Tag: Memphis In May

Categories
Music Music Blog

Beale Street Music Festival: Memphis in May Reels in Global, Local Stars

CREDIT: Nabil

Nabil

Lil Wayne

Back in December, Memphis in May announced a few of the headliners for this year’s Beale Street Music Festival. Today, we know the rest of the story.

In addition to previously announced acts such as The Lumineers, Lil Wayne, The Avett Brothers, and Memphis’ own Three 6 Mafia, the lineup is now even more sure to have something for everyone:  Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, The 1975, DaBaby, 311, Deftones, Leon Bridges, Lindsey Buckingham, Louis the Child, Nelly, Portugal. The Man, Brittany Howard, Liam Gallagher, and rappers Moneybagg Yo, Young Dolph and Al Kapone.

The Lumineers

Those last three are not the only performers with deep Memphis connections. “Of course, Beale Street Music Festival always prominently features Memphis artists,” says James L. Holt, President and CEO of Memphis in May, “and this year is no exception, with Mavis Staples, Project Pat, Lil Wyte, Amy LaVere, and many more.”
Myriam Santos

Mavis Staples

Other acts familiar to many music fans include: Of Monsters and Men, AJR, Rival Sons, Billy Strings, Manchester Orchestra, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Glorious Sons, Patty Griffin (winner of the 2020 Grammy for Best Folk Album), Waka Flocka Flame, Dirty Honey, Duke Deuce, Reignwolf, Toosii, Beabadoobee, Crobot, and Lil Migo.

The festival’s international exposure is especially pronounced, with the lineup also featuring two mega-stars from Ghana, the country to be honored during this year’s Memphis in May celebrations. The rapper Sarkodie has been recognized twice as Africa’s Artist of the Year and named to MTV’s and BET’s lists of top African rap artists, while Stonebwoy was named 2019’s Best Male Artist at the African Entertainment Awards.

Sarkodie

Meanwhile, the Beale Street Music Festival once again lives up to its namesake, the home of the blues, with appearances by Keb Mo (winner of the 2020 Grammy for Best Americana Album), Bobby Rush, and Taj Mahal, along with Janiva Magness, Don Bryant & the Bo-Keys, Trigger Hippy, Kenny Brown, Lisa Mills, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Sue Foley, Blind Mississippi Morris, Hurricane Ruth, Kelly Hunt, Richard Johnston, Earl “the Pearl” Banks, Memphissippi Sound, and Australia’s Blues Music Award winners, Kings and Associates.

The Beale Street Music Festival opens to the public at 5 pm on Friday, May 1st and runs through Sunday, May 3rd. Tickets can be purchased through eventbrite.com and are sold now through April 19th as three-day passes for $145 or single-day tickets for $55 (limited quantities). A limited number of VIP passes are also available at eventbrite.com for $699.

The 2020 Beale Street Music Festival is sponsored by Bud Light, Terminix, and Monster Energy.

Categories
News News Blog

Mediation Ends with Final Tom Lee Park Design Agreement

CREDIT: Toby Sells

Toby Sells

Tom Lee Park redesign.

(UPDATE: MRPP president and CEO Carol Coletta comments below the main story.)

(ORIGINAL POST) Mediation on the design of Tom Lee Park has concluded and the newly designed park will include three large, wide-open fields for festivals, a four-lane Riverside Drive, sports equipment that can be removed, and a design review committee to ensure the agreement remains true.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland ordered the Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP) and the Memphis In May International Festival (MIM) into mediation earlier this year to hammer out an agreement on a proposed $60 million redesign of the park. City of Memphis

Strickland

MIM unveiled its plan for the park in February. Only few days after the reveal, MIM officials said publicly that they worried the redesign would not accommodate the many activities it hosts in the park in May.

A debate over the park sprawled into the public realm as some Downtown restaurateurs urged passage of the plan. However, the Memphis Restaurant Association (MRA), the Metro Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association (MMHLA), and the Beale Street Merchants Association issued a public statement against the proposed redesign. The debate spilled into social media where Facebook groups like “Save Tom Lee Park and Festivals” pushed against the plan.

City officials released the final agreement Thursday morning after “months of hard work,” according to statement from Strickland, who called the process “successful” and one that found a “mutually beneficial solution.”
Studio Gang

The original re-design of the park.

