With at least 5 Grammy Award winners and numerous nominees on the bill the 2nd annual Riverbeat Music Festival was destined to be an experience music fans had to experience. Sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River and on the grounds of Tom Lee Park in Memphis the 2025 rendition of Riverboat left attendees counting down the days until 2026.
Well more than 30,000 music fans spent the past weekend in downtown Memphis taking in the sounds of some of the biggest artists of the past 30 plus years as well as some up and comers including recent Best New Artist Grammy nominees Gayle, Khruangbin, and Benson Boone. They shared the stage with iconic artists such as Missy Elliott, Ludacris, Steve Aoki, and The Killers.
Last year, Riverbeat came to life after the long running Beale Street Music Festival went on hiatus and was put together rather quickly that still resulted in a solid lineup including the Fugees, Odeza, and Jelly Roll. As the festival experienced some expected growing pains the majority of the questions and concerns coming out of year one were addressed in 2025. Additional entryways were created to allow patrons more time to experience Downtown Memphis before making the walk to the festival. Security concerns, the elephant in the room, was a non-issue this year as there was a massive law enforcement presence throughout the festival that while noticeable was not in any a hindrance for festival goers.
This years edition of the festival saw a good sized up tick in attendance with 3-Day VIP tickets selling out as well as the 1-Day options. Word of mouth from last years attendees as well as a spectacular lineup played large roles in this years ticket sales increase. This years lineup included hip-hop legends like those mentioned earlier as well as Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and a tribute to Memphis hip-hop that included some of the 901’s originals including Crunchy Black, DJ Spanish Fly, and LA Chat.
Day one was the most anticipated day of the festival and it had nothing to do with the lineup. Despite Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris delivering stellar performances it was instead Mother Nature who was the true headliner Friday night. I imagine all festival goers were refreshing the weather app on their phones all week with hopes of no rain on Friday. Throughout the week leading up to the festival, Friday’s chance of rain ranged anywhere from 45 to 80% and when all of Memphis woke up Friday morning it sat at 70%. I outright downpour came through the area early Friday afternoon leaving attendees questioning their outfight for opening day. The skies somewhat cleared up in time for the gates to open and music lovers to be greeted by the sounds of Steve Aoki as they made their way in to the festival grounds.
As each stage began to come alive through the music blasting through the speakers those in attendance were greeted by a slew of entertainment options outside of the live music on display. From corn hole at the White Claw stand to a vinyl listing lounge to a Ferris Wheel there was plenty of things to see and do while deciding who to see next.
World renowned EDM artist Steve Aoki brought country singer Tyler Hubbard to debut a new song they have together and to film part of the music video for the song as well. The highlight for the packed crowd at his stage was when he and Hubbard began to sling sheet cake after sheet cake into the audience. The duo through over a dozen cakes into the more than happy to receive faces of audience members. As the night progressed it was easy to pick out those that were up close for Aoki’s set.
Former Duke University baseball player turned independent rapper mike. took his turn entertaining the Riverbeat fans at the Bud Light stage. The artist was greeted to a very warm Memphis welcome from his loyal fan base that had come out to see him. The west coast artist got the growing crowd in the right frame of mind as they awaited the arrival of one of the best hip hop artists to ever come out of Atlanta. Three-time Grammy winner Ludacris took the stage dressed head to toe in a red and white Vince Carter throwback Memphis Grizzlies’ gear. Not sure many Atlanta Hawks fan would approve but the crowd at Riverbeat ate it up. The Screen Actors Guild award winner raced through hit after hit from his 9 studio albums as well as some of the biggest collaborations from his 25 plus year long career. Ludacris even surprised the millennial heavy crowd with a sing-a-long of the Justin Bieber ‘classic’ “Baby.”
Before Ludacris had everyone rapping along about hoes and area codes, Busta Rhymes had everyone’s hands in the air on the Orion Financial Stage. Busta brought the energy and the crowd easily matched it as he went rapid fire through his biggest hits spanning his illustrious 30-plus year career. Busta and his partner Spliff Star draped in matching red and white suits crushed their 40-minute set with tongue-twisting raps and dynamic crowd work.
Newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Missy Elliott socked it to the crowd as she delivered a futuristic set that including pyrotechnics, costume changes, dynamic choreography, and eye-popping visuals.
Missy entered the stage atop a platform dressed in a Transformer inspired costume and even though she’s well over 25 years in to her career her performance showed that she is still on top of her game. As she did weeks before at Coachella. Elliott had the crowd holding on to every movement she made with her contagious smile and high energy performance. Closing number “Lose Control” from her 2005 album The Cookbook brought the crowd to frenzy and as day one came to a close attendees left Tom Lee Park to a firework and drone show.
As the exits were filled with elated music lovers day one came to a near perfect close as the weather held up with the exception of a brief rain storm and all of the performances went off without a hitch.
