The Memphis Flyer’s annual Best of Memphis readers’ poll is back, back again! You nominated, you voted, and we spit those answers back out in these pages here. And now it’s time to announce the winners you chose. That’s right: The winners you chose — not us, your fearless (sometimes fearful) writers, not even our advertisers, who help keep this paper a free publication for you.
From margaritas to antique stores to family outings — and everything in between — y’all chose your favorites. Ties have been noted, and no favoritism shown, except in our staff picks because we can.
Best of Memphis 2024 was written by Shara Clark, Michael Donahue, Alex Greene, Michael Finger, Kailynn Johnson, Chris McCoy, Abigail Morici, Toby Sells, Jon W. Sparks, and Bruce VanWyngarden. It was designed by Carrie Beasley.
Thank you to our readers, advertisers, and Memphis, and congratulations to our winners!
Did you read about that cool thing happening in Memphis? We’re sure you probably did somewhere (maybe here), but did you actually go out and do the thing? No? That’s all right, we get it. Routines are important. They provide a warm blanket of security and reliability in what’s been a chaotic couple of years.
But there are just so many cool things happening in Memphis, and so many other cool things to see. And you’ll feel much better for having experienced them, we promise. So instead of reinventing yourself for the new year, make an effort to step outside and see some of the new experiences our city has in store. Our reporters did that, looking at new ways to interact with the Mid-South in both personal and professional capacities.
Let the Sun Shine
Reporters don’t clap.
Impartiality is the heart of what we do. I’ve never given to a political campaign or posted a candidate’s sign in my yard. I’ve never sought a board seat or even been loud and proud about any nonprofit. If I had to cover them later, my impartiality would be in question and I couldn’t do my job.
But there is one issue reporters can get behind without question: transparency. Sharing information with the public (and for the public good) is what we do. Bringing light to facts is why the Tennessee Open Meetings Act is sometimes called The Sunshine Law. It’s also why The Washington Post adopted its first-ever slogan in 2017: “Democracy dies in darkness.”
In this analogy, Memphis is pretty dark now. The process to get public information now is so broken that we might as well not even have a system at all. Getting public records takes months. Getting an interview with city administration officials (especially with the Memphis Police Department) is nigh on impossible. If you have a question about an important issue, you get a bland statement instead and should be happy about it.
I’ve whined about this for ages. That’s not a good look.
Next year, I’ll work to put my complaints into action. There are numerous groups I can support as a reporter, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, for one. I can also continue to file open records requests and get peskier in my media requests of public officials.
Reporters don’t clap. They should push. And I aim to do just that.
— Toby Sells
T.O. Fuller State Park (Photo: Justin Fox Burks)
Memphis Road Trips!
I made a recent foray to T.O. Fuller State Park, which has great walking trails and natural areas spread over the hilly terrain of a former golf course and environs. Afterwards, on a whim, I started driving south from the park on Boxtown Road, and when I reached Sewanee Road, I just kept driving south. It was a route I hadn’t driven before and it took me through Boxtown and some interesting, ruralish parts of the city we’d never imagined existed.
It got me thinking about how many parts of the city I’d never seen, and how easy it is to just take a “road trip” without leaving the city. If you live in Midtown, venture out of your comfort zone and take Jackson Avenue north to Egypt Central and turn right, then turn right on New Brownsville Road, which soon becomes Old Brownsville Road, which takes you through some parts of “suburbia” you probably never knew existed.
Here’s another good one: Quince from East Memphis to Winchester. Also, Chelsea Avenue, from north of Downtown to the outer I-240 loop is a very interesting drive. And don’t sleep on Warford Street. Take it north off of Jackson until it turns into New Allen Road and from there goes deep into the north Memphis hinterlands.
Explore Memphis! It will open your eyes — and kill a couple of hours.
— Bruce VanWyngarden
Get a makeover from one of Memphis’ beauty professionals. (Photo: Kayla Frazier)
Glam Up
Some of my most formative memories involved all things glitz and glamor. My parents regularly treated me to silk presses at the hair shop, and I earned my first authentic Hannah Montana wig after a Libby Lu makeover at the mall.
