Jack White, Sublime with Rome, and Cody Jinks headlined a packed weekend at the 2024 edition of the Mempho Music Festival, hosted at
the Radian Amphitheater, located within the Memphis Botanic Gardens.
Other artists who performed were Marcus King, the Roots, Goose, Cody Wong, the UofM Blue Tom Records Revue and The Kills.
Thousands came from near and far to see Mempho. Attendees danced, laid down on the grass, went to the silent disco, and got concessions.
Jack White, vocalist and guitarist for the White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather, was the headline act.
“We have been holding this spot [at the front] since one o’clock,” concert attendee Jamie Jones said, while waiting to see Jack White.
Jack White was not set to perform until 8:15 p.m. and doors opened at 1 p.m.
Jack White's performance had a lot of the crowd electric, with head bangs, dancing, singing, and screaming.
During his performance, White would mention any song that was recorded or mixed in Memphis, like “Fell in Love with a Girl,” and would throw his guitar picks into the crowd.
He also played a cover of the song “Goin’ Back to Memphis.”
Although White ended his performance 40 minutes shorter than expected, the crowd didn’t seem to care. The crowd chanted “Encore,” and “One more,” for about 15 minutes until security asked the crowd to leave.
“I wish [Jack White] played longer; he has got enough [songs] out of all his bands,” said attendee Andrew Martin. “I love Jack White, he's one of my guitar idols.”
“It was worth the wait,” Jones said.
During Sublime with Rome’s performance, Rome thanked the crowd, especially the VIP section for being active.
"I'm so happy there is no seats. You know how bad it is when you're performing, and the VIPs don't give an [expletive] about who's playing it just ‘let me eat this popcorn,’” Rome said.
Country singer Cody Jinks also had a big performance as the Friday night headliner. A lot of people at the festival went to see him perform and a crowd gathered about 30 minutes before he entered the stage.
A rock duo named The Kills ended up gaining a lot of crowd love despite being a small band. The crowd started small for about 20 minutes despite no one else playing, but about 30 minutes after they started, the crowd gathered around packed to about a thousand.
From The Kills, guitarist Jamie “Hotel” played part of his songs on top of his head. In the other part Allison “VV” made a comment on the oil on the stage.
“What oil do y’all use? How does anyone play on this stage?” VV said.
When psychedelic rock band Goose performed, some of the crowd swayed and some others rested on each other. Whenever they finished a song, the crowd would cheer and scream “Goose.”
Goose had a surprise appearance from Cory Wong during their performance as Wong was invited to sing some songs.
“Great energy, great people, and really good lemonade,” said UofM student Sid Gullet.