“We now have a clear direction not just for the designers of the park, but also a process for review and approval by the city of Memphis and the Army Corps of Engineers before any construction can begin,” Strickland said.

That process includes the city of Memphis riverfront Concept Steering Committee. It will be the city’s internal design review committee and will monitor the design and construction process of the park. The committee will keep open lines of communications with the parties throughout the process.

Strickland noted four key takeaways from the agreement and the redesign process as a whole:

1. Memphis in May will be held in Tom Lee Park in 2020. In 2021, it will be held at an alternate site to accommodate construction in the park. The festival will return to the park in 2022 and will be at home there for years to come.

2. Riverside Drive will remain a four-lane street. We will incorporate speed-limiting designs in the final product, because we want the street to enable better access to the park.
Studio Gang

A wildlife observation tower proposed in the original redesign of the park.

3. In addition to providing new amenities for citizens, the proposed renovations to Tom Lee Park will improve the infrastructure for Memphis in May.

4. No city money from our general fund or capital improvement budget will be used — meaning that not a cent of this will impact service delivery like police and fire. The city is routing $10 million in sales taxes in the Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) that would otherwise have gone to the State of Tennessee. The remaining money for the park would come from Shelby County, the state of Tennessee, and private sources.

Read more details of the agreement below:

[pdf-1]
MIM had not issued a formal statement on the agreement as of Thursday morning. We’ll update this story when they do.

Carol Coletta, MRPP president and CEO, comments:

“For more than 100 years, Memphis has dreamed of a great riverfront. The Memphis Riverfront Concept lays out a vision for a connected, catalytic, and fun six miles, the best riverfront in the country, anchored by a transformed Tom Lee Park.

With Mayor Strickland’s announcement today of a resolution to the mediation process with Memphis in May, the final design process to turn Tom Lee Park into the signature public park on the Mississippi River can begin. The Partnership thanks Mayor Strickland and COO Doug McGowen for their leadership through this process.

Since the beginning, our goal has been to produce a new park that will be an unmatched public asset for the people of Memphis and Shelby County and will be able to host great festivals and events. Today, that goal remains intact.

Now, the design team will re-convene and restart work. Early next year, we’ll be able to share more on the evolution of the design. All of the elements we unveiled in February will remain in the park, and you can expect the design to be better than ever.

Visionary donors have already committed $40 million toward a capital campaign goal of $60 million. With renewed momentum, the campaign will proceed and enable a transformation of Memphis’ most visible real estate into an iconic image for Memphis.

Thank you for your continued support as we work to deliver a riverfront that works for everyone.”

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Realpolitik and the River

In five weeks, more or less, Memphians will be voting for a mayor and city council. The three most recognizable mayoral candidates are the incumbent, Jim Strickland, longtime former Mayor Willie Herenton, and activist and County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.

Strickland touts the city’s “momentum” and its surging economic developments. Herenton wants Memphis to “do it again” and send him back to the office he held for several terms during the 1990s and early 2000s. Sawyer, perhaps best-known for her “Take’EmDown901” campaign to remove the city’s Confederate statuary, is raising hell, poking at Strickland’s record, trying to elevate her profile.

A debate between the three of them would be an interesting exercise in democracy and would give the public a chance to see how the candidates handle themselves in the heat of the moment and where the fissures between them exist.

But it doesn’t appear it’s going to occur. Herenton was the first to opt out of a scheduled debate sponsored by The Commercial Appeal and WMC-Channel 5. Strickland then withdrew, saying, via a spokesperson, “without the top challenger in the race participating, an informed and balanced debate could not happen.” Sawyer responded as you might expect: “Mayor Strickland and Herenton are denying taxpayers the right to hear where we all stand on the issues and make an informed choice on who will lead our city over the next [four] years.”

Sawyer is correct, but she’s battling realpolitik. Neither Herenton nor Strickland perceive that they have anything to gain from a debate (see Politics), so any opportunity to avoid such an event will be taken. And that’s too bad because there are a number of issues that could stand a public airing, including the ongoing battle between Memphis in May and the proponents of the redesign of Tom Lee Park by the Memphis River Parks Partnership.

