Tag: Memphis In May

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News News Blog

Officials: Memphis in May Won’t Work at Other Downtown Sites

CREDIT: Bruce VanWyngarden

Bruce VanWyngarden

Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.

Memphis in May (MIM) officials say the six locations explored as an alternative sites for the festival next year won’t work and are calling for a phased construction schedule for the redesigned park to allow MIM to return to Tom Lee Park in 2020.

MIM officials said Thursday they were concerned the Memphis River Parks Partnership’s (MRPP) redesign of the park would cut the festival’s capacity. That redesign adds contours, trees, built facilities, and more to the now wide-open park.

MRPP officials want to begin construction of the new design in June, after MIM wrap-up this year. The construction would take 18 months. MRPP president Carol Coletta has said she’s not sure how MIM could operate in what would be a construction site. The suggestion has been to locate MIM to an alternative location for 2020.

The Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) identified six sites that might work for MIM.

“We believe Memphis in May and Downtown Memphis are uniquely and inedibly joined,” reads the DMC document. “We believe Memphis in May belongs Downtown.”

In a DMC document shared to the press Friday, the DMC suggested Beale Street, Mud Island, Greenbelt Park, MLK Riverside Park, Georgia Avenue Elementary, and the grassy area north of Tom Lee Park at the corner of I-40 and Riverside Drive. (See our slideshow below for more details on the sites.)
[pullquote-1] “A cursory review of the sizes and infrastructure of the suggested sites reveals that these simply are not compatible to host our world-class events, and reaffirms our president and CEO Jim Holt’s assertion yesterday that — aside from Tom Lee Park — there are no other sites in Downtown Memphis that can accommodate Memphis in May,” MIM spokesman Robert Griffin said in a statement. “This is why we have requested a phased construction schedule to allow Memphis in May to remain in Tom Lee Park and downtown Memphis in 2020, as it is the only viable downtown location for our events.”

MIM and the MRPP are scheduled to have a meeting about Tom Lee Park on Monday.

[slideshow-1]

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News News Blog

Memphis In May Cites “Challenges,” “Issues” in Tom Lee Park Redesign

CREDIT: Bruce VanWyngarden

Bruce VanWyngarden

Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.

Memphis in May (MIM) officials said Thursday that the Memphis River Parks Partnership’s (MRPP) redesign of Tom Lee Park would cut the capacity for its events there and said the current plans have “challenges” and “issues.”

The MRPP unveiled a new plan for the park last month. It adds hilly contours, built facilities, a basketball court/stage area, trails, trees, and more to the now-wide-open park below the bluff beside the Mississippi River.

MRPP officials say the current design was directly informed by attendance numbers given to them by MIM. Since the plan was unveiled, some have voiced concerns about the redesign, worried that it could cut into MIM attendance and the attendant tourism dollars. See our previous story on all this here.

Memphis in May released no public statements on the redesign. Instead, officials said they wanted to get the final plans, including ones that include topography, before reacting. They got those plans Monday, they said. MIM then gave the plans to Architecture Inc., a local firm, to determine how MIM crowds, tents, concessions, tractor trailers, etc. would fit into the new spaces.

“In the last 72 hours, the test fits have been completed and we were able to present our board today a series of issues and challenges that we found in the new design, including the level of space loss in the redesigned Tom Lee Park,” reads a statement from MIM.

Some of the numbers match up. For example, MIM is spread over 86 percent of Tom Lee Park now and it would still fit that space under the redesign. However, MIM president and CEO Jim Holt said Thursday that fitting the festival into its current footprint doesn’t allow for future growth.

The MRPP redesign cuts the useable space in Tom Lee Park for MIM from 61 percent to 57 percent of the park’s area, according to the evaluation from Architecture Inc. It cuts the available grass space in the park from 52 percent to 20 percent, according to the study. The MRPP plan increases the amount of roads and parking, sidewalks, trees, hills, and a new water feature.

Holt said MIM will meet with MRPP Tuesday, starting a new dialog between the two that, he said, should result in a way forward.

