“Elvis Is Dead.” That’s a signature song of Living Colour, one of the bands that performed Saturday at the 2023 Beale Street Music Festival. But if the so-called King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is, in fact, deceased, rock ‘n’ roll is alive and kicking, as are funk, hip-hop and the blues — all of which were in full effect on Day 2 of the festival.
Here is a look at some of Saturday’s highlights.
Living Colour
I have seen a lot of live music in Memphis, but until Saturday night I never had seen a crowd of a couple thousand music fans in Memphis chanting the words: “Elvis is dead! Elvis is dead!”
The unusual sound and sight was perhaps not unexpected, considering that the four-member band on the Volkswagen Stage in Tom Lee Park at the time was Living Colour, which since its formation in 1984 has been known for its unusual composition (it is that relative rarity, a rock/metal group of Black musicians) and its provocative compositions (its songs are often political).
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Among those compositions is Living Colour’s famous (some would say infamous) 1990 song “Elvis Is Dead,” which bemoans the postmortem exploitation of Elvis while also seeking to place the singer within the context of the Black pioneers who also were “kings” of rock ‘n’ roll (the song’s original recording features a rap by Little Richard).
“Can we talk about Elvis?” lead singer Corey Glover teased, by way of introducing the song. “The giant blue suede shoe elephant in the room, can we talk about that? ‘Cause you know he’s dead.” If some in the crowd did, in fact, seem somewhat “nervous” at this line of inquiry, as lead guitarist Vernon Reid suggested, Glover nonetheless had at least several hundred people in the King’s hometown singing along to the chorus: “Elvis is dead.”
Was this a first for Memphis? I don’t know; Living Colour hasn’t played here often (The Commercial Appeal files list only a 1993 date at the old Memphis State Fieldhouse, a show I missed). In any case, the Elvis song was only one highlight in a brawny set that included an abbreviated rendition of “Hound Dog” (Glover swiveling his hips as if to suggest “no hard feelings”); a cover of Talking Heads’ “Memories Can’t Wait”; and plenty of showcases for Reid’s guitar pyrotechnics and Glover’s strenuous yet playful vocals, which could switch from screeching to scatting within a single chorus. And those choruses usually contained a message as well as a hook: “I call this place my home/You call this place a slum,” Glover sang, in “Open Letter (to a Landlord).”
— John Beifuss
GloRilla
As GloRilla’s dancers strutted on stage from under a giant inflatable gorilla, the packed crowd screamed for the Memphis rapper to come out.
“On the gang” blared through the speakers and GloRilla, dressed in a bejeweled gold two-piece, walked onto stage to open her set with her hit song “Blessed” at the Bud Light Stage on Saturday night at Beale Street Music Festival — her first-ever set at the fest.
The crowd screamed as fans jumped — and some twerked — as “he got 99 problems, and the biggest one is me” reverberated throughout the area.
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Of all the artists playing the festival Saturday, GloRilla’s set was not one to miss. Her stage presence captivated the crowd as she sang songs off of her album “Anyways, Life’s Great…” including “No More Love,” “PHATNALL,” “Unh Unh,” “Get That Money” and her Top 10 Billboard record, “Tomorrow 2.”
While she had Moneybagg Yo pop on stage for a couple songs, GloRilla was clearly the star of the show.
She closed her set with her hit song “F.N.F. (Let’s go),” and even as she left the stage, fans were still dancing and singing along.
— Dima Amro
Sleep Theory
Bass blasted through the speakers at the Volkswagen Stage Saturday afternoon as Memphis-band Sleep Theory performed its latest release, “Numb (Reimagined).”
About 120 fans bopped their heads to their songs and waved their hands in the air. The band plays a mix of metal, rock, pop and R&B.
Lead singer Cullen Moore’s raspy voice held notes that radiated through Tom Lee Park as he performed their songs “Enough,” “Best You’ve Ever Had” and a cover of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” which was a special for the festival as the cover is not online.
“This is our first show and we want to thank Memphis in May for putting us on,” Moore said to the crowd. “This has been something we’ve been preparing for for such a long time.”
— Dima Amro
Big Boogie
Even if you did not attend Big Boogie’s performance at Beale Street Music Fest, you could definitely hear him and feel the bass throughout the park as he performed a 30-minute set.
Although his set began 40 minutes late, the crowd members jumped and moved their heads with enthusiasm to his songs including “Big Dude,” “Thuggin” and “FWM.”
Big Boogie had the crowd swaying left and right with their hands in the air moving to the beat.
The Memphis-raised rapper also brought out Fredo Bang to perform “Say Please,” which riled up the crowd to more screams and chants.
His set might have been cut short, but it was a performance worth watching.
— Dima Amro
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Cameo
Squelchy ’70s funk alternated with grown-folk slow jams when the veteran party band Cameo occupied the Bud Light Stage early Saturday evening, providing an authentic old-school buffer to the young Memphis hip-hop acts — Big Boogie and Finesse2Tymes — that preceded and followed the group.
The large, appreciative audience responded by turning several spaces in front of the stage into impromptu dance floors, complete with spontaneous synchronized outbreaks of “the Electric Slide.” In contrast, veteran lead singer Larry Blackmon remained seated throughout the show; yet he still managed to command the band like a ringleader, his signature flattop fade suggesting a sort of funky crown. Meanwhile, founding bass player Aaron Mills wore a literal crown (who needs Charles III when you’ve got Cameo?), along with a cape and a kilt with a front “apron” that resembled a large dangling padlock, like some sort of comical male version of a chastity belt.
The 11-piece ensemble — which included a musician on that uber-funky instrument, the worn-on-a-strap-around-the-neck-synthesizer-keyboard, or “keytar” — ended its lengthy set with its biggest hit, “Word Up!,” from 1986. “Memphis, we love you, we love you, we love you — for 40 years!” exclaimed Blackmon, who seemed like he already was planning to return for Memphis in May 2063.
— John Beifuss
The Roots
“We have tuba.” That’s the thought (well, one of ’em) that went through my head Saturday night when the Roots took the Bud Light Stage at just before 11 p.m., about an hour past their scheduled start time. (The delay was not The Roots’ fault; the stage got behind schedule early in the evening.)
Not just tuba (an unusual sight at the Beale Street Music Festival) but trumpet and saxophone. The horns — andwho doesn’t enjoy the baritone oompa-oompa of a tuba? — gave the music produced by this 10-member Philadelphia ensemble something of a New Orleans festival feel. But the band — together since 1987 — was almost encyclopedic in its grasp, encompassing not just Philly soul and Big Easy brass but funk, rock and, of course, its designated commercial category, hip-hop. That combination of versatility and personality is one reason The Roots were able to achieve mainstream fame not on record but on television, as the house band for Jimmy Fallon’s late-night talk shows.
Fronted by the rapper Tariq Trotter, better known as Black Thought, and co-led by drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (in this case, the drummer is much more famous than the primary vocalist, thanks to Questlove’s many book, movie and ad projects), the band kept up an almost nonstop party pace Saturday night, paying homage to predecessors and contemporaries along the way. An early cover of “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & the Gang established a happy vibe (and gave the horns a workout); later, Black Thought rapped some verses from De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High,” to pay homage to Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, the De La Soul co-founder who died Feb. 12 at 54.
— John Beifuss