Last week, Memphis in May issued its report on the 2019 festival, citing a month-long economic impact of festival events totaling $149,112,480. MIM also cited tax revenues for the city at $4.6 million and an attendance of 107,153. Impressive stats, no doubt. Well done, Jim Holt and crew.

A couple days later, a group representing 70 Downtown businesses released a letter they had written to Strickland in June, citing their support for the MRPP redesign: “We believe a revitalized Riverfront, and in particular, the effort to build a bold new Tom Lee Park, is critical to maintaining and capitalizing on [the city’s economic] momentum, and we believe the time to make that happen is now.” Straightforward enough. A simple statement of support.

In response, Amy Howell, a spokesperson for a group called Get Our Riverfront Right and MIM, issued the following statement to the Daily Memphian: “While the taxpayer funded RDC/MRPP may not be competent is [sic] running our park system, they are good at PR and swaying public opinion to fit their agenda(s). Our group of volunteer tax paying citizens comprised of a diverse group of well intentioned Memphians have [sic] amassed almost 7,000 signatures against what RDC/MRPP has planned for Tom Lee Park as well as letters from the MRA and Hotel/Motel Association. We know there have [sic] been no operational strategy, budgeting and plan to maintain our park system.”

Grammar aside, the attacks on MRPP staff and their motives by Howell and various ad hoc social-media groups have often been clumsy and mean-spirited. And frankly, pointless. I have news for MIM and those who want Memphis to “leave Tom Lee alone.” Tom Lee Park is going to get a redesign, though it may be modified to some degree. Mediation is ongoing, though I don’t believe any decision will be made public until — wait for it — after the mayoral election. Rather than publicly assaulting the integrity of the other side (and dozens of Downtown business owners), it might behoove Howell and MIM to tone down the public rhetoric and continue to quietly work together to create a park that will accommodate the MIM events, even if it means some adjustments must be made.

In a world where the Amazon is burning and climate change is uppermost on the minds of serious world leaders, opposing the planting of trees and the installation of water features and a shelter in a treeless, blazing-hot public park is a bad look. Trashing the integrity of fellow Memphians who support creating a new riverfront is a bad look. Nobody wants Memphis in May to go away. The city welcomes the friendly May invasion of barbecuers and music lovers from around the world. But we also want to welcome tourists and locals to the river the rest of the year.

Categories
News News Blog

Downtown Business Owners Urge Tom Lee Park Renovation

CREDIT: Aldo's Pizza Pie's, Catherine And Mary's, The Majestic Grille (Facebook)

Aldo’s Pizza Pie’s, Catherine And Mary’s, The Majestic Grille (Facebook)

Owners of nearly 70 Downtown businesses support the renovation of Tom Lee Park

Owners of well-known Downtown restaurants — Aldo’s Pizza Pies, The Majestic Grille, Catherine and Mary’s, and more — say they, and nearly 70 Downtown businesses fully support a renovated Tom Lee Park. (Read the letter in full at the bottom of the story.)

The group made public Thursday a letter of support it sent to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in June. The letter urged Strickland to move ahead with the Mississippi River Park Partnership’s (MRPP) $60 million plan for the park.

That plan adds contours, trees, facilities, and more to the now-wide-open Tom Lee Park. The plan was unveiled in February and raised concern for Memphis In May (MIM) officials, worried that their month-long festival would not fit inside the new park.

Studio Gang

A view of Tom Lee Park from Studio Gang’s 2017 Riverfront Concept Plan.

That concern simmered to a boil for some citizens, afraid the new plan is taking precedent over the MIM tradition. A Facebook group called “Save Tom Lee Park & The Festivals” has nearly 2,500 members. Another Facebook group called “Memphis-Wake Up Save Memphis In May, Riverside Dr. and Tom Lee Park” and signs for another group read, “Let Tom Lee Be.”

The group of Downtown business owners said they want to set straight “recent inaccurate news reports that the majority of Downtown businesses are opposed to the transformation of Tom Lee Park and other misinformation being disseminated on social media.” They say ”a world-class, riverfront park that is activated 365 days per year will be better for business, better for Downtown, and better for Memphis as a whole.”
[pullquote-1] “We need this park to happen” said Andy Ticer, partner in Catherine and Mary’s and The Gray Canary. “Downtown has seen such positive growth over the past two decades, and because of this momentum, we chose to open two signature Downtown restaurants.