“In an effort to keep Memphis in May in its riverfront home since 1980, our next steps are to share these test fits with MRPP and Studio Gang for their evaluation, so that we can together determine the best way to adjust the current design,” reads the MIM statement.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter From the Editor: Take Me to the River

CREDIT: Bruce VanWyngarden

Memphis has been named a best travel destination, or a variation thereof, several times in recent weeks. The website Travel Lemming called Memphis “the next hot Southern city.” Frommer’s Travel Guide put Memphis in its “19 Best Places to visit in 2019.” The Travel Channel said Memphis was the “hottest Southern Destination of 2019.” And TripSavvy, a leading travel site, named Memphis as the best overall travel destination of 2019. Like, in the world. Dang.

They like us. They really like us.

But why? Well, the usual litany gets mentioned in most of these stories: First, there’s the Holy Trinity of Beale Street, barbecue, and blues. Then there’s the National Civil Rights Museum, Graceland, Bass Pro Pyramid, the Peabody, the Memphis Zoo, and, of course, all the music attractions: the Stax Museum, Sun Studio, the Memphis Rock n’ Soul Museum, the Blues Hall of Fame, etc. Also getting some press lately are Crosstown, South Main, Overton Square, Broad Avenue, and Cooper-Young.

Bruce VanWyngarden

Scale model of the new Tom Lee Park

That’s a pretty impressive litany.

But increasingly, these travel stories are also starting to mention the charms of the Mississippi River. Here’s Trip Savvy: “The Mississippi River, the second longest river in North America, forms Memphis’ western border. … There are nearly five miles of parks along the river, which are ideal for outdoor recreation. In addition, riverboat cruises, canoe rentals, and other water activities are available. Visitors can also walk along a scale model of the lower Mississippi River on Mud Island … or cross the Mississippi on the Big River Crossing, a new bridge with walkways and bike trails.” They didn’t even mention our cool, new bridge lights.

And, as you may have heard or read, our Mississippi riverfront is about to get a major makeover, including a massive re-design of Memphis’ front yard — Tom Lee Park. Last year, the Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP) picked Studio Gang, a Chicago-based design firm, and SCAPE, a New York landscape and urban design firm, to lead the redevelopment of the riverfront. This week, they unveiled the plans for Tom Lee Park and set up a nifty scale model of the proposed transformation for public viewing at Beale Street Landing.

I went down to check it out, and, well, it’s pretty transformative, to say the least. The now prairie-like expanse of the mile-long park will soon have small hills, trees, pocket parks, connective gravel paths, a sheltered recreational and concert space, water features, three large fields (called “pools” in the plan), and a nature area with a bird-nesting tower.

When the plan was released, skepticism was rampant and it hit the usual notes: Why use outside developers? What’s wrong with the park now? The plan is too cluttered. How will Music Fest and the barbecue contest work? And what if we get another flood like 2011, when Tom Lee was a couple feet under water, will it all get washed away?

Good questions, especially the last two. So I posed them to George Abbott, director of external affairs for MRPP. He said the plan for Music Fest is to utilize the three large fields for concert stages, and use the sheltered facility as the Blues Tent. As for the barbecue fest, it appears the likeliest scenario may be to put the teams on Riverside Drive. 

And what if another flood comes? Abbott said the design firm has had experience creating parks with fluctuating water features nearby, and the park is designed with an awareness of the Mississippi’s flooding potential. How that stops the river from rising, I’m not sure, but presumably the park-scape is designed to weather it.

I’m from Missouri, so I’m as skeptical as they come (Show me!), but I have to say, this park design is pretty impressive, maybe even spectacular. I think the biggest questions will revolve around Memphis in May events. If we get the usual rains for Music Fest, those gravel paths will get a workout, and the “pools” may live up to their name. That said, I really hope MRPP can pull off this ambitious re-imagining of one our seminal public spaces. Call me Pollyanna, but I’m even kind of excited about it.

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News News Blog

Tom Lee Redesign May Affect Memphis in May

CREDIT: MIM- Facebook

MIM- Facebook

Beale Street Music Festival at Tom Lee Park

Will Tom Lee Park’s redesign impact Memphis In May?

In its monthly newsletter, Memphis in May International Festival announced Studio Gang, the Chicago team creating a plan to redesign the Riverfront, met with MIM executives to discuss the Tom Lee Park design.

MIM has been working with Studio Gang and Memphis River Parks Partnership to, according to the newsletter, “ensure the redesigned park will protect Beale Street Music Festival patron capacity and full complement of World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest team spaces — not to mention their accompanying economic impact — and preserve the future viability of the festival and its events in Tom Lee Park.”

