2018 Beale Street Music Festival

 

2018 Beale Street Music Festival
Tommy Lee Park, Memphis, TN, USA, May 4-6, 2018
By Mary Andrews

Rain did not dampen the great musical talent performances of the 2018 Beale Street Music Festival. In spite of the heavy rain that progressed to hail on Saturday, all acts performed as scheduled. The music genre spread throughout the umbrella of today’s most popular ‘brands.’ It was totally glorious for all of the attendees.

The festival has four main stages spread out Tommy Lee River Park and one end of the park spills onto Beale Street that harbors multiple bars, juke joints, and barbeque restaurants. When the festival is over for the day, the entertainment continues into the wee hours on Beale Street.

Queens of the Stone Age brought their Villains tour to headline the first night. Josh Homme and the band gave fans songs from their new album as well as hits from the past. Across the park to another stage, Alanis Morissette, gave an energetic performance after sound problems occurred during the first song. She played electric guitar while giving fans all of her hit songs and more.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band closed the Blues tent on the first night with a downhome, revivalist

experience. The crowd was a much a part of the experience as the ‘Family.’ The tent seemed to lift off the ground as it vibrated during the performance.

Earlier in the day, Margo Price brought one of the rare country elements to the festival. Price is not a stranger to Memphis. She has recorded her last two critically acclaimed albums at Memphis’ Sun Studios. Her set included her original songs with covers of Dylan’s “Most Likely Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine,” Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and Haggard’s “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.”

Icelandic band, Kaleo, delivered the goods with their blues flavored rock set. The band performed their A/B album in almost its entirety. JJ Julius Son’s swampy vocals were better than the recordings. The band’s guitar, harmonica and bass were impeccable.

Saturday’s headliners were as dynamic as the first day. Jack White was the main headliner with his blue, tour de

force rock performance. His 21 song set included rock and roll songs from his new album Boarding House Reach as well as songs from his White Stripes and Dead Weather days. The rain had stopped by then and the mud was not going to deter fans from rocking away with White.

David Byrne was on another stage giving Memphis his American Utopia offerings. Everything had been set up on stage from the tour much like his Coachella performance. When he and his troupe performed classics like “Burnin’ Down the House,” one could hear the crowd roar all over the park.

A band that stole the show that day included Franz Ferdinand from Scotland. The band gave a blistering, mesmerizing show. Lead singer, Alex Kapranos played every trick in his repertoire to surprise and captivate the crowd. The band formed a chorus line of guitarists to end the set with “Take Me Out.”

Tucson’s hometown band, Calexico, started the day with their brand of rock pulling in Latin, Spanish, and the American Southwest influences. The set was filled with music from their 22-year career including their new album The Thread That Keeps Us.

Jam bands and hip-hop made a high presence that day. Gov’t Mule, Ludacris, Vance Joy and Action Bronson were worthy honorable mentions.

Sunday was the only sold out day of the festival. It was sold out by 5 p.m.Some would attribute that to the beautiful weather. Others would say that the crowd was there to see Post Malone. Post Malone released his new album on Friday and it has skyrocketed to the top of Billboard’s charts making chart history.

The most anticipated set of the day was Post Malone. The crowd at the stage was estimated to be 30,000 and many of the fans had been waiting since 100 p.m. Malone modestly walked on stage sporting multiple tattoos, diamonds in his teeth, wearing a tee-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Many of the songs in set were from the new album, Beerbongs & Bentleys as well as his first album, Stoney.

On the next stage over, Erykah Badu closed the festival with her Neo-Soul set. She arrived some 45-minutes late for her set that didn’t ‘sit’ to well for the crowd. Her outfit was very eccentric as she wore one of her classic large hats, a skirt that was hidden by at least two coats, and a huge wig of hair. Add large party glasses and it was hard to see the person underneath all of the clothes and accessories. All of the adornment on Badu could not hide the magnetism of the star. Many of the songs in the set were from her 20-year old breakthrough album Baduism.

The Flaming Lips never fails to dazzle a crowd no matter where they perform and this set was no different. There was everything from giant mushrooms, a giant pink robot, a mega rainbow, and a huge neon unicorn used as props.

Canons on each side of the stage spewed confetti into the crowd while huge giant helium-filled balloons were thrown in the crowd. It was a jaw-dropping experience for everyone there. Coyne and his six musicians brought a sound as rich as their records, from folk strumming to prog beats, and lush, Mellotron-like symphonic harmonies. Somehow the music seemed secondary to the flash of the stage show.

Valerie June started the day with a set that seemed to be a homecoming for the artist. Born in Jackson, TN, she

moved to Memphis in 2000. She looks like a model out of the pages of Vogue and yet her voice and music takes you back to the roots music of Appalachia.

Before June played, New Orleans band, Tank and the Bangas delighted the gathering crowd with their jazzy, hip-hop, funk and anything else they wanted to deliver. Their energy was infectious and magnetic.

Luke Combs, Juicy J, MisterWives, Odesza, Love Light Orchestra were runners up and worthy honorable mentions for the best of the day. No matter which direction one went, Beale Street Music Festival brought some of the most talented and relevant artists available today.

 

 

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