Hard Rock opens with free Wallflowers show

" Sunday, Nov. 16, the Hard Rock will open at the corner of Beale and Hernando. "

Staff Report

The new Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street will open with an outdoor show by the Wallflowers and end with a private show from some of Memphis' best-known names.

Sunday, Nov. 16, the Hard Rock will open at the corner of Beale and Hernando. The outdoor show opens at 5:30 p.m. with the North Mississippi All-Stars, followed by the Jayhawks. The Wallflowers will close the show.

Meanwhile, an invitation-only event featuring Marvell Thomas, Dann Penn, O'Landa Draper and the Associates and rockabilly artist Billy Lee Riley will begin inside the club at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75, but are not available to the general public. Proceeds from the grand opening will benefit the National Civil Rights Museum and the Memphis chapter of te National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

"The evening will capture every aspect of Memphis music," said Jim Berk, president and CEO of Hard Rock International, in a prepared statement. "Memphis is a musical mecca, and it is only appropriate the Hard Rock Cafe celebrate the city's rich musical heritage with an all-out, blow-out night of entertainment on the birthday of the father of the blues."

Berk will light a birthday cake at 7:30 p.m. inside in honor of W.C. Handy's 124th birthday. Handy is credited with publishing the first blues song. The park catty-corner from the club is named in Handy's honor.

Marvell Thomas is the son of Rufus Thomas, who also has been added to the bill. Penn is best known for his work with the Boxtops back in the '60s. Riley is one of the original Sun Records rockabilly artists who recently released an excellent blues record. Draper and his gospel group are the leading name in gospel in Memphis.

The new club will seat 250 people and also has a private room. Like the other Hard Rocks, it contains a large collection of music memorabilia with a primary emphasis on Memphis. Unlike other Hard Rocks, the Memphis club will have a permanent stage and feature live music up to five nights a week.

The new Hard Rock is located at 315 Beale Street, onetime home of the legendary P. Wee's Saloon, where Handy often could be found writing and working. The site also was the home of 315 Beale Street Studio - until recently, a studio used by Luther Allison for his last three records. A new location for the studio has not been determined.

There are 83 Hard Rock Cafes around the world. The restaurant/club chain has branched out into television, with a weekly show on VH-1; and has launched its own record label, with two releases in August.