Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Ques Brothers competed yesterday at the 2009 Southern Hot Wing Festival in South Main, and I stepped into my role as team photographer and took 150 pics.  Before I start posting pics of us, though, I want to recommend a GREAT band I heard yesterday at the festival:  The Young Guns.

I happened to take a walk early afternoon, and as I approached the stage, I heard the band and thought, “these guys are rocking out.”  Then I looked at them and realized they were kids, probably 13-16 years old, playing some of the best rock covers I ever heard.  They played AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie,” which was supposed to be their final song, but the crowd went wild and started screaming for an encore.  How often do you hear encore requests at street festivals?  Usually, crowds are like, “ok, band’s over, let’s get another beer.”  But the wing fest crowd couldn’t get enough of this band, and the fest’s organizers told them they could do an encore if they wanted.  “We’re going to play some Led Zeppelin for you,” said the lead singer, and then they proceeded to play the best rendition of “Rock and Roll” I’ve ever heard by a cover band.  These guys love performing and I could tell they would’ve been happy to stay onstage all afternoon.

Check out their website – they have a version of Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Chile” and some other songs.  They play the Daisy again on May 9, the Redbirds game on May 11, and Minglewood Hall on May 31.  A lot of people were saying, “they should book these guys to play the Saucer” but I think the over-21 rule would put a stop to that.  Wonder if there’s an exception for performers… anyway, I’m definitely going to try to go see these guys at either the Daisy or Minglewood next month.

A few festival pics:

Uncle Ray loves having his picture taken.  He’s seen here sampling Pluck U’s wings.

John D and Otto enjoying patio seating underneath our sponsor The Silly Goose’s banner.  John looks annoyed that we had kegs of PBR rather than his favorite, Bud Light.

Bicycle Bobby grills a fresh batch of wings.

No festival photo album is complete without a pic of Mikey hamming it up for the camera…

… or a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating.

In addition to the wings, we served up homemade onion rings (pictured here), fries, and tater tots.

About 5:30 the rain began to threaten, and we hopped into cars and trolleys and headed north to the Saucer, where the festivities continued around the pool table.

The gang’s all here (except Erin, who I accidentally cut out of the picture.  She wasn’t too happy about that).

With Terry, who isn’t in the best of moods after losing 4 games out of 5 to me at pool.

Stephanie gets ready to break.  You can’t really tell in this pic, but Stephanie has a tube top dress on.

Complete photo album (151 pics) here. What a great festival, and we were fortunate that the rain held off for the better part of the day.  Can’t wait for next year.  My only complaint was that they only had four portable restrooms, which was not enough for a crowd that size and the lines got long.

Now we move on to today’s festival – Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest.  It’s on Wagner Street along the river betwen Union and Beale, and runs from 12 to 6.  Two bands, buckets of crawfish for sale, as well as crawfish races, crawfish eating contests, and bobbing for crawfish.  I’ll be there all day (weather permitting), and I’m enforcing my “no side trips” rule.  No going to the Saucer for “just one beer” and not coming back for three hours, as I’ve done in previous years.  The Saucer will still be there at 6 when the festival ends.  Many of the gang like to hang out on Barton Flats’ rooftop, but I’m not doing that either – when there’s a festival going on, I want to be at the festival, not somewhere nearby looking at the festival.  Not sure where I’m going to sit to eat my crawfish, though, since this morning’s rain has surely made the grass nice and soggy.  I’ll figure it out though.  Hope to see you down on the river this afternoon!

It’s a little after 8:30 AM, and I’m looking at the radar… looks like the rain will be outta here by 10, so I’m assuming the hot wing fest will go on as planned.

Should be a great day.  I’m going to head down to South Main in about an hour and poke around the Memphis Farmers Market for a little while, then head over to a friend’s condo for cocktails.  Around 11:30-noonish we’ll hit the festival.

My BBQ team the Ques Brothers is competing and using this as a warm-up for BBQ Fest.  We got lucky enough to get booths next to two friend teams, the South Main team (which I believe is going by “Pluck U”) and the Calhoun’s team, so it should be one big party.  Since this is a Ques Brothers event, I’ll bring my camera and create a photo album.  I have the spare camera batteries on the charger now.

