Each week, the team at We Are Memphis Music pours over the live music calendar for the next seven days to bring you the most dynamic musical experiences hitting the M. Here are our picks for the week beginning on June 12th.
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (Live Score By Natalie Hoffman, Revenge Body, Robert Traxler)
6:30PM, Thursday, June 15th
Crosstown Theater
$10
So, have you ever seen Halloween III: Season Of The Witch? I can almost hear the groans out there in reaction to that specific sequence of words. “Isn’t that the one without Michael Myers?” Yes, yes it is. But the years have been very kind to this bizarre and campy outlier in the classic slasher series, a convoluted cauldron-brew of ancient witchcraft, robots, and apocalypse-triggering masks that’s as ridiculously fun as it is excessive. Leave it to three of the most pivotal trend-setters in experimental Memphis music to score this delightful nightmare ride in the lush surroundings of Crosstown Theater – Robert Traxler of Memphis Concrète fame, Jacques Granger of enthralling noise project Revenge Body (and longtime leader of OG Memphis slowcore champs The Family Ghost), and Natalie Hoffmann, late of Goner darlings Nots and her own noisy chaos-magick divinations as Optic Sink. Best of all, this one’s serving as lead-up to this year’s Concrète Festival. How could you say no? Watch the magic pumpkin closely as the hour slips towards midnight. You won’t regret it one bit.
The Heavy Heavy (Orion Free Concert Series)
7:30PM, Thursday, June 15th
Overton Park Shell
Free
Quirkily-named Brighton duo The Heavy Heavy are the latest act from abroad to grace the Overton Park Shell’s stage for the Orion Free Concert Series. This duo’s sparkling psychedelic pop and bluesy rock moves call to mind familiar enough adjectives, as in “sun-kissed” and “hypnotic”, and the tunes don’t at all disappoint in living up to the hyperbole; this is reverb-doused, organ-heaving thrift store acid-rock that’s both spirited and earthy, and that should go down just fine on one of Memphis’ most hallowed stages as the calendar makes the final push towards summer. Let such surreal British jangles wash your way instead of crossing the ocean to seek it out. This is the headwaters of all such genres, after all, and the Heavy Heavy are poised to pay proper respects at the place where it began.
Star & Micey and Dead Soldiers
7:30pm, Friday June 16
Overton Park Shell
Free
It’s not officially summer in Memphis until Dead Soldiers play an outdoor show right? Well, consider Friday the start of the season then because the band will take the stage for a show at the Overton Park Shell. Not only will you get to see their lively and ridiculously fun set, but the group will also be joined by fellow Memphis staple Star & Micey. The performance is part of the Shell’s ongoing free concert series, so yea, you get a front row seat to these two kick-ass bands at no cost to you. Kick your summer off right by checking it out this weekend.
TONE’s Juneteenth Family Reunion
3pm, Sunday June 18
Orange Mound Tower
Free
If I were to list out all the reasons TONE’s Juneteenth festival is THE show to see this week, that list would be never-ending. The Memphis creatives collective, which empowers Black artists and communities, is back for their annual celebration and the line-up this year is bigger than ever. Memphis artists like Project Pat, Duke Deuce, Hitkidd, Lukah, Talibah Safiya, Idi x Teco, Mafia 9 and Austin Crui$e (among many others) will take turns performing throughout the day. But music isn’t the only thing you’ll get to experience if you go. As TONE puts it, “Think of it like this: Black vendors. Black food. Black performers. Black games. Black joy. Black experiences in Black spaces. Memphis Memphis Memphis Memphis Memphis, errwhere.” Forget the show to see this week – this will be the show to see this year.
