My Top Five Favorite Riverbend Performances

Now that Riverbend 2008 has come to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to list my favorite Riverbend performances of all time. Because our Scenic City festival is not just about the music (actually, most of time the music seems to be the last thing they think about), I based my decisions not necessarily on the musical merits of these performers but on an array of varying factors depending on a particular time in my life, who I was with and...well...that's it.

To be fair, it seems Riverbend has become a bit more selective in the musical acts they bring to Chattanooga. In the past few years, the festival has boasted several talented, if not famous, bands such as the Black Crowes, Galactic (including members of Jurassic 5), the Everybodyfields, the Avett Brothers, Cracker, DJ Logic, and the Blind Boys of Alabama just to mention a few.

Now, without further ado, here are my top five Riverbend performances in no particular order:

5. ALLGOOD
I saw this Athens, Georgia band in the at one of the smaller tents at Riverbend. I had heard about them through a friend and bought their cassette EP, instantly hooked on all six songs, which was a combination of blues and southern rock with a jam band feel to them. Though I'm not typically a jam band fan, it was great driving music and I was in my late teens, which warrants some of the bad musical choices people tend to make; that, and it was the late 90s.

Though it was sticky hot and overcrowded, as Riverbend tends to be, it was not unbearable enough to miss this band. I, along with everyone else in the crowd, jammed along through each musical number until they played their epic masterpiece "Trilogy".

4. Roger McGuinn

Founding and only consistent member of the 1960s American band the Byrds, Roger McGuinn played under the Walnut Street Bridge during the 1995 Riverbend Festival. Armed with only a 12-string acoustic guitar, he played solo some of his best-loved Byrds hits including "Turn, Turn, Turn", "Mr. Tambourine Man" and if I remember correctly, "Eight Miles High". He told stories about his days with the Byrds and talked about his solo career. Not only was he amazing to watch on the guitar, he was personable and chatty with the audience. The low-key quality of this show was what made it so memorable and refreshing, especially since there was a throng of drunken, sweating, rednecks walking on the bridge just above us.


3. Chuck Berry

I don't remember who else played at Riverbend this particular year; I just remember being in awe of this rock 'n' roll legend.

2. Alex Chilton
The only reason I bought a Riverbend pin this ye ar was to see the legendary singer for Big Star. Unfortunately, I was 45 minutes late to the show due to bad planning on my part. But, even though I missed most of the show, I was able to see Chilton play four songs and though he had already pl ayed a few Big Star songs, he did a great cover of Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" and I was able to meet him and get his autograph at the end of the show. He lacