There are some cool things going on around town the latter part of this week. To start with there are two concerts Thursday night that I feel are more than worth your time to check out. The first one is the Damien Rice concert at the Orpheum at 8pm. Tickets are still available for about $37 apiece, so yeah, they are a little pricey. Damien is one of the best singer-songwriters I've heard in a long time and the Orpheum is a beautiful venue for any music, much less the intimate sounds of this troubadour. Check out the Orpheum site for more information.

The other concert coming through town tomorrow night is a country rock band called Cross Canadian Ragweed. The show is at the Gibson Lounge at 8:00 (doors open at 7:00) and tickets are still available for $20. If you ever caught yourself singing along to a Shooter Jennings, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynrd, Bo Diddley, or Todd Snider song they you might be interested in checking this band out. Their website has some more info and free songs to check out, so head by there if it sounds like your cup of tea.



One more thing on the agenda for this week/weekend is the Memphis Italian Festival going on at Marquette Park out east. It's next to the Holy Rosary at Park and Mendenhall. I know this is a bit of drive out of midtown, but I've gone several times over the past few years and it's always a blast. I don't want to compare it to BBQ fest, because nothing compares to that, but it definitely has some of the same characteristics. This might be more of a neighborhood event, comparable to Cooper-Young Festival, but it keeps getting bigger every year, so check it out this year before it gets to big for it's current location.

GENERAL ADMISSION: $10 at gate, $8 in advance at Memphis area Little Caesars outlets.
Kids 12 and under FREE!

Gates Open 6 pm Thursday, 11 am Friday & Saturday
FREE ADMISSION Friday 11:00am-1:00pm. Come join us for lunch!

Marquette Park Corner of Mt. Moriah and Park Avenue (Grazie, Memphis City Parks!) Map

Bring a lawn chair, but no coolers, pets, bikes, skates, etc. All bags subject to random search.

Free Parking/FedEx Shuttle Audubon Woods Campus, Park&Perkins. Grazie, Trammel Crow!