The Roots cancelled. Ben Folds, too.
It rained and rained.
You couldn’t have kept me at My Chemical Romance if both my legs were broken. But I still had a blast. I spent most of my time shooting dumb little videos you can see here:
But here’s some pics, too.
Robert ‘Wolfman’ Belfour was at the Shack but not much was going on. The rain had depleted the crowd and there was some technical thing holding up the entertainment. Except that his drummer just got the urge and pounded the skins for a while to the delight of the quite small audience. Here’s what it looked like.
Well that was pretty cool, just looking over and seeing Charlie Musselwhite backstage shooting the breeze with Keb ‘Mo’ before they went on. Lil Ed who has just finished his set came around and the three joked around and got some picture taking done. It was just minutes later when the downpour began — well, one of many during the day — and suddenly the Blues Tent was the most popular place around. Maybe some of the crowd who wouldn’t have thought to go in had their minds changed when Musselwhite started his set with some no-nonsense blues. Here’s how it played out.
Internet, let me tell you what’s awesome: Slinking into a steamy tent that’s throbbing, old-timey revival style, and watching a man named Super Chikan and his trio of bluesy ladies jam on their bedazzled git-ars and diddly-bos just enough to get the crowd all worked up into a clapping, hip-shaking frenzy before dinner time.
Oh, Memphis. How I love you.
I’ve been mucking my way through the park all evening — yes, mucking, because that’s what you do when the ground is the consistency of melting ice cream — and snapping as many pictures as possible between downpours. Downpours, plural. Have you heard? It’s been raining a little bit down here at Tom Lee. But most everyone’s got galoshes and ponchos and umbrellas and beer.
So I think the kids are all right.
The opening acts were delayed about a half-hour and their set times truncated due to a wind advisory, according to a stage manager I just spoke to. Now the trains are all running on time, and the sky is clearing. As the stage manager pointed out, rain they can deal with, but you can’t mess with wind and lightning.
Amy LaVere and her bandmates, Steve Selvidge and Paul Taylor were called for a sound check at 2 p.m. By 5:30, they were still waiting thanks to the weather. Just before their set, they went into c’est la vie mode: Amy before the set
Right toward the end of the first round of acts, a nice shower has started here at the park, so I figured it was time for the first post.
Super Chikan & the Fighting Cocks opened up the blues tent, with lead man James Johnson’s tasty guitar licks riding high over the shuffling groove of his three-woman band. The Clarksdale native and New Orleans habitue lives up to his name with an unorthodox “chicken-pickin’” technique that uses his thumb and forefinger to make the strings pop and the notes crackle. He ranged from clean, Albert King-style lines to overdriven and wah-pedal-flavored passages in the Jimi Hendrix vein as his guitar kept a constant dialogue with a rollicking barrelhouse piano over the driving beat (provided by Super Chikan’s drummer daughter). “Somebody shoot that thang” indeed! Super Chikan’s appearance hadn’t been announced in listings I had seen, so he might have been a fill-in, perhaps for the scheduled Lurrie Bell.
As the Tennessee Lottery Blues Tent filled up, I headed to the Sam’s Town Stage for a few songs by red-hot rootsy singer-songwriter Amy LaVere, and her crack sidemen Paul Taylor and Steve Selvidge. I confess I hadn’t caught her most recent act until this evening, but I was impressed. Her songs carry enough melodic and lyrical weight that Taylor and Selvidge can subtly fill in the the framework of the composition, with the music sounding as complete on a huge festival stage as in a coffeehouse.
After that, I was off to catch “aristo-crunk” superstars-in-waiting Lord T. & Eloise, who are looking forward to their slot at next month’s Bonnaroo festival. They’re also gearing up for the release of their new album at the end of June. I’m about to try to catch up with the boys for a backstage interview. Check back in a few!
How did James ‘Super Chickan’ Johnson get his name? And what is his plan for the weather (which has apparently worked)? Find out here.
It looks like the skies might just start clearing up before music starts at 6 this evening. John Beifuss has a detailed forecast, with variables included, just below. Meanwhile, a blogger named Memphis Tider points out that Jonny Lang (9:10-10:15 on the Sam’s Town Stage) has the perfect opening tune in case the inclement weather carries on.
Twenty four hours before showtime, it’s kinda desolate at Tom Lee Park. Everybody is saving their strength for a Friday that has the potential to rock out in all directions — although those pesky t-storms might have a say. Here’s what it looked like Thursday evening… Music fest eve
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