: Atlanta’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

For the big 4-0, the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable has quite the plan up its sequined sleeves. To commemorate the anniversary, the group, which includes about 125 active members, plans to perform 40 blitzes in 40 days, starting March 17 and culminating in the Inman Park Festival Parade. In Abominable-speak, a blitz means an unannounced and often off-the-cuff performance, be it in a bar, at a Braves game, inside a shopping mall, wherever. Just about any location, no matter how large or small, is fair game.

Preparing for the massive endeavor takes practice. On a Tuesday in early March, the hodgepodge sound of instruments tuning up flows into the hallway of the Little Five Points Community Center.

Inside the band room, the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable soon launches into full boom. The strains of “Rock Lobster” rattle the ears of everyone, and the troupe’s female dancers, some graying gracefully and others still in the blush of youth, move to the rhythm.

Pink-haired Donna Weber, 27, of Atlanta swings her drum mallets to the beat. A theater professional by day, Weber plays for the band and wrangles the membership roster in her spare time.

The band roster runs the gamut from doctors and students to Republicans and Libertarians, straights to gays, tweens to grandparents. Some have backgrounds in high school and college marching bands, while others learn as they go. Not a musical bone in your body? Then sign up to be a Despicable, the group’s anarchic-yet-organized dance squad. There are no required qualifications to be an Abominable, just a desire to show up when you can, practice, and perform.

Band manager Katharine Chestnut, known as “Drumbabe” to her bandmates and an Abominable for nearly 20 years, said it’s the sense of community that attracts such a diverse group, many commuting to Atlanta from the surrounding area. Chestnut calls it her “band family” and equates the Abominable experience to the fellowship found at churches and synagogues.

After a recent surgery, Chestnut was laid up in her Inman Park home, bummed that she was missing rehearsal. Suddenly, the band showed up outside at 7:30 p.m. and blitzed her house. Before long, Chestnut said, 15 to 20 neighbors were dancing in the street to the music.

“Some of my neighbors said, ‘We’re so glad there’s an Abominable living on our street,’” Chestnut said.

This experience stays true to the founder’s original vision. In 1973, Kelly Morris opened the now-defunct Kelly’s Seed & Feed Theatre at the corner of Pryor and Garnett Streets. The band sprang from there, and the general idea was to create a theatrically-infused, costumed marching band that might pop up at a moment’s notice.

Morris fancied the concept of luring families from the dinner table to the street with the sound of a marching band in the distance. They’d go outside and behold the happening. Others would follow, and it would become an instant spectacle.

The band’s first high-profile performance took place at the 1974 Inman Park Festival Parade. The band still marches there annually, and it remains a signature gig. But the group’s dance card arguably is more full than Morris could’ve ever dreamed.

A pair of original active members remain, 61-year-old Henry Slack and 64-year-old Bill Scott of Atlanta.

“I’m still here 40 years later,” Slack said, “because it’s fun. It’s that simple. If it wasn’t fun, I don’t think I’d do it. I find myself whistling these songs all hours of the day.”

Slack, who plays trombone, has watched the band evolve from wearing thrift shop suits blinged with stripes of yellow tape to the kaleidoscopic costumes the group dons today. A Halloween parade might find Abominable members transforming into an array of twisted characters, from whimsically spooky to comical. A late-night march could call for pajamas, while the 40th anniversary will have the band dressing in shades of red April 26 at the Inman Park Festival Parade. It’s the ruby anniversary, after all.

According to Chestnut, the group performs about 30 times a year. Some are blitzes; others are more organized. She said half of the gigs are free community offerings, and the other half are paid. Although the performers and organizers are all volunteers, all earnings go back into the not-for-profit band to pay expenses. This includes rent for the band room and paying for trips such as the band’s annual jaunt to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.

Back in the practice room, the Abominable soldiers on with tune after tune. Although most of them are wearing street clothes, music conductor Patrick Doyle, known as “semi-conductor” to his mates, waves his hands in the air while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned on the front with an image of an angry, anthropomorphic cartoon tomato. It’s a nod to the group’s wackiness.

Weber puts down her bass drum and takes a breather. The young member has been given the daunting task of organizing the 40th anniversary blitz-a-thon. Although she’s still in the process of putting together the entire schedule, Weber said she does have a dream blitz.

“If we could blitz the Clermont Lounge, it would be the greatest moment of my life,” Weber said. “But I haven’t gotten a call back.”

The band is in contact with many of its alumni from the past four decades. More than 800 of them from around the world have been invited to attend the festivities. A list of select 40th anniversary events can be found on the band’s website.

The response the Abominable continues to receive makes it all worthwhile, Chestnut said. She wouldn’t be surprised if the band is still marching 40 years from now.

“When we play, there’s just this joy and people forget themselves for just a few minutes,” Chestnut said. “And we all need to do that from time to time. (The band) just gets to do it more often.”

Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Noon-1:30 p.m. March 15. Free. Starts at Peachtree and 16th streets and ends at Peachtree and 5th streets. atlantastpats.com; seedandfeed.org.