I grew up during the peak of the beauty guru phase on YouTube. Before influencers condensed their hours-long beauty routines into bite-sized videos on TikTok, we were treated to in-depth videos helping us to perfect bold cut creases and mermaid wand curls. With this being said, I mastered the art of doing my own makeup, as well as a few other beauty-related things pretty young.
It’s a habit that I’ve practiced since I was 14, and 10 years later I’ll still opt to try my own eyelash extensions or blowouts. It’s mostly out of convenience, but recently I’ve been enamored by the immense amount of talent in the beauty community in Memphis. While it’s easy to look up a quick DIY video, it’s also nice to be pampered and let the professionals handle it.
For the new year, I’m hoping to have more beauty services done by local artists and professionals.
“We have so many talented and professional people who love what they do in our community,” says Kayla Frazier, a local makeup artist in Memphis.
Whether it’s a trim from A Natural Affair Beauty Lounge or a makeup look perfected by Frazier, I’m looking to leave my beauty needs in the hands of Memphis’ top professionals.
— Kailynn Johnson
Become the next pinball wizard at Crosstown’s Flipside. (Photo: Chris Mccoy)
Play Some Games
The music was perfect as we entered Flipside, Crosstown’s pinball bar. The jukebox was playing “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol, an anthem from the golden age of coin-op arcades, 1983.
During the pandemic, my wife LJ and I spent many hours playing simulated pinball on our iPad. When Flipside opened, we wanted to get back to the real thing. Flipside is part of a trend of places that are more than just watering holes, offering games to accompany your pizza and beer. With a Black Lodge membership, you can munch on totchoes while you play any console game from the last 30 years or take a whirl on their vintage cabinets. (I recommend CarnEvil, the scary-clown-blasting queen of the light gun games.) Nerd Alert, a classic video game arcade, recently announced they were moving from Cooper-Young to Collierville so they could expand and add more games.
Flipside is all about pinball. On a typical winter evening, families, teenagers, and grown-ups tried their hands at classic machines like The Six Million Dollar Man from 1977, and those of more recent vintage, like the much-in-demand Foo Fighters table. I got distracted by constructing the perfect arcade playlist at the jukebox, including Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love,” and Madonna’s “Get Into the Groove,” while LJ fed tokens to the whirring, clanging machines. Turns out, playing real pinball, with all of its imperfections and foibles, is different from simulated ball physics on an ideal surface.
But with a Gotta Get Up to Get Down in the drink holster, pinball is still a blast, no matter now bad you are at it.
— Chris McCoy
Step outside and meet your friendly tree neighbors. (Photo: Alex Greene)
Get to Know Your Tree Neighbors
One simple, homespun way to put a new spin on the old familiar routines is to look for signs of a parallel universe coexisting with your perceived world. Suggested starting point: the secret lives of trees. Just outside your door there awaits (for most of us) a strange new world, complete with altered time scales, coded messages, and otherworldly beauty. You only need to look up, then recall that a tree’s roots grow as deep as its branches grow high. A root system really is a parallel universe, right under our noses.
Furthermore, according to authors like Suzanne Simard or Peter Wohlleben, all these limbed giants that make life in Memphis what it is, from summer shade to ice hazards, are talking to each other down there. Threads of fungi connect the roots of trees over acres, sending nutrients, hormones, and even alarm signals from tree to tree in sprawling interactive networks. Maybe it’s time we at least learn these talkative neighbors’ names.
Pair that with ecologist Doug Tallamy’s concept of a “homegrown national park,” composed of the sum total of all our yards, trees, and gardens laid out in a patchwork across America. It’s really a call to our imaginations, to envision each yard as a mere segment in a gigantic ecosystem, humming with communications between its species — a veritable Tree Nation. No wonder so many of our arborists, neighborhood arboretum enthusiasts, or followers of the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council have that special smile of those who glimpse the invisible threads of life in our midst.
— Alex Greene
No New Year’s resolutions required for this good boy, he claims. (Photo: Abigail Morici)
Who Let the Dog Out?