The final park redesign plan is scheduled for release in December. The initial plan for Tom Lee Park is slated to have landscape and hardscape improvements, including pocket parks with grassy knolls, trees and hills.

The question is — after all this is set in place — how will 225 barbecue teams fit in the park for the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest? And how will more than 27,000 people fit into Tom Lee Park for the Beale Street Music Festival?

The festival would go as planned in 2019, but after that, construction begins. Memphis in May events would have to move beginning in 2020. Where would these events go? The barbecue contest was held in 2011 in Tiger Lane. But that’s a long way from the Mississippi River and downtown hotels. Shelby Farms is a possible site, but, again, that’s a long way from downtown Memphis and its restaurants and hotels. And the traffic problem is another question. Getting thousands of people out of Farm Road and Mullins Station Road?

In its annual report, Memphis in May said it brought in $133.7 million last year in economic impact. And three and a half million tax dollars. Reduced space or a new location is, obviously, going to lower both these amounts.

“For the Beale Street Merchants Association, all Beale Street and all downtown, Memphis in May and the month of May for the festival are clearly the biggest things that happen to us all year long,” says Joellyn Sullivan, vice-president of the Beale Street Merchants Association and owner of Silky O’Sullivan’s on Beale Street. “The hotel occupancy is significant and the economic impact has been very well documented.


“And, to be clear, I am not familiar with the plans for Tom Lee Park. I have no idea. What I read in a newsletter from Memphis in May was the first notice. I saw a little bit about what was going on, but I haven’t seen plans,” says Sullivan

Things are slated to stay the same in 2019 when Memphis will be the honored Memphis in May country, but the next year? “Not only construction, but the ultimate design could decrease capacity for those events and it’s very concerning. We had a little bit of a test with the flood that moved the barbecue (festival) to Tiger Lane. And that definitely had an impact on downtown economics.”

A “key part” of Memphis in May’s mission is “to promote Memphis and, secondarily, Downtown,” says Sullivan. “So, it’s a showcase we all have. And our riverfront. To think that venue might not be there for that mutual promotion, that is concerning. Tom Lee Park is what it is. It’s a great, open park that is very welcoming. It’s got sidewalks and benches and it’s already got a play area. It’s an established port that now handles riverboat traffic. People don’t give that riverboat traffic credit. We can tell Downtown when those boats are coming in and out. You can definitely feel the economic impact.”

And, Sullivan says, “Our riverfront has been improving anway. The RiverArtsFest was down here this past weekend. And now we’ve got dueling bridges in terms of bridge lights.

“To be able to have a big, open space downtown that can be a venue for the music fest and barbecue is amazingly special. To have those world class events on the Mississippi River at the foot of Beale where Downtown as a whole can be impacted and showcased is a wonderful, wonderful- thing.”

And if Memphis in May has to move somewhere else like Shelby Farms? “That is devastating. And it’s also probably festival busting. This is not a festival that belongs anywhere but on the Mississippi River. And the whole purpose of Memphis in May, its history, everything about it, is Memphis.”

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News News Blog

Memphis in May to Honor City of Memphis in 2019

CREDIT: MIM- Facebook

MIM- Facebook

In honor of the city’s upcoming 200th birthday, the 2019 Memphis in May International Festival (MIM) will honor Memphis and Shelby County for the first time in the 42-year-old event’s history.

Historically, MIM salutes a country for the one-month festival, but next year, tradition will be broken to celebrate the city’s bicentennial, festival organizers announced Thursday.

“As the Official Festival of the City of Memphis, our board of directors understood what an historic opportunity this was for Memphis in May to break from tradition and celebrate a new century for Memphis,” James Holt, president and CEO of MIM said. “Each year we celebrate the rich history and culture of another country here in Memphis, but this year we look forward to celebrating the history and culture of our hometown as only Memphis in May can.”

Next year, instead of choosing a local artist to create the official festival poster, Memphis artists will have the chance to submit design proposals. A juried panel, along with votes from the public, will determine the finalists.

Finalists’ posters will be on display at the festival’s cultural exhibits and the winning design will be available for purchase as the commemorative poster.

A new event is also slated for the 2019 festival called Celebrate Memphis, which organizers say will be “one of the Mid-South’s most spectacular events.” It’ll feature food, music, art, innovation, while showcasing individuals and organizations “from every corner of the community.”

