This is what happens when Memphis and Mardi Gras collide. Elvis ends up handing out beads at the Memphis Grizzlies game. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised … it was a surreal night from the start.
When I arrived at my hotel on Tuesday (I stayed at a Hampton cause I hate those damned ducks at the Peabody — quacking bastards) the TV was scrolling lists of school closings. I couldn’t figure out why they’d be doing that.
Then I saw the weather.
Radar showed an angry swarm of storms heading our way and everyone was battening down the hatches. When I stepped out of the hotel to go to the Grizzlies game, Memphis was in a state of blitzkrieg. Sirens were wailing and warm, random winds peppered with rain were whipping around. Way too warm for February. The kind of warm that carries a faint smell of tornado on it.
The FedEx Forum was almost empty. Partially because the Grizzlies suck, but mostly because sane people decided to stay home and hunker down. We enjoyed the game anyway. I managed to snag some beads without doing anything embarrassing. But after the game, we found out how bad the storms really were. Reports were already trickling in on storms that left dozens dead in Tennessee. Fortunately, Memphis dodged a direct blow. But it was one of those nights that made you glad the King was in the Building and protecting us from Ill Winds.
When we got to Legends, the place was packed, and Buddy blew the doors off it. He rolled off one searing guitar solo after another and spent a lot of time moving through the crowd, going up to the bar, even wandering back into the bathroom. The crowd loved it. We loved it. And I think that’s the best Buddy Guy show I’ve ever seen. He was wailing.