Other notes… the famous manhole cover tour of Downtown will happen again this Tuesday at lunchtime.  It’s part of the Downtown Alive series.  Historian Jimmy Ogle will lead a tour of manhole covers along Union Avenue and talk about their part in the history of Memphis.  Tour is free; meet at Union and Wagner at 11:45 AM.

I’m seriously thinking about skipping trivia or showing up late on Tuesday, so I can check out Bardog Tavern’s air guitar contest.  It starts at 6:30 PM.

I did one of the “top 5” things on Facebook last night:  Pick your (5) all-time favorite bars.  The “all-time” thing made me think for a while… forced me to compare old bars (Hoop’s Bar, McGuinness) to bars at which I was once a big-time regular but am not so much anymore (Tap Room, Downtown Blue Monkey) to new favorites (Silly Goose, Bardog).  I also had to spend some time deciding whether Sleep Out Louie’s or the Flying Saucer should be in the #1 spot.  Maybe when I have more time I’ll do a post about this.

Time to put on my Ques Brothers polo shirt and head south.

Some of my friends made the CA this morning. CA dining reviewer Jennifer Biggs reviewed the Silly Goose, although she had more to say about the cheap Monday and Tuesday cocktails than the food. There were several photos and it looks like the whole gang was there, minus me – Mikey, Air Traffic Mike, Uncle Ray, and several others. Wonder if the photo was taken Monday, when I was doing my taxes and was late getting up there.

Biggs also listed Frank’s Market and Deli at Main and Vance as one of her “Best Finds” for sandwiches. I have yet to try one, perhaps because it’s slightly too far to walk and not far enough to justify a trolley ride (7 blocks from my front door). I’ve heard great reviews about Frank’s from my South Main friends though. That brisket sandwich sure looks good.

Kerry from The Memphis Blog e-mailed to tell me about a photo contest they’re doing. All you have to do is upload a photo or video of yourself doing what you usually do on a night out in Memphis, and readers will vote on the best photo or video. The prize is two tickets to the local $5 Cover premiere, and two VIP tickets to the Indie Memphis Film Fest later this year. More info here.

I’ve also been asked to remind everyone that the Memphis Farmers Market has its opening day tomorrow, in the parking lot next to Central Station on GE Patterson, 7 AM to 1 PM. Click the link to find out about all the food offerings, music, and kids’ entertainment. Note to whoever runs the MFM website – you ought to change the title of the main page to something other than “Home.” Page titles are one of the big things search engines look at when indexing sites. Could be missing out on some Google traffic.

I’ve been alerted to something disturbing on the Southern Hot Wing Fest website. It’s scheduled to happen Saturday, but the contact page lists Sunday as the rain date. And there’s a 60% chance of rain Saturday. If they push the hot wing fest back to Sunday, that would put it the same day as Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest on the river. Which would SUCK. I’m really looking forward to both, but if both end up on Sunday and I’m forced to choose, Rajun Cajun will win, and nearly everyone I polled said the same thing. I hope the organizers of the hot wing fest will make every effort to go on with it Saturday as scheduled.

Last night: Walked down to the Main/Peabody Place block party. Of course, the Saucer was on the way there, so I stopped in for a beer. Then my friend Lee showed up and I had a second beer. So I didn’t get to the block party until 7:00, where my friend Susie told me “MAJOR, MAJOR FAIL” for not showing up early. Susie uses the word “fail” about as often as Brittney from the Saucer uses a variant of the word “fuck” in conversation. Which is to say, nearly every sentence. Anyway, due to the weather the block party wasn’t all that exciting. The Majestic’s patio was packed and there was a band, but not that many people were on the street. I decided to hit the Silly Goose instead, then back to the Saucer.