Saturday and Sunday of the festival could not have provided better weather in my mind. Partly cloud skies with highs in the low to mid 70s greeted festival goers each day as day two kicked off with Memphis’ resident funk king MonoNeon taking the Orion Financial stage. The colorfully clad bassist played to the enthusiastic crowd while wearing his signature crocheted ski mask and on the Bud Light stage singer, songwriter and producer Two Feet crafted a set that easily garnered him a few new fans.Two Feet showed his range by playing multiple instruments while keeping the crowd interaction to a minimum leaving the music to do his talking for him.
While walking the festival grounds I stumbled upon the Orbit stage on the opposite side of the park as the electronic beats and roaring sounds of the saxophone called me closer. There I discovered the husband-wife duo Future Joy and the highlight of the festival. They were in the middle of a song when I walked up and both were wearing white kitchen aprons while pumping inflatable hoagie sandwiches in the air. After throwing the inflatables into the crowd then they tossed actual deli sandwiches into the crowd as well.
A spectacular rendition of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” that included inflatable bananas cemented new fandom. The performance found Future Joy’s Emily Cooper running into the crowd to deliver bananas to some of those dancing. A strong source of potassium is important when experiencing Future Joy in person.
The self-described “Death Cab for Country” artist Stephen Wilson Jr., Mobile, Alabama rapper Flo Milli and the iconic reggae band The Wailers continued the music during the afternoon while rock took center stage the rest of day two. Hip hop and R&B was aplenty on the lineup but it was rock that delivered the main event on Saturday.
The one-two punch of Cage the Elephant and The Killers delighted fans as day turned to night. The Bowling Green, Kentucky Cage the Elephant delivered over an hour of unfiltered, pure rock ’n’ roll and raced through their 22-song set as the crowd grew larger as each song passed. As the crowd grew to its peak The Killers kicked off their headlining slot with a very energetic rendition of the Jerry Lee Lewis anthem “Great Balls of Fire.” What followed was a 90-minute performance from one the best modern rock bands of the last twenty years. From “Somebody Told Me” to the closing “Mr. Brightside,” The Killers high energy performance cemented their rightful choice as day two’s headliner.
Day one of Riverbeat was heavy on hip hop artists of the late 90s and early 2000s as day two leaned more rock oriented. The closing day of the festival was all about what is new in music. Local instrumental group Salo Pallini kicked day three off on the Bud Light stage with their groovy sounds and were even joined Memphis singer and American Idol alum Alexis Grace. Grace joined the band and delivered a cover of Portishead’s “Sour Times” that will serve as one of the highlights of the 2025 version of Riverbeat.
The buzz building Jonah Kagen opened the Orion Financial stage before Nashville’s Gayle served up a dazzling mix of power pop for an energetic predominately female crowd. The Best New Artist nominee soured through a rocking cover of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” as she made her way to her viral 2022 hit “ABCDEFU.”
Swedish EDM group Gallants, Australia pop group Blusher, and New Orleans singer and pianist Neal Francis kept the good vibes and tunes going before a pair of 2024 Best New Artist nominees rose to the test and rocked the festival crowd. First nominee and fresh off his stirring Saturday Night Live performance not 24-hours earlier, Benson Boone stood atop a piano on the Orion Financial stage drowning in the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. As the the chorus of opener “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” climaxed Boone front flipped off of the piano and the crowd erupted in applause. The 22-year old wore jeans and a black jacket much different than the flamboyant jumpsuits he has become known for. Boone left the crowd flipping to their next destination after an energetic version of his breakout hit “Beautiful Things.”
Texas based trio and 2024 Best New Artist Grammy nominee Khruangbin closed the Bud Light stage with their global mix of Latin, Thai, and Iranian pop, dub and psychedelia. “So We Won’t Forget” and “Pelota” served as two of the highlights of the bands set. As the final notes of the “People Everywhere (Still Alive)” played the eager music lovers raced their way back to the Orion Financial stage for one last performance.
Nine-time Grammy award winner Anderson .Paak was giving the task of closing the festival with a bang and a bang he did. The multi-hyphenated artist kept the energy at peak level throughout his 90-minute performance that was laced with a mash-up of jazz, blues, funk and hip hop. Paak dove in to his and the Free Nationals discography as well as including a few tracks from the Silk Sonic album he made with Bruno Mars.
As the burst of fireworks began to ascending over the Mississippi River the 2025 edition of Riverbeat came to a close. The festival grew greatly in attendance from year one and is destined to grow even more next year and should quickly become a festival that music lovers travel from miles and miles away.
Mempho Presents, the group that organized Riverbeat, has the bbq competition SmokeSlam taking place May 15-17 and the music festival Mempho happening October 3-5 with Widespread Panic, Tyler Childers, The Flaming Lips and many others. Visit memphopresents.com for more information.
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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