Usually on this blog, I mention any lesser-known holidays that occur on the day of the post. For example, today is National Flip-Flop Day.
However, the website I use as my source only reports on national and international holidays, and therefore misses out on an important but lesser-known holiday local to Memphis.
Today is 6/16, Six-1-Six Day.
Six-1-Six, located on Marshall Avenue between Monroe and Madison in what is now The Edge, was one of the most awesome nightclub experiences ever, lasting from approximately 1990 to 1999.
There was the main dance floor, where DJ David the Worm played alternative dance music hits on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was Disco Inferno with DJ Jive and later DJ Moses manning the booth.
There was the pool room with 5 coin-operated pool tables. Next to the bar was an aquarium holding a 5-foot-long caiman and whatever goldfish were unlucky enough to be in there.
There was the live side, which hosted national touring bands. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and K.C. and the Sunshine Band were two of the bands I heard at Six-1-Six.
Finally, there was The Dungeon, located downstairs backing up to Madison. DJs in that room tended to play lesser-known, cutting-edge tracks. A lot of folks who became well-known in the early 2000s electronic dance music scene hung out in The Dungeon in the 1990s.
On Tuesdays only The Dungeon was open. Wednesdays were $5 beer busts. They told us the beer was Bud Light but I think it was actually Natty, a switcheroo that would be adopted by my BBQ team years later.
Thursdays bottled domestics were 10 cents from 9 to 10, 25 cents from 10 to 11, and 50 cents from 11 to midnight. You better believe I was waiting outside the door at 8:59 sharp every Thursday.
The club’s last 5 years, 1994-1999, overlapped my time as a faculty member of the math & computer science department at the University of Memphis. I’d often see my students there.
Six-1-Six was 18 and up. Since it closed in 1999, the youngest people who went there (legally) turn 42 this year.
Here’s something that makes me feel old… some of the girls I made out with on Six-1-Six’s dance floor are GRANDMOTHERS now.
On to the news…
Let’s start off with one more lesser-known holiday. Today is No Orange Clothes Day. That’s a holiday that needs to be observed weekly between the last Saturday in August and the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Deep Roots plays Blind Bear tonight at 10.
Wonky’s Sweet Treats at 315 N. Main has its soft opening this Saturday at noon. DJ Calypso will supply the live music. That space would be the storefront that shares a building with Alcenia’s just north of the I-40 overpass.
The Genre at 200 Poplar is celebrating its 2nd anniversary in June. Tonight from 6 to 8 there will be free hookah and 2-for-1 green tea.
Memphis 901 FC hosts its annual Pride Night this Saturday at 7:30 PM at AutoZone Park. Detroit City FC is the opponent. A specialty ticket gets you a sideline seat and a 901 FC Pride T-shirt. A portion of ticket sales will go to Mid-South Pride.
Wednesday, June 21 is The Longest Day, the day of the year with the most sunlight. It’s a day when people come together to fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s Disease. To that end, Old Dominick Distillery will release a single-barrel whiskey with proceeds going to the fight.
Birdie’s, the virtual golf bar at 493 S. Main, will have its grand opening today through Sunday. Play some golf, drink some beer, watch the U.S. Open, win prizes.
The Daily Memphian’s $10 Deal this week is the loaded fries from Red Bones Turkey Legs, the kitchen inside Carolina Watershed.
The city’s Independence Day fireworks show will happen at Liberty Park in Midtown the evening of Monday, July 3. The relocation for the second year in a row is necessary because work on Downtown’s Tom Lee Park is still being completed.
Many people have a 3-day weekend coming up with Juneteenth, America’s newest federal holiday, on Monday.
Grind City Brewing Co. will present a Summer Luau Party at Loflin Yard this Saturday. There will be beer specials and, at 2:00, a free-to-enter cornhole tournament. First place wins a $200 gift card to Grind City’s taproom.
Electric 30 plays Earnestine & Hazel’s Saturday at 9 PM.
Ted Horrell and MCN play The Central BBQ Sessions Saturday at 1 PM at Downtown Central BBQ.
Rowdy Franks plays at 9 AM and Natalie Hall at 11 AM at Memphis Farmers Market this Saturday.
Rachel Ross, Lina Beach, Joe Austin and Brian Sherwood will perform at South Main Songwriters Night, 550 S. Main, tonight at 7.
That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow.