In a little more than two weeks, Saffire the Uppity Blues Women will be a musical footnote—albeit one with a lasting imprint.  In its almost 20-year career, the trio of frank and funny ladies with a serious talent for smokin’ boogie-woogie blues released seven albums and played for tens of thousands at the Chicago Blues Festival and handfuls of music fans in smoky bars in Spain and South Africa.

After months of prep work, Garnett’s Café is open at 2001 W. Park Ave. in the former Table 9 and Chiocca’s spot.  Those in the neighborhood might also remember its two-week incarnation this spring as Credo’s Park Avenue Café.  Garnett’s is the handiwork of Kendra Feather, owner of Ipanema Café, who is running the new place with her brother, Kirk. The restaurant is named after the siblings’ grandmother Garnett, which also is Kendra’s middle name.

We know one thing about this weekend: It’s going to be loud.  With a blitz of hard rockers storming the area—you can head north, east, west or to Shockoe Bottom to catch them—it seemed a no-brainer to observe this unusually timed assemblage of guitar shredding and eyeliner.

While Motley Crue and Twisted Sister were giving Tipper Gore fits because of their so-called “devil music,“ Stryper was scoring points with the angels.  Long regarded as pioneers of Christian metal, the band achieved the kind of success in the mid-‘80s that planted it on MTV alongside Def Leppard and Van Halen.

Morton’s has launched a new “Bar Bites” menu.  Though the restaurant no longer offers complimentary petite filet mignon sandwiches for those hanging out in the bar, the tasty snacks are one of the $5 offerings available in the bar area beginning at 5 p.m. every day (the serving is four sandwiches).

The best thing about the release this week of the new/old Michael Jackson song “This Is It”? That Paul Anka might finally get some Grammy cred.  The worst thing? That it would be for this forgettable, fizz-less trifle.  The Grammy-less Anka, the wizard behind such gems as the theme music for “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and Frank Sinatra’s signature “My Way” (Anka wrote the English lyrics), quickly addressed the Jackson estate this week, hours after “This Is It” was released online, to claim his co-writing credit.

Last night, downtown Richmond actually looked like a real city with a thriving entertainment scene.

It has been a busy few weeks of openings and closings, but let’s start with the new stuff:  Rainbow Buffet, which specializes in Chinese food and also offers a nonbuffet menu, has opened in the Wal-Mart shopping center at 11424 W. Broad St.  The restaurant is open seven days a week: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and noon-10 p.m. Sunday.

With shout-outs to Mamma’Zu, the Byrd Theatre and Belle Isle, “River City (Richmond, VA)“ taps some of the area’s most recognizable names.  Throw in the Edgar Allan Poe Museum and the statue of Bill Bojangles, and now you’re really talking Richmond.

Uncertainty has loomed large and ugly in many people’s lives this year—struggling economy, job losses, feeble housing market—so take comfort in one constant: the Richmond Folk Festival. On Friday, the three-day event will launch for the second consecutive year—or, the fifth if you count its three previous incarnations as the National Folk Festival.

• La Gran Banda: A traditional “papayera” band, a staple along Colombia’s Caribbean coast, can accumulate up to 20 members. This Miami-based version, led by Henry March, who emigrated from Colombia to South Florida in the mid-‘80s, is slightly smaller but no less infectious. Brass and percussion will meld for a rollicking performance.

The Jerry Douglas Band: His face is probably familiar because of his frequent presence onstage with Alison Krauss & Union Station. His sound might be recognizable because Douglas is regarded as the pre-eminent dobro player in the world (for the uninitiated, a dobro is an acoustic guitar with a metal resonator placed where the sound hole usually resides). Douglas was also instrumental—no pun intended—in creating the soundtrack to “O Brother, Where Art Thou?“ with T-Bone Burnett.

• Debashish Bhattacharya: A student of the lap steel guitar since he was 3, Bhattacharya also learned to sing before he could talk. At age 20, the native of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) became the first slide guitarist to win the President of India Award; he’s now invented slide guitars to incorporate that sound with traditional Indian raga.

Maybe it’s a little early to start thinking about ghosts and spirits and other creepy things, but The Tobacco Company Restaurant and The Berkeley Hotel are providing the perfect scenario for those looking for a few chills.  The restaurant and hotel have paired for a Shockoe Slip Ghost Tour Package that will be offered every Friday and Saturday throughout the month.

Virginia first lady Anne Holton and five former Virginia first ladies gathered outside the Executive Mansion yesterday to announce the statewide Minds Wide Open program. Between March and June 2010, women in the arts will be spotlighted at thousands of events across Virginia. Any individual or group can par ticipate by presenting a public program—a play, composition, painting exhibit—as long as it has been created by women or features women as the primary focus.