“It’s an exciting time to be a part of our next century, and to witness in real-time the influence Memphis has around the world,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said. “As we celebrate 200 years of originality that has changed the world, Memphis in May choosing Memphis as the subject of its annual salute is a wonderful birthday present.”

MIM- Facebook

MIM officials also announced Thursday that for the second year in a row, this year’s festival had “record-setting gross revenue,” finishing at $10.9 million. That’s a 12 percent increase from 2017 and up 29 percent from 2016.

Much of this came from the Beale Street Music Festival, which sold 102,507 tickets, with $4.5 million admission gross, according to organizers.

According to MIM, the 2018 festival had a local economic impact of $137.7 million and contributed more than $3.5 in local tax revenues, supporting 1,300 full-time equivalent jobs.

See the 2019 Memphis in May schedule below.

Beale Street Music Festival: May 3 – 5, 2019

World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest: May 15 – 18, 2019

Great American River Run: May 25, 2019

Celebrate Memphis: May 25, 2019

Memphis in May to Honor City of Memphis in 2019

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Music Music Blog

Beale Street Music Festival 2018: Friday

CREDIT: Courtesy Beale St. Music Festival

Courtesy Beale St. Music Festival

Beale Street Music Fest 2018 (BSMF) kicked off Friday, May 4th, which might explain why I saw 23 Star Wars shirts before I gave up and quit counting. Tie-dyed shirts had a respectable showing, with 14 appearances before I tired of taking my phone out and marking down a tally. Everyone has their own strategy for wringing maximum enjoyment out of Music Fest. I’ve attended with friends who like to meticulously plan their experience. They schedule pit stops for drinks and food and know, to the second, how long to stay at any stage before booking it to catch the end of another performance. I prefer the chaos method. Music Fest is mysterious, sometimes stealing your shoes with a puddle of oh-lord-I-hope-that-was-mud, sometimes offering up treasures unimaginable (like Cake covering Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”). I find it’s more fun to surrender to the mystery, and let Music Fest take the reins.

Courtesy Beale St. Music Festival

North Mississippi All Stars

I had a basic plan to make my way to the FedEx Stage for North Mississippi Allstars and then let fate (or whimsy) take over from there. Who can say whether its nature or nurture, but the Dickinson brothers, sons of the late songsmith and producer Jim Dickinson, have the musical Midas touch. I particularly enjoyed the Allstars’ 2017 album, Prayer for Peace, and was looking forward to seeing the blues-savvy brothers and their band on the banks of the Mississippi, but as tends to happen at Music Fest, I got distracted.

While shuffling past the River Stage, I caught a snatch of a Star and Micey tune and decided to stay for a song or two. It was their third time performing at BSMF, and the Memphis-based quartet looked at home on the River Stage, standing close together in matching white shirts and handing out the harmonies. Star and Micey never fail to evoke a very Southern style of community for me. I can’t help but think of vacation Bible school, campfire sing-a-longs, and neighborhood cookouts. The band’s live performance cranked up the grit and dirt in their guitar tone, but their vocals rang out with the pristine perfection I’ve come to expect from Memphis’ princes of pop. They have all the alt-country twang and earworm catchiness of Golden Smog without the Big Star’s Third-style warbling digressions. The band thanked the crowd before launching into their final song, fan favorite “I Can’t Wait.”

Courtesy Beale St. Music Festival

Margo Price

Next up was Margo Price. Her sophomore LP, All American Made, is a showstopper of an album, and I was eager to see how her live performance held up. I was not disappointed. Price cued the crowd to her performance by testing the speakers with a snippet of Chris Bell’s “I Am the Cosmos.” It was a dirty trick, tipping the crowd off to her knowledge of the local music history, and it worked completely on me. Price strummed an acoustic guitar and sang the wry and candid lyrics that made her the darling of music critics almost overnight. She and her band ripped through a cover of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde-era “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine),” and they did the brass-heavy original justice. The prominence of the bass and organ in the mix lent some credence to the rumor that Price is a devotee of Memphis soul. She laughed and dropped some not-so-family-friendly language, which endeared her to me all the more. Either she has this showmanship thing down to an exact science, or Price is exactly what she appears to be: an artist enjoying herself as she works, and totally comfortable on stage and in front of a festival crowd. Though Price has surely been in front of bigger crowds, I was nonetheless impressed with how naturally performing seemed to come to her.

