Hey Memphis! This weekend is the long-awaited BBQ Fest, and teams of cookers from all around the globe have come to compete with their world-class cuisine.
Keeping your health in mind, we here at TVD have organized a list of fantastic shows to dance at, to help you burn those BBQ calories. With a little bit of blues, a little bit of indie rock, and a serving of the weird, this weekend is setting up to fill up both your stomach and your ears!
Friday (5/18) marks an important date for the live Memphis calendar; The Levitt Shell Pavilion opens back up this weekend, ready to give Memphis four shows a week from artists of varying styles and backgrounds. Although the acts vary in taste and style, one thing the Shell does do consistently is line up amazing talent. Friday is perfect example of this with a performance from blues aficionado and his act the Cedric Burnside Project. Grandson of blues legend R.L. Burnside, this guy’s got the blues in his blood, showing it off in every set.
Saturday (5/19) is a night many Memphians are looking forward to, as Wilco will be coming to Mud Island! The outdoor amphitheatre has hosted many artists in the past offering a gorgeous view of the cityscape of Memphis in tandem with stellar performances. Supporting their 2011 release The Whole Love, the set is sure to consist of all your Wilco favorites—new and old. Since Wilco sports a brand of polished indie rock with occasional dissonant grit, it will feel right at home for the Bluff City.
If you missed your chance to see Wilco, no worries—another awesome offering of great jammy Americana is available as Band of Heathens are set to play Newby’s Memphis. Band of Heathens are six years and three studio albums deep; their most recent lays out the finer points of their Americana sound with attention to detail and focused songwriting. Their expert musicianship touches on blues, jazz, folk, rock, and soul and provides one hell of a show. Definitely worth checking out!
If straightforward music might not be your thing, be sure to get your taste of weird with Quintron and Miss Pussycat’s show at The Hi-Tone Cafe. The band is ridiculously creative as is, and is known to play host to outlandish on-stage improv, insuring you’ll be overly entertained at the very least. Also playing are warped rock act Sector Zero, with Scum Punk pirates Manatees filling out the evening’s sound and definitely giving the night a large splash of color.
With this many shows in which you won’t be able to control yourself from getting actively involved, we hope you are able to burn off the fat you should most definitely be packing on at BBQ fest. See you out there!
