Elvis Highly Recommends This Review!
Written: Mar 23 '00 (Updated Mar 26 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great for fans of rock and roll and the blues
Cons: If you're not a music fan, you may not find much to do
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| craigmoosh's Full Review: Memphis |
This past weekend, I drove 650 miles down to Memphis to see Bruuuce. The concert was at the Pyramid Arena. I thought to myself, "Self, this is great. I can closely study the arena and write an epinion about it. Then I can use the estimated $4.32 I'll make from the epinion to help pay for the trip. Craigmoosh, you're a genius!" At least, that's what I thought.
After an amazing concert, and a great weekend, I got home and excitedly came to the Epinions site all ready to write the epinion on the Pyramid. However, the Pyramid isn't listed because it doesn't have a pro sports team. Doh!! However, my dream will not be thwarted! For your reading pleasure (or possibly, displeasure), here is an epinion on a few of the sites I saw in Memphis, including the Pyramid.
The Pyramid Arena:
The Pyramid is a very striking, impressive building. If you saw the building, not knowing what it was, you'd probably never guess it to be a basketball arena. It's in the shape of… well, a pyramid. It sits on the bank of the Mississippi River, across the river from Arkansas. The Pyramid is 32 stories high, which makes it the third largest pyramid in the world. The outside of the building is made of stainless steel (which I guess means it's dishwasher safe!).
The arena is home to the University of Memphis Men's Basketball Team, and a variety of concerts and other events. It is a very large arena, seating 20,000 for basketball games, and 21,000 for concerts. It has a unique seating configuration, unlike any arena I've been in. The vast majority of seats are in the lower level (with up to 33 rows in the lower sections). The upper level doesn't go all the way around, with no upper level seats behind where the baskets would be for basketball (or behind stage, and across from the stage for concerts).
The arena is well designed. There is ample parking, plenty of entrances, and wide walkways in the concourses. Because the inside of the building is so cavernous, it's not ideal for acoustics. I actually found the sound to be pretty good on the floor, but some people who were in the lower tier said there was a pronounced echo where they were sitting.
This was my second time at the Pyramid. I was there in 1994 for an Elvis Tribute concert. The most bizarre thing about that concert was before the show when I was in the concession line, I heard people literally shrieking like the Beatles were in the building (or like when I do a striptease). I sprinted over to where the screaming was taking place, just in time to see Michael Jackson and his then wife Lisa Marie Presley walking through the corridor to their luxury box. I was annoyed that I lost my place in line.
"Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock and Roll":
That's the way Memphis bills itself, and for good reason. Beale Street is lined with nightclubs. They play a variety of music, but the predominant music played is the blues. Just walking down the street at 2 AM last Saturday, I heard great music emanating from various clubs. One of the big attractions is B.B. King's blues club, where he stops in from time to time to jam.
As for the birth of rock and roll, Memphis played a huge part. If you're a fan of rock history, you'll find the Sun Studio tour fascinating. In that tiny studio, an 18 year old (who you may have heard of), named Elvis Presley, wandered in to try his hand at singing. The rest is rock and roll history. What many people might not know is that it wasn't just Elvis who came out of Sun Studios, but also legends Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.
Graceland:
No trip to Memphis is complete without taking a tour of Graceland, which of course is where Elvis lived before faking his death, and moving to Kalamazoo, where he works at Burger King. The Graceland tour is somewhat expensive at $12 for the basic tour of the house, and $22 for the "Platinum Tour," which includes all attractions, including his airplanes, car museum, etc. The tour of the house shows that Elvis had a lot of taste. Unfortunately, none of it was good taste. The "Jungle Room" is particularly gaudy. It should be illegal to have that much shag in one room. The highlight of the tour for me was the "Trophy Room." In that room is a massive collection of Elvis' gold records and awards. There are also a lot of pictures, memorabilia, chrome jumpsuits, etc.
Overall, Memphis was a great place to spend the weekend.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
craigmoosh
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Craig
Location: Mequon, Wisconsin
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 200 members
About Me:
100,000 readers can't be wrong!! Well, okay, they *could* be...
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