LISA DENTON: Barry, I know we mention them every single time they're here, but what Black Jacket Symphony does is nothing short of amazing. BJS, of course, is founder J. Willoughby's hand-picked band of musicians who re-create classic rock albums, note for note, in a live concert.
BARRY COURTER: Amazing is correct. They went from curious novelty to must-see rock show almost immediately. And they've become so popular, people start buying up tickets for upcoming shows as soon as they are announced, which is done from the stage during the current performance. Anyone who has been around knows that Chattanooga has not traditionally been a pre-sale kind of town.
LISA: Thursday and Friday, they'll be at the Tivoli doing Queen's "A Night at the Opera." The Friday date sold out months ago, right after tickets went on sale.
BARRY: Like I was saying.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
LISA: There are still seats left for Thursday's show, though.
"A Night at the Opera" includes the epic "Bohemian Rhapsody," which has actually charted twice. The first time was when the album was released in 1975. The second time was when it was included on the soundtrack for "Wayne's World" in 1992.
BARRY: The album is one of my favorites because of other songs like "Death on Two Legs" and "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon." What is also remarkable is that Willoughby was able to get Nashville's Marc Martel to handle the lead vocals for the show here. The late Freddie Mercury had one of the great voices in all of music, and not just anyone can even approach duplicating it. Martel was chosen by Queen drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May to lead The Queen Extravaganza tour last year, so they thought he was good enough. He's great. I also love "I'm in Love With My Car," which Taylor wrote and sings on the record.
LISA: They'll lead off with a start-to-finish rendition of "A Night at the Opera," then come back after intermission with some of the band's greatest hits. So fingers crossed for "Fat Bottomed Girls," a title that, I'm sad to say, becomes more relevant the older I get.
BARRY: Not touching that one Great song and one I play at home a lot. I always follow it with "Big Bottom" ("How can I leave this behind?") from Spinal Tap but I stray.
LISA: Careful. Cracks like that can get you into trouble.
BARRY: It will be fun to see how BJS handles all the layers of sound that Queen managed to get into their songs. And remember, boys and girls, it was all done without synthesizers.
LISA: Besides the BSJ two-fer, there are a couple of events that span the whole weekend. The Houston Museum Show & Sale is Friday through Sunday at Stratton Hall, with a preview night on Thursday. And Con Nooga, for fans of all sorts of pop-culture touchstones, is celebrating its 10th year Friday through Sunday at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
BARRY: We should also say that Songbirds guitar museum at the Choo Choo is now open. They decided to have a soft opening and will have a big grand-opening celebration March 10-12 with live music and a visit from Vince Gill, who has signed on to be the museum spokesman/ambassador. It is really cool and well worth the visit.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.