High school football (and the marching band battles that go with it) are a big part of the culture of Memphis, and there are few rivalries bigger than Whitehaven High School and Fairley High School. Their game this year, played at J. P. Freeman Stadium because Whitehaven Stadium is being renovated, was a rare Saturday game and it drew a crowd as big as one might expect for a college game.The weather was perfect, the bands were great, and there were no fights.
One final perspective on the Sunflower festival, and then I’ll probably let it go. I want to also state that my point here is not to berate or destroy a blues festival, because after all, I am a blues fan. My goal is to get the festival organizers to understand that fans like us are the people who support this event, and we are not happy! We hope for a dialogue with them, but if they insist on proclaiming this past weekend’s fiasco as a “success” and continue planning for more of the same next year, then the Sunflower Blues and Gospel Festival is doomed.
The Sunflower festival’s decision to enclose a compound directly in front of the main stage for paying attendees opened old wounds related to issues of class and race in Clarksdale, as evidenced by graffiti left on the wall by festival-goers and local residents. One writer cleverly compares it to the Berlin Wall with Ronald Reagan’s famous words to Gorbachev “Mr. President, tear down this wall!” Given the fact that the area was almost completely empty while I was there other than festival staff and security, one can hope that this monstrosity will be gone next year.
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band play under the main stage in front of the empty chairs and tables at the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, 8/11/12
Despite almost perfect weather, this year’s Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival seemed extremely small compared to previous years, with only one stage of performances, and that blocked by a new fenced-in compound with tables and chairs presumably reserved for wealthy donors or paying ticket-holders. Since the compound was nearly-empty, performers got the dubious pleasure of performing to the empty tables in front of the stage, since the crowd was in the free area to the east closer to the Blues Museum.
Last Sunday, the blues singer Redd Velvet and I headed down to Central Bar-B-Que in Midtown Memphis to check out an outdoor performance by Memphis folk/rock artist Nancy Apple and her band. It was great food, great fun and great music. 7/8/12
Turtle Landing is a relatively recent waterfront bar and grill at Pearlington, MS 7/6/12
After the TBC Brass Band performed, an all-star band made up of members from various young New Orleans brass bands performed at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets, 7/4/12
The TBC (or To Be Continued) Brass Band has performed all over the country, and have been the subject of a documentary film called From The Mouthpiece On Back. But despite national and international acclaim and regular gigs at the Hot East Daiquiri Shop and the Blue Nile, they still take the time to perform at the legendary Canal and Bourbon Street corner where it all began. 7/4/12