My mother is embarrassed of me. Plain and simple. She says she can’t bring me anywhere. Could it be the fact that I jump on nearly everyone I meet? Or that I pee when I’m excited to see people? Or that I pull and pull and pull on my leash? These are just mere quirks, dear mother. That’s what I told her the day I convinced her to (finally) bring me with her to Crosstown Concourse, my puppy eyes finally working. I’m a charmer, what can I say?
We started at Madison Pharmacy, an errand for her. I jumped on the counter, simply to say my hellos (also in hopes that there might be some treats, alas there were none). We then trotted past the ladies getting their nails done and I sat in one of the chairs outside the Gloss Nail Bar, for attention of course. I got some oohs and aahs, and the ladies asked if I wanted to join them. But I wasn’t falling for any tricks. No one will ever touch my nails. (Hear that?)
And then we walked and walked to the red staircase, and I wanted to go upstairs and my mom said no because she was scared I’d pee on the artwork in Crosstown Arts. She has no faith in me, I tell you. I let some people pet me and I was so good, so pretty. Even some kids pet me, and they made fun of my name. (And my mom just let them! She even agreed that my name is silly, and I’m over here like, woman, you were the one who named me Blobby. Blobby?!)
And then — oh this is the best part — we got MemPops — well, I got MemPops. I got a Pupsicle. I ate it in, like, four seconds. Count it: One. Two. Three. Four. And bam. Gone. Did I chew? No one will know. But I know that I’m going to be begging to go to more dog-friendly places in 2024. It’s going to be the year of Blobby in Memphis. — Blobby
Our writer pictured at Zoo Lights just moments before wipeout. (Photo: Courtnee Wall)
Skater Boy
My after-work routine has turned into a bit of a predictable cycle once I turn off the computer monitor at my remote “office.” Perhaps the TV might click on to replay the day’s soccer highlights or to host a quick play session of Mario Kart. Maybe there will be a restaurant visit or a stop at a brewery (probably Wiseacre HQ or Crosstown) followed by a coerced viewing of Big Brother on Paramount+ (you know who you are). It can all feel a bit rote at times, so I began to think of other things to do that could spark just a little extra bit of joy.
Thoughts quickly turned to some of the activities that 10-year-old me enjoyed doing, and in the spirit of the cold winter season, I slapped on a pair of skates and found myself stumbling about the miniature ice rink at the Memphis Zoo Lights.
As I swished (struggled) across the ice like a Mid-South Michelle Kwan, it felt almost freeing during the moments I wasn’t sticking my blade into the ground, crashing into the wall, or trying to avoid other relapsed ice skaters. In need of a new hobby to scatter the winter doldrums, I expect to lace up at least a couple more times, my own mortality be damned. The rink and dazzling lights at AutoZone Park’s Deck the Diamond event made for a pleasant Downtown holiday experience, while I’ve heard the Mid South Ice House is the best year-round option to sharpen my blades of glory. For now, this skater boy is bidding “see you later, boy,” to 2023.
New year 2024 concept, beginning of success. Text 2024 written on asphalt road and male runner preparing for the new year. Concept of challenge or career path and change.
What do you mean it’s almost January? If you’re anything like us, the encroaching new year has really seemed to have come out of left field. The churning news cycle means that we’ve had our heads down covering the arts, a mayoral race, the Tennessee legislature, and everything in between. But despite a packed 2023, there are plenty more stories on the horizon. With 2024 just around the corner, our writers take a look at what we can expect in Memphis news next year.
Breaking News
Paul Young
Paul Young taking the mayor’s seat will be the Memphis news story to watch in 2024.
Memphis hasn’t had a new mayor for eight years; hasn’t done things differently for eight years — for good or bad. So, Memphians can expect new ideas, fresh faces, and new approaches to the city’s same-old problems (but maybe some new opportunities, too).
Paul Young (Photo: Paul Young for Memphis)
Some could argue too much emphasis is put on the mayor’s office, much like the president’s office. But that office is where the city’s business is done daily, from police and fire to trash collection and paving. Yes, these ideas are later shaped by the Memphis City Council and, yes, the mayor is expected to carry out rules formed entirely by the council. But all of that is executed (executive branch, get it?) by the mayor and his team.