Courtesy Beale St. Music Festival

Clutch

Rushing from the FedEx Stage to a beer tent and then on to the Bud Light Stage, I had just enough hustle to make sure I caught the end of Clutch’s performance. I admit I was less familiar with the Maryland-based rockers, but I’m a sucker for semi-hollowbody guitars and crunchy riffs. So, it turns out, I was in the right place. The sun sank, red lights glowed onstage, rain was still on the menu but not yet served up, and Clutch delivered one riff-based rock anthem after another. One of the best things about BSMF is surely the ease with which a festival-goer can bounce between shows, taking in up-and-comers, hometown heroes, and legends making the circuit again. Neil Fallon, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, looked like her was having a blast as he stalked the stage, waving his hand and coaxing cheers from the crowd. I had no expectations for Clutch, but I enjoyed their performance all the more for it.

Speaking of expectations, it’s time, I think, to set the record straight on Cake. In 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Voodoo Fest, New Orleans’ Halloween-themed October music festival, was split between New Orleans and Memphis. Some of the acts took place in Crescent City, and the Bluff City handled the rest. The logistics of throwing a festival with next to no notice are enough to send the creeping-crawling cold chills down my spine. Still, with an admirable effort, the second night of the two-day festival moved to Memphis and went off with only some hitches. Cake performed that year, and their set was cut short by technical difficulties. I was there that night 13 years ago, and I’ve held on to an unsatisfied craving for Cake ever since. So when I rushed back to the River Stage last night, I must admit I had some butterflies in my stomach.

The butterflies were for nothing; Cake was incredible. John McCrea talk-sang the lyrics as only he can, and he wasn’t stingy with the vibraslap. McCrea’s distorted acoustic guitar, scratched sans guitar pick, struck just the right sonic nerve and assuaged any fears of technical difficulties I still harbored. Vince DiFiore’s trumpet melodies and Xan McCurdy’s guitar lines remain as hummable as they’ve always been. I didn’t imagine the band would reach all the way back to Fashion Nugget for “Stickshifts and Safetybelts,” or that we would be treated to a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” It was a great show, and judging by the chorus of audience members who sang along to “Sheep Go to Heaven,” I am far from alone in that belief.

Cake closed out with “Going the Distance,” giving me six minutes to hightail it through the light rain to the FedEx Stage for Alanis Morissette. The Canadian-American goddess of alt-rock released one of the best albums of the ’90s with Jagged Little Pill, played God in Dogma, and has worked to raise awareness for health and spirituality. She is a podcast host, a columnist, an activist, and I am entirely convinced that she could rule the world if she so desired. Morissette gender-swapped a lyric in “All I Really Want,” singing: “I’m fascinated by the spiritual woman. I’m humbled by her humble nature.” The singer and multi-instrumentalist bounced across the stage, belting out her distinctive vocals without missing a note. She never stood still, playing harmonica and guitar, and taking deep bows when she introduced her band. I was humbled by the energy and talent on display, and I left the FedEx Stage blissfully satisfied. Let there be no doubt: Alanis still has it.

As I shuffled toward the main gates to leave Friday night, my ears rang and my head buzzed. One could hardly have asked for better weather or a better lineup for the first night of Memphis’ three-day festival. I would be tempted to say it will be a hard day to top, but with David Byrne, Calexico, Valerie June, the Flaming Lips, and more still to come, I expect that BSMF still has some surprises ready. The only way to know for sure is to head downtown and see.

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Music Music Blog

Beale Street Music Festival 2018: Performers Announced

R.L. Boyce

The Beale Street Music Festival lineup usually has some pleasant surprises in store, and this year is no exception. Just released today, the scheduled acts run the gamut of styles and decades. Among the highlights are such luminaries as Grammy nominee R.L. Boyce, the Love Light Orchestra, Star & Micey, Tav Falco, the Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Al Kapone, Juicy J, Zeke Johnson, Blind Mississippi Morris, and Earl “The Pearl” Banks.

Queens of the Stone Age

What’s that you say? There are also acts without roots in Memphis? Okay, we’ll tip our hat to them as well. Although Queens Of The Stone Age, Alanis Morissette, Tyler The Creator, Kaleo, and Dashboard Confessional are not from Memphis, let’s give them a chance. Some have ties to the Bluff City by way of their recording history and professional associations, such as Jack White, an erstwhile Oblivians fan whose work at the old Easley-McCain studios won much acclaim, or Margo Price, who has done well recording with Matt Ross-Spang in recent years.

