Beale Street Music Festival returns to Tom Lee Park this year, and The Daily Memphian’s Memphis in May festival guide series will provide you with the information you need to navigate the fest’s “return to the river.”

The big day is almost here, Memphis! Tomorrow, thousands will descend upon the newly renovated Tom Lee Park for Memphis in May’s Beale Street Music Festival. We shared some tips on parking and details on the fest’s clear bag policy earlier this week, and here are a few more things to know before you go. Plus, our Daily Memphian staffers offer their thoughts on don’t-miss musical acts.

The Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival, shown here in a file photo, is back at Tom Lee Park this year. (The Daily Memphian file)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This map shows where the three stages are in Tom Lee Park. (Courtesy MIM)

Where’s the music? Tom Lee Park has a fresh new look with native trees and landscaping, a playground (complete with a giant salamander!), sculptures and a Sunset Canopy. But most of the park’s new features will be closed off so the Music Fest masses don’t do too much damage. The three music stages will be in largely the same areas they have been in past year’s festivals at Tom Lee Park. If you need to see a bigger version of this map, go here. The only major change was the decision to move the Blues Tent.

Blues fans danced to authentic Memphis blues in the Blues Tent at the Beale Street Music Festival in 2019. This year, the Blues Stage will be in Handy Park. (Karen Pulfer Focht/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

You’ll find the blues on Beale: The Blues Tent is now the Memphis Tourism Blues on Beale Stage, and it’s in Handy Park. Entry is free this year, so you can see Blind Mississippi Morris, Los Lobos, The Reba Russell Band, Malaysia’s Azmel & Truly Asia and others without a Music Fest ticket. If you have a ticket though, you’ll get priority seating over free guests inside the Blue Stage area. Only three-day pass holders and VIP ticket holders will be allowed to move back and forth between Tom Lee Park and the Blues on Beale Stage.

Colony House will replace White Reaper on Saturday. (Courtesy MIM)

Schedule change: Garage punk band White Reaper will be replaced with surf rockers Colony House on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. on the Volkswagon Stage. White Reaper was forced to drop out after lead singer Tony Esposito broke his collarbone. 

Lock it up: Only clear bags (except for Camelbacks) will be allowed inside the festival, and there are size limits for different types of bags. But if you’d rather not lug everything around, you can rent a locker. Lockers may be rented by the day ($25) or for a full weekend ($60), and you can leave items there overnight. Locker rentals will also come with the option to pay a $10 cash deposit for use of a mobile charging pack throughout the weekend. You’ll get your $10 back when you return the charging pack. 

Beale Street Music Festival staple Island Noodles will be back this year. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

What to eat: You’ll find a list of food vendors (and their menus) in the Beale Street Music Festival app (available from the Apple App Store or on Google Play). But here are a few highlights: Fistful of Tacos will offer chicken tinga and bourbon pork tacos (plus vegetarian options). Peace Love Quesadillas will be serving Memphis barbecue chicken, chicken bacon ranch and vegan hummus quesadillas. You can get a pancake and chicken wrap from Coco Grub & Go. And the Chicken Mac truck will serve something called Drunken Chicken Mac, which sounds like the ultimate festival food. And as always, you’ll find Music Fest staples Pronto Pup and Island Noodles.

Julian DeBrower and Emily Tetrault took selfies at Beale Street Music Fest at Liberty Park on Apr. 30, 2022. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Where to take a selfie: Of course you can take a selfie anywhere, but look for the massive BSMF letters and a chalk wall (which you can also add your name to) for some fun to your backdrops. Another idea: Grab a pic in front of the BMW wrapped with the official Music Fest poster by Danny Broadway. If you take your pictures using the Beale Street Music Festival app, it’ll add a logo to the bottom.

Don’t forget to hydrate: Camelback hydration packs that hold 1.75 liters of water or less are allowed inside the park, and there will be two hydration stations available for refills. You can also bring one factory-sealed 20-ounce water bottle inside the park, and it may also be refilled there, too (which is a great way to avoid paying festival prices for water).

DON’T MISS THIS ON FRIDAY

Low Cut Connie, shown here at Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona, will play on Friday. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

Low Cut Connie, 6 p.m. Fans who show up early may be greeted by a pleasant surprise when they encounter this high-energy, piano-driven, R&B-drenched Philly rock and roll band. (There are a lot of rock bands; too few still roll.) Low Cut Connie is essentially singer/songwriter/piano man Adam Weiner and whoever is playing with him in any given moment. This is a gloriously grimy club band that’s managed to garner public endorsements from the likes of Barack Obama (making an appearance on the ex-Pres’s annual Spotify playlist) and Elton John. Worth the early arrival. — Chris Herrington 

PJ Morton, shown here at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April 2022, will perform at Music Fest on Friday night. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

PJ Morton, 7:25 p.m. If you live in Memphis and are a fan of R&B and/or gospel, you are very likely already a fan of PJ Morton. Memphis and the Mid-South lovesMorton and typically pack his shows out with enthusiasm. And for good reason. In addition to serving as the keyboardist for Maroon 5, Morton is a successful solo musician. Morton has been nominated for 19 Grammy Awards, winning four. He won his first Grammy in 2019 for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “How Deep Is Your Love,” which features R&B singer-songwriter YEBBA, a native of West Memphis. Morton has also taken home Grammys in the categories of “Best R&B Song,” “Best Gospel Album” and “Album Of The Year.” — Elle Perry