Young has already named a few key staffers. Tannera Gibson will be his city attorney and Penelope Huston will be head of communications, according to The Daily Memphian. Young told the Memphian, too, that he’ll keep the controversial Cerelyn Davis as chief of the Memphis Police Department.
Memphis in May
This next year could be make or break for the Memphis in May International Festival (MIM).
It ended 2023 with a whimper. The nonprofit organization posted a record loss of $3.4 million and record-low attendance for Beale Street Music Festival. Also, its longtime leader Jim Holt announced his retirement.
MIM leaders put Music Fest on hiatus for 2024. It also moved the Championship Barbecue Cooking Competition to Liberty Park.
Meanwhile Forward Momentum and the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) announced a new three-day music festival at Tom Lee Park (called River Beat) and a new barbecue contest, both in May.
It’s unknown if these new events could supplant MIM. Speculation, though, has the future of the nonprofit in question. It’ll be worth watching.
Tennessee General Assembly
State lawmakers are hard to predict.
Last year, for example, one GOP member spent countless hours persuading his colleagues to add firing squads to the list of options for the state’s death row inmates. Another wanted to add “hanging by a tree” to that list.
However, one can easily predict Republicans will seek to make life harder for the LGBTQ community. One bill paused last year, for example, would allow county clerks to deny marriage rites to anyone they choose (wink, wink).
The little-known but hard-working Tennessee Medical Marijuana Commission may approach lawmakers next year with a plan to get a state system off the ground. Dead medical cannabis bills have become too many to count over the years. But the hope is that the group’s expertise after years of study may help tip the scales.
Easy bets are also on bills that mention “abortion” or “trans.” — Toby Sells
Politics
Oddly enough, the city’s incoming chief executive, Paul Young, remains something of an unknown despite his extensive exposure (and his consistently adept campaigning) during the long and trying mayoral race that concluded in October. Nor will the aggressive ballyhoo of his preliminary activities — parade, concert, and inaugural ball, no less! — have shed much light on his intentions in office, though his inaugural address will be highly anticipated in that regard.
Major changes may be in the offing, though so far the shape of them is not obvious. Young’s announced reappointment of police director C.J. Davis at year’s end may be an indication that, in the personnel sense, anyhow, there may well be a continuum of sorts with the administration of outgoing Mayor Strickland.
C.J. Davis (Photo: Memphis Police Department)
The newly elected council, meanwhile, is expected to be measurably more progressive-minded on various issues as a result of the election than was its predecessor.
A city task force already launched — GVIP (Group Violence Intervention Program), which involves an active interchange of sorts between governmental players and gang members (“intervenors,” as they are designated) in an effort to curb violence on the streets. It will be picking up steam as the year begins.
And follow-up readings will still be required in 2024 on an initiative sponsored by outgoing Councilman Martavius Jones and passed by the council conferring lifelong healthcare benefits on council members elected since 2015, upon their having completed two terms.
(News of that move prompted an astounded Facebook post from former Councilman Shea Flinn, who served back when first responders’ benefits had to be cut and a controversial pension for city employees with 12 years’ or more service was rescinded. Said Flinn: “Do I have this correct? Because I don’t want to be gassing up a flamethrower for nothing!”)
The Shelby County Commission, having worked in tandem with Mayor Lee Harris in the past year to secure serious funding for a new Regional One Health hospital, continues to be ambitious, hoping to acquire subpoena power from the state for the county’s recently created Civilian Law Enforcement Review Committee and to proceed with the construction of a long-contemplated Mental Health, Safety, and Justice Center.
The commission is also seeking guidance from the DA’s office on the long-festering matter of removing County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office.
At the state level, almost all attention during the early legislative session will be fixed on Republican Governor Bill Lee’s decision to push for statewide application of the school-voucher program that barely squeaked through the General Assembly in 2019 as a “pilot” program for Shelby and Davidson counties. (Hamilton County was later added.) The program was finally allowed by the state Supreme Court after being nixed at lower levels on constitutional grounds. Democrats are universally opposed to its expansion, as, for the record, are the school boards in Shelby County’s seven school districts. Prospects for passage may depend on how many GOP legislators (a seriously divided group in 2019) are inclined this time to let the governor have his way.
