There’s almost too much to take in tonight.
First up: Dirty Negatives, a photography exhibit from Memphis musician Don Nix, which opens at 6 p.m. tonight and runs through the end of the year.
With the assistance of curators Dan Oppenheimer and James Jaworowicz, several thousand photos were culled down into a series of images starring the likes of Furry Lewis, Rufus Thomas and George Harrison which mirrors the arc of Nix’s career: Playing alongside Lewis, Rev. Robert Wilkins and Mississippi Fred McDowell at the Overton Park blues festivals of the late 1960s. Working at Stax Records, first as a member of the Mar-Keys, then playing saxophone behind acts like William Bell and Carla Thomas. Collaborating with Leon Russell and helping Harrison stage the Concert for Bangladesh.
See the exhibit at the Jack Robinson Gallery at 400 S. Front Street, before it moves to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Afterwards, head over to Minglewood Hall for this fantastic local two-fer: Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Muscle Theory with Monsieur Jeffrey Evans and His Southern Aces.
Later tonight, as Chris Herrington notes in this week’s Flyer, the almighty Meat Puppets, Arizona’s greatest contribution to rock-n-roll, play the Hi-Tone. Around for eons before a generation of grunge rockers discovered them via Nirvana’s Unplugged version of “Lake of Fire,” the Meat Puppets have survived a decade long break-up, exacerbated by co-founder/bassist Cris Kirkwood’s drug addiction and subsequent arrest after a bizarre shoot-out at a Phoenix post office. Appropriately, Memphis’ longest-running hardcore band, Pezz, opens, along with Alabama garage rockers the Dexateens.
Also: Star & Micey, Rainy Day Manual and Rebecca Almond Trio at Neil’s; a mixtape listening session with Gangsta Boo and Drum Squad at 515 S. Main; and a free show from the River City Tanlines and JD Reager & the Cold Blooded Three at Swanky’s.
