Valentine’s Swing Dance at Event Center Downtown feature Auburn Knights

From Facebook and the Auburn Knights comes this! Come dance the night away on February 15 at the Event Center Downtown in Opelika. This venue is awesome and we are so excited to be playing here! Downtown Opelika is filled with incredible restaurants, so come enjoy dinner and then head on over for some dancing and great music.  Don’t know how to swing dance? No problem! Back by popular demand, Chris and Laura Olds of the AU Swing Dance Association will provide dance instruction for the first hour.  Admission is $10. We will be selling tickets at the door only.

First Friday Opelika Unplugged

From the folks at The Event Center Downtown! It’s Opelika Unplugged! We have a special treat with Bruce Michael Miller coming back down from Nashville to entertain us along with Catherine Kimbro, Joseph W McClure, Christina Cecrle, Dylan Brabham and Wally Montgomery!! The show starts at 7.30pm CST. Admission is only $5! Also, all the shops in downtown Opelika are open late the first Friday of every month! Please come early and please tell your friends about this wonderful platform of songwriters!

Reservations Might Be A Good Idea – Elvis at Event Center

David Lee is one of the best Elvis Impersonators and he’s coming to Opelika’s Event Center Downtown  on January 19th. $15 for Advance Tickets and $20 at the Door with some Reserved Tables available as well.  Here’s his website www.elvis4u.com –  David Lee is from Birmingham, Alabama. His show is the most authentic, most professional show around. It is done with the utmost class and respect for Elvis and suitable for any age group. David Lee is a dynamic performer with an outstanding voice and has been performing his tribute to Elvis since 1995 throughout the United States and Canada. David Lee is the 2004 WORLD CHAMPION International Images of the King, voted the 2004 People’s Choice and the CANADIAN GRAND CHAMPION ~ Professional Division Concert Years World’s Largest Elvis Festival Collingwood Ontario July 2004. Furthermore, he is the CANADIAN GRAND CHAMPION Brantford, Ontario Elvis Fest 2001. … Continue Reading

Simone Simonton, Songwriter and New Friend

So Friday Night, I’m heading over to Jefferson’s to grab an end of week brew and find a stranger sitting at the bar. When you go as much as me and friends, a new face always stands out. Being one to not meet a new friend, I said hello to Simone Simonton and learned she was in town for the “Unplugged Opelika” singer/songwriter event at the Event Center Downtown. Oh yea, I do tend to talk to pretty girls quicker than others, you caught me!  Buddy Redman showed about that time and the two talked about small towns and some of Opelika’s past. He’s old enough to remember after all. Well, you know me, I like singer songwriters after the nearly 10 years of Eighth and Rail bringing them to Opelika.  Simone has been in Atlanta for 25 years and is making a move to Nashville in coming months. She’s pretty well connected there already after her own touring band “South 70″, which she played drums has opened for lots of big names like Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Young and Styx, among others. Before that, as a founding member of Sugarland, she co-wrote the songs Baby Girl, Down In Mississippi, Speed Of Life and Fly Away. We had a pretty interesting conversation about song writing today which gave a look at Inside Nashville.   I headed up to the Event Center to catch her performance and was certainly glad I did. I’m a fan and follower now.  Her website says this of her writing, “Simone’s songs communicate a rich infusion of her passion for drumming and her gift of storytelling. Her songs are unique, but familiar.”  That is spot on!

I know that’s just one story of one song writter at the Friday event that featured some talent from accross the area. Make a note for future Opelika Unplugged’s and try to attend. It’s really great to hear some of the talent that doesn’t make it to mainstream radio today. Well in the case of Simone, you knew her work, but didn’t probably know her!

As a side note to our conversations she mentioned that Eight and Rail was well known and loved in the community of performers and writers.  Kudos to Richard Patton for building more than a Brand, but a true destination. It will be missed!

EAMC Foundation Events This Weekend!

Celebrate Life, a weekend-long fundraising event held by the East Alabama Medical Center Foundation, begins Friday, offering residents donation opportunities and free health check-ups.

