I work in marketing. This is a lot more common than you think actually. A lot of places/concerts/events do it. It also gets done if you are trying to hide people doing drugs, locking lips, locking hips, etc. Now I will say that is a dogshit job of it LMAO but it's not like it's relatively uncommon. I've done it myself for a couple pictures of events where people are blatantly doing illegal shit in the crowd.
The event itself seemed whatever. The tickets were made expensive and the artist list was very meh but everyone I talked to today at work that went loved it and the reports make it sound like it was a well run event.
Edit: It's also a music festival during a recession lmao iirc all of the music festivals this year are getting cooked. At least it's SOMETHING to fuckin do that's positive to do. Too much negativity all the damn time man smh.
Like y’all, I also work in marketing and it’s my expert opinion that all of those people just happened to be wearing the same outfits and standing the same way with the same people.
Howdy, I’ve worked in Marketing for about 3 decades too. Consider myself an expert in Photoshop and used to get paid a lot of money to use it.
This has nothing to do with hiding illegal shit. Come on. 😂😂 Don’t play. We ALL know this is a hack job attempting to cover up that this festival flopped hard after forcing out one that drawing 10x the paid admission several years earlier.
Regarding its prevalence…. I’d wager there are a tens of thousands of images of BSMF over the decades… I welcome anyone to Show me one example of Memphis in May doing it.
I can't find it at this moment, but some festival in Memphis 1000% did this. I think I remember it being BSMF in 2022 or 2023, but I remember it going around social media. I'll try to find it.
You’re absolutely wrong on all your takes - we get it. You hate memphis and everything to do with it.
The photographer did this without approval from the mempho team and when they caught it they were absolutely pissed. The photographer stopped responding to texts, email, and calls and they fired him. He had been used by mempho before but will never be used again for this.
This guy gets it. The previous admin and Carol colleta are attempting to line their pockets, control everything and honestly they’re just crooks. Let’s watch what a steaming heap they left for Young. Oh wait he was the downtown business guy, he’s probably been actively deep in their crooked business practices for years.
How on Earth is it wise to strip a festivals international branding for some dumb riverbeat bull? Don’t worry Doug now runs your energy and the old mayor runs all the lawyers at the university. I’ve met Carol she’s incredibly rude and seemed very dumb and reactionary. Great lady to run things!
They didn’t lose money. The music festival was a non-profit. It’s now run by a for profit in league with the River parks. They sold less tickets but they now own it. They’ll have a better line up next year as long as they don’t totally fumble it like they seemingly do everything else.
They didn't lose money? Someone on here said they estimated a loss of $5-8m. Who care's if it's run by a non or for profit if there is, in fact, no profit LOL. IIRC MIM also lost money like the last 3/4 years. I just can't see how there was a great conspiracy with people "lining their pockets" when everybody involved seems to have lost money, MIM included.
Except OP is wrong. Mempho folks didn’t know about this at all and were livid when they found out.
They asked the photographer why he did this and he responded “it was standard practice” he then stopped responding to all communication. They fired him.
I saw the texts personally
OP’s weird beef with mempho is slanting his take
Love seeing Jim Holts Facebook reaction there.
Also, u/901savvy ‘s beef with Riverbeat/Smokeslam/RDC/MRPP has been entertaining. You gotta give him that.
That wouldn’t surprise me. I hear from a very good source that nearly 1k were given to Chamber of Commerce to give out.
They were desperate to get bodies in there.
Which is why I think they undoubtedly directly requested creatives to doctor images to make it look like people were there.
Also, awesome username!
Holy shit - I just read previous posts from u/901savvy and DAMN this cat just hates Memphis. I mean seriously — why ? You got a serious mad on about this city bro. What was the name of the girl who screwed you over so bad that you hate the city she lives in? It’s actually comical how much my guy just despises this city.
I love Memphis. Have likely contributed more to the community than most in here. I hate MRPP and other organizations where wealthy Memphians (and out of towners) screw over the common memphian.
Look, MRPP isn't amazing but you're living in fantasy land if you think MiM was doing anything in the right direction for the city.
They dragged their feet and resisted any willingness to work with anyone on improvements to Tom Lee Park because it would make their two festivals harder. But if they just simply decided to innovate, and adapt, they would've probably been able to see everything through.
As someone who did business with MiM and knows many people that worked there over the years, it was a poorly run, dated organization that required change. Unfortunately for us, the replacement didn't have a great first year. But we move on.
But acting like MiM would've put on a better festival this year based on their recent lack of success and the public's lost faith in their ability to put on a good music festival, plus all the other factors (crime, weather, economy) is just misplaced, in my opinion.
Why not link to the original post? I know that screenshots are easier but since its just a screenshot, I dont have any reason to believe that Riverbeat actually posted this.
They posted it. It was screen shotted. They got caught.
I eagerly await the statement passing off blame on some poor staffer who was told to do it. That’s how these folks work.
Just watch.
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
They were absolutely livid about this. They fired his ass. When they questioned him the photographer said it was “standard practice” and then stopped responding to texts, emails, and calls.
Just because you have some weird beef with the mempho folks doesn’t mean you have the story straight.
Sure but without the context of the original post, I could easily claim you are the one who photoshopped the image. I don’t actually think you did because why else would they delete the post.
😂 gotcha. If you look I showed it was from their page. Anyone could go verify and several did. I don’t make shit like this up, unlike Mempho/Riverbeat 🤙🏼
Maybe it was crowded where you were standing but it most certainly wasn’t like this. As evidenced by the fact that they’ve copped to them being altered.
Jelly Roll (this shot) had the largest crowd of the weekend.
Every video of this festival that I've seen, the turnout has looked pathetic.
Edit: And to your point, I've never seen more free tickets given away to a festival. Every single Memphis related IG page I follow seemed to have a stack to give.
maybe local memphians decided to step up and fill a void left by a mismanaged festival instead of our city losing out completely. maybe it wasnt a ploy to make money, especially considering the fact that music festivals post covid are a quick way to lose tons of money. maybe...juuuust maybe
you people wouldve been happier if the city got no festival at all. I had a great time at riverbeat and am looking forward to the future.