At the Saucer’s bar I found myself next to Boscos/Ghost River brewmaster Chuck Skypeck. He told be about a new beer he’d been brewing for the Arkansas Travelers baseball team over in Little Rock – Hook Slide Ale. I immediately knew how it got its name. I grew up in Little Rock, and in the ’80s I went to Travelers games all the time (they were then the St. Louis Cardinals’ AA affiliate). There was this guy named Willie who would do baseball slides – feet first, so they were called “hook slides” – down the aisle in front of the third-base bleachers. He’d set up a popcorn box as a makeshift base, and then people in the stands would buy him beers to do his hook slide. He was as much of an attraction as the team itself. He died sometime around 1985. He’d be thrilled to know there’s now a beer named after him that is being sold at Travelers games.

Then I went on to the Peabody rooftop party, but it was about 60 and windy and I only had a T-shirt on (my “NO BUMS” T-shirt, in case anyone cares to know). So I didn’t stay long – headed back to the Saucer for the Dempseys, where I only made it through one set before I decided to call it a night.

Plans for tonight: I’m going to take it very easy and get some rest, assuming I have a hot wing festival to attend tomorrow at 10. Maybe a few beers at the Saucer or the Goose, but I plan on being in bed by 11.

Ladies, if you’re going to the Peabody rooftop party tonight, don’t forget to bring your cameras… if some of the same dudes who were there last week show back up, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to take pics to submit to the Hot Chicks with Douchebags website.

Also, don’t forget that the Red Rooster has a great after-party. Every week they select a “Chicklette of the Week” and award her a prize. This week’s Chicklette gets a pair of True Religion jeans. All ladies get in free all night, and the Mudflap Kings will be on stage.

I’ve been so busy talking about the Peabody rooftop party that I forget to mention that the Madison Hotel will also have one tonight… Joyce Cobb will be the entertainment.

I heard from several people that Sawaddii, the Thai restaurant on Union, served its last meal last night. It will reopen as Bangkok Alley next month, with the same staff but a different menu. Sad to see them go… I will miss their dancing-man-hot Salmon Green Curry, their Thai beef salad, and their lettuce wraps. They always had great service there… I’ll never forget the time I ordered to-go and there was a 30-minute wait. It was about to storm and I resigned myself to running home in the rain with my food. They knew I was walking, had it ready in 9 minutes, and I beat the storm. Thanks to the folks at Sawaddii for all the great times.

Susan Marshall will celebrate the release of her third CD, Little Red, with a release party at The Warehouse at Front and GE Patterson on Friday, April 24. Susan, the regular piano player at Itta Bena, will perform with a full band, including Sam Shoup on bass, Dave Cousar on guitar, Ryan Peel on drumps, Scott Thompson on trumpet, and Jim Spake on sax. $5 cover, doors open at 8, music begins at 9. This is also a Trolley Tour night, so you can hit South Main for Trolley Tour, then walk over to the Warehouse.

Eating Taco Bell as I type this… for those who work in Whitehaven, anyone been to that restaurant on Winchester that serves “authentic African cuisine?”  It’s on Winchester between Elvis Presley and Mill Branch.  Curious what type of cuisine… Ethiopian?  Morroccan?  Africa’s a rather large place.

My routine seems to be a long night of sleep followed by a late night… last night I was in bed by 9:30.  Tonight, on the other hand, with the block party, rooftop party, and the Dempseys, I’m sure to be up late.  May stop at Bardog as well… they had a large post-rooftop crowd last Thursday that was still going strong when I left at 1 AM.  I’ll catch up on sleep Friday night and be ready to go for Hot Wing Fest and Rajun Cajun this weekend.

MATA is offering free trolley rides through the 19th, in honor of the trolley system’s 16th birthday.  No coupons or passes or needed, just get on.  They’ll have free birthday cake at Central Station at noon Friday.

Good article on p. 9 of the Flyer yesterday about the arts incubator that Jay Etkin is opening at 484 Union.  Jay closed his gallery at Main and Huling last month, and moved his inventory to a warehouse at the Union location, which he’ll also use as a classroom to teach students about the art business.  He says that students who graduate with art degrees aren’t necessarily prepared to deal with the business of art, so he’s here to help them get going.

On p. 38 of the Flyer:  Bardog Tavern is having a “rock out with your tongue out” air guitar contest next Tuesday, April 21, starting at 6:30.  There will be a $200 electric guitar as a prize, and $4 tequila specials.  In addition, it’s their regular pint night from 7 to 3 with all pints $3.