“A re-envisioned Tom Lee Park affirms ours and others’ investments in Downtown, and helps our businesses and Memphis continue to move forward.”

The group said they collectively employ thousands of people and generate tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenues for the city. The group includes creative agencies, developers, retailers, major corporations, tourist destinations, “and contrary to the official stance of the Memphis Restaurant Association, over 40 restaurants and bars.”

Studio Gang

“I hate to think that all the joys of Memphis are relegated to just one month in the springtime,” said Aldo Dean, owner and operator of Bardog Tavern, Aldo’s Pizza Pies, and Slider Inn. “While I understand the economic impact of May’s festivities, as an owner of multiple Downtown businesses, I’d rather see my chosen city benefit from the year-long activity and density that a single month’s revenue can’t hope to match.
[pullquote-2] “The re-imagination of the riverfront seeks to deliver it from the dormancy of mediocrity. The prototype at River Garden exists as a glimpse of the long-term vision of this much needed improvement, and any argument against the proposal is short-sighted and self-defeating.”

The letter was delivered to Strickland on June 26. It says ”pedestrian connections between the Downtown core and the riverfront are crucial for Memphis to continue to be an attractive hub for headquarters, creative agencies, and entrepreneurs, for our identity as a top tourist destination, and for our continued growth as the most diverse, inclusive neighborhood in the MidSouth.”

City of Memphis

Strickland

Renovation construction was slated to begin right after the festival ended this year. It was pushed back to the fall in May. Strickland announced in late July that MIM would return to the park next year, be held at an alternate location in 2021, and return to Tom Lee Park in 2022.

“We are pleased that Mayor Strickland has shown such strong leadership and vision by announcing that this project is moving forward,” said Patrick Reilly, co-owner of The Majestic Grille. “The revised timeline ensures Memphis in May ample time to plan for alternate sites in 2020 and almost two years to plan the evolution of the festival to the new space and a new era.

“We’re looking forward to experiencing a new and improved festival and a world-class park that both reflect the current trajectory of our great city.”
[pullquote-3]
Bruce VanWyngarden

Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.

[pdf-1]

Categories
News News Blog

Mayor: Memphis in May Will Return to Tom Lee Park Next Year

CREDIT: Chris McCoy

Chris McCoy

Sunset over Tom Lee Park

Memphis in May (MIM) will be held in Tom Lee Park next year and Riverside Drive will remain a four-lane street, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Original plans had park renovations starting right after the festival concluded this year. The original construction timeline was 18 months. That, most likely, meant MIM would have been held in another location in 2020.

In the original plan from the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP), Riverside would have been shrunk to two lanes. This, MRPP leaders said, would slow traffic on the street and provide more green space in the park.

In his weekly email to constituents, Strickland laid out a bullet-point list of facts on Tom Lee Park as “misinformation abounds in the public conversation around this issue, so allow me to set a few things straight today. 

“My vision is to craft a better Riverfront for all Memphians,” said Strickland, whose Riverfront Development Task Force was the catalyst for much of the change planned there. “That includes an improved Tom Lee Park and a better-than-ever Memphis in May.

“My commitment has been clear: a Tom Lee Park that will enable the Memphis in May International Festival to continue to thrive for decades to come and will better serve Memphians the other 11 months out of the year.”

Here’s Strickland’s list of facts about the riverfront:

• We’re currently mediating the future layout of Tom Lee Park — not whether Memphis in May will remain in Tom Lee Park.

[pullquote-2]

I’ve always been committed to Memphis in May in Tom Lee Park, and said so as recently as this space in May. The parties involved in crafting the future layout are Memphis in May, the Memphis River Parks Partnership, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and us (the city).

• Memphis in May will be held in Tom Lee Park in 2020. In 2021, it will be held at an alternate site to accommodate construction in the park. The festival will return to the park in 2022 and will be at home there for years to come.

• Riverside Drive will remain a four-lane street. We will incorporate speed-limiting designs in the final product, because we want the street to enable better access to the park.

Toby Sells

Tom Lee Park redesign.