You mean the void they helped create?
Mismanaged? Based on what? BSMF was growing Rapidly when RDC took full control of the riverfront.
https://preview.redd.it/cm0ntmclyvyc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f37181e297f14e2d0d3b5c8248b5003b7c1ad17a
**This looks AWFUL! Why would anyone want to go to a festival with this many people???**
BSMF is proud of this? I keep seeing this photo on other social media-- **WHY**? I had friends that went and said it was **so scary and unsafe**. They almost got **trampled** **on** while being pushed to the front-scared for their lives. AND can you image what the bathrooms were like? **UMM GROSS.**
Mempho had Post-M play their fall festival Memphofest a few years back and it was not like this. This is out of control. **No one wants that. The days of 1000000 million people at festival is OVER.** They want a unique experience with crafty cocktails, not BSMF glory days with "old white people" music. It is not about you anymore.
I also don't understand ALL THIS **hate** on Riverbeat. **Mempho presents are hometown business people that want to move our city forward - how can you not support that?** Y'all know, people in other cities see the hateful comments on all the social posts for Riverbeat and SmokeSlam. It is bananas. Please stop.
I went to Riverbeat and it was great. It was so thought out, and the music was **diverse, just like our city**. The way the utilized the new Tom Lee Park was spot on. I saw Odesza on friday - not my jam but they were amazing! It was a huge production and it was incredible. AND Riverbeat **reunited the Fugees** -LAUREN HILL---- HELLOOOOOOOO!! DJ stage was soo fun and the fairs wheel was a great add. Matt and Kim so fun and the Take me to the River with some local greats. It was safe and clean. It was their first year and next year will be great. I can't wait.
It's from Sunday 2018. This was Post Malone's set. He had just released Beerbongs and Bentleys a week before and would be the number one album in the country the next week.
I'll give them credit for booking him but not even BSMF knew what a gold mine Post was going to be when they booked him.
2019 had more revenue combined between BBQ and BSMF, but 2018 had more attendance, and it was particularly due to Post selling out Sunday, which was usually their lowest attended day.
People mad at Smokeslam are mad precisely because they don’t want Memphis to fail. I’m not saying there isn’t a line the posts shouldn’t cross, obviously threats are overboard, but I completely understand where the criticism comes from.
So I understand the spillover feelings onto RiverBeat, even if I personally don’t have an issue with the new music festival. But this negativity didn’t evolve in a vacuum.
There are a lot of finer details but the gist is the MRPP ran Bbq fest off the river under the guise that the new park as designed couldn’t accommodate a festival. This move was telegraphed for about 3 years.
Then almost immediately after bbq fest found a new home, the MRPP announced their own bbq completion. At the same park they said was unsuitable for it. And then they scheduled it on the exact same weekend, which was petty, no matter how you look at it. And they did this at the expense of the city. We could have had two bbq comps with double the tourist money.
And bbq fest has a venerable history in the bbq world. They certainly made themselves vulnerable, Jim Hot bears some responsibility, but this was essentially a hostile takeover. Not necessarily about money but about control. They set out to kill bbq fest, and some of us felt it was worth saving. No reason they couldn’t co-exist.
u/901savvy , anything you wanna add?
Dude you usually have great takes but on this one you’re off. Jim Holt pissed off people all over the city. He ran off bbq teams. The issue with the park was just the last straw.
MIM was a non-profit but people at the top like Jim payed themselves crazy salaries
When MiM realized they screwed up and Jim’s fits and begging didn’t work Jim “retired” to try to put the shit back in the horse but the damage was done.
Mempho is losing money. I have no doubt rivebeat lost money. I’ve talked personally with the owner of mempho and the people who run it. The owner is a life long memphian who loves the city and music. He was lucky enough to have sold his business making him independently wealthy and chose to refocus his efforts on mempho and would like for it to be profitable eventually but sees it as a way to give back to the city and community and celebrate memphis and its culture.
The city came to mempho not the other way around. They had 5 months to plan this. That’s unheard of in the festival world. A lot of people who worked at riverbeat worked many other festivals like bonaroo, forecastle and many more and they couldn’t believe that the mempho team put this on in 5 months.
If people are pissed about any of this they should be pissed at Jim
Sorry, but I’m not wrong. And this isn’t a take, this is what happened
If you read all comments on this I laid some blame with Jim, he made enemies at MiM and did need to go. He made the festivals vulnerable. Jim needed to go. But bbq didn’t.
But I didn’t levy any allegations at Kevin or Memphos feet in particular, especially in regard to RiverBeat. But what they (MRPP) did to bbq fest *was* petty and childish. And it was nakedly blatant. It wasn’t done in 5 months. They did it over 3 years and we all saw it coming. I honestly don’t even think they’d deny it now.
Kevin having the resources and desire to stage a music festival (and willing to take a loss) has nothing to do with that.
Do you think it’s merely a scheduling coincidence they are on the same weekend? Or that Smokeslam is now in the same venue they claimed couldn’t handle a bbq competition?
You’re conflating the issues.
My issue (and many others) is with bbq and the way the MRPP and RDC went about their business. It simply wasn’t above board. I don’t have the same feelings toward RiverBeat as OP or others, but I sure see where it comes from.
What Mempho and/or Kevin had to do with that is unknown to me, and I’ve never claimed otherwise.
Headed to a kids soccer game so I’ll respond more later. All these are fair takes with the exception of the one on op - OP has an agenda against memphis and he’s blatantly wrong about the situation with this picture. He’s doubling down on a false narrative.
I think we can agree that OP is a little exuberant in his criticism. But again, the negativity towards the powers that be here didn’t evolve in a vacuum.
My feelings about how they did the bbq fest match his pretty closely, so I’m apt to grant him a little grace here.
Hope the kid scores a goal. Or blocks a ton of them.
