Week One - Memphis Symphony Orchestra: Tribute to the King

The journey has begun! 52 weeks here we come! Sarah and I decided that if we were going to do this thing right we needed to come out of the gates with guns-a-blazin. What better way to do it than strapping on our blue suede shoes and  heading downtown to celebrate the King of Rock and Roll's 75th birthday.

The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra puts on a tribute concert each year at the time of Elvis' birthday. Neither Sarah or I had ever been to the Cannon Center for an event and to be quite honest we were thoroughly impressed with what we have in our Memphis backyard. The night started with a chilly 20 degree walk from the parking garage to the center with all our European friends from Belgium, Germany and France. We had dressed up, but quickly felt that we had overdone it due to the stunning array of wardrobes that featured Elvis silhouettes in rhinestones. Luckily we entered the Cannon Center and our wardrobe fears faded quickly. Our tickets were located on...wait for it...the last row! HA! Surprisingly binoculars were not required and the seats were actually pretty good. Settled in, it was time for the Fiser 52 to begin.

The concert started with the Memphis Pops performing an arrangement of some of Elivis' biggest hits like Jailhouse Rock, Blue Suede Shoes, and Don't Be Cruel. Shortly after the opening arrangement the orchestra was joined by a guy whose name I can't remember. We'll call him "the guy" for right now. Although he was not Elvis, "the guy" was talented and sufficed for the occassion. Each song that sung was followed with an applause and Elvis crazies shouting out their next song recommendations. Not sure that is appropriate at the regular symphony, but it was a birthday we were celebrating. After intermission, "the guy" came out again and had members of Elvis' band TCB join him. Fortunately we had Sarah's iPhone to figure out that TCB stood for Taking Care of Business (pulled from Wikipedia, so I shouldn't be citing, but we make the rules and we will cite from Wikipedia). The band still possessed some mad musical skills and it didn't seem like they had missed a beat. Overall the concert was an enjoyable evening and a great first week to our Fiser 52 blog.

Highlights of the Evening:

1. The realization that Elvis fans will travel from around the globe for anything.

2. Elvis fans sense of style

3. How impressed we were with the Cannon Center. For all of you Memphians that have not been, we highly recommend attending an event there.

Enjoy the week and stay tuned for Week Two's adventure.