Fighting the Power with @PublicEnemyFTP @MrChuckD @FlavaFlav at @BealeStMusicFes #BSMF13

I had seen Public Enemy live in Austin last month at SXSW, but their Sunday afternoon appearance at the Beale Street Music Festival was a far more boisterous and exuberant affair than the Texas show, at which Flava Flav was absent. Public Enemy’s bass player is from Memphis, so his extended family was backstage, peeking out from time to time, and Chuck D eventually broke it all the way down to a rap accompanied only by his incredibly-funky drummer. During the course of the show, Flava Flav played both the bass and the drums, and PE managed to get in most of the hits the crowd wanted to hear.