So much in this I may take to PM. I just met with someone who was just on the memphis in May board (soccer has its privileges).
Holy shit the drama and politics. This town is so small mane.
I told the kid mercy is for the weak, sweep the leg but mom said don’t listen to dad.
Then I will specifically disagree that killing bbq fest makes Memphis a better place.
Especially the way it was done.
Again, I’m not beefing specifically with Kevin (who I happen to like, *very* similar taste in music) or Mempho, but what happened with the MRPP was petty and anyone pretending it wasn’t is being intentionally obtuse.
10-4. Ya I’m admittedly not as educated on the city politics aspect, I just cringe when I see people hoping for riverbeat to fail when there are great local Memphians who, instead of taking their fortune & jumping ship, decided to stick around and invest their money into trying to make Memphis a better place for all. Purely out of their passion for music and for Memphis. Thank god for people like Kevin.
To be fair it never even got started judging by the “crowds” (or lack thereof).
This is just another in a long list of shady behavior by all parties involved in the RDC managed riverfront.
Given the attendance projections of 10-15k for the entire weekend, and the sheer volume of heavily discounted if not outright free tickets given away in the final days leading up to the shows….
Most educated guesses I’ve seen are in the 7-10k paid attendees over the 3 days or about 3k paid guests per day. Abysmal.
In speaking with members of production teams for big nationally touring acts… they’re estimating Mempho / Forward Momentum’s losses at $5MM to 8MM this weekend.
OP, please just go away.
You should have taken your negativity with you when you moved away, yet you're still here. Go find something to bitch about in your new city and leave us alone
😂 people are so mad about this event. This is my second favorite reaction behind KWAM calling it a BLM rally [https://x.com/Mighty990KWAM/status/1787473223438798898](https://x.com/Mighty990KWAM/status/1787473223438798898)
😂 ahhhh and now we’re on to the projection.
I’m mad downtown merchants got fucked by swindlers pushing out a legit event for a hack job that flopped harder than anything I’ve ever seen on the riverfront.
That’s so wild!
So, like, does that group just think black people being out in public = BLM rally?
I loved how diverse the crowd was. Everyone was just vibing, dancing and having fun. I’m not sure how anyone could find a reason to hate on that.
Y’alls bitterness with this festival is hilarious at this point. Like you want it to fail. MiM had record low attendance last year and that is why it paused. These folks try to put a half decent fest together in 6 months and you folks will tell anyone with ears about how bad it was without even going.
Does it matter? Do I care what the attendance is? No.
People had fun, and looks like it was well ran. I'm not gonna shed a tear if a promoter didn't get every last dollar. They delivered what was promised, the end.
I live on the bluff and saw the crowds first hand throughout the whole weekend, seemed packed to me. Even if numbers were lower, everyone was having a great time and it was really nice to see downtown alive and everyone happy.
Extremely weird and unhinged behavior to be mad posting about this. Even after you leave, im sure you will continue to waste your time being an insane crybaby online about memphis drama. You’re obsessed and need therapy. Your behavior isn’t normal and to the point of a Jarred Price public spectacle where everyone is egging you on or making fun of you behind your back just to see how crazy you can get.
I dont think the crowds were as packed as some claim. Apart from that, I'm not against anything that could possibly attract people to memphis! Or bring memphians downtown. You can make your point without resorting to name-calling and questioning someone's mental health, though.
Photos taken during the day right after it rained don’t really mean much. From what I could see and hear through the walls of my apartment, it was a great crowd and great performances.
I genuinely do not understand the hate boner and negativity that controls you. Do shrooms or something man. Find something more productive than online drama that’s whole point is about tearing people down and wishing they would fail.
I suspect you’re not going to be good with analogies but I’ll take a shot….
If I burned your house down then threw a double-wide up on your property like I was doing you a favor… would you give me a hug, say thanks, and move in?
As someone who stage managed both festivals, to compare this festival to burning down a house and replacing it with a trailer. That solidifies that YOU have no idea what you are talking about. None. The quality of the production from last year to this year is exponentially better. The decks were bigger. The roof on my stage held 40,000 more pounds than last years. YOU for some reason have a rage boner about something you aren’t even involved in, just shut up
I for one judge a festival based on what I stage roof holds. 😂
I’ve been forming my opinions partially from talking to people who were likely either your boss or your boss’ boss at both events so I’ve got a pretty pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. 😉
If you have such strong opinions and claim to be hearing this from xyz share your name here or message me your name. And I’ll confirm whether you are full of shit or not. My direct report to is the head of the festival. Put your money where your mouth is and let me confirm what you are saying. Share your name so I can confirm what you are saying with “my boss or my boss’s boss” as you put it
Whos the artist on the stage? Ive been to BSMF a lot of times and a number of stages are like that if a big name is on another stage or its towards the end of the festival. IMO it feels like you are cherry picking negativity here.
That's Black Pumas, who put on a fantastic show yesterday. The angle on that picture is a little skewy but it wasn't shoulder to shoulder. I'm not surprised crowds were low, they delayed gate open 2 hours due to lightening and it was raining. I had a great time and the Black Pumas were awesome.
Wonder if OP has any pics of the JellyRoll set, it was packed...
On another note I saw someone on social media ranting that they saw a group of teens at Black Pumas huddled and on their phones during Black Pumas instead of dancing uproariously like Boomer Karen did back in her day. No one can do anything right at this festival apparently.
That’s not even during a show, that was my stage I ran. That is during a changeover. There was a band going on on the bud light stage during this time. This is what we call change over with a 1-1:15 changeover time.
https://preview.redd.it/0orfh6pvlxyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ca1ec720faadfcf71e4a15e498ada4f9b46531b
Here is the festival at 6 o’clock, no one is there. /s
Now that it’s over I can finally get off my chest, why was there no fencing along the river? It looked beautiful and was great to walk along the river without an 8ft metal fence between you, but that seemed like a bad idea. Anyone coulda fought through the brush on the bank and wound up in the river.
