Overcast skies and cool winds from the north: The weather couldn’t have been better for the opening night of the newly renovated Levitt Shell‘s sophomore season. By 6:30 p.m., music fans were already staking out prime real estate on the sloped lawn that has replaced the wooden benches of yesteryear, soaking up the speeches and fanfare that, in the Bluff City, seem to precede the openings of lemonade stands and political campaigns alike.
It was a perfect night to be a Memphian — or a Midtowner, to be more exact. If the audience was in a great mood, concert opener Jimmy Davis was transcendent. Volunteers were friendly without being overbearing, food vendors DeJavu and the Hi-Tone Cafe were serving up jambalaya and pizza slices, and no one frowned at the legion of dog owners who brought their four-legged friends to the park. Cowboy Jack Clement, donned in angelic white and flanked by his agile Nashville band, played hits (and near misses) that spanned his 50-plus years in the music biz, while fans like Robert Gordon, co-director of Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies, lolled on blankets, soaking it up.