Also on tap will be a series of bills aimed at stiffening crime/control procedures, some of which may also try to roll back recent changes in Shelby County’s bail/bond practices.
Oh, and there will be both a presidential primary vote and an election for General Sessions Court clerk in March. — Jackson Baker
Music
No sooner does yuletide appear than it’s gone again in a wink, as we turn to face a new notch on life’s yardstick. Yet even before 2024 dawns, Memphis has great music brewing on this year’s penultimate day, December 30th, from the solo seasoned jug band repertoire of David Evans (Lamplighter Lounge) to the revved-up R&B-surf-crime jazz-rock of Impala (Bar DKDC) to Louder Than Bombs’ take on The Smiths (B-Side).
Ironically, DJ Devin Steele’s Kickback show at the Hi-Tone is keeping live music on the menu with a six-piece band alongside the wheels of Steele. Down on Beale Street, bass giant Leroy “Flic” Hodges and band will be at B.B. King’s, and the Blues City Café will feature solid blues from Earl “The Pearl” Banks and Blind Mississippi Morris.
Susan Marshall (Photo: Jamie Harmon)
While New Year’s Eve seems particularly DJ-heavy this December 31st, there are still some places to ring in the new year with a live band. Perhaps the most remarkable will be when three of the city’s most moving women in music — Susan Marshall, Cyrena Wages, and Marcella Simien ringing in midnight — converge at the freshly re-energized Mollie Fontaine Lounge. A more up-close, swinging time will be found at the Beauty Shop’s meal extravaganza set to the music of Joyce Cobb. Orion Hill’s Mardi Gras Masquerade will feature Cooper Union (with Brennan Villines and Alexis Grace), and Blind Mississippi Morris will hold court again at Blues City as a gigantic disco ball rises up a 50-foot tower outside on Beale. For that Midtown live vibe, Lafayette’s Music Room’s elaborate festivities will feature the band Aquanet.
For many Memphians, the new year will begin with a look backward as a smorgasbord of bands — from Nancy Apple to Michael Graber to Oakwalker and beyond — gather at B-Side to honor the late Townes van Zandt on January 1st. The revival of the 1970 musical Company, opening at the Orpheum the next day, also honors an earlier era’s muse, but its five Tony Awards suggest that even today it “strikes like a lightning bolt” (Variety). And the historical appreciations continue: On January 14th, Crosstown Arts’ MLK Freedom Celebration will feature the Mahogany Chamber Music Series, curated by Dr. Artina McCain and spotlighting Black and other underrepresented composers and performers; and on January 20th GPAC will host jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and composer Jumaane Smith’s Louis! Louis! Louis!, blending his own compositions with those of Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, and Louis Jordan — three giants of the last century.
Who knows, maybe reflecting on all this past greatness will teach 2024 a thing or two? — Alex Greene
Coming Attractions in 2024
2023’s dual WGA and SAG strikes disrupted production, so 2024 should be an unpredictable year at the multiplex. Studios are currently engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken with the release calendar, so don’t take any of these dates as gospel. In January, an all-star apostle team led by LaKeith Stanfield and David Oyelowo tries to horn in on the messiah game in The Book of Clarence.
February has the endlessly promoted spy caper Argylle, a Charlie Kaufman-penned animated film Orion and the Dark, the intriguing-looking Lisa Frankenstein, and Bob Marley: One Love left over from 2023, as well as Ethan Coen’s lesbian road comedy Drive-Away Dolls.
March is stacked with Denis Villeneuve’s return to Arrakis, Dune: Part Two; Jack Black voicing Kung Fu Panda 4; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; and Focus Features’ satire The American Society of Magical Negroes.
Monsters will collide in Godzilla x Kong.
April starts with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Alex Garland’s social sci-fi epic Civil War.
May features Ryan Gosling as The Fall Guy and Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse in Back to Black. On April 24th, we have a three-flick pile-up with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Garfield Movie (animated, thank God), and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. ALL HAIL IMPERATOR FURIOSA!
Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
June brings us Inside Out 2, which adds Maya Hawke as Anxiety to the Pixar classic’s cast of emotions. There’s another Bad Boys film on the schedule that nobody has bothered to title yet. Meanwhile, Kevin Costner goes too hard with punctuation with Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One. (Chapter Two drops in August.)
In July, there’s the horror of Despicable Me 4 and Twisters, a sequel to the ’90s tornado thriller that lacked the guts to call itself Twister$. Ryan Reynolds returns as the Merc with a Mouth in Deadpool 3, the first Marvel offering of the year.
In August, Eli Roth adapts the hit game Borderlands, which, if you think about it, could actually work. James McAvoy stars in the Blumhouse screamer Speak No Evil. Don’t Breathe director Fede Álvarez directs Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny in Alien: Romulus.
September is looking spare, but Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder are getting the band back together for Beetlejuice 2, so that could be fun.
October looks a tad more promising with Joker: Folie à Deux, a psychosexual (emphasis on the “psycho”) thriller with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. There’s also the cheerful Smile 2, evil clown porn Terrifier 3, and a Blumhouse production of Wolf Man.
November sees a remake of The Amateur, Barry Levinson’s mob thriller Alto Knights, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 with Denzel Washington, and Wicked: Part One, led by Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo.
Then, the year goes out strong with Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, an anime Tolkien adaptation from Kenji Kamiyama.
This time next year, we’ll be gushing over Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King, Robert Eggers’ boundary-pushing Nosferatu remake, and an ultra-secret Jordan Peele joint. — Chris McCoy
Memphis Sports
Here’s a one-item wish list for Memphis sports in 2024: Ja Morant videos that are exclusively basketball highlights. The city’s preeminent athlete stole headlines this year with off-the-court drama that ultimately cost him the first 25 games of the Grizzlies’ 2023-24 season. Morant’s absence was more than the roster could take, particularly with center Steven Adams sidelined for the season with a knee injury. More than 10 games under .500 in mid-December, the Grizzlies must hope the star’s return can simply get them back to break-even basketball. If that happens — and with the rim-rattling displays that have made Ja a superstar — the new year will have brought new life to the Bluff City’s flagship sports franchise.
And how about a first regular-season American Athletic Conference championship for Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers? The AAC is a watered-down version of the league we knew a year ago (no more Houston, no more Cincinnati), with Florida Atlantic now the Tigers’ primary obstacle for a league crown. A controversial loss to FAU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last March created an instant rivalry, one that will take the floor at FedExForum on February 25th. David Jones is an early candidate for AAC Player of the Year and sidekick Jahvon Quinerly gives Hardaway the best collection of new-blood talent since “transfer portal” became a thing.
Seth Henigan (Photo: Wes Hale)
With Seth Henigan returning to quarterback the Tigers for a fourth season, Memphis football should also compete for an AAC title and an 11th consecutive bowl campaign. AutoZone Park will hum with Redbirds baseball and 901 FC soccer throughout the warm-weather months, and the PGA Tour will make Memphis home when the FedEx St. Jude Championship tees off on August 15th.
But let’s hope 2024, somehow, becomes the Year of Ja in this town. The heart of Memphis sports echoes the sound of a basketball dribble. And one player speeds that heartbeat like no other. — Frank Murtaugh
Oscar Jimenez will suit up for 901 FC next season. (Photo: Courtesy USL/Louisville City FC)
Meanwhile, 901 FC can look forward to welcoming some unfamiliar opponents to the confines of AutoZone Park next season. A restructured United Soccer League means Memphis will bid adieu to the Eastern Conference and kick off its 2024 season as part of the Western Conference. That means that 22 of 901 FC’s 34-match schedule will be against Western Conference opponents, starting with a March 9th home season opener against Las Vegas Lights FC. There’s a new COO in Jay Mims, while we can expect plenty of new players to suit up before Stephen Glass leads the team out for its first game.
One thing that soccer fans will not be looking forward to, however, is a new stadium, with plans for a soccer-specific Liberty Park arena scuppered after $350 million in state dollars earmarked for sporting renovations did not include any provisions for 901 FC. — Samuel X. Cicci
