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Notice the No Parking sign in the water.

When asked if I wanted to go to Tennessee to attend the Beale Street Music Festival I didn’t know I was going to be seeing history take place in front of me.  On the drive from Saint Louis, Missouri following the Mississippi River down to Memphis, Tennessee, I saw record breaking flooding.  The whole area hadn’t seen this kind of flooding since 1937.  It was disheartening and a bit too real to watch people put up sandbags along the highway to protect it as I drove by, whole soccer fields under 5 feet of water, and train tracks leading into flooded lakes that use to be fields.  There was even a warning issued by the Civil Defense Warning System.  They haven’t put out a warning in the area in over 40 years.  Most people didn’t even know they still existed.  On the way down to the festival there was a constant threat of whether the Beale Street Music Festival was going to be canceled because of the flooding (since it takes place on the banks of the Mississippi River).  My whole trip could be for nothing.  Meanwhile the US Army Corp of Engineers was floating down the Mississippi River on a barge to blow up a levee to save Memphis from severe flooding.  Even with Missouri’s state attorney general making an appeal to the Supreme Court to not blow up the levee, the US Army Corp of Engineers kept floating down the river. His last ditch effort was denied in the end and they blew up the levee and in turn flooding occurred for 90 homes and farm land.

34oz mug at Lambert's Cafe.

Throwed Rolls @ Lambert’s
I couldn’t help but wonder of my own safety, but I’d been looking forward to the Beale Street Music Festival for months! So, this is my recollection of the events.  On the road, one might wonder where are the best stops between St. Louis and Memphis?  Well, every 5 miles you see the answer on a billboard, Lambert’s Café – The Only Home of Throwed Rolls.  This restaurant is larger than life.  From its size, it looks more like you are walking into a Sam’s Club rather than a family restaurant.  They have motorcycle parking and plenty of tour bus parking because they get every kind of customer in mass quantities.  The concept of Lambert’s Café is that no one leaves hungry.  Once you sit down you start to notice this is not your usual mom and pop restaurant.  They toss hot, delicious, freshly made rolls (still in their tins) to customers who have their hands up.  My mom always told me not to throw food but after a few minutes in Lambert’s you get into it.  It’s fun!  They go on to amuse you by delivering your beverage in an over-sized 34oz insulated plastic mug.  I don’t know who needs this large of a mug or who could drink all of it but that is the point. You‘re not leaving hungry or thirsty from this hot spot.  Even before you’ve ordered your food, they start bringing around sides of apple butter, fried okra, and beans.  You still have no plate at this point so what to do?  You break off piece of paper towel from your extra large roll places on your table and viola, instant plate.  Your meal comes with two sides but don’t forget there are still five other sides they walk around and pass out to anyone who wants it.  Aside from the rolls, I think the restaurant’s crowd-pleaser is fried potatoes and onions because every time that came out of the kitchen it would be gone before it reached our table.  No problem -  I told our server and three minutes later he brought us our own steaming plate of fried potatoes and onions.  You can’t beat the service at Lambert’s! Everyone helps to serve and please you.  Lambert’s mission was accomplished I walked out full from my frog legs and all their sides.

Washing off muddy flip flop feet.

The Beale Street Music Festival Low Down
We checked into our hotel and walked down to the Beale Street Music Festival. The line getting in to the festival was 15 minutes (unnecessarily) long.  There was no reason for it, other than people not being prepared when they got to the ticket scanning area and security check point.  There are a lot of rules for what you could and could not bring in with you.  Two minutes into the Festival I realized these rules were not in place and the next day I could bring in anything I wanted.  People had their own beverages, containers, small coolers, glass bottles, pets and strollers all of which were listed on their website as objects you can not bring in.