Nick Hexum of 311 performed at the Innings Festival in Tampa, Florida in March 2022. 311 will headline on Friday night at Music Fest. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

311, 11 p.m. Few bands encapsulate the 1990s stoner-inspired rap/rock/reggae fusion sound better than 311. The band reached commercial success in 1995 when their self-titled album — the one with “Down” and “All Mixed Up” — hit number 12 on the Billboard 200. I was 14 at the time, the prime demographic. My best friend and I were obsessed with the bleach blonde lead singer Nick Hexum, who, somehow at age 53 now, still looks as hot as he did back then. But I digress. I’ve seen 311 play many times (I’ve lost count) over the years, and I’ve found you can always rely on them to play all the songs you know all the words to. And isn’t that all we really want at Music Fest? Just something to sing along to while we hold our beer up in the air? — Bianca Phillips

SATURDAY MUST-SEE MUSIC

Phony Ppl will play on Saturday afternoon at Music Fest. (Courtesy MIM)

Phony Ppl, 3:20 p.m. Phony Ppl is a five-man Brooklyn-based band blending soul, hip-hop, R&B and funk. The band has performed previously with Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and fellow 2023 Beale Street Music Fest band, The Roots. You might’ve seen the band’s 2019 NPR Tiny Desk Concert, featuring Megan Thee Stallion performing on a great remix of their sound. This is a rare Memphis appearance for the band, so if this sounds like something you’d like to dance to, definitely check out this Music Fest appearance. For a small taste of what can you expect, give a listen to “One Man Band” and “Before You Get a Boyfriend” from the 2018 album “mo‘za-ik.,” and “Why iii Love The Moon.,” from the band’s 2015 album “Yesterday’s Tomorrow.” — Elle Perry

Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots performed at Clusterfest on June 21, 2019, in San Francisco. The Roots will headline Music Fest on Saturday night. (Ryan Myers/ imageSPACE/ MediaPunch/ AP file)

The Roots, 10 p.m. If they stick around long enough, upstarts can become an institution. So it is with the Roots, which first emerged out of Philadelphia in the mid-1990s as something new and a generation later somehow remain something singular: a great hip-hop band, all the way live. But one that is, well, rooted strongly in hip-hop’s beats-and-rhymes verities. Credit the co-leaders, drummer/resident genius Questlove and ferocious MC Black Thought. They haven’t given us a new album of original material in nearly a decade, but that’s ok. They were always a live act first. And, yeah sure, maybe you’ve seen them on “The Tonight Show.” — Herrington

SUNDAY SERENADES

Gary Clark Jr., shown at the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, will play MUsic Fest on Sunday. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

Gary Lee Clark Jr., 7 p.m. Is it rock? Is it blues? Is it R&B? Gary Clark Jr.’s music is all of that with some hip-hop thrown in for good measure. The Austin, Texas-based guitarist and singer fuses a little bit of everything — even some soul and rockabilly — into his sound. Over the years, he’s earned Grammys for Best Traditional R&B performance (2014 for “Please Come Home”) and Best Rock Song (2020 for “This Land”). Clark’s style seems apt for Sunday’s line-up, which offers a nice mix of Americana (think Lucinda Williams) and R&B (with Dru Hill). — Phillips

Alison Krauss, left, and Robert Plant performed at the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 28, 2023. The duo will headline Music Fest on Sunday. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP file)

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, 8:40 p.m. Two great voices that — predictably? Improbably? I dunno — go great together. His: British classic-rocker who made his legend wailing the blues over heavy-metal riffs in the 1970s. Hers: Appalachian thrush who became the great bluegrass beacon of the 1990s. Across the divide of generations, genres and continents they come together for … I guess we call it Americana now? Folk rock? How about just real pretty? Two deserving vocal legends blending their signature instruments on one stage. — Herrington

Here’s the full weekend lineup, and you can see times and days for each performance here.

Courtesy MIM

WEEKEND WEATHER

They don’t call it Memphis in Mud for nothing, folks. Rain is in the forecast all three days of Music Fest this year. Most of Friday’s rain is predicted earlier in the day (an 80% chance), but that goes down to 30% by the evening as the festival kicks off. Expect a high of 78 and a low of 68. 

On Saturday, pack a poncho and wear your rain boots. There’s only a 30% chance of storms, but the park will likely be muddy from Friday’s rain. Highs will be in the mid-80s with lows in the high-60s. You might want to bring a hoodie to wear when the sun sets.

There’s another 30% chance of rain on Sunday morning, but we’re looking at partly sunny skies for part of the day. Temperatures will range from the upper 60s to the mid-80s.

Kelsey Taylor waited in the rain for the Echosmith show to kick off during the 2019 Beale Street Music Festival on May 4, 2019, at Tom Lee Park. Expect rain again this year. (Jim Weber/Daily Memphian)

If you haven’t signed up for our month-long Memphis in May Festival Guide email series, do that here. We’ll be sending tips like these for all MIM festivities. Stay tuned for the next email on Wednesday, May 10 with ways to celebrate Memphis in May’s honored country of Malaysia.

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