This past Saturday I found myself in a new (to me) part of Memphis, TN. I have talked about my love of Memphis on the blog before, and this time I was given tickets with my dad to go to the MEMPHO Music Festival at Shelby Farms Park.
Today, I wanted to run through some of the acts I saw the festival. Soon, I will also publish a more in-depth look at what to expect when you go as well as a few more pictures from my time at Shelby Farms Park!
Let's focus on the musical acts I saw Saturday.
Note: These images have been condensed a bit for your viewing pleasure. I am sure you don't want to see all the full-sized versions because this post might take forever to load. I have them, though, so if you want them, I can provide you the more high-res versions of these images. Contact me for more information about high-res photos.
Second Note: There were two days of the festival, but I only went to one. I could have gone to Sunday, but I left early due to some personal health issues. I have seen pictures from Sunday's events, and they were just as great as Saturdays.
Talibah Safiya
The first act we saw was Talibah Safiya. I had never heard of her before she was announced on the MEMPHO Festival lineup. I absolutely loved her set, though. She had a straightforward stage setup, but the music was the star of this show. Talibah has a beautiful voice, and I will be watching her to see what other music she puts out. If you like artists like Erykah Badu or India Arie, you will love her sound!
Also, Talibah did a beautiful cover of MGMT's “Electric Feel,” that everyone and their mother needs to hear.
Boo Mitchell and The Kings
After Talibah's set ended we headed over to the other stage to catch some of the Boo Mitchell and The Kings set. This group was more like a rap/pop fusion, and they had a nice crowd of people excited to see them perform. Again, I had never heard of this group before I saw them on the festival lineup, but it was cool to see them perform at the festival. I always love to see new (to me) artists when I attend music festivals.
Cory Branan
I would describe Cory Branan as a mix between country and rock, or Southern Rock if you will. I was a bit out of my element watching his set, but overall, I enjoyed seeing him perform. His set was quite simple, as the focus was mainly him singing and playing guitar. At one point, he was the only one on stage. If you like how country and rock and roll can morph together, you will love listening to him!
Lucero
So, if you live in my region, this may be a shocker, but I have never heard a single song from Lucero until this past Saturday. I have heard of them, for sure, but I had never actually listened to any of their music before. They have been described as a mix between soul, rock, and country and I can attest to that after seeing their set on Saturday. I am excited to say that I have officially heard a Lucero song and been to a Lucero show now!
Milky Chance
Going into the Milky Chance set, I knew a song or two from the band. I know you have probably heard their song “Stolen Dance,” right? Well, that's the knowledge of the group I had up until the set. I loved listening to their set, though. They had a good stage presence, and many of their songs had a similar feel to “Stolen Dance.” Plus, at the end of the set, they played Stolen Dance, and it was amaze.
Janelle Monáe
Don't hate me for this, but up until this set, I only knew a handful of Janelle Monáe songs. I knew songs like “Tightrope,” “Yoga,” her song “We Are Young,” with fun., but that was about it. After watching her perform, I was in awe of her stage presence. She performed at golden hour so honestly, I could do an entire post dedicated to amazing pictures of her performance, but I will leave you with these five for now.
After watching her entire set, I can say, you need to see this woman perform at some point in your life! She was amazing and honestly the best show I saw that night.
Phoenix
After Janelle Monáe's performance, Phoenix came on shortly after. Again, I only know a handful of Phoenix songs, but it was cool to watch them perform songs like “Lisztomania,” live. We didn't stay at this set long, because of the next set we watched, but it was so fun to see them perform for the half set we watched! Plus, I loved their stage lighting.
Juicy J and Project Pat
After we left Phoenix, we went to see the set we had to see of the night. I am not a huge fan of Juicy J and Project Pat, but my dad has listened to them for a long time, and I knew he would get a kick out of seeing them live at the festival, so it was a must-see show.
If you grew up in and around Memphis, you would have to know Juicy J and Project Pat. For the first part of the show Project Pat performed some of his hits like “Raised In The Projects,” “Gorilla Pimp,” and “Chickenhead.” After Project Pat's half of the set, there was a brief intermission while they set up Juicy J's set. During his set, Juicy J performed some songs from his Three 6 Mafia days as well as some of his contemporary hits like “Bandz A Make Her Dance.”
These two are a Memphis institution, so it was pretty cool being able to see them live.
Beck
Last, but not least, we saw Beck live to round out the weekend. As you might imagine, he was the headline for the last to perform and he had a great stage presence. He played songs like “Loser,” and “Devils Haircut,” as well as tracks from more recent Beck albums. I haven't listened to every Beck song in existence, but I was still so excited to see him live.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a quick rundown sharing some photos and my thoughts on some of the acts I saw at Mempho this year. I will be sharing another MEMPHO post soon where I got more in-depth about the event, the vendors, and how to prepare for the festival when it comes to Memphis in 2019. I will also share more photos from MEMPHO 2018 in that post. If you are interested in even more photo coverage, be sure to join me for that one soon!
Check out this quick playlist I made on Spotify to showcase my MEMPHO Music Festival Experience:
