The full lineup is out for this year's Beale Street Music Festival, which takes place Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th at Tom Lee Park, with artists such as the Black Keys, the Roots, Hall & Oates, and the Black Crowes among the headliners.
Three-day passes for the festival are $85 and are available through April 21st. See MemphisinMay.org for more info.
The Line-Up:
Friday
FedEx Stage: Alice in Chains, Deftones, Yngwie Malmsteen, Don Trip.
Early Read: Ace local rapper Don Trip makes his BSMF debut, then things get heavy.
Bud Light Stage: Bassnectar, Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros, Mimosa, The Joy Formidable.
Early Read: Alternating alt-rock and electronics, but don't sleep on the opener, Welsh alt-rock power-trio the Joy Formidable, whose most recent album is appropriately titled The Big Roar.
Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent:Charles Bradley, Heritage Blues Orchestra, Louise Hoffsten, Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition.
Early Read: I saw soul man Charles Bradley a couple of years ago at Austin's South By Southwest Music Festival and can testify as to his live bona fides. Once a James Brown impersonator called “Black Velvet,” Bradley has more recently found an audience with his own music and should play well down in Soulsville.
Saturday
FedEx Stage: The Black Keys, Dwight Yoakam, Patti Smith, Cracker, Star & Micey. DJ Porter Robinson will spin a late-night set.
Early Read: As far as contemporary music, the Ohio-via-Nashville blues-rock duo the Black Keys might be the headliner of the whole festival, but I'm intrigued by the inclusion of proto-punk poet Patti Smith. She seems like an odd fit for BSMF, but one of my favorite fest performances ever was Sonic Youth, and they seemed like an odd fit too.
Bud Light Stage: The Roots, Gavin DeGraw, Big Boi, Pickwick,
Early Read: Hip-hop fans will want to camp out here for Outkast's Big Boi and America's house band, the Roots.
Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent: Coco Montoya, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Will Tucker, Zac Harmon, James “Superchikan” Johnson, Fuzzy Jeffries & the Kings of Memphis.
Early Read: California blues-man Zac Harmon has a nice Memphis history, his career launched by winning the top prize at the city's annual International Blues Challenge a decade ago.
Sunday
FedEx Stage: Smashing Pumpkins, Three Days Grace, Papa Roach, Public Enemy, Al Kapone.
Early Read: Back in high school, I saw Memphis rapper Al Kapone open for Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famers Public Enemy at the Mid-South Coliseum. It'll be like the Fear of a Black Planet Tour all over again to set off this stage.
Bud Light Stage: The Black Crowes, Lucero, Gary Clark Jr., Deer Tick, Kingston Springs
Early Read: This is a bluesy roots-rock murderer's row, but show up early for Rhode Island's Deer Tick, a Stonesy indie-rock band who might be a festival sleeper.
Horseshoe Casino Blues Tent:Royal Southern Brotherhood, Davy Knowles, Louise Hoffsten, The Slide Brothers, Barbara Blue.
Early Read: Southernmusic scions such as Devon Allman and Cyril Neville come together in the “super group” the Royal Southern Brotherhood.
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