For those of you who are fans of dance, it’s a loaded weekend for you Downtown. At the Orpheum for three performances today and tomorrow is Ballet Memphis’ The Wizard of Oz. Great excuse to come Downtown with the kids!
Next door at The Halloran Centre, there will be performances by Collage Dance Collective featuring the work of choreographers from Boston, New York, and Pennsylvania. 7:30 show this evening, 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.
Panic! at the Disco will perform at 8 tonight at FedExForum in support of their gold-certified fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor. Openers will be MisterWives and Saint Motel.
Got a cell phone you no longer use? Memphis Says No More, an organization determined to bring an end to rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in our city, will put it to good use.
Bring your old cell phones to the Grizzlies Game on Sunday, and we will provide them to someone in need! Come see us at one of our 3 tables!
— Memphis Says No More (@mem_saysnomore) April 7, 2017
Citizen Cope: A Benefit Concert for Memphis Tilth happens tonight at Clayborn Temple from 6 to 11. The Mighty Souls Brass Band will kick things off at 6 outside, with food available by Lucky Cat Ramen. After that singer, songwriter, and producer Citizen Cope takes the stage inside at 8. Memphis Tilth is a nonprofit that pushes for an economically sustainable, socially equitable, and environmentally sound local food system. Programs include GrowMemphis, Bring It Food Hub, Community Kitchen, Food Policy, Food and Faith Initiative, Food Access and Affordability, and Urban Farms. Tickets available online for $45. At the door they will be $60.
The Healthy Memphis Festival is at Wiseacre today. I think it’s pretty safe to say I will not be attending. I would ask why there’s not an Unhealthy Memphis festival, but then I remember the Mid-South Fair.
Those of you who want to keep going after Wine Race concludes on Sunday, April 30 should check out Tin Roof:
Mark your calendars!#tinroof #tinroofbeale #djkombat #mortalkombat #sundayfunday #vodkaredbulls #fireball pic.twitter.com/SvlVgRBjJD
— Tin Roof Memphis (@TinRoofMemphis) April 6, 2017
It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for: the season opening of the restaurant in Beale Street Landing!
(I’ll pause for a moment to let everyone finish yawning)
The restaurant will be open 11-6 Tuesday-Thursday and 11-8 Friday-Saturday. Mud Island River Park opens for the season today too.
A group of investors from Louisville plans to close on Downtown’s convention hotel, currently the Sheraton and recently the Marriott. The hotel has 600 rooms and a skyway to the Cook Convention Center.
In other hotel news, a new hotel has been proposed for Downtown Memphis. It would be a 101-room Vib by Best Western, across the street from Church Park on Beale east of Fourth Street. Vib is a relatively new boutique brand in the Best Western chain.
The City Council will review plans for a Mud Island dog park on Tuesday.
Bernie Sanders has a podcast now.
New Flyer reporter Maya Smith writes about potential plans to re-pave Riverside to bring back bike lanes. This is a much better plan than the original bike lane configuration, and one I can get behind. The redesign would protect cars from other cars, and bikes from cars. It is absolutely correct that no one drives the posted speed limit of 35 on that stretch of Riverside. I take it to work every morning and would estimate the average speed to be about 48.
If you’re trying to think totally outside the box for what to do with your Saturday, don’t forget that there are drone races at High Cotton tonight. This is a family friendly event.
The Grizzlies clinched the 7 seed in the Western Conference with a victory over the New York Knicks last night. Memphis’ first-round opponent will be the San Antonio Spurs.
Off to the Farmers Market! Hopefully there won’t be a line for the tandoori truck when I get there. Over to Clarence’s bar at Earnestine & Hazel’s after that, then over to Max’s Sports Bar for their crawfish boil (first batch comes out at 12:30). It’s a beautiful day to be outside!