Beale Street Music Festival — April 29, 2016 at Tom Lee Park
April 29, 2016
Neil Young & Promise of The Real
Tom Lee Park in Memphis
As we got up to head to Memphis, we unknowingly said goodbye to the great weather in Nashville. As we got closer to our destination, the rain came down pretty heavy for quite some time. Stopping in at one of our favorite bbq places before checking into to the hotel we started chatting with locals at the bar. To our luck we were talking to some folks who were headed to the Beale Street Music fest which they referred to as “Mud Fest”... uh oh. This was something we were not prepared for. We scrambled for the next hour and half in pursuit of Rain boots during Friday rush hour traffic! This took several stops and finally locating a Wal Mart - we found them! We reached our hotel with an hour to spare. We decided to take a brief nap before heading to Tom Lee Park where the festival. This decision saved us because the grounds were absolutely soaked. It started drizzling as we went through the security. Of course the one stage we were headed for is the furthest away. If you have never been to Tom Lee Park. It is situated right on Mississippi River. A very long a narrow park. We entered from North gate and sloshed our way to the southernmost stage. Looking at my boots I thought we need a drink! ;) Long drive, rain, traffic, scarnble for boots, hotel check in, long walk in the mud. This is the exact opposite of Nashville show with beautiful weather at an amphitheater Band comes on. Crowd roars. Guitars are turned on. It’s clear Neal is not going to an accoustic set. Neal starts getting feedback from his guitar and getting various sounds out of “old black”. Promise of The Real joins in on the feedback/drone that Neil has started.. this carries on for about 8 minutes beforethe familiar chords of “Down By The River” begins… the stretch out for almost 30 more minutes before getting to the end! A man standing next to me asked “what is he doing?!” With a very concerned look on his face. I replied exactly what I was thinking “He’s finding out who really came to see him” This a free for all festival and in the rain. All the baggage that goes with it is here. By the end of DBTR… a good ⅓ of of crowd had thinned out and we kept moving forward. Let it be known I don’t care for most extended guitar solos but I that love every damn note he plays. I love the irony of cinnamon girl and keep on rocking in the free world we’re played back to back near the end. Not as commonly played as one would think in recent years. Ended on Love & Only Love. We trudged back thru the park and into down town area to find post show drinks and food smiling all the way. Setlist: Down by the river, Country Home, Seed Justice, Mosanto Years, Western Hero, Out On The Weekend, Are There Anymore Cowboys?, Someday, Fuckin’ Up, Cinnamon Girl, Rockin’ In The Free World, Love & Only Love