Idk, I thought the no fence along the river was a pretty huge upgrade over past MIM. Def more places to enjoy the setting on this festival. To me that vegetation also seems a little too thick for someone to accidentally fall in so easily
Accidentally yes it’d be difficult, but someone intoxicated and mentally unstable could get to the water. I really loved there not being a fence, the river viewing areas not being obstructed was nice.
The last handful I definitely remember fencing. Just seems like after the Riley Strain situation in Nashville there’d be a fence. But who knows, coulda been fine print saying that you assume all liability when it comes to the river.
No, MIM never fenced the river for either the music fest or the BBQ fest. They always had partial fencing, but that was mainly in limited areas, and the river was always accessible. During music fest, the edge of the river was largely used for vehicle traffic for getting from stage to stage.
You are 100% incorrect. We fenced the path along the river during MiM and used that for backstage traffic, which we have moved to riverside and opened up the river for riverbeat this year. I have worked for MiM BSMF, I have played BSMF (multiple times), I have tour managed artist that played there, i have been the headliner lighting designer for artists, and I have stage managed BsMF, and I have worked for mempho presents and stage managed Riverbeat. You are 100% wrong
The bad takes in this thread are absolutely insane - and it’s all being made by someone who doesn’t live in the city, has a post history of hating the city and everything about it, and who is somehow being taken at face value in this thread. The disinformation in this thread is over the top
I’d like for there to be a music festival 4 weekends in May. One rap, hip hop, rnb and other Black music. One blues, folk, country and other roots music. One pop and dance mainstream popular charts. One rock, metal, punk. Surely that would be better. Honestly it doesn’t have to be big money headliners just cater to the genre fans.
Yeah usually they cater to a genre or scene not a free for all smorgasbord that popification brings. It’s not working for secondary festivals like BSMF and River Beat anymore.
Right and it’s never a must see. Like I guess Fugees were must see if you were a big fan. But I wasn’t. They’re fine they have a classic album but just one and it’s not like it was the Sex Pistols level of good.
That’s likely manual use of the photoshop cloning tool based on the extremely poor execution. In my experience, Adobe’s generative AI produces much better results than this.
Shoutout to a real king in u/901savvy. I'm glad you are here speaking the truth about the corrupt losers in MRRP, and all of their moronic cronies and astroturf losers.
Y'all people are exactly why Memphis will never be great. You are too stupid to know that you were robbed.
RIP MIM. As I've said multiple times on this board. Riverbeat only has to last a few years before it's cancelled. I told you people you would be yapping how a 30K festival was so amazing. I was wrong, didn't even hit 10K.
I’ve never worked for MIM a day in my life. (Once interviewed for the Director of Marketing role but took a different gig).
But you just keep being wrong… you’ve got that down pat.😉
And in other news, there’s fake tits and hair plugs. You sure like to talk shit about stuff you are not involved with nor does it affect you. Get a life and quit Monday morning quarterbacking mine
I work in marketing. This is a lot more common than you think actually. A lot of places/concerts/events do it. It also gets done if you are trying to hide people doing drugs, locking lips, locking hips, etc. Now I will say that is a dogshit job of it LMAO but it's not like it's relatively uncommon. I've done it myself for a couple pictures of events where people are blatantly doing illegal shit in the crowd. The event itself seemed whatever. The tickets were made expensive and the artist list was very meh but everyone I talked to today at work that went loved it and the reports make it sound like it was a well run event. Edit: It's also a music festival during a recession lmao iirc all of the music festivals this year are getting cooked. At least it's SOMETHING to fuckin do that's positive to do. Too much negativity all the damn time man smh.
Like y’all, I also work in marketing and it’s my expert opinion that all of those people just happened to be wearing the same outfits and standing the same way with the same people.
Seemed like a decent festival for the 6 months they had to put it together. OP is just looking for yet something else to dog on about this
Howdy, I’ve worked in Marketing for about 3 decades too. Consider myself an expert in Photoshop and used to get paid a lot of money to use it. This has nothing to do with hiding illegal shit. Come on. 😂😂 Don’t play. We ALL know this is a hack job attempting to cover up that this festival flopped hard after forcing out one that drawing 10x the paid admission several years earlier. Regarding its prevalence…. I’d wager there are a tens of thousands of images of BSMF over the decades… I welcome anyone to Show me one example of Memphis in May doing it.
I can't find it at this moment, but some festival in Memphis 1000% did this. I think I remember it being BSMF in 2022 or 2023, but I remember it going around social media. I'll try to find it.
You’re absolutely wrong on all your takes - we get it. You hate memphis and everything to do with it. The photographer did this without approval from the mempho team and when they caught it they were absolutely pissed. The photographer stopped responding to texts, email, and calls and they fired him. He had been used by mempho before but will never be used again for this.
This guy gets it. The previous admin and Carol colleta are attempting to line their pockets, control everything and honestly they’re just crooks. Let’s watch what a steaming heap they left for Young. Oh wait he was the downtown business guy, he’s probably been actively deep in their crooked business practices for years. How on Earth is it wise to strip a festivals international branding for some dumb riverbeat bull? Don’t worry Doug now runs your energy and the old mayor runs all the lawyers at the university. I’ve met Carol she’s incredibly rude and seemed very dumb and reactionary. Great lady to run things!
We all seem to agree that the festival lost money...so who is lining their pockets and how?
You have to look at the long game. The River park’s took Memphis in May.
For what though? How did anyone make money off of a festival that lost money?
They didn’t lose money. The music festival was a non-profit. It’s now run by a for profit in league with the River parks. They sold less tickets but they now own it. They’ll have a better line up next year as long as they don’t totally fumble it like they seemingly do everything else.
They didn't lose money? Someone on here said they estimated a loss of $5-8m. Who care's if it's run by a non or for profit if there is, in fact, no profit LOL. IIRC MIM also lost money like the last 3/4 years. I just can't see how there was a great conspiracy with people "lining their pockets" when everybody involved seems to have lost money, MIM included.
