BIG NEWS today: The board of the Brooks Museum of Art, facing space issues and other issues in their Overton Park location, is considering moving the museum Downtown. One of the suggestions in a recent study on what to do with the riverfront was the inclusion of “an iconic cultural asset.” There’s interest in the Brooks being that asset. This would be the biggest news for Downtown since we got the Grizzlies.
I Love Juice Bar will be the first retail tenant in the Tennessee Brewery project. It will open next spring. The juice bar already has locations on South Cooper and in Crosstown Concourse.
Beale Street beacons: The new Beale Street smartphone app interacts with 100 beacons placed at various locations on and around Beale, Once notifications are turned on, when you get near a beacon you get information including historical context, news on upcoming events, special offers, and coupons.
Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian John Mulaney will be on stage at the Orpheum tonight at 7.
Coach Fiz is giving away 500 tickets to the Grizzlies home season opener tomorrow night. The giveaway happens at FedExForum’s Grand Lobby today at 1:30. Limit two tickets per person. Every fan attending the home opener gets a Grit Grind Forever growl towel.
Pink Floyd fans, put Saturday, October 21 on your calendar for Oh, by the Way, Which One’s Pink? at Wiseacre Brewing Co. It will be an evening of Pink Floyd songs by Mister Adams. Admission is free and of course there will be great craft beer to drink.
Memphis Blues Society’s 2017 Battle of the Blues Challenge happens this evening and tomorrow evening at Club 152. It will feature youth, solo/duo acts, and bands competing under International Blues Challenge rules. The winning youth act, solo/duo act, and band will qualify for the 2018 IBC in January.
South Side Supper Club plays Belle Tavern tonight from 7 to 10 PM.
Many people don’t realize that Swarm by Foursquare, the app in which you check in to venues and become “mayor,” is still around. For the past two years I have been involved in an intense (but friendly) battle for the mayorships of two Downtown bars, Bardog Tavern and Earnestine & Hazel’s. I will get those mayorships back for good, but for the worst possible reason. Goodbye, my friend. It was a pleasure talking with you over beer and Soul Burgers on Saturdays. Your love for our city was apparent in everything you did. Glad we got to be BBQ teammates this year.
On a happier note, happy birthday to Coonass NEAL! His birthday party is Downtown tonight and I wouldn’t miss it, so that’s the plan. Back tomorrow with more news.