Listen to the latest Weekend Entertainment Roundup from Eric E. Harrison, culture reporter at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Talk about a busy weekend — there are dozens, if not hundreds, of events timed for the weekend before Monday’s total eclipse of the sun, but I’ll try to give you a little taste of a few things going on.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and conductor Geoffrey Robson perform Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, West Markham St. at Broadway. The program will open with “Night Ferry” by Anna Clyne. (501) 666-1761, ext. 1, or visit ArkansasSymphony.org.
And by the way, the Delta Symphony Orchestra and conductor Neale Bartee will also play “The Planets,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Arkansas State University’s Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. (870) 761-8254 or visit deltasymphonyorchestra.org.
The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering three free concerts ahead of and during the eclipse at First Security Amphitheater in the River Market District.
The Rodney Block Collective and His All-Star Friends perform at 6 p.m. Saturday. Country singer-songwriter Ward Davis performs at 8 p.m. Sunday, with folk-Americana band The Cons of Formant as the opening act at 7. And Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine will perform Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety on Monday, starting at 12:40 and ending 3 p.m. with a 20-minute pause in the vicinity of totality.
littlerock.com/eclipse.
The Arkansas Cinema Society is offering a Sunday double feature loosely tied to the eclipse at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St.: Walt Disney's “Fantasia,” reportedly on a big screen for the first time since 1990, at 12:30 p.m., and 2001: A Space Odyssey, in the Christopher Nolan restoration, at 2:30. Apparently you will have to buy separate tickets to see both. acs.eventive.org.
Meanwhile, “Bark Side of the Moon,” the sixth Barkus on Main Mardi Gras Dog Parade & Block Party, wags its way, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, through the Downtown Little Rock Creative Corridor, 300-600 blocks of Little Rock’s Main Street. The Mardi Gras-theme dog parade, with prizes for the best-dressed doggos, gets underway at 2:30 p.m. at the “Koi” lot (Sixth and Main); the event also features the Super Retriever Series Dock Diving Pool exhibition and competition live entertainment, a beer garden, a hurricane station, a crawfish boil, a kids zone, food trucks and “plenty of beads.” Admission is free. barkusonmain.com.
Lauren Daigle headlines a 7 p.m. Friday show at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. simmonsbankarena.com.
And John Mellencamp, the artist formerly known as John Cougar Mellencamp, performs at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Robinson Center Performance Hall. Ticketmaster.com.
Tune in every Thursday at 4:44pm to hear Eric’s roundup for arts and culture events in Central Arkansas during All Things Considered on Little Rock Public Radio.