• In addition to providing new amenities for citizens, the proposed renovations to Tom Lee Park will improve the infrastructure for Memphis in May.

• No city money from our general fund or capital improvement budget will be used — meaning that not a cent of this will impact service delivery like police and fire. Anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn’t understand or is trying to mislead you on purpose.

[pullquote-1]

The city is routing $10 million in sales taxes in the Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) that would otherwise have gone to the state of Tennessee. The remaining money for the park would come from Shelby County, the state of Tennessee, and private sources.

Strickland asked Memphians to “think of the vision.”

“When it’s done, we’ll have a world-class park that’s a front door for visitors and a back yard for Memphians,” he said. “Let’s not limit ourselves. We can have a Tom Lee Park that both enables Memphis in May to thrive and sparks more enjoyment for Memphians the other 11 months a year. It’s not an either-or.”

Categories
News News Blog

Tom Lee Construction Pushed to Fall, Petition Aims for Pause on Park

CREDIT: Toby Sells

Toby Sells

Tom Lee Park redesign.

The Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP) pushed back the construction start for Tom Lee Park to this fall while a petition surfaced online to pause the park plan for more discussion.

MRPP unveiled its plan for the park in January. It includes hilly contours, built facilities, trees, trails, and more. The plan sparked concerns from some, worried the plan would shrink Memphis in May (MIM) events and move it to a new location for one year — 2020 — while the new park was under construction.

MIM officials said in February that the plan has “issues,” “challenges,” and “problems.” They said the plan would reduce the capacity for crowds, stages, and tents at Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

The two groups have been working toward a compromise on the situation with former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder since March.

Before that mediation began, MRPP executive director Carol Coletta said construction on the new park would begin as soon as MIM ended this year. Tuesday evening, the group issued a statement saying they’ll soften that timeline.

“Construction on the new Tom Lee Park will begin this fall once construction documents are complete,” reads the statement. “The park, currently closed to the public for Memphis in May, is expected to re-open in June following a period of remediation to repair any damage resulting from the major festival weekends.

“Tom Lee Park’s construction schedule is now likely to align with a simultaneous project to fix and improve Memphis’ historic cobblestone landing, also scheduled to begin this fall. Aligning these projects will minimize disruption to Riverside Drive.
[pullquote-1] The new Tom Lee Park will join significant improvements to the riverfront already completed, including an enhanced Mud Island Park, the 5-mile River Line trail from Wolf River to Big River Crossing, and River Garden.”

This new timeline comes after a new petition began online to “Save ‘Tom Lee’ Park!” — though, the new construction start date and timing of the petition appear to be unrelated.

The petition, started Monday by Todd Adams, had 1,027 signatures as of late Wednesday morning. It needs 1,500 signatures before the request is formally sent to a raft of state and local leaders including Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, the Memphis City Council, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, the Shelby County Commission, governor Bill Lee, and some federal lawmakers from Tennessee.

“Memphis River Parks Partnership reps have said several times ‘Memphis in May officials have been involved the entire time,’” reads Adams’ petition. “Yet, here we are in mediation because Memphis In May officials have publicly said that this current design brings many red flags and concerns.

Chris McCoy

Sunset over Tom Lee Park

“We are petitioning the city to stop any construction/demo until a joint statement is made by MIM/MRPP and until they reach an agreement. We are petitioning for the city of Memphis to be transparent with the citizens.”

However, petitioners say they are not against a newly re-designed Tom Lee Park. They say they want a “new, smart park design that allows the park and the festival to co-exist.”
[pullquote-3] “This is ‘Memphians’ sticking to our history, and our biggest festival and money-making weekends of the year — economic impact far beyond this so-claimed ‘park’ boom you speak of,” reads the petition. “We MUST AND INSIST on a park plan/model that will allow easy flow of people, logistics, safety, and convenience for our big MIM events. ANYTHING LESS IS NOT AN OPTION!!! [capitalization and punctuation their own].”

Categories
Music Music Blog

A Perfect Friday Night For Beale Street Music Fest 2019

CREDIT: Chris McCoy

Chris McCoy

Ravyn Lenae, Chicago R&B singer, opens up the FedEx stage at Beale Street Music Festival 2019.