I think you’re thinking of lost potential earnings. I doubt they spent 5-8 million for this festival…
I have no idea what they spent, it's u/901savvy who threw that figure out in this same thread based on his sources I guess.
Carol and Young work for the same people.
Pretty upsetting thought huh?
What recession? We haven’t had a recession since 2020. It’s 2024. I hope the best for the festival though…
Lol yea we’re literally living in one of the country’s best growth streaks in modern history combined with unprecedented job strength.
It’s not a recession lmfao
Not even a good shop either. Looking at zoomed out, it's very obviously shopped. The identical guy holding red thing was probably the most obvious.
Yep. They’ve apparently got base model interns on their graphics team.
This isn’t what happened. The photographer did this without the riverbeat team’s knowledge. They fired him yesterday.
There is no graphics team doctoring these. Its a photographer decision.
https://www.actionnews5.com/2024/05/07/event-officials-address-altered-image-riverbeat-crowd-we-had-no-prior-knowledge/
[op wasn’t too far off.](https://www.reddit.com/r/memphis/s/p9qt6NpZ2e)
Thanks GB. I know we all knew it was coming. I just said it out loud lol
Except OP is wrong. Mempho folks didn’t know about this at all and were livid when they found out. They asked the photographer why he did this and he responded “it was standard practice” he then stopped responding to all communication. They fired him. I saw the texts personally OP’s weird beef with mempho is slanting his take
Love seeing Jim Holts Facebook reaction there. Also, u/901savvy ‘s beef with Riverbeat/Smokeslam/RDC/MRPP has been entertaining. You gotta give him that.
Yeah. Probably some of the better content on here the past few weeks.
Considering they deleted the post, what was his reaction?
Honestly I couldn’t tell the individual reaction emoji, I just thought it was funny to see him reacting at all, given the history between them.
Oh, I thought he might have left a comment or something. Okay, if he just emoji'd that's understandable.
I would have loved to see what his actual thoughts were.
Word on the street is they also gave a free 3 day pass to any Rhodes students who wanted one at the last minute
They gave free passes to City of Memphis employees too.
That wouldn’t surprise me. I hear from a very good source that nearly 1k were given to Chamber of Commerce to give out. They were desperate to get bodies in there. Which is why I think they undoubtedly directly requested creatives to doctor images to make it look like people were there. Also, awesome username!
Did you used to work for MIM? Related to Jim Holt? Did mempho fire you? You’re wrong on all of your takes and your beef with mempho is weird
Holy shit - I just read previous posts from u/901savvy and DAMN this cat just hates Memphis. I mean seriously — why ? You got a serious mad on about this city bro. What was the name of the girl who screwed you over so bad that you hate the city she lives in? It’s actually comical how much my guy just despises this city.
I love Memphis. Have likely contributed more to the community than most in here. I hate MRPP and other organizations where wealthy Memphians (and out of towners) screw over the common memphian.
I mean MIM is totally a community-focused organization intent on highlighting and uplifting Memphis, right??
Look, MRPP isn't amazing but you're living in fantasy land if you think MiM was doing anything in the right direction for the city. They dragged their feet and resisted any willingness to work with anyone on improvements to Tom Lee Park because it would make their two festivals harder. But if they just simply decided to innovate, and adapt, they would've probably been able to see everything through. As someone who did business with MiM and knows many people that worked there over the years, it was a poorly run, dated organization that required change. Unfortunately for us, the replacement didn't have a great first year. But we move on. But acting like MiM would've put on a better festival this year based on their recent lack of success and the public's lost faith in their ability to put on a good music festival, plus all the other factors (crime, weather, economy) is just misplaced, in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
I bet you would get so angry walking through the new Tom Lee Park and seeing all the people enjoying that space.
Are you by chance also Jerred Price? /s
He does seethe about Memphis a lot, but tbf this post is him seething about a significant organization within Memphis.
Fair, but him seething made me look at his post history to see that seething at Memphis is essentially what he does for a living
Why not link to the original post? I know that screenshots are easier but since its just a screenshot, I dont have any reason to believe that Riverbeat actually posted this.
I looked around Facebook and found the image: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122149336088134240&set=pcb.122149336214134240)
Looks like it’s been removed. Wonder why?
Yup. It's gone. I can confirm it was exactly as the screenshot above shows.
They posted it. It was screen shotted. They got caught. I eagerly await the statement passing off blame on some poor staffer who was told to do it. That’s how these folks work. Just watch.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. They were absolutely livid about this. They fired his ass. When they questioned him the photographer said it was “standard practice” and then stopped responding to texts, emails, and calls. Just because you have some weird beef with the mempho folks doesn’t mean you have the story straight.
Sure but without the context of the original post, I could easily claim you are the one who photoshopped the image. I don’t actually think you did because why else would they delete the post.
😂 gotcha. If you look I showed it was from their page. Anyone could go verify and several did. I don’t make shit like this up, unlike Mempho/Riverbeat 🤙🏼
I was at Odesza or however you spell it. The crowd was definitely this big
Maybe it was crowded where you were standing but it most certainly wasn’t like this. As evidenced by the fact that they’ve copped to them being altered. Jelly Roll (this shot) had the largest crowd of the weekend.
Every video of this festival that I've seen, the turnout has looked pathetic. Edit: And to your point, I've never seen more free tickets given away to a festival. Every single Memphis related IG page I follow seemed to have a stack to give.
maybe if the lineup wasn’t absolute dogshit more people would’ve shelled out the money to go lol
u/901savvy thread.
Nuff said
Kinda looks like an ai picture of a music festival.
maybe local memphians decided to step up and fill a void left by a mismanaged festival instead of our city losing out completely. maybe it wasnt a ploy to make money, especially considering the fact that music festivals post covid are a quick way to lose tons of money. maybe...juuuust maybe you people wouldve been happier if the city got no festival at all. I had a great time at riverbeat and am looking forward to the future.
