Post by Kari on May 6, 2006 2:23:21 GMT -5
We're not sure if the song was "Trees" here: Lovehammers' lead singer Marty Casey performs from the AutoZone Stage. Puddle of Mudd was to follow a few hours later to a mostly "just damp" Tom Lee grounds.
May 6, 2006
There was plenty of the blues at the Beale Street Music Festival, but, for a change, the weather didn't inspire it.
"We left our hiking boots in the car this time," said Megan Grimes, who drove from Tupelo, Miss., to catch one of her favorite live bands, Puddle of Mudd.
Grimes' friend, Brianna Stafford, said they came to the festival a few years ago to see the same act. "They got rained out, and their speakers blew off the stage. They had to shut the park."
By late afternoon, most music fans wouldn't have suspected that Memphis in May International Festival officials had hired Serve Pro, a company specializing in flood and disaster cleanup, to literally vacuum Tom Lee Park at 9 a.m. Friday. "There was standing water" because heavy rains earlier in the week drenched the festival site, said MIM executive vice president Diane Hampton. By the time gates opened at 5 p.m., the park was still damp, but dry enough to walk from stage to stage with no risk of setting sail.
Hampton said pre-sold ticket sales are off about 10 percent this year, but sales last year were up about 10 percent. So, she said, "We may be back to about normal this year."
Weather was the last thing on the minds of most music fans. Steve DeRivera, 51, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said he has been to the festival for six of the last seven years. An early arrival, he took his choice of seats in the blues tent and was getting ready for a night of Billy Gibson, Duwayne Burnside, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers.
His friends, Rick Vossen and wife, Sue, have been to the last three festivals and said this year's lineup made it hard for them to figure out which stages they preferred. "There's something for everybody except opera," said Sue. Rick planned to catch the first two blues acts, then listen to Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, then head back to the other end of the park to hear king of the blues B.B. King, who celebrated his 80th birthday last year. "I like the older acts in the lineup. Some of the older musicians may not be back again," he said.
The theme of this year's festival is the music that made Memphis famous, namely blues and rock, with seven Rock and Roll Hall of Fame winners on the Friday-to-Sunday bill.
Computer systems programmers Jason and Angela Daley of Fayetteville, Ark., liked the lineup, but thought it was weaker on the last two nights. "I don't think they should totally sell out to pop culture," he said of the emphasis on vintage acts. He came primarily to see Marty Casey & the Lovehammers, a runnerup in last year's "Rockstar: INXS" competition. "Had it not been for that, we would not have driven five and a half hours to get here."
For some fans, music knows no generation gap: "I'm excited about seeing B.B. King, Three 6 Mafia, John Lee Hooker (Jr.) and Bo Diddley," said Zachariah Marcyniuk, 26, a student who drove in from Fayetteville to sample almost every stage in the park.
His friend, Chris Dooley, 29, said that diversity is one of the festival's best attractions. "But really, I'm here just for the atmosphere."
The food tents throughout the park blended the aromas of barbecue, Pronto Pups, Chinese food and gyros, and looked like part of the midway at the Mid-South Fair.
Even John Deere, the tractor and lawnmower manufacturer, got into the act. The company rented a 60- by 100-foot space to set up a track where music fans could test-drive the company's new product line. "They do have to sign a waiver that they're not driving intoxicated," said tour manager Steve Goins.
Lyman Aldrich, former Memphis in May International president, was happy to see legendary bluesman B.B. King as a headliner at the festival. "B.B. was the headline at the first MIM Beale Street Musical Festival on May 14, 1977.
"We blocked off Beale and Third, and B.B. came on about midnight and played to about 6,500, half white, half black. It was nine years after the riots (after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and this was probably the first attempt at having an event like this. It was quite a happening!"
-- Michael Lollar: 529-2793
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For today's lineup of bands and more visit our Beale Street Music Fest blog.