The first Friday of Memphis in May, my wife Laura Jean and I worked through lunch creating piping fresh content for your eye- and ear-holes. Starving, we hit the South gate of the festival a little after it opened at 5 PM, intending to fuel up on carnival food before the music got started.

Like everything else, the food at Tom Lee Park has evolved over the years. What used to be a funnel cake and pronto pup stand is now several funnel cake and pronto pup stands placed strategically around the festival grounds. But there’s a lot more than that, of course. The addition of the noodle stand about a decade ago was a great leap forward for handheld cuisine, and heralded an explosion of speciality vittles like biscuit sandwiches. Now there’s enough variety to make the Iowa State Fair envious.
Laura Jean Hocking

Cloudy skies but perfect temps as BSMF 2019 opens.

The sky Friday night was not the most beautiful in the history of Memphis in May, but the conditions on the ground at Tom Lee were darn near perfect—not too hot, not too cold, no blistering sun. There was plenty of live grass, and our rain boots were not sinking into the muck yet. At our first stop, I ordered a small beer and got served a large, which I took as a good omen. But no one had run power to any of the beverage stands yet, so it was cash only. Then we grabbed some fish and fried-avocado tacos and settled into a picnic table for a mini feast. As we sat there, we watched the first big wave of people wash towards the stage.

Debate is currently raging over the future of Memphis in May in Tom Lee Park. It must be noted that the MiM folks have perfected the Beale Street Music Festival layout. In the big picture of music festivals, BSMF is one of the most accessible and easy to navigate. With the notable and lamentable exception of the Blues Tent, the problems of sonic bleed that plague festivals like Bonnaroo are nonexistent. When Orange County’s Dirty Heads got rolling at 6:20, the bass was shaking tents hundreds of feet from the Terminix Stage. But when we headed north to the FedEx Stage to check out Ravyn Lenae, we stepped into a new sonic environment.

Lenae, and R&B singer from Chicago blessed with legs for miles, towered above the crowd. Her mezzo soprano voice floated comfortably in an upper register unreachable by most pop songstresses.
Laura Jean Hocking

Brandon Santini plays the Blues Tent

Continuing north, we ended up at the Coca-Cola Blues Tent, where Brandon Santini and his band were absolutely tearing it up as the crowd filled in. Here’s a BSMF ProTip: when you need a break from the heat or to sit down for a minute, go to the Blues Tent. The music is always at least competent, and usually great. Sometimes, as with Santini on Friday, you can watch an act having the night of their lives while you catch your breath.

Heading back down South, we arrived just in time to watch the biggest party of the night break out. BlocBoy JB, the Memphis rapper whose “Look Alive” was a huge hit last year, almost missed the festival after an MPD traffic stop found him with weed and a firearm. Fresh out of 201, the lithe MC had what looked like half the crowd on stage with him three songs in. Thousands bounced along as clouds of cannabis smoke ascended to heaven.

As a side note, way too many of y’all are mixing your cannabis with tobacco. I’m not talking about rolling a blunt with a cigar paper, which is a time-honored and practical method. I’m talking about actually rolling tobacco into your joints. This is an abomination—what the late, great Memphis music producer Jim Dickinson would have called a “decadent European practice”. Have some self-respect and smoke your weed pure like Jah intended.
Chris McCoy

Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry is bathed in light as she whips up the crowd.

We returned to the Terminix stage for Chvrches. It was the last night of the tour for the Glasgow, Scotland, band, and they left it all on the stage. Singer Lauren Mayberry is pint-sized, even in platform shoes, but she radiates confidence and can work a crowd with the best of them. Swirling in a pink tutu, she and her bandmates Iain Cook and Martin Doherty breathed life into their deep catalog of warm synthpop. Halfway through the set, Mayberry paused to point out a nearby funnel cake stand and tell the story of puking into a trash bin the first time she ever tried one of the fried dough pastries. Nevertheless, she said, she would probably have one again, “after I get this tutu off.”

It was a low-impact and fun Friday night. As Chvrches packed up, a wave of Dave Matthews fans descended on the stage like the undead at Winterfell. Having had our fill of Matthews’ jam-lite stylings in the 1990s, we briefly debated trying to fight the tide of baseball caps fetishists to get to Khalid before deciding to ride the wave out of the South gate. Another ProTip: The Lyft pickup area on Kansas street is the quickest way out of the festival area, and they’ve even got a promo code for free rides, courtesy of Bud Light. So use it, and be safe out there, y’all.