Festival Setup
Once inside the festival we headed over to the stage Jerry Lee Lewis was going to perform on.  Walking through the festival I quickly learned that the location for this festival was not great because it forced a linear setup.  The best music festivals usually have a circular setup so you can get to all of the stages quickly.  With a linear setup we had to plan our stage visits strategically because walking back and forth between them could take you ten or fifteen minutes working your way through the crowd.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis’s daughter came on stage to play and she was beautiful.  But it made everyone wonder, “What happened to Jerry Lee Lewis? Was he still coming out or was she taking his place?”  A few songs later we got our answer when the crowd started cheering as Jerry Lee Lewis walked out onto stage and took his place at his grand piano.  He was amazing! I can’t believe he still plays and plays so well.  He truly is a Memphis icon.
Mumford and Sons
Mumford and Sons took the stage right after Jerry Lee Lewis.  Since I already had taken my place in the crowd for Jerry Lee Lewis I was close to the stage for this four man band from London.  Most people in America know them from their song, “The Cave”, so I was excited to hear more of their music.  They have an old-time sound with a new hipster type of flare.  I liked their music a lot but after a few songs I noticed that much of  their music sound the same and blurred together.

Stay Put
Macy Gray was performing at the same time as Mumford and Son.  I’ve always loved Macy Gray even before people knew her for her first successful song, “I Try.” After 30 min of Mumford and Son I decided to try to catch Macy Gray.  She was three stages away.  By the time I made my way through the crowd I reached her just as she was finishing up her last song.  Note to self: pick an artist and stay at it because you won’t be able to catch two artists that are performing at the same time in the linear setup that they had at this festival.

Communication at the Festival – Cell Towers and Your Cell Phone

I was going to leave my friend at Mumford & Son and go see Macy Gray by myself but he insisted on coming with me.  It’s a good thing he came because as we found out later in the day all cell phones are jammed from the amount of people trying to use the cell towers in our one congested area.  Once we figured that out we made a meeting point in case we were to get separated from one another.  It’s funny how less than ten years ago I didn’t even have a cell phone and you always made a rendezvous point when you would go somewhere.  Now it seems like it takes so much effort for something that use to be so simple.  If I was ever going to go to this festival again I’m making a point of buy long range walkie-talkies so I can separate, still communicate, and be able to link back up with my friends.  My rule of thumb has always been if you can’t get someone on the phone in a congested area to text them because those eventually get through.  I tested my theory out here and it took 45 minuets for my friend to receive my text!

Ludacris

A Greedy Crowd and a Greedy Festival
We took a rest for a little bit and then went to take our place for at Cee Lo Green’s performance.  To our surprise the person who walked out onto stage was Ludacris and the crowd started chanting, “LUDA!” The performances of Cee Lo Green and Ludacris had been switched, which was a nice surprise.  I really didn’t care to see Cee Lo but he was the best choice at the time.

A few minutes into his performance the crowd became very selfish.  Everyone wanted to get to the front.  Everyone in the front was trying to move back.  There was a constant flow of traffic moving back and forth.  I was standing by the fence into the VIP area and people were getting ruthless trying to get upfront and going between me and the fence I was leaning on.  I’d inform them that they are not getting through that way and that there was a fence there but they would always say one of three things. “My ride is up there”, “My boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance is RIGHT THERE”, or my favorite “My friends are over there” as they pointed to the VIP section their friends were clearly not in.  I’d have more respect for someone if they just said what we all know they were trying to do which was get to the front.  I keep telling them they can’t get through this way and they had to go around me.  No one liked that answer but I stayed firm on this.

It was clear after spending an entire performance being pushed and shoved (and I wasn’t even in the front) that this festival was greedy.  They allowed way more people in than was safe for the public.  They also did not set up emergency lanes, which they easily could have done, along the side fences of the Mississippi River.  People were pushing their way through the crowd to get to emergency personal for injured friends but could barely make progress through the crowd.  People wouldn’t even let the four groups of EMT’s that passed by me through.  I don’t know how many other times the EMT’s were called out to other parts of the crowd but I can only assume it was A LOT.  Even those who were blinded by the blood dripping down their face couldn’t get through.  At the time I thought everyone was trying to get close because they wanted to be center stage for when Ke$ha took center stage next but I was wrong. All the commotion was being created for Ludicruis himself.  Even with all the pushing and shoving and yelling at people I still tried to enjoy myself.

Ke$ha

A Misbehaved Crowd is Not Going to Get Me Down

After Ludicruis the crowd thinned out a little bit only to bulk right up again for Ke$ha.  I’m pretty sure Ke$ha thought she was at the county fair because her stage setup was atrocious.  She had color changing lights in the shape of a diamond in the center of the stage.  It looked really cheap and tacky.  Most of her singing took place inside of the diamond.  She did several wardrobe changes which I thought was pretty funny because she was the only artist at the whole festival I saw do this.  In the end it made sense: she was trying to draw attention away from her unreleased songs because they lack imaginative content such as, “Dinosaur.”  I’m so happy I heard that song because it was our on going joke for the whole trip.  I almost felt sad for her that she agreed to sing it!  I think the rest of the crowd was thinking what I was thinking because while that song played 40% of the crowd left.  That is when I noticed it was empty at the front of the stage and I walked straight up there with no pushing or shoving.

I will say this: at least Ke$ha tried to put on a show for the crowd with her lights, wardrobe changes, and confetti guns.  I don’t know who doesn’t love confetti guns..cause I sure do!!  The only down fall was that we were right on the banks of the Mississippi River and I found it inappropriate to be tossing confetti out into the sky because I’m sure a good majority of it made it into the river by nights end.

Trash in the Mississippi River

Environmental Impact
I came to the festival in a red shirt saying “Stop Global Warming” that I had gotten from a Greenpeace rally I had stumbled upon on the steps of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial as I was riding my bike past.  I never really thought about how my mind has changed over the years and how I have become more eco conscious until I was walking out of the festival.  All I saw was trash everywhere and no good barriers blocking it from the Mississippi River.  When I had originally walked into the festival I was a little bothered by all the over flowing trash and recycling receptacles I saw.  I was even more bothered by it after seeing all the trash on the ground at the end of the night.  I bet most people just threw it on the ground because they thought why bother?, all the cans are full.  The festival really should have had more employees collecting trash and recyclables throughout the day to help protect our Mighty Mississippi.

Beale Street in Memphis, TN

Elvis impersonator

Beale Street
The festival is over and everyone has the same idea, head over to Beale Street.  It’s like New Orleans’s Bourbon Street.  The street is closed down to cars, there are bars everywhere, and everyone is drinking on the street.  It’s like a big party running a couple blocks long.  Wet Willie’s makes frozen drinks with such names as “Call a Cab” and “Attitude Improvement” because they pack a powerful punch.  My favorite thing on Beale Street was all the Elvis Impersonators inside the bars.  You know all his songs and it’s entertaining, especially, if you get a good one who has wardrobe changes.  The impersonators were a great distraction for the following day as we waiting for the tornado warning to pass and the festival to open up again.

Peabody Hotel Fountain

Peabody Hotel Rooftop

Peabody Ducks

While in Memphis don’t forget to see the famous Peabody ducks.  In 1932 Peabody Hotel workers returned from a hunting trip and put their live duck decoys in the Peabody Fountain.  When they awoke they noticed the ducks had drawn a crowd and the ducks hadn’t left the fountain. Afterward they figured this would be an excellent way to bring in quests.  Now you can watch the Peabody ducks come down from their rooftop house, down the elevator and into the lobby where they march into the fountain.

Graceland

Visiting the King’s House – Graceland
While in Memphis there is one place everyone must visit, GRACELAND! Graceland is the home of, Elvis Presley, The King of Rock and Roll.  I thought I was going to go, get a quick tour of the house, and get out of there.  Boy was I wrong!  They have turned his house into a huge attraction.  They have a separate museum for all of Elvis’ cars, and even have two of his airplanes on the premises.  There’s a full size airplane and smaller private jet.  If you take your time going through his house and spend time in all of the little museums they have showcasing his awards and costumes – expect to spend three to four hours there.  I’ve always wanted to visit, so I enjoyed every minute of it.

After four days in Memphis it was time to go back to Saint Louis.  The water did  not reach Tom Lee Park (where the festival took place) while I was there but the week following it was completely flooded.  While I was there the river was much higher than it was suppose to be, but I must say I am glad it didn’t disrupt the Beale Street Music Festival.