BAM!

...hundreds of them actually over the James River Saturday night as the Grucci pyrotechnicians kicked it up a notch and put on a thrilling finale to Richmond's 400th birthday party. We ventured up to our old Libby Hill Park neighborhood to find a perfect vantage point with thousands of others...the fireworks really were amazing with many new planetary and blooming flower shells that we hadn't seen before. How do they do that?

We'd picked up a bite beforehand at Buz & Ned's Real Barbecue on the Boulevard as a warmup for this week's airing of the big Bobby Flay Throwdown on the Food Network.
For those who don't know, my far better half Deveron is food & drink editor at Style Weekly and was in on setting up Richmond barbecue king Buz Grossberg for the friendly competition between superstar chef Flay and a local culinary hero of his choosing. She and Richmond Magazine writer Dave McCormack were judges. The ribbing was taped back in April on the University of Richmond campus and will air this Thursday night at 10 on Food TV. If you can't wait 'til then, Buz is inviting a thousand of his closest friends to the Byrd Theater for a pre-screening and free barbecue sliders (whatever they are and while they last) at 7pm. If you haven't heard who won by the way, let's just say long and slow does it every time.

It's time to be getting your tickets for the 3rd annual Music for Massey show with the Waybacks on the tracks at the Science Museum on June 16th. These West Coasters are so indescribably entertaining that you don't want to miss a rare chance to catch them live. Good ol' Gary Gerloff opens. Tickets

As previously stated, I hope the Graves Mountain festival is on your calendar this year...it starts day after tomorrow and arguably the hottest new band on the circuit is there on opening day...the Infamous Stringdusters. Graves lineup

Hope you had a meaningful Memorial Day...TT