Just as we’re warming to the idea of summers spent on the Overton Park Shell lawn, hearing the magic of live music wafting around us, the keepers of the legendary stage are already thinking about the fall. Of course, many of us are doing that, as we wonder, “When will it cool off again?” And luckily for us, the Shell will be there for us when the seasons bring the most idyllic circumstances for gathering under the sun and stars.
We’ve already hipped you to the week of celebrations marking the Shell’s 90th anniversary, with the brilliant Booker T. Jones playing on September 10th. Now the rest of the season can be revealed, and it’s a doozy. Most notable will be a Shell Yeah! fundraising concert on September 29th featuring the Indigo Girls, with opener Linda Perry. That duo’s viability for over 40 years pairs well with the historical tenacity of the Shell itself, and their appearance this fall is a refreshing reminder of the Shell’s commitment to those bugaboos of our age: diversity, equity, and inclusion. Most of all, their finely-wrought music is timeless.
Those are the ticketed marquee acts, and other events, like the Country Blues Festival, will be ticketed as well. But by and large, the rest of the music beginning this September will be, as always, absolutely free. Now get those lawn chairs and coolers ready. You still have all summer before you as time to practice having the perfect concert experience under the stars. Here’s the fall lineup:
Friday, September 4th: Metal Museum Metal Night ft. Karrot (Korn Tribute)
Saturday, September 5th: Memphis Powerpop Festival ft. The Smithereens, The Sonny Wilsons, Joybomb, and Your Academy
Friday, September 11th: 90th Birthday Picnic ft. Memphis Youth Symphony
Saturday, September 12th: Sounds of the Shell: 9 Decades of Delight, presented by David Less, with Memphis musicians paying homage to historic performers from the area
Sunday, September 13th: 90th Shellabration: The Gathering, ft. Evie McKinney, TN Mass Choir, and Princeton James Productions
Sunday, September 13th: The Memphis Studio Superset ft. Sam Phillips Recording Service Inc., Stax Records, Sun Studios, American Recording Studio, Royal Studios, and Unapologetic.
Thursday, September 17th: Jackie Venson
Friday, September 18th: Taz
Saturday, September 19th: Marvin Gaye Tribute ft. Larry Springfield
Friday, September 25th: Memphis Country Blues Festival
Saturday, September 26th: Hattiloo Theatre 20th Celebration
Sunday, September 27th: Gonerfest 23 Final Day
Friday, October 2nd: Drivin N Cryin
Saturday, October 3rd: Hispanic Heritage Celebration ft. Los Kumbia Brotherz, DJ Mala Leche, Horacio Méndez, and Danza Azteca Xochiquetzal
Saturday, October 10th: Opera Memphis
Sunday, October 11th: TN Shakespeare Company presents Love’s Labor’s Lost
