The Music Fest crowd remained a bit sparse as Sunday waned, with many people forgoing the trip Downtown, thanks in part to earlier forecasts of more rain this evening.
I found myself in the pit for Five Finger Death Punch, a Los Angeles-based metal band whose chant, "War is the answer" (also the name of their most recent album, released September 2009), seemed far too harsh for such a nice day. Lead singer Ivan Moody stormed onto the stage looking crazed and ready for a fight, and informed the crowd that he'd heard about all the bad weather, and that he'd had a talk with God about it. And? It was all clear for some screaming rock 'n' roll.
And it stayed all clear throughout the evening, although the Budweiser Stage was plagued with cancellations due to the ongoing flooding issues in Nashville, which stranded John Hiatt and Alison Krauss. Some strategic schedule shuffles kept music blaring from every stage.
Late in the evening, closers 3 Doors Down had to cancel their set. They too had gotten stranded in Nashville. Officials said they tried everything they could to get them to Memphis, but the situation in Nashville was just too extreme. The crowd, extremely unhappy when the cancellation was announced, booed loudly and chucked bottles and debris onto the stage at Jim Holt, president and CEO of Memphis in May, who made the announcement. A tense few moments, for sure.
The band was headed to Memphis by bus, but the bus flooded out. They went back to Nashville, at which point Memphis in May sent a Lear jet to get them. The Lear jet arrived in Nashville, but the plane had mechanical difficulties. MIM sent another Lear jet, but by the time they were ready to take off, the weather situation had worsened, and they couldn't be cleared for travel. The earliest the band would have been able to make it to Memphis would have been 10:30, which would have kept rowdy crowds waiting for an two extra hours.
Rock Sugar, who opened on the Sam's Town Stage on Sunday afternoon, were set to take the stage in place of Three Doors Down.
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Comments » 1
leewmj#383378 writes:
OK CA (Commercial Appeal)!!
I'm first!! What prize do I win?
LOL
1)Tour bus floods.
2) 1st lear jet has mechanical problems.
3) 2nd lear jet trapped on geound by bad weather.
Given the history with musical artists and tour buses, planes, and helicopters, it was probably best for the group to stay grounded in Nashville.
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