Each week, the team at We Are Memphis Music surveys the live music calendars to bring you the best concerts for the coming 7 days. Here are our picks for the week beginning Feb. 27!
Cloudland Canyon + Aquarian Blood+ Jesse James Davis
9PM, Friday, March 3rd
Bar DKDC
Under $10
You have to give it to Bar DKDC…Despite being roughly the size of your average living room, they continue to overdeliver with some truly killer line-ups that would be sure to fill a much larger this. This Friday’s slate is an excellent example, as electro-prog rockers Cloudland Canyon, weirdo folk duo Aquarian Blood, and solo stalwart Jesse James Davis all take the stage. While the latter two are always worthy of seeing, it’s Cloudland Canyon who has us most excited, due in large part to the fact that they rarely play around the M Town. For the uninitiated, C.C.’s music lies somewhere between Kraftwerk and Can, meaning that they are a must-see act for those looking for something a bit different to kick off their weekend.
Robert Moody Presents: The Memphis Symphony Orchestra Unplugged, Copeland Appalachian Spring
7:30 PM, Friday, March 3rd
The Halloran Centre at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis
Robert Moody’s sixth season as Director of The Memphis Symphony Orchestra and his Unplugged series deconstructs the famous pieces of music in a way that unveils famous orchestra music to the listener as no one else can. This week Friday, the orchestra takes on Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. The midcentury orchestral suite is reminiscent of the time. The composer released the score in 1945 as a commissioned work for an American-themed ballet. Hear the evocation of spring with Moody’s twist this weekend, and learn more about the history of the work.
Tony de Velasco
8PM, Saturday, March 4th
Lamplighter Lounge
Under $10
Y’all like fun, right? And more than just liking fun, you need it in these bleak days of late Mid-South winter, no? Lucky for you, Lamplighter is playing host to esteemed Memphian Tony de Velasco this Saturday. He’ll be playing songs from his stellar recent full-length, Maximum Strength, and such warm-hearted folk jams should prove as amply fun as you might require. At turns intimate and plaintive, this is luminous music, perfectly calibrated to remind you that spring isn’t all that far away.
River City Tanlines & Witchcake
9PM, Saturday, March 4th
Bar DKDC
Under $10
River City Tanlines is but one guise of Memphis garage-punk legend Alicja Trout, and the one where her intuitive ear for well-tuned hooks and anthemic singalong cheer is perhaps in finest flower. So it’s always a treat when Trout gathers her assorted pals for another round of ragged-glory bangers. What’s even better is the welcome presence of Jackson, Mississippi’s Witchcake on the bill, a group who’s own strutting post-punky howl is well-paired with the night’s headliners. Trust us, catching both these bands in action in an intimate space like DKDC is an absolute must for your Saturday evening.
Charu Suri
7:30 PM, Saturday, March 4th
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
$20
For eastern music lovers, raga represents a core scale of sounds and tones used in music. Often, raga is absent from Western music. India-born Charu Suri makes raga seem western and vice versa. Her piano-jazz fusion is unlike any other. Her live show is unforgettable because there will never be another evolution of sound quite like the evolution of Suri’s sound. The Green Room at Crosstown Arts hosts the artists kicking off the organization’s first weekend of Jazz month.
