This weekend is a far cry from the Waco entertainment scene three months ago, when most weekends offered live music, touring acts in concert, theaters with plays, open-air art, festivals, and movie theaters with more than a dozen screenings. But any flicker of life in live entertainment these days is welcome.
A highlight this weekend is one of the first concerts by a regional artist in weeks, with Texas country singer Jon Wolfe performing at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at The Backyard, 511 S. Eighth St.
Wolfe, with eight consecutive No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Texas Regional Radio Chart, played the Waco 100 Blowout with Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager and Billy Latham back in January.
He released a new album (“Live At The Legendary Gruene Hall”) before the pandemic shutdown took most touring acts off the road by April. Saturday’s Waco show is one of several Texas concerts Wolfe has booked for June, including dates in Midland and College Station. The country singer-songwriter expands to shows in New Mexico, Arkansas and Oklahoma in July and August.
Tickets are $15 and $20, available online on stubwire.com. Seating is limited and social distancing protocols observed.
Here is a roundup of other local arts and entertainment events for this weekend:
- Brazos Theatre holds its first in-person live Comedy Improv in months at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the theater, 7524 Bosque Blvd. It will be different in these COVID-19 times: limited to 20 audience members and tickets won’t be sold at the door. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis online. For those who want to watch, but from a distance, the theater’s live-streaming will continue for a $5 viewing ticket, also available online.
- Fans of visual art can check out paintings by Waco artist Katie Ward on display at downtown artspace Waco’s Cultivate 7twelve, 712 Austin Ave. Ward works in figurative art with gold leafing among her techniques.
- The community is invited to create the art for Chalk Up Elm from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of Elm Avenue, although the chalk art will be on boards rather than the street. Organizers suggest participants wear masks and practice social distancing for the event, sponsored by Lula Jane’s and the Cultural Arts of Waco, and free chalk will be provided at ArtPlace, 418 Elm Ave.
- The weekend also will bring a round of new movies at the Waco Hippodrome, 724 Austin Ave. “The Gentlemen,” about the competition for the empire of a retiring marijuana magnate (Matthew McConaughey); “The High Note,” a story of a music superstar (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her personal assistant; and “Mighty
Oaks,” in which a rock band’s manager thinks a 10-year-old guitarist is her reincarnated brother, will open Friday. “Trolls World Tour” and “The Hunt” will continue their run.
