He was in fine form and rocked the crowd. Sometimes, though, his songs were just a little sad — poignant even. But he’s still The Killer, so get outta the way.

…working …working …working …

Yes. I do like Umphrey’s McGee.

Because they are confused. I like that. I can relate to that.

Bands like them usually pull a few particular hardcore followers, and it was one of those I sought. (The crowd was actually pretty sparse for the Budweiser Stage, for how nice the weather is.)

I was looking for a tour rat, or at least a college kid writing down the setlist. What I found was my 18-year-old cousin Carter Watson, who confirmed what I had suspected as soon as I walked within earshot.

What was going on was pretty much improvised.

You can tell by the changing key centers, general sense of uncertainty, and causal glances among band members. But it sounded like a song.

Click here and you can see for yourself.

“They have kind of been playing ‘In the Kitchen,’ but it’s been going on for at least 20 minutes,” he said.

The jam heavy segments were interspersed with dynamic tempo changes, more melodic vocal sections and some lounge actish goofiness that, yes, reminds me of Phish. There I said it.

But it wasn’t the same bit, Anymore than George Carlin is the same bit as Lewis Black.
Not really even close.
There are just… similarities.

Most of the show was wound up pretty tightly.

It’s not everyone’s bag, but hey, what is?

I was impressed with both the technical virtuosity and multi-layered cohesiveness of the presentation.

See? I like stuff sometimes!

This might be it for me campers.
I’m thinking about bailing on Fergie and the Black Crows.

No offense intended to either.

I’m just about BSMFed out.

Thanks to everyone who helped this go so smoothly this year.

Cheers.

the contest for “who can have most women dance on stage with him.”

Usually that honor goes to a rapper.

I guess it doesn’t hurt if you play 10 or 12 shows.

Whatever, he still wins.

First you get an expert like Tony Thomas who has done it half a dozen times before for Jerry Lee Lewis. Here he reveals a few other tricks to keep on rockin’.

Just a few weeks ago rockabilly pioneer Billy Lee Riley had a hip replacement followed by multiple bypass surgery. If you know him, you’d know that wouldn’t stop him from making yet another BSMF appearance. He gives us the exclusive lowdown here.

Calvin Cooke of Detroit, has been called the “B.B. King of gospel steel guitar.” Well, make up your own label, he is one awesome practitioner of the steel guitar and here’s a sampling from his stint Sunday at the Tennessee Lottery Blues Tent.

I made it down pretty early because I wanted to catch Umphrey’s McGee. Last year I went to see them based solely on the fact that their 10-year-old debut album is entitled Greatest Hits: Volume 3.

That’s funny enough to merit 40 minutes of my time.
And I think I remember really liking it.

But I’m a battered and ill-cared for old robot, and I hadn’t heard them before or since, so I need to check again. I can’t accurately access that data at this time. Please wait…

I’m also rigging this old deck up with some Photoshop action, so imagery is imminent.

The weather is beautiful.

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So, it’s that time of the year again. Time to head down to Tom Lee Park for some music, mayhem and misdemeanors ( … OK, so we here at The Commercial Appeal don’t condone any sort of illegal behavior, but it happens).

We’re in the process of getting some new content on the site for your perusal as you get excited for Music Fest. You’ll notice a few changes this year. First on the list that you’ll see is the AppealTV player located to the right of your screen (assuming, of course, you’re viewing the homepage of our MiM coverage). The staff at AppealTV has been at Memphis in May events for the past two years, so they’ve got things down to a science. Be sure to check back for set-up videos later this week and definitely for their coverage of the ‘Fest of Music this weekend.

For your scheduling purposes, we’ve gone ahead and posted the lineup here. Each band has an individual page with photos, Web sites and information.

This weekend, Michael Donahue will be audio blogging from Music Fest. We also have a plethora of text bloggers who will be keeping you up-to-date on the goings-on.

With all that’s going on, make sure to have a safe and fun weekend.

P.S. If you’ve got photos of your weekend, make sure to send them to our Flickr account (flickr@commercialappeal.com).

After showing off the camera all weekend, the power button on it’s stuck! Stupid karma…

Anywho, here’s some photos that I did manage to get off the camera before it went kaput.

Ann Peebles

Guster

Barenaked Ladies