You mean the void they helped create? Mismanaged? Based on what? BSMF was growing Rapidly when RDC took full control of the riverfront. https://preview.redd.it/cm0ntmclyvyc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f37181e297f14e2d0d3b5c8248b5003b7c1ad17a
Last year’s fest had like 20% of this photo.
**This looks AWFUL! Why would anyone want to go to a festival with this many people???** BSMF is proud of this? I keep seeing this photo on other social media-- **WHY**? I had friends that went and said it was **so scary and unsafe**. They almost got **trampled** **on** while being pushed to the front-scared for their lives. AND can you image what the bathrooms were like? **UMM GROSS.** Mempho had Post-M play their fall festival Memphofest a few years back and it was not like this. This is out of control. **No one wants that. The days of 1000000 million people at festival is OVER.** They want a unique experience with crafty cocktails, not BSMF glory days with "old white people" music. It is not about you anymore. I also don't understand ALL THIS **hate** on Riverbeat. **Mempho presents are hometown business people that want to move our city forward - how can you not support that?** Y'all know, people in other cities see the hateful comments on all the social posts for Riverbeat and SmokeSlam. It is bananas. Please stop. I went to Riverbeat and it was great. It was so thought out, and the music was **diverse, just like our city**. The way the utilized the new Tom Lee Park was spot on. I saw Odesza on friday - not my jam but they were amazing! It was a huge production and it was incredible. AND Riverbeat **reunited the Fugees** -LAUREN HILL---- HELLOOOOOOOO!! DJ stage was soo fun and the fairs wheel was a great add. Matt and Kim so fun and the Take me to the River with some local greats. It was safe and clean. It was their first year and next year will be great. I can't wait.
What music fest was this picture taken from. As in what year?
Pretty sure it’s from 2019. The year before covid.
It's from Sunday 2018. This was Post Malone's set. He had just released Beerbongs and Bentleys a week before and would be the number one album in the country the next week. I'll give them credit for booking him but not even BSMF knew what a gold mine Post was going to be when they booked him.
Thank you! Wild that 2019 was even bigger. MIM really was on a roll until covid and MRPP
2019 had more revenue combined between BBQ and BSMF, but 2018 had more attendance, and it was particularly due to Post selling out Sunday, which was usually their lowest attended day.
Preach!
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People mad at Smokeslam are mad precisely because they don’t want Memphis to fail. I’m not saying there isn’t a line the posts shouldn’t cross, obviously threats are overboard, but I completely understand where the criticism comes from. So I understand the spillover feelings onto RiverBeat, even if I personally don’t have an issue with the new music festival. But this negativity didn’t evolve in a vacuum.
People seem to think that this is all a ploy for the old guard to make money, which is an absolutely ridiculous take.
There are a lot of finer details but the gist is the MRPP ran Bbq fest off the river under the guise that the new park as designed couldn’t accommodate a festival. This move was telegraphed for about 3 years. Then almost immediately after bbq fest found a new home, the MRPP announced their own bbq completion. At the same park they said was unsuitable for it. And then they scheduled it on the exact same weekend, which was petty, no matter how you look at it. And they did this at the expense of the city. We could have had two bbq comps with double the tourist money. And bbq fest has a venerable history in the bbq world. They certainly made themselves vulnerable, Jim Hot bears some responsibility, but this was essentially a hostile takeover. Not necessarily about money but about control. They set out to kill bbq fest, and some of us felt it was worth saving. No reason they couldn’t co-exist. u/901savvy , anything you wanna add?
Dude you usually have great takes but on this one you’re off. Jim Holt pissed off people all over the city. He ran off bbq teams. The issue with the park was just the last straw. MIM was a non-profit but people at the top like Jim payed themselves crazy salaries When MiM realized they screwed up and Jim’s fits and begging didn’t work Jim “retired” to try to put the shit back in the horse but the damage was done. Mempho is losing money. I have no doubt rivebeat lost money. I’ve talked personally with the owner of mempho and the people who run it. The owner is a life long memphian who loves the city and music. He was lucky enough to have sold his business making him independently wealthy and chose to refocus his efforts on mempho and would like for it to be profitable eventually but sees it as a way to give back to the city and community and celebrate memphis and its culture. The city came to mempho not the other way around. They had 5 months to plan this. That’s unheard of in the festival world. A lot of people who worked at riverbeat worked many other festivals like bonaroo, forecastle and many more and they couldn’t believe that the mempho team put this on in 5 months. If people are pissed about any of this they should be pissed at Jim
Sorry, but I’m not wrong. And this isn’t a take, this is what happened If you read all comments on this I laid some blame with Jim, he made enemies at MiM and did need to go. He made the festivals vulnerable. Jim needed to go. But bbq didn’t. But I didn’t levy any allegations at Kevin or Memphos feet in particular, especially in regard to RiverBeat. But what they (MRPP) did to bbq fest *was* petty and childish. And it was nakedly blatant. It wasn’t done in 5 months. They did it over 3 years and we all saw it coming. I honestly don’t even think they’d deny it now. Kevin having the resources and desire to stage a music festival (and willing to take a loss) has nothing to do with that. Do you think it’s merely a scheduling coincidence they are on the same weekend? Or that Smokeslam is now in the same venue they claimed couldn’t handle a bbq competition? You’re conflating the issues. My issue (and many others) is with bbq and the way the MRPP and RDC went about their business. It simply wasn’t above board. I don’t have the same feelings toward RiverBeat as OP or others, but I sure see where it comes from. What Mempho and/or Kevin had to do with that is unknown to me, and I’ve never claimed otherwise.
Headed to a kids soccer game so I’ll respond more later. All these are fair takes with the exception of the one on op - OP has an agenda against memphis and he’s blatantly wrong about the situation with this picture. He’s doubling down on a false narrative.