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Memphis In May Scientist Warns Against Dinosaurs In Tom Lee Park

‘Artistic’ rendering of proposed changes to Tom Lee Park.

Dr. Ian Malcolm, Senior Chaos Theorist for Memphis In May, warned of grave danger to the public if a plan devised by the Memphis Riverfront Public Partnership (MRPP), to exhibit genetically engineered dinosaurs in a newly revamped Tom Lee Park, is allowed to go forward.

“Life will find a way,” the dashingly handsome, black-clad scientist told an enraptured crowd at a recent public forum on the proposed revamp of the city’s premiere riverfront acreage.  [pullquote-1]
MRPP was represented by Dr. Perceval Petrodopolos, a paleo-genetic engineer who said new advances in CRISPR technology has enabled him to reconstruct the genomes of dinosaur species that have been extinct for millions of years. The dinosaur DNA material was recovered from blood found in the stomachs of mosquitoes trapped in amber and spliced with that of dinosaur descendants such as frogs and birds. Plans and renderings unveiled by MRPP showed brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, and velociraptors playing whimsically with school children among the rolling hills of Tom Lee Park.

“The lack of humility before nature that’s being displayed here staggers me,” said Dr. Malcolm, pounding the table. “Don’t you see the danger in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force mankind has ever seen, but you wield it like a kid who has found his dad’s gun!”

“I don’t think you’re giving us our due credit,” said Dr. Petrodopolos. “I have done something that has never been done before!”

“But you were so preoccupied with whether they could, you didn’t stop to think whether you should,” replied Malcolm. “Isn’t that right, Dr. P.P.?”

Dr. Malcolm described the prospect of revived, probably carnivorous thunder lizards  sharing a park with some of the top musical acts in the country and tens of thousands of revelers during the Beale Street Music Festival as “chilling. I simply cannot guarantee the safety of the food trucks and merchandise vendors in such a situation.”

Dr. P.P. was incredulous at what he called “Luddism from a scientist” and questioned why Memphis In May even needed a chaos theorist on staff.

Dr. Ian Malcolm

“Have you ever been to Music Fest?” replied Dr. Malcolm.

City officials are expected to rapidly approve the Jurassic improvements to Tom Lee Park, which will include pterodactyl roosts on the heavily populated bluff overlooking the riverfront.
————————————————————————————
YES! This article is a parody. We said so in the tab up top!

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Down on the River, Winter is Coming

Winter is coming, my friends. Dark clouds are building in the western sky. Alliances are being formed. Treachery and connivance are afoot. The battle — soon to come — could be epic and bloody, a mortal combat to see who will control the kingdom of Tom Lee, a vast and glorious prairie on the banks of the majestic Mississippi River near Castle Memphis.

On one side is the Memphis River Parks Partnership (aka Mr. PP), led by Lady Coletta and her powerful allies, including the Great Lord of the House of Hyde, the Downtown Memphis Commission of Great Visions, and the mercenary knights of Studio Gang — brought in from the northern kingdom to wreak havoc on their sworn enemies: the House of MIM.

Studio Gang visual of the proposed water feature in Tom Lee Park.

The House of MIM (aka Memphis in May), led by Lord James Holt, is enjoined in this coming battle by the Sacred Alliance of Motels and Hotels, the Viscounts of Beale Street, the Barons of Barbecue, the House of Rock, and probably the Duke of Earl.

In coming days, there will be negotiations held in the chambers of the great High Castle on the Bluff, seeking to avoid bloodshed and form a truce, however uneasy. Emotions are high. Anything could happen. The fate of Tom Lee hangs in the balance, my friends. Thoughts and prayers …

For the record, the preceeding verbiage was satire. You know, what Webster’s calls “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” We do that a lot at the Flyer, because, well, if not us, who else in town is going to provide the snark essential to the civic process? I mean, someone has to point out when the emperor is going commando, right?

I mention this, because a cartoon by our illustrator and master of visual snark, Greg Cravens, poked fun at the House of MIM a couple weeks back, and a few of their friends got upset. Some said the Flyer was “attacking” Memphis in May.