As usual, the mix is unpredictable and not beholden to current trends. It’s notable that several acts made a name for themselves in the 1990s or even the 1980s:

David Byrne

 David Byrne, Cake, Erykah Badu, The Flaming Lips, and Third Eye Blind clearly have proven their staying power over the decades, even as they’ve continued to evolve and explore.

Erykah Badu

 Reaching back even further, the festival will host Delbert McClinton, who, because he played harmonica on Bruce Channel’s “Hey! Baby” and toured England on the strength of that hit, ended up teaching John Lennon a thing or two about blues harp technique. Of course, he went on to build a career on his own records, such as “Giving It Up for Your Love.”

Delbert McClinton

Finally, more Memphis in May events will follow the festival proper, with additional musical fare evoking this year’s honored country, the Czech Republic.

2018 Memphis in May International Festival Dates:
Beale Street Music Festival: May 4-6, 2018
International Week: May 7-13, 2018
World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest: May 16-19, 2018
Great American River Run: May 26, 2018
901Fest: May 26, 2018

Full Schedule of the Beale Street Music Festival
Friday, May 4th
Queens Of The Stone Age
Alanis Morissette
Tyler, The Creator
Kaleo
Cake
Third Eye Blind
Dashboard Confessional
Clutch
Margo Price
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Wilderado
Star & Micey
Ghost Town Blues Band
Zac Harmon
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Terry “Big T” Williams
Zeke Johnson

Saturday, May 5th
Jack White
Logic
Incubus
David Byrne
Ludacris
Vance Joy
Gov’t Mule
Chevelle
Action Bronson
Franz Ferdinand
All Time Low
Calexico
Al Kapone
Dan Barta & Illustratosphere
Marcia Ball
Tav Falco And The Panther Burns
Amasa Hines
Chinese Connection Dub Embassy
Tommy Castro And The Painkillers
Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater
Blind Mississippi Morris
Joanna Connor
Earl “The Pearl” Banks
Sam Joyner
Washboard Shorty & Reverend Robert Rev

Sunday, May 6th
Post Malone
Odesza
Erykah Badu
The Flaming Lips
Juicy J
Luke Combs
D.R.A.M.
Oh Wonder
Young Dolph
Delbert McClinton
Andrew W.K.
Misterwives
Tank And The Bangas
Love Light Orchestra
R.L. Boyce
Flor
Reba Russell
Biscuit Miller And The Mix
Butch Mudbone
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

On the Scene at Barbecue Fest

Another Barbecue Fest is the books, folks.

Here are the winners:

Big Bob Gibson’s took home the World Championship prize for a record fifth time.

Patio Porkers: (1) Bad Pig BBQ, Bartlett, TN; (2) It’s About Time, Memphis, TN; (3) 4UWEQUE, Memphis, TN; (4) Smokin’ Spiders, Memphis, TN

Whole Hog:
(1) Yazoo’s Delta Q, Hernando, MS
(2) Mac’s Smoke Shop, Charlotte, NC
(3) Southern Hoggers BBQ Company, Germantown, TN
(4) Will-Be-Que BBQ Team, Cordova, TN
(5) Salty Rinse BBQ, New York City, NY
(6) 3 Taxi Guys, Pittsburgh, PA
(7) The Shed BBQ, Ocean Springs, MS
(8) Jack’s Old South, Unadilla, GA
(9) Grilla Grills, Cunningham, KY
(10) Whole Hog Café, Heber Springs, AR

Shoulder:
(1) Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, Decatur, AL
(2) Red Hot Smokers, Olive Branch, MS
(3) Cool Smoke, Richmond, VA
(4) Pork Illustrated, Memphis, TN
(5) Moe Cason Barbecue, Des Moines, IA
(6) Pork Me Baby, Southaven, MS
(7) The Pork University, Memphis, TN
(8) Delta Porkers, Marion, AR
(9) Sweet Swine O’ Mine, Olive Branch, MS
(10) Victory Lane BBQ, Olive Branch, MS