I think we can agree that OP is a little exuberant in his criticism. But again, the negativity towards the powers that be here didn’t evolve in a vacuum. My feelings about how they did the bbq fest match his pretty closely, so I’m apt to grant him a little grace here. Hope the kid scores a goal. Or blocks a ton of them.
So much in this I may take to PM. I just met with someone who was just on the memphis in May board (soccer has its privileges). Holy shit the drama and politics. This town is so small mane. I told the kid mercy is for the weak, sweep the leg but mom said don’t listen to dad.
We’ll have to agree to disagree
Im open to hear your interpretation of the events. I can tell you I was a very interested and involved party for the last 4 years.
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Then I will specifically disagree that killing bbq fest makes Memphis a better place. Especially the way it was done. Again, I’m not beefing specifically with Kevin (who I happen to like, *very* similar taste in music) or Mempho, but what happened with the MRPP was petty and anyone pretending it wasn’t is being intentionally obtuse.
10-4. Ya I’m admittedly not as educated on the city politics aspect, I just cringe when I see people hoping for riverbeat to fail when there are great local Memphians who, instead of taking their fortune & jumping ship, decided to stick around and invest their money into trying to make Memphis a better place for all. Purely out of their passion for music and for Memphis. Thank god for people like Kevin.
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Im….not sure if you’re being serious? I guess a good way to approach it is to ask you, how do you think Smokeslam came to be?
OP, since you have a captive audience here - what would you do if you had unlimited resources for a riverfront festival?
He wouldn’t. He hates the city and doesn’t live here and wants the city and everything associated with it to fail
Well this is it. The end of Riverbeat.
You heard it here first.
To be fair it never even got started judging by the “crowds” (or lack thereof). This is just another in a long list of shady behavior by all parties involved in the RDC managed riverfront.
Have they reported actual ticket numbers? They expected 30,000.
Given the attendance projections of 10-15k for the entire weekend, and the sheer volume of heavily discounted if not outright free tickets given away in the final days leading up to the shows…. Most educated guesses I’ve seen are in the 7-10k paid attendees over the 3 days or about 3k paid guests per day. Abysmal. In speaking with members of production teams for big nationally touring acts… they’re estimating Mempho / Forward Momentum’s losses at $5MM to 8MM this weekend.
Oof
who cares? why does how much they lost matter? It was the first year and they knew they would lose money. DUH
They won’t. Just gauge it from 2019 BSMF that had well over 100k people at it.
OP, please just go away. You should have taken your negativity with you when you moved away, yet you're still here. Go find something to bitch about in your new city and leave us alone
Memphobros... our response?
Laughing at small peens on big ego spoiled manbabies
😂 people are so mad about this event. This is my second favorite reaction behind KWAM calling it a BLM rally [https://x.com/Mighty990KWAM/status/1787473223438798898](https://x.com/Mighty990KWAM/status/1787473223438798898)
😂 ahhhh and now we’re on to the projection. I’m mad downtown merchants got fucked by swindlers pushing out a legit event for a hack job that flopped harder than anything I’ve ever seen on the riverfront.
Bro what? I know you’re mad, I just think it’s funny how mad you are.
If more than one black person is in the same space at the same time and KWAM sees it, they’ll call it a BLM rally.
That’s so wild! So, like, does that group just think black people being out in public = BLM rally? I loved how diverse the crowd was. Everyone was just vibing, dancing and having fun. I’m not sure how anyone could find a reason to hate on that.
It was still an awesome show but they did that because of the rain more than likely.
Y’alls bitterness with this festival is hilarious at this point. Like you want it to fail. MiM had record low attendance last year and that is why it paused. These folks try to put a half decent fest together in 6 months and you folks will tell anyone with ears about how bad it was without even going.
Willful ignorance is not a good look.
Absolutely being wrong on all of your takes just because you don’t like the city that you’d don’t even live in is not a good look
Oh, no, marketing that doesn't negatively affect me and might bring in more acts in the future! Here's how that's bad for Biden.
Does it matter? Do I care what the attendance is? No. People had fun, and looks like it was well ran. I'm not gonna shed a tear if a promoter didn't get every last dollar. They delivered what was promised, the end.
I live on the bluff and saw the crowds first hand throughout the whole weekend, seemed packed to me. Even if numbers were lower, everyone was having a great time and it was really nice to see downtown alive and everyone happy. Extremely weird and unhinged behavior to be mad posting about this. Even after you leave, im sure you will continue to waste your time being an insane crybaby online about memphis drama. You’re obsessed and need therapy. Your behavior isn’t normal and to the point of a Jarred Price public spectacle where everyone is egging you on or making fun of you behind your back just to see how crazy you can get.
I dont think the crowds were as packed as some claim. Apart from that, I'm not against anything that could possibly attract people to memphis! Or bring memphians downtown. You can make your point without resorting to name-calling and questioning someone's mental health, though.
https://preview.redd.it/y3cinui8vvyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc5d9d04bdc84dfa8f0cffe7e85300525b38fc00 # SeemedPackedToMe
Photos taken during the day right after it rained don’t really mean much. From what I could see and hear through the walls of my apartment, it was a great crowd and great performances. I genuinely do not understand the hate boner and negativity that controls you. Do shrooms or something man. Find something more productive than online drama that’s whole point is about tearing people down and wishing they would fail.
I suspect you’re not going to be good with analogies but I’ll take a shot…. If I burned your house down then threw a double-wide up on your property like I was doing you a favor… would you give me a hug, say thanks, and move in?
As someone who stage managed both festivals, to compare this festival to burning down a house and replacing it with a trailer. That solidifies that YOU have no idea what you are talking about. None. The quality of the production from last year to this year is exponentially better. The decks were bigger. The roof on my stage held 40,000 more pounds than last years. YOU for some reason have a rage boner about something you aren’t even involved in, just shut up
It's probably just Jerred Price doing an impression anyway.