“We want people to understand who it is we’re helping with the gifts we receive, and then the second thing is to raise money to support those programs and projects,” said Julia Pipes, EAMC Foundation director.

The EAMC Foundation collects charitable donations to be used by departments at the hospital to buy needed medical equipment and offer health care to the uninsured. Here’s a link to a complete information about this weeks events.

One event that impacts Opelika is a 5K run/walk in downtown Opelika that will start Saturday at 8 a.m. Route 66 will provide entertainment after the race at Courthouse Square. There is a fee to enter, but prizes will also be offered for different awards. Those interested can sign up online or the day of the event.  The final event planned for the weekend is the celebration and car giveaway from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday night at the Event Center Downtown in Opelika. Tickets for the event are $100 and include food, a drink and one raffle ticket to win a Chevy Cruze and one year of free oil changes for the car.

(Source: OA News & East Alabama Medical Center Foundation)

Check Out This Friday Night Cho!

The Funny but Clean Comedy Tour featuring Henry Cho and Jim Hope. Jim Hope has served as writer/producer for NBC’s “Later”, Fox’s “Titus” and ABC’s “George Lopez”. He is currently producer/writer of Nickolodeon’s hit animated series “Planet Sheen”. Jim is co-executive producer and writer for “The Henry Cho Show” on GAC. Advance tickets $20. Day of Tickets $25. Doors open at 6:00PM. Show at 7:00PM

BBQ & Brew Back Saturday Night

Ronnie McDowell Plays Opelika Friday Night

A1A “Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band” Saturday at Event Center Downtown

A1A is the ONLY Tribute Show ever sanctioned by Jimmy Buffett himself and have starred in an MTV video with him. A1A performs as a six piece musical ensemble using the following instrumentation – Three Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Nylon String Guitar, Electric Guitar, Pan Steel Synthesizer Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Keyboards and Harmonica. Palm Trees décor and large dance area. Parrot head dress welcomed.

Tickets: $30.00 by May 4, 2011. Tickets $35 after May 4. Limited number of reserved tables of 10 available for $350 and limited number of reserved tables of 4 available for $140. Price includes concert, tax and gratuity, and ‘cheeseburgers in paradise’ meal by featured caterer Above and Beyond Catering. Doors open at 6:00pm. Food served 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Concert starts at 7:30pm and plays until 11:00pm.

 

Opelika Friday Night

Opelika Friday Night was sure different last night compared to a few years ago. In the interest of research for the readers of the site, I ventured out to a few downtown restaurants and pubs to see what might be happening on an Auburn Game Weekend.  Of course, Opelika High was playing, so I’m sure after the game, some of those fans headed downtown after the loss to Prattville. Friend Mona joined me at Sid’s and treated me with a Sid’s Burger.  Redman and a few other regulars were hanging there. Then, off to the Irish Bred Pub to add some points to that VIP Card.  One person came up to me and said “Hey Camper Jerry” and another said “You’re Opelika Daily News, right?” Met some folks over from Brunswick for the game and some tailgating.  He had lived in Savannah and moved the year I moved there.  Shared a few stories.  Let’s see, one of the bartenders from BW3 was hanging with a friend at the downstairs bar.  The place was “Packed”.  I ended the research at Richards Eighth & Rail. Neighbor Hiro was doing the door duties and pulled me in, as I’ve been absent from the Rail lately.  Wow, Four New Big Screen TV’s, new lighting going on the stage, great live music.  I was also pretty happy to find Pabst Blue Ribbon Tall Boy Cans for just $2.  Since I’d not had a beer yet, I had a few to end the evening.  I didn’t make it by, but the Event Center had live music as well.  In fact their band was at Sid’s for supper (or dinner) earlier in the evening.  So, if you’re a resident, live close by, or come into town for a Game Day Weekend, there’s plenty to do in Opelika, most nights of the week.

Saturday Night games seem to suck the life out of restaurant and bar business in Opelika.  But don’t give up on us,  Sid’s,  Eighth & Rail and the Irish Bred Pub will have plenty of TV’s with the game.  So many TVs and so little time.