Rib:
(1) 10 Bones BBQ, Olive Branch, MS
(2) 901Q, Arlington, TN
(3) Emily’s Tennessee Prime, Chicago, IL
(4) Dirk Piggler’s Porkographic BBQ, Memphis, TN
(5) Blues Hog, Washington, MO
(6) Pitmaker- BBQ Addiction, Humble, TX
(7) Rowdy Southern Swine, Oxford, MS
(8) Meat Mitch, Mission Hills, KS
(9) Fat Side Up, Collierville, TN
(10) Slabs A’ Smokin’, Memphis, TN

Kingsford Tour of Champions:
(1) The Shed, Ocean Springs, MS; (2) Too Sauced to Pork, Grand Island, NY; (3) Blue Collar Smokers, Olive Branch, MS; (4) The Other Team, Olive Branch, MS
Poultry: (1) Smokin’ with an Attitude, Rossville, TN; (2) Greaseland Porkers, Arlington, TN; (3) Bryce Boar Blazers, Memphis, TN
Seafood: (1) Uncle Murle’s BBQ Team, Cordova, TN; (2) Fat Side Up, Collierville, TN; (3) Smoking Yotes, Memphis, TN
Exotic: (1) Swinos, Memphis, TN; Sweet Brown Smokers, Memphis, TN; Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe, Astonia, NY

[slideshow-1]

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs

Today’s Music Video Monday salutes a group of Memphis legends.

Booker T. Jones closed out the Beale Street Music Festival Blues Tent last night with nearly 90 minutes of perfection. Battling that bane of all outdoor music festivals, bass bleeding from the next stage, the Lifetime Achievement Grammy winner led his band through a tour of songs from his five decade career—”Hip Hug-Her”, “Born Under A Bad Sign”, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”—with some of the artist’s personal favorites like “Summertime”, “Purple Rain” and “Hey Ya” thrown in for good measure. Here’s a short clip I filmed from the back of the packed Blues Tent of Jones and company playing the song he wrote in 1962 that he claims his still his favorite to this day, “Green Onions”.

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs (2)

You can read my interview with the genius of Memphis soul in this week’s Memphis Flyer Music Issue cover story. Booker T. closed his set with the stirring live arrangement of the classic “Time Is Tight” that he used to wow audiences with in the 1960s. Here he is in 1970 with Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, and Alan Jackson Jr. bringing the house down as the guys from Creedence Clearwater Revival look on in awe.

Music Video Monday: Booker T. and the MGs

If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

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Music Music Blog

Beale Street Music Festival 2017: A Perfect Saturday

I can understand why some people don’t like to go to large, outdoor music festivals. They can be hot and dusty as the Sahara, or as rainy and muddy as the Western Front. Like any situation with a huge crowd, you can run into annoying people. And worst of all for music fans, the sound can be hit or miss: Either it’s so muddy you can’t hear the performances, or there’s so much bass bleed from the giant EDM party on the next stage, the band you came to hear gets drown out.

But Saturday at Beale Street Music Festival 2017 was an example of everything that can go right with an outdoor music festival. First and foremost, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The temperature topped out at 79 degrees, with brilliant sun only occasionally eclipsed by puffy clouds. Humidity was non-existent, and the steady breeze off the river drove away mosquitos and kept everybody cool. The sound was perfect, the acts were high quality, and the crowd, while enormous, was mellow and happy. Even the mud from last week’s rains had mostly dried by the time the first bands took the stage after 2 PM.

Amy LaVere at BSMF 2017

Memphian Amy LaVere was the first up on the FedEx stage at the southernmost end of Tom Lee Park. Backed by her husband Will Sexton and ace Memphis guitar slinger David Cousar, she won over the gathering crowd with an atmospheric take on her song ‘Killing Him”.

I watched about half of Amy’s near flawless set before hoofing it all the way to the other end of the park to catch another one of Memphis’ great live acts, Dead Soldiers (whom I interviewed for this week’s Memphis Flyer cover story). By the time I got to the River Stage, the band was going full throttle through songs from their new album The Great Emptiness. At one point, singer Michael Jasud realized he had a wireless mic and decided to take advantage of it. He leapt into the crowd and sang a couple of verses surrounded by the cheering audience. After returning to the stage for the climax of the song, the winded singer said “I just want y’all to know the level athleticism it takes to do that. It’s a level I do not possess.”

