Welcome back to The To-Do List, where Daily Memphian staffers suggest their favorite events and activities for the coming week. Want more ideas? Check out The Daily Memphian’s event calendar and feel free to submit your own events there, as well.

This week, Regina Bradley talks Southern hip-hop, a two-day music fest raises funds to help those struggling with addiction and Backbeat Tours drives you around town for beer and pizza.

Fourth of July events:

Fireworks at the Collierville Independence Day Celebration at H.W. Cox Park on July 3, 2021. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)

Monday is July 4th, but Independence Day celebrations start tonight and run through the holiday. The free City of Memphis fireworks show will be held at Liberty Park this Sunday with food trucks, carnival games, live music and a screening of “National Treasure.” And there are other celebrations and fireworks displays happening all over the county. Here’s your handy guide to events during the entire July 4th weekend. — Bianca Phillips

Sunset Kayak at Mud Island boat ramp, Thursday:

Memphis River Parks Partnership and Kayak Memphis will offer free kayak rentals on June 30. (Yomi Arrese, Courtesy Memphis River Parks)

Memphis River Parks Partnership and Kayak Memphis’ Sunset Kayak series is back. So what does that mean exactly? The Sunset Kayak series features free, 30-minute kayak rentals from 6 to 8 p.m. There’s even a waterborne DJ. Launching from the Mud Island boat ramp, the series takes place on the last Thursday of each month through Sept. 29. Rentals are first-come, first-served. 6 to 8 p.m. Free. 144 Island Drive. — Elle Perry

Sunset view from Metal Museum (Courtesy Metal Museum)

Whet Thursday: Whale Watch at the Metal Museum, Thursday:

The best Downtown sunset-viewing party is back this Thursday at the Metal Museum. Enjoy demonstrations from the metal studio, live music by Yubu, drinks from Tipsy Tumbler and food from Cousin’s Maine Lobster and Mempops. Plus, the Metal Museum is promising a special nautical surprise. We don’t know what that means, but it sounds like a whale of a good time. 6 to 8 p.m. Free. 374 Metal Museum Drive. Click here for more information. — Bianca Phillips

‘Why the South Still Got Something to Say: Reading Southernness Through Hip-Hop’ at Rhodes College, Thursday:

Regina Bradley, associate professor of English and African diaspora studies at Georgia’s Kennesaw State University, will present her talk. Bradley is the author of the book “Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South,” which focuses on the impact of legendary hip-hop duo OutKast on the Black American South. Bradley also is an alumna of Harvard University’s Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship, a faculty editor for the “Southern Cultures” journal and co-host of the Southern hip-hop podcast “Bottom of the Map” with music journalist Christina Lee. After the talk, Jared “Jay B.” Boyd, WYXR program manager and former Daily Memphian staffer, will join her in conversation. Both events take place in Rhodes’ Spence Wilson Room. 6 p.m. Free. 2000 N. Parkway. — Perry 

Alex Greene & the Rolling Head Orchestra live score at Germantown Performing Arts Center, Thursday:

Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra will play a live score for “Flesh and the Devil” at The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center on June 30. (Brigitte Billeaudeaux)

Local musician and composer Alex Greene and his jazz orchestra will perform a live score while 1926’s “Flesh and the Devil” screens at The Grove at GPAC. Greene, a former resident artist at Crosstown Arts, began composing live scores for silent film screenings as part of the Crosstown Arthouse Film Series in 2020. Now, he’s back at it, and this time, the live soundtrack will be set to the Greta Garbo film that features the first horizontal love scene and the first close-up, open-mouth kiss in American movie history. Gates open at 7 p.m., film screens at 7:30 p.m. $15. 1801 Exeter Road. Click here for more information. — Phillips

Crosstown Arthouse Film Series presents ‘Angel II: Avenging Angel’ at Crosstown Theater: 

“Angel II: Avenging Angel” will screen at Crosstown Arts on June 30. (Courtesy Crosstown Arts)

The mid-1980s are back in a big way right now. Earlier this month, thanks to the new season of “Stranger Things,” Kate Bush’s 1985 masterpiece (in my humble opinion, anyway) “Running Up That Hill” topped the Billboard charts (it remains in the top 10). And this Thursday, Crosstown Arts is screening 1985’s “Angel II: Avenging Angel,” an action thriller in which Angel, a former prostitute (played by Bethany Russell) gets revenge when the cop who helped save her life is killed after witnessing a mob hit. Expect sweatbands, big hair and miniskirts. 7:30 p.m. $5. 1350 Concourse Ave. Click here for more information. — Phillips

Overton Park ‘Summer Splash Series’ at Overton Park Greensward, Saturday:

Overton Park’s “Summer Splash Series” will feature a pop-up waterslide on the Greensward on July 2. (Melissa McMasters/Courtesy Overton Park)

In the first of a series of water parties this summer, the Overton Park Conservancy will be hosting a pop-up waterslide in the park’s Greensward. This family-friendly event will also feature a face painter and is open to all ages. Mempops will be on-site serving cold treats. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free. 1914 Poplar Ave. — Perry

Betor Fest at Growlers, Saturday-Sunday:

Singer Bailey Bigger at her farm on Monday, March 28, 2022, in Marion, Arkansas. Bigger will perform at the two-day Betor Fest at Growlers July 2-3. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file) 

Memphis artist Ronnie Bobal, perhaps better known by his graffiti tag, “Betor,” died from a drug overdose on Christmas day in 2016. After Bobal’s death, his family and friends came together to found A Betor Way, which offers meals and services to addicts and helps connect them with treatment options. This weekend, Music is My Drug of Choice productions will host a two-day concert fundraiser for A Betor Way with live music in just about every genre; there’s bluegrass, reggae, folk, soul and even death metal. Performers include Bailey Bigger, Louise Page, Mama Honey, Murdering Crows, Rachel Maxann and many more. Doors open at 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Single day passes are $12 in advance or $15 on the day of show, two-day passes are $20. 1911 Poplar Ave. Click here for more information. — Phillips

‘Red, White and Brew’ Tour, meets at Alfred’s, Saturday:

The “Red, White and Brew” tour from Backbeat Tours will stop at Memphis Made Brewing and Wiseacre Brewing on July 2. (Courtesy Backbeat Tours)

Forget fireworks. The best way to celebrate Independence Day is with two American staples: pizza and beer. The seventh annual “Red, White and Brew” tour from Backbeat Tours offers both. The tour group will meet at Alfred’s on Beale, board the Backbeat bus and head for Memphis Made Brewing Co. After a beer there, they’ll ride the bus to Wiseacre Brewing Co.’s Downtown location for more beer and pizza from Little Bettie’s. The tour will last 2.5 hours, and the $55 entry fee covers beer, pizza and souvenir glasses. 6 p.m. 197 Beale St. Click here for more information. — Phillips

Cameron Bethany (Gabrielle Duffie)

Cameron Bethany at Overton Park Shell, Saturday:

Memphis soul artist Cameron Bethany will play a free show at the Shell as part of its Orion Concert Series. The son of a preacher, Bethany grew up singing in the church, and these days, he uses his voice to tell stories with soulful lyrics. He balances those lyrics with artful, wordless murmurings that are more poetry than prose. 7:30 p.m. Free. 1928 Poplar Ave. Click here for more information. — Phillips

.....