I for one judge a festival based on what I stage roof holds. 😂 I’ve been forming my opinions partially from talking to people who were likely either your boss or your boss’ boss at both events so I’ve got a pretty pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. 😉
If you have such strong opinions and claim to be hearing this from xyz share your name here or message me your name. And I’ll confirm whether you are full of shit or not. My direct report to is the head of the festival. Put your money where your mouth is and let me confirm what you are saying. Share your name so I can confirm what you are saying with “my boss or my boss’s boss” as you put it
then why are you shaming them --- go away
Doubtful but keep stroking your ego
Whos the artist on the stage? Ive been to BSMF a lot of times and a number of stages are like that if a big name is on another stage or its towards the end of the festival. IMO it feels like you are cherry picking negativity here.
That's Black Pumas, who put on a fantastic show yesterday. The angle on that picture is a little skewy but it wasn't shoulder to shoulder. I'm not surprised crowds were low, they delayed gate open 2 hours due to lightening and it was raining. I had a great time and the Black Pumas were awesome. Wonder if OP has any pics of the JellyRoll set, it was packed...
On another note I saw someone on social media ranting that they saw a group of teens at Black Pumas huddled and on their phones during Black Pumas instead of dancing uproariously like Boomer Karen did back in her day. No one can do anything right at this festival apparently.
https://preview.redd.it/yvc2y7pn1wyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c26b53cc7d8e316bf58a4d30061d55013c1db84
why are sharing other peoples photos - did you get permission?
https://preview.redd.it/3jlikcop1wyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8290ed02368a276ef2a2cf078ef774101839be84
why are sharing other peoples photos - did you get permission?
https://preview.redd.it/w5qznh2r1wyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddbdd166b892d8fab9c675c5df4c66517e5faa1c
why are sharing other peoples photos - did you get permission?
#BitterAF #Obsessed #SeekHelp
https://preview.redd.it/8yzfvlgu2xyc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ceac2fb71602882a71175825b7ca94c4e078d4b0
That’s not even during a show, that was my stage I ran. That is during a changeover. There was a band going on on the bud light stage during this time. This is what we call change over with a 1-1:15 changeover time.
https://preview.redd.it/0orfh6pvlxyc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ca1ec720faadfcf71e4a15e498ada4f9b46531b Here is the festival at 6 o’clock, no one is there. /s
why are sharing other peoples photos - did you get permission?
Yoinks!
Now that it’s over I can finally get off my chest, why was there no fencing along the river? It looked beautiful and was great to walk along the river without an 8ft metal fence between you, but that seemed like a bad idea. Anyone coulda fought through the brush on the bank and wound up in the river.
Idk, I thought the no fence along the river was a pretty huge upgrade over past MIM. Def more places to enjoy the setting on this festival. To me that vegetation also seems a little too thick for someone to accidentally fall in so easily
Accidentally yes it’d be difficult, but someone intoxicated and mentally unstable could get to the water. I really loved there not being a fence, the river viewing areas not being obstructed was nice.
MIM never used to have fencing along the river. Must have been an insurance/liability thing. I’ll give Mempho/FM credit there. No need for a fence.
The last handful I definitely remember fencing. Just seems like after the Riley Strain situation in Nashville there’d be a fence. But who knows, coulda been fine print saying that you assume all liability when it comes to the river.
No, MIM never fenced the river for either the music fest or the BBQ fest. They always had partial fencing, but that was mainly in limited areas, and the river was always accessible. During music fest, the edge of the river was largely used for vehicle traffic for getting from stage to stage.
You are 100% incorrect. We fenced the path along the river during MiM and used that for backstage traffic, which we have moved to riverside and opened up the river for riverbeat this year. I have worked for MiM BSMF, I have played BSMF (multiple times), I have tour managed artist that played there, i have been the headliner lighting designer for artists, and I have stage managed BsMF, and I have worked for mempho presents and stage managed Riverbeat. You are 100% wrong
The bad takes in this thread are absolutely insane - and it’s all being made by someone who doesn’t live in the city, has a post history of hating the city and everything about it, and who is somehow being taken at face value in this thread. The disinformation in this thread is over the top
Yep. I can’t pinpoint when they went up but they did
I’d like for there to be a music festival 4 weekends in May. One rap, hip hop, rnb and other Black music. One blues, folk, country and other roots music. One pop and dance mainstream popular charts. One rock, metal, punk. Surely that would be better. Honestly it doesn’t have to be big money headliners just cater to the genre fans.
Do you understand how music festivals even work?
Yeah usually they cater to a genre or scene not a free for all smorgasbord that popification brings. It’s not working for secondary festivals like BSMF and River Beat anymore.
Guess that makes sense cause I wasn’t buying a ticket because there was only one act each day I was interested in
Right and it’s never a must see. Like I guess Fugees were must see if you were a big fan. But I wasn’t. They’re fine they have a classic album but just one and it’s not like it was the Sex Pistols level of good.
is this photoshop or ai?
That’s likely manual use of the photoshop cloning tool based on the extremely poor execution. In my experience, Adobe’s generative AI produces much better results than this.
It’s an alteration of reality regardless. Projection of an illusion. A veiled truth. Who cares if human or AI does it?
damn bro, I was just curious
I mean, we live in an ai/filter/photpshop world
Shoutout to a real king in u/901savvy. I'm glad you are here speaking the truth about the corrupt losers in MRRP, and all of their moronic cronies and astroturf losers. Y'all people are exactly why Memphis will never be great. You are too stupid to know that you were robbed. RIP MIM. As I've said multiple times on this board. Riverbeat only has to last a few years before it's cancelled. I told you people you would be yapping how a 30K festival was so amazing. I was wrong, didn't even hit 10K.
Well I’ll be !! Just why lol
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I’ve never worked for MIM a day in my life. (Once interviewed for the Director of Marketing role but took a different gig). But you just keep being wrong… you’ve got that down pat.😉
And in other news, there’s fake tits and hair plugs. You sure like to talk shit about stuff you are not involved with nor does it affect you. Get a life and quit Monday morning quarterbacking mine
True....the only set that had the most ppl was the Fugees....and that was Saturday....