No. Believe me, if we attack you, you’ll know it. It was satire, the same kind of stuff we’ve thrown at MRPP on several occasions. I mean, our Chris Davis was the guy who dubbed them “Mr. PP” in the first place. We’ve also taken shots at Studio Gang’s idyllic bird-infested visuals and the new park signage that’s already been installed. It’s what we do.

But that’s different from our news coverage, which has highlighted the details of the MRPP design and MIM’s concerns with it. We’ve reported extensively and objectively on the battle for public opinion that’s ongoing between the two organizations. See Toby Sells’ story in this issue for another example.

That said, I’m excited and optimistic about MRPP’s overall plan for the riverfront, which includes renovations of all the city’s public lands along the river, and the linking of Greenbelt Park, Mud Island, the Fourth Bluff, Tom Lee Park, and MLK Park. It’s a big and ambitious design, and because of that, it has drawn fire from several sides.

But the central sticking point is Tom Lee Park, the 30-acre, mile-long, flat, open space now occupied by a few jogging paths and not much else. MRPP’s plan, as most people know by now, involves adding various elevations, a sheltered facility, a water feature, a wildlife habitat, and lots of trees. Memphis in May, understandably, likes the park the way it is, because a big field is much more conducive to its month-long event, which includes a music festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, both of which sprawl over most of the park. How’s that going to work with all those trees and other stuff, they ask. That’s the $70-million question, isn’t it?

We at the Flyer also support Memphis in May. It is a civic treasure that brings lots of people and money to town, and we believe all concerned should be able to figure out a way to keep the celebration Downtown and also reinvent the city’s riverfront. Tom Lee Park belongs to all of us, including those who use it the other 11 months of the year. Let’s get a deal done. May is coming.

Categories
News News Blog

New Group Seeks to “Save Memphis in May”

CREDIT: SaveMIM.org

SaveMIM.org

A new website has emerged from a group that wants “to give a voice to Memphians who are concerned about rushing into” the redesign of Tom Lee Park and to “save” Memphis in May (MIM).

Memphis River Parks Partnership’s (MRPP) proposed redesign of the park has sparked concern among many, including MIM leadership, that the new park plan would negatively affect the month-long festival.

The new group identifies itself as SaveMIM.org. Who are they? They never really say.

“Let’s start with who we aren’t,” reads the description on the website. “We are not employed by or affiliated with the Memphis in May International Festival, the Memphis Tourism Board, or any other established civil entity.

“We are merely a few concerned Memphians who love the Memphis In May International Festival, and enjoy our waterfront.”

The site’s main function is to give its visitors an easy way to send Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis City Council members a form letter that says the sender is ”someone who is deeply concerned for the future of Tom Lee Park and the Memphis in May International Festival.”

That letter claims the new plan “looks beautiful” but it also lays out a raft of concerns about it.

Here’s a few of those concerns straight from the letter:

• Lack of a true dedicated logistics/emergency personnel artery

• Insufficient “alleyways” between barbecue booths for crowds, construction crews, and load-in

• Abundant grass-only high-traffic areas that will be reduced to impassable mud

• Insufficient space allocated for barbecue awards/judging infrastructure

• Will not accommodate existing crowds for music fest, or team booths for barbecue fest.

• Lack of long-term funding for maintenance and security/safety

The site also lays out a number of claims about the MRPP and its plan.

In a section called “capacity issues,” the SaveMIM group says “MRPP’s proposed MIM layout includes unrealistic numbers to hide its flaws.” On “logistical oversights,” the group claims “MRPP’s plan places a large number of booths facing narrow grass walkways that are not capable of supporting this traffic.”

In another action called “Safety Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought,” SaveMIM claims the MRPP “proposal lacks a defined security or maintenance plan.” The group further says MIM is a huge money-maker and the new design would hurt local businesses.

The group says the plan also excludes a “judging tent, festival operations, and a large stage for awards and entertainment like Ms. Piggy Idol and live concerts.” The group also says MRPP has raised only half of the money for the project and wonder if taxpayers will “be stuck with the tab for the balance.”

The site was apparently designed by a firm called Gravity Interactive Marketing and Social Media.