I felt a sense of deja vu as I walked on the sidewalk that encircles the Mid-South Coliseum to get to my truck in the parking lot on Southern Avenue. This was during the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival on Sunday, May 1st. I could hear music coming from one of the stages. Weezer maybe? It reminded me of so many times I walked on that sidewalk after shows, which included The Band with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and many others. I was transported back to the 1970s.
But coming back to 2022, I also had a great time at what seemingly everybody calls “Music Fest,” which was moved this year to Tiger Lane and its environs. And that’s many, many blocks from Beale Street. It felt more like the “Music Fest Mid-South Fair” when the Fair used to be in that space before moving to Mississippi. There were plenty of food stations and even a Ferris wheel that changed colors.
And lots of music.
I believe they only had one spate of bad weather this year. A little lightning on April 30th and maybe the last few drops of an April shower. I wondered if Memphis in May was still working its “magic” to ensure beautiful weather during its festivals. I saw Memphis in May 2009 chairperson Al Lyons on a golf cart and asked him. He said they did it again this year.
This is how it works:
Vegetables — onions, chili peppers, and garlic — are impaled on wooden sticks and strategically placed around the festival area. All the vegetables have to be the right size and the sticks have to be placed several inches above the ground.
A former director of the major outdoor festival in Singapore learned this rain prevention process from a shaman in a rainforest and used it at many of his festivals, Lyons told me a while back. It worked most of the time.
And, as I recall, fresh vegetable sticks must be placed around each Memphis in May event. So, the ones used at Beale Street Music Festival have to be replaced for the upcoming Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
Watch the weather in a couple of weeks and see if rain is in the forecast.
Hog Wild East, BBQ & Market
Before the Music Festival, I stopped by the first anniversary party of Hog Wild East, BBQ & Market on Yates Road. The event also was held on Sunday, May 1st.
I wondered if they might just serve some samples, but I think I know owner Ernie Mellor better than that. I’ve been to some of his catered events and I never leave hungry.
When I got to the store, I found outdoor grills and food stations serving just about whatever you wanted to eat. And this was lunchtime, so I was thrilled.
I ate three chicken salad sandwiches, four hot dogs, four pieces of Ed Crenshaw’s Sugar Avenue Bakery cake (I stuck with caramel, but I could have also had lemon and strawberry), a dish of pasta covered with George Kawell’s “Mama Antonetta’s Gravy,” and three or four cups of Schuyler O’Brien’s Over Yonder ice cream, all washed down with a can of Coca-Cola. I didn’t have room for the pizza. And I think I saw some nachos, too.
I said they should do this every weekend, but nobody responded with anything except a laugh.
Art in the Loop
I began May 1st with a visit to Art in the Loop, a mixture of visual art, classical music, food, and, in this case, delightful weather on a sunny day. It was held on Ridgeway Loop Road at Briarcrest Avenue.
I really liked the paintings — including a self portrait — of Yoram Gal from Old Jaffa, Israel. I saw booths for jewelry, and even one entitled “Bill’s Retro Robots” manned by robot-builder Bill McKenney from St. Louis.
If I got too much sun, I could stop for a free cancer screening at Memphis Dermatology Clinic’s booth.
Memphis magazine, where I work, and 91.1 WKNO Radio sponsored the event, which was created by the indomitable Greg Belz, who I saw zipping around on some sort of golf cart contraption.
