The Sounding of Two Canons

The band War is coming to Midland Texas’ own “The Bar,” live this Saturday night Downtown.  Regardless of your generation, everyone is familiar with their song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”….. and, as we learned from the MRT article, they were the last band to “jam” with Jimi Hendrix.  We are surprised they are playing here, but that’s the thing about Midland…. You just never know, and often events like this pop up when you least expect it (the time Lyle Lovett showed up out of nowhere a couple of years ago comes to mind).  As hard as it may be to believe sometimes, Midland is full of surprises. 

C&C

War, a band that has always stood for peace, to play The Bar

http://www.mywesttexas.com/entertainment/article_0506f033-4d41-5550-a255-3a81ad9fa112.html

Saturday night, July 3rd; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Purchase tickets in advance at Cavender’s, The Bar and Endless Horizons, Odessa.

Making use of the old Ritz Theatre Downtown has been a widely-discussed topic for years here in Midland, and now it seems like it may become a reality. 

A recent MRT article stated that The Ritz Theater, located across the street from Cigar Frogs on Main Street and Texas Avenue, is currently under contract by the Ritz Cultural Event Center Inc., a nonprofit organization formed in March.  The group wants to rehabilitate the building, which originally opened in 1936, for use by various non-profit groups around town.  Best of all, the article said the organization is looking to remodel the outside of the building to its original design.  The group is hoping to close the purchase by July 31^st, begin construction on August 1^st, and said they would like to see it open by November 1^st.

We were excited to read this article in the paper on Saturday, and we wish this new project success. 

Nonprofit organization to start $1 million project on Ritz Theater

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_5c01de6d-838e-5327-8358-a9e11b950c48.html

The Ritz Theatre in 1950, left; the Theatre today, courtesy Midland Reporter Telegram

We apologize, as we have not blogged for a month now.  Summer, Memorial Day weekend, and work have kept us as busy as can be.  But we have not forgotten about Live Midland!

Two announcements: Chris and I’s last blog will be sometime this summer, though we do not yet know when.  We have multiple reasons for retiring our Midland blog, one of the reasons being that our two-year anniversary of blogging is in October, and it’s time to pass the torch to someone else.  We have enjoyed our stint as volunteer bloggers, but it’s time for some new blood on Live Midland!

Second, and along those lines, please check out the new Live Midland blogger, Alisha!  Front Row Midland is finally here, and you can check out her first blog entry here: http://livemidlandtexas.com/front_row_midland/  Alisha is very involved in the community, and we know she is going to keep everyone updated on what’s new and going on around Downtown Midland and beyond.  Welcome Alisha!!!