C. Matt White
Don Bryant
The Memphis music scene surely has its ups and downs, like any city, but sometimes a weekend slate of shows appears that promises one grand-slam band after another, and one is left stunned by the sheer quantity of good music being produced in this city. Here’s a subjective overview of some dynamite LIVE performances you should check out, not mentioned elsewhere in our music column or the Steppin’ Out or After Dark sections. Get up offa that thing! “That thing” being your sofa, where you’ll be tempted to sit with your device of choice while all this swirls around you.
FRIDAY
Don Bryant at the Levitt Shell (Free): Don Bryant, soul singer extraordinaire and writer of many great songs for other artists, including wife Ann Peebles, doesn’t play his hometown that often. He’ll be backed by the Bo-Keys and members of the Hi Rhythm Section – truly a Wrecking Crew of our own, here and now in Memphis. Take a blanket, some mosquito repellent, and get outside. (7:30 pm)
Tony Manard CD release party at 831 S. Cooper (Donations accepted): Many bands, finding their favorite clubs booked months in advance now (I told you Memphis was hopping), are experimenting with new, alternative venues. This space is the hallowed ground of our beloved Black Lodge Video, which hosted many a throw-down in its heyday, and now can be rented for parties such as this. Tony is a songwriter and guitarist who you’ve seen in many a Memphis band, most recently the Low Life Leakers super group at the fundraiser for the Victims of the Bowling Green Massacre. His “Know Why” CD has a host of local greats playing behind him, and most of them will be at this show. Jeremy Scott will play a solo set as opener. (8 pm)
The Margins at Murphy’s: Perhaps the city’s best kept secret, the Margins rock minimalist guitar textures and intriguing rhythms for a unique blend that recalls early Wire. They’ll be joined by genre-benders Los Psychosis and that perennial favorite, one man show Johnny Lowebow. (9 pm)
SATURDAY
Sweat Fest 3 at the Hi Tone (Free): Shangri-La Records have created a mini-fest of their own in recent years, celebrating the sheer audacity of surviving another Memphis summer. A gaggle of groups always plays, often some of their best shows, because they know record buyers are the best listeners. This year’s Sweatfest will make summer more survivable than ever, as it’s being held inside the Hi Tone rather than the store parking lot. But never fear! Crates upon crates of records will be toted by the Shangri-La minions into the club, so the deals can be had by all. This is the lineup:
2:00 pm: CROCKETT HALL
2:50 pm: TURNSTYLES
3:40 pm: WOOLLY BUSHMEN
4:30 pm: CRYSTAL SHRINE
5:30 pm: YESSE YAVIS
NOTS Homecoming at Bar DKDC: The NOTS have just completed a tour of Europe. This band, already incendiary, have surely benefited from what all bands know as Post-tour Peak Performance Potential. If you liked them already, or even if you were just NOTS-curious, this is a must: they will surely be firing on all cylinders with this triumphant return. (10:30 pm)
SUNDAY
Snowglobe at the Harbert Avenue Porch Show (Donations accepted): This venerable group make a rare appearance at what has become an annual tradition. Since 2012, Robert Jethro Wyatt has been the curator of performances on his front porch, complete with free beer. And he knows how to pick ’em: members of Snowglobe have gone out into the world seeking their fortunes since they formed in the 1990s. So it’s a special treat for fans to see them reunited. Did we ever imagine we would be nostalgic for the 90s? Well, we are. (6 pm)
Jack Oblivian at Bar DKDC: What more can be said of Jack O? Have they named a drink after him yet? He’s a seasoned observer of humanity in his witty, bristling songs, no matter what band is backing him. Now with longtime comrades-in-arms The Sheiks, he’s playing old favorites and material from last year’s stunning “The Lone Ranger of Love” . A new project by Graham Winchester and Seth Moody, Turnstyles, will be opening the set, so arrive early for something fresh on the scene. (10 pm)