Thanks to one of my readers who sent me Sauces’ “stimulus package,” their new list of daily specials:

Monday
2 burgers, 2 fries, 2 Fat Tires $20

Tuesday
Two-for-one 12 oz. ribeye steaks with fries $25

Wednesday
Two-for-one 14 oz. New York strip steak with fries $25

Thursday
$2 pints and $5 appetizer specials

Friday and Saturday
Reverse happy hour – late night drink and appetizer specials

Sunday
$3 mimosas and Bloody Marys all day

Once again… every discount package seems to be called a “bailout” or a “stimulus” these days.  These are some good deals though.

Plans for tonight:  Main/Peabody Place block party 5:30 to 7:30; Peabody rooftop party after that; I’m leaving after-rooftop plans open, but the Dempseys at the Saucer at 9:30 is a likely bet.

Tonight I went to the Saucer’s “buy the beer, keep the glass” night, then decided I was hungry and walked over to the Majestic.  This is what I got:

Tempura green beans with horseradish sauce for dipping.  Very, very good.  Normally you find small items on “bar bites” menus, but this one is easily big enough for two people to split.

More news to come, but I need sleep.  Hopefully I’ll get up in the morning in time to post before work.

Just got an e-mail that Circa will run tax relief specials from 5 to 10 tonight.  They’re doing $3 well drinks and house wine, and wines sold by the bottle only will be half-price.  They also have a $5 Cravings menu of small plates.

Drinking the new Mountain Dew Thowback, sweetened with sugar the way it was done in the ’50s, instead of the high fructose corn syrup found in modern Mountain Dew.

Minglewood Hall in Midtown has a couple of events this week that I wanted to mention. First of all, tomorrow night, Thursday, April 16, they’ll have the return of Memphis Wrestling with Jerry “The King” Lawler. This is the perfect-sized venue for a regional promotion like Memphis Wrestling. Should be a good show.

Then on Saturday they’ll host the Big Wig Ball, a fundraiser for LeBonheur. This is a big party where everyone wears their wig of choice. I haven’t been to one of these, but friends of mine have and say it’s a lot of fun. Entertainment will be ’80s band Ronny Raygun, and there will be beer and wine, and food from area restaurants. Call 901-287-6308 for tickets, which are $50 in advance, $60 at the door. Attire is “cocktail cool or whatever fits your wig.”

I haven’t made it to Minglewood yet but have heard it’s an outstanding mid-sized concert venue that will draw a lot of bands to Memphis that we would have otherwise missed. Met the owner a couple of weeks ago at Paula & Raiford’s and he seems like a super nice guy. Glad to see that Minglewood is off to a good start.

I’ve been asked to remind everyone that there’s currently a push in the Tennessee legislature to loosen up the liquor laws. Grocery stores such as Miss Cordelia’s would be allowed to sell wine if the bill passes. This would increase competition for liquor stores like the Corkscrew, but it’s been suggested that their expertise in choosing wines would be an asset in retaining loyal customers, and that the law’s loosening would allow them to carry corkscews, glasses, and other items related to the consumption of alcohol (like the ones sold on Mid-South Alcoholic Supply). Check out the Red, White and Food site and make your own judgment as to whether we should retain or change the current laws.

Beer recommendation – Abita Strawberry. The Saucer now carries this beer in bottles and I had one last night. Best strawberry-flavored beer I’ve had.

It’s official: The COGIC convention is outta here in 2010. Interesting that the CA is not allowing comments on this article, and that they removed the link to yesterday’s article after many “good riddance, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out” type comments were left.  Having seen the way the “saints” have treated my friends in the hotel and service industries all these years I’ve lived Downtown, I can’t say I’m sorry to see the convocation go.

Plans for tonight: I’ll be at the Saucer at 7 to buy the Michael Phelps 4:20 glass, which is an absolute must-have.

Just bought a pair of sandals at Winfield’s at Madison and Main… they wanted me to remind everyone that they do shirt printing orders for BBQ Fest, Italian Fest, and any other events for which you need shirts.