The Dead Soldiers’ Michael Jasud sings in the crowd during BSMF ’17.

A couple of songs later, drummer Paul Gilliam grabbed a tambourine and made his own crowd excursion.

Dead Soldiers drummer Paul Gilliam leads the BSMF crowd in a sing a long.

After the set, I ran into trombonist Victor Sawyer. The Dead Soldiers set was the third one he had played at Beale Street Music Festival, twice with the Soldiers and once with Victor Wainwright and the Wild Roots. “It’s always incredible!” he said. “It so cool to see a big crowd out there, with old faces and lots of new faces.”

Victor Sawyer (left) and Nashon Bedford play with Dead Soldiers at BSMF ’17.

I spent the rest of the day crisscrossing Tom Lee Park, trying to catch as many acts as I could. KONGOS from South Africa battled high winds as they meandered through a jammy cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back”, with singer Daniel Kongos pausing in the middle to deliver a rap. The crowd, which by mid-afternoon had swelled into the tens of thousands, went nuts for their ubiquitous hit “Come With Me Now”.

The Beale Street Music Festival lineups favor music performed by actual humans, but festival EDM was well represented by GriZ on the Bud Light stage. The Michigan producer had a major dance party going with his beats, to which he occasionally added saxophone solos. MUTEMATH was next, and judging by the ecstatic reception they got, the death of alt rock has been greatly exaggerated.

I always try to drop by the Blues Shack, and his year I caught Terry “Harmonica” Bean keeping a couple  hundred festival goers entranced with his strong Hill Country blues groove, tapped out with a strong booted foot. For Memphians, this kind of thing can seem old hat, but for at least some of the people gathered in front of the Blues Shack, Bean’s performance was a revelation.

Terry ‘Harmonica’ Bean at the Blues Tent.

Speaking of revelations, the Drive-By Truckers‘ sunset set proved to the best performance of a day filled with strong musicianship. It started off a little rough, and a few minutes late, but once the Athenians built up some momentum, they were incredible. As the sun went down, singer Mike Cooley commented on the beauty of the backdrop. This is the first year the I-55 bridge has been lit up during Memphis in May, and combined with the spectacular sunset, it made for a beautiful tableau against which the band played a muscular, searing set. In a heartfelt monologue recalling his own youthful days of partying, Cooley dedicated a song to Jordan Edwards, an African American teenager who was shot in April by Texas police as he left a party.

The view from the Memphis Flyer tent as the Drive-By Truckers’s sunset performance.

The big draw of the River Stage was the one-two punch of hip hop superstars. Dressed in black with his dreadlocks tied behind, the Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz played with his DJ E Sudd to an adoring, overflow audience, introducing songs from his upcoming album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music, and tearing the proverbial roof off with a triumphant reading of his hit “I”m Different”. I watched about half of the set before wandering over the the River Stage to catch some of Death Cab For Cutie, who were playing in front of an equally large, if somewhat more subdued, crowd. Death Cab made their reputation with small, intricately structured rock songs, but at Tom Lee Park, they traded their twee for a stadium pounding rendition of “The New Year” that was all feedback smears and power chords. Singer Ben Gibbard looked like he was having the time of his life.

When I returned to the River Stage, Wiz Khalifa was holding court with a blunt in one hand and a microphone in the other. I only was able to get within about a quarter mile of the stage area, which was packed to the gills with dancing humanity. By this time, the audience had swelled to a size that was as big as I’ve ever seen at BSMF. Maybe it was the idyllic weather, or maybe it was the clouds of pot smoke rising from Khalifa’s adoring fans, but everyone seemed very chill, happy, and friendly. In times past, it has not been unusual for me to see a fight or two over the course of the weekend. One memorable BSMF in the 1990s, I saw a full on brawl by the porta potties that resulted in overturned outhouses and a couple of very unhappy festival goers covered in blue sewage. This year, there was not even a hint of that. A couple of times, people bumped into me and actually apologized! As confetti rained down on the Wiz Khalifa crowd, I found myself thinking that this Memphis In May Saturday shows what’s great about Memphis, and what a great music festival can be.

Confetti rains on Wiz Khalifa.

Will Sexton plays with Amy LaVere at BSMF 2017.

David Cousar backs Amy LaVere at BSMF 2017

Michael Jasud, Paul Gilliam, and Krista Wroten Combest of Dead Soldiers.