Weekend Report: Spring Break Edition

Hey everybody.  It's John.  While a lot of you will probably be leaving campus for spring break this weekend, here are some things you can do if you decide to stick around.

There are a couple of interesting films being shown at the Belcourt this Friday.  At 7:30, there will be a screening of the documentary A Place at the Table, which addresses the issue of poverty and hunger in the United States.  After the movie there will be a discussion featuring representatives from Nashville Grown and Community Food Advocates.

On a lighter note, later at night there will be a midnight screening of the movie The Big Lebowski.  If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth checking out.  The film features a fairly strange, offbeat style of comedy, but it can be pretty entertaining at times, and Jeff Bridges does a great job playing "the Dude," the film's main protagonist.

This is a pretty low-key weekend for music, but there are still plenty of options if you're looking for something to do.  Venues like Exit/In and Mercy Lounge have bands play almost every night, and admission is usually very reasonable.  On Saturday, the End has a $5 show featuring Kill City, a pretty solid punk/rock band from the area.  Also, if you're a fan of country music, the Grand Ole Opry will have a decent show that night with Blake Shelton as the headliner.

In my opinion, probably the most exciting show happening this weekend will be Buddy Guy this Friday at the War Memorial Auditorium.  For those of you who aren't familiar with him, Buddy Guy was one of the pioneers of the Chicago blues and an early recording artist for Chess Records, which also recorded famous blues artists like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker.  In case you haven't heard his music before, here's one of my favorite songs of his.

While not a weekend event, anybody staying on campus the entire week might be interested in seeing the musical American Idiot , which will be playing at the Andrew Jackson Hall.  It features an interesting take on a number of Green Day songs, not only from American Idiot, but also the albums Nimrod and 21st Century Breakdown.  It also has a few original songs written by the band specifically for this production.

Hopefully this post will provide a few options for anyone staying on campus this weekend.  Hope everyone has a great spring break.  Try not to get eaten by piranhas or sand sharks.