Correction: I’d previously posted that admission to Saturday’s Hot Wing Fest is free. However, today I got an e-mail from one of the Ambassadors of the fest, and she told me they’re charging $3 admission this year, with the proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House.

The prizes for the wing fest are $500 for the best hot wing, $200 for second place, $100 for third place, and $100 for best team spirit.

In other news… I’ve been forgetting to mention that the Dempseys play the Saucer Thursday night (9:30, $3 cover unless you’re a UFO member). Wow. Quite a night. The Main/Peabody Place block party from 5:30 to 7:30, the Peabody rooftop with DJ Mark Anderson’s Party Train from 6 to 10 ($5 cover, ladies free until 8), and the best band in town at the best bar in town from 9:30 ’til.

Appearing later in the month at the Saucer: 3 Foot Catheter on the 24th and the Sausage Assassins on the 30th. Who names these bands?

There will be a benefit for Ruby Wilson at B.B. King’s on Tuesday, April 21. Ms. Wilson, the “Queen of Beale Street,” suffered a stroke on New Year’s Day. She’s recovering well and hopes to sing again in a few months, but the illness has left her in a state of financial hardship. Tickets will be $20 at the door, and proceeds will go toward Ms. Wilson’s medical bills and also to the Corey Osborn Let the Music Play Fund, a fund set up by the late Corey Osborn’s parents to help musicians in need.

Among those appearing: Bobby “Blue” Bland, the Beale Street Flippers, Brian “Breeze” Cayolle, Joyce Cobb, DeltaCapella, The Dempseys, Kallen Esperian, Billy Gibson, the Kattawar Brothers, Rusty Lemmon, Niko Lyras, Preston Shannon, Rhoney G, Jason D. Williams, and more. There will be a raffle for a 65-carat ruby donated by Mednikow Jewelers, and attendees will be able to buy a limited-edition “Best of Ruby Wilson” CD and have her autograph it. Advance tickets can be purchased here or you can pay $20 at the door. If you can’t make it, you can send donations to Ms. Ruby Wilson, c/o Resource Entertainment Group, 153 Monroe Ave., Memphis, TN 38103.

In the news: COGIC officials are discussing moving their convention to another city. The comments readers have left in response to this article are most interesting. The convocation may have generated $35 million in revenue for the area, but how much of that translated into profit, after hotels and retailers gave the deep discounts that the “saints” demanded? After all, isn’t the goal of business to produce profit, rather than revenue?

Off to trivia…

Back with more information on the Main & Peabody Place block party to be held this Thursday, April 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Bands to perform will be local gypsy jazz group Devil Train and North Mississippi bluesman Mark “Muleman” Massey.

If you’re interested in attending the upcoming performance of Fiddler on the Roof at The Orpheum, they will have staff on hand offering special ticket deals.

Here are the specials that restaurants and shops on the block will run during the party:

THE MAJESTIC GRILLE
2 Flatbreads for $9
$4 Strawberry Basil Martinis
$4 Mojitos on the patio
Fiddler on the Roof on the BIG screen!

CIRCA
$5 appetizers & $19 ‘steak frites’
$5 Feature Wines by the Glass / $20 Bottles

BLUEFIN
Krono Grilled Beef, Chicken or Shrimp w/ teriyaki sauce $2
$5 Bluefin Cosmo
$2 Domestic Beer
$2 Fireball Shots

CENTER FOR SOUTHERN FOLKLORE
Southern Sampler $10
Lemon baked chicken, greens, hot water cornbread, macaroni & cheese, coleslaw
$4 Peach Cobbler & Ice Cream
$16 Ghost River Growlers (64 oz)

SHELTON CLOTHIERS
20% OFF ENTIRE STORE!
(excludes sale items)

BELZ MUSUEM OF ASIAN & JUDAIC ART
$2 off Museum Admission
15% OFF any one item in the museum store

THE SILLY GOOSE
$3 Wells

Parking is available and validated at the 100 Peabody Place garage.

If you’re looking for something to do after the event, it’s only a short walk away from the Peabody, where the weekly rooftop party will be going on, and Beale Street is a short walk away as well.