How new Memphis music festival aims to bring 'elevated' concert experience to Tom Lee Park

In October, Memphis in May confirmed it was suspending its annual Beale Street Music Festival after more than 40 years, due to falling attendance and crippling financial losses.

A day later, Memphis River Parks Partnership, which manages Tom Lee Park — the longtime home of the Beale Street fest, announced it had reached an agreement with Forward Momentum, the promoters of the Mempho Music Festival, to stage a new music festival at the park.

“We didn’t know what Memphis in May was planning until we read it in the newspaper,” said Carol Coletta, president of the Memphis River Parks Partnership. “We knew it when everyone else knew it. But when Memphis in May had announced big losses in the previous year, that was an indication they might not be moving forward with their festival. And that presented an opportunity for other promoters who might want to do something in the park.”

Forward Momentum festival producer Jeff Bransford said it didn't take long to realize "we wanted to fill that gap."

"We felt it was a natural fit for us to do it," he said. "Our team is experienced, having run Mempho for several years, and we felt we could be the right people to put on an event.”

Fast forward six months: Memphis' new music fest is ready to take the stage.

The inaugural RiverBeat Music Festival — which will take place May 3-5 at Tom Lee Park — will be headlined by reunited hip-hop icons the Fugees, Grammy-nominated electronic duo Odesza and country chart-topper Jelly Roll.

“Our group has a tremendous amount of respect for what Memphis in May brought to the city for decades,” Bransford said. “We’re not replacing Beale Street Music Festival. We are doing something at the same time and same location, but we feel it’s going to be a different and elevated experience from what’s happened at the site previously.”

Working with the layout of Tom Lee Park

Coletta said Memphis River Parks Partnership was thrilled to see a new music festival come to the Downtown Memphis Park.

“We know historically there’s been big music at Tom Lee in May, and there’s a demand for that, an expectation of it and a celebration of it,” Coletta said. “It was good to be able to have someone, especially a local firm, that has done successful festivals and has a very robust concert promotion around town to come up with the idea for RiverBeat."

The new festival will have a maximum daily capacity of 22,500, a smaller number than in past years to accommodate the $61 million redevelopment at Tom Lee.

RiverBeat will have five stages spread throughout the park. There will be two bigger stages (one in north lawn area, and a main stage in the middle of the park). There will be a third stage in the park’s pavilion area, a fourth stage as part of the compound where DJs will spin, and a smaller stage as patrons enter the park (on the northside, from Beale Street), which will feature stripped-down or acoustic-type performances.

“It is a challenging footprint to put on a festival,” Bransford said. “You’re very narrow east to west, and very long north and south. But, to me, it’s also a wonderful footprint, unlike anything else, being there right up against the river.”

Much of the conflict between Memphis in May and Memphis River Parks Partnership over the 2023 Beale Street Music Festival came down to the use of the renovated Tom Lee Park. Coletta said the Mempho/Forward Momentum team has accepted the setup of the space and been able to build the festival around that accordingly.

“Because they’ve never produced a festival in Tom Lee, they didn’t come in with any preconceived notions on how the park had to be used,” Coletta said. “Instead, they accepted that they were going into a venue that is a 365-day-a year venue that needs to last 100 years or more. Their opportunity was to create a new festival on that footprint that allowed for a beautiful event in a beautiful setting. And we believe they have done that.”

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Memphis Parks Chief Operating Officer Art Davis said Mempho/Forward Momentum has been laser focused on maintaining the integrity of the park in all its planning.

“We all have the same goal and that is to have a successful festival while maintaining the beautiful park that Memphians have come to love,” Davis said. “That’s made the relationship with Forward Momentum amazing as we’ve gone through the process.”

Bransford noted that his team has “worked incredibly close with the parks team, to make sure we maximize the beauty of the park and make sure we’re good stewards of the property for the time we’re there.”

Creating a lineup to attract 'a wide audience'

Given the timing of events and that contracts with the parks project weren’t signed until late last fall, Forward Momentum found itself working with a somewhat compressed timeline to book the festival.

“But even with all the time in the world, it’s still challenging to book a festival. It’s all based on artist availabity and timing,” Bransford said. “That said, we’re really proud of what we ended up being able to secure in a very short time.”

Musically Bransford says RiverBeat will differ from what they present at their fall Mempho Festival. “Mempho has its own established identity. What we were trying to do with RiverBeat is to create a little more of a wider demographic, focusing on youth and other genres we don’t hit as much at Mempho — specifically more hip-hop, more pop and more country-style acts.”

Beyond headliners the Fugees, Odesza and Jelly Roll, the lineup will include Tennessee rockers The Band Camino, Philadelphia indie outfit Mt. Joy, Austin soul band Black Pumas, New York electro duo Matt and Kim, irreverent rapper Yung Gravy, Alabama singer-songwriter Jessie Murph, roots combo the Robert Randolph Band and blues Hall of Famer Charlie Musselwhite.

A range of top rap artists including Outkast’s Big Boi, recent triple-Grammy winner Killer Mike, rising star Tobe Nwigwe and hometown heroes 8Ball & MJG are also among those set to perform.

In addition to the confirmed national talent, the festival will highlight top local and regional performers, with the likes of R&B vets Don Bryant and The Bo-Keys, soul-blues combo Southern Avenue, hip-hop artist Lawrence Matthews and roots songstress Marcella Simien among the Mid-South acts set to appear.

“Ultimately what we’re hoping to do is put together a solid lineup that would attract a wide audience,” Bransford said. “And a big part of what we do is to have people coming out of the events we put on having discovered something new.”

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In terms of sponsorships and ticket sales, Bransford says Forward Momentum is pleased with its first year results so far. “We’ve had a great brand response,” said Bransford, who noted that sponsors include Bud Light, Red Bull and White Claw. “Also in terms of tracking ticket sales, we’re seeing a lot of interest not just locally but from out of town as well.”

Bransford said regardless of what RiverBeat’s year one numbers look like, Forward Momentum is invested in the festival for the foreseeable future. “We are looking at this like we’re building a brand from scratch," he said. "We know that will be a process. But our ownership group is committed to bringing this festival back for a very long time.”

RiverBeat Music Festival

When: May 3-5

Where: Tom Lee Park, Downtown Memphis

Tickets: Three-day general admission passes are $249. Three-day VIP passes are $995. Single-day general admission tickets are $99. Single-day VIP tickets are $395. All prices included ticket fees. To purchase, go to Riverbeat.com.

Details: Visit riverbeat.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What to expect at RiverBeat Music Festival at Tom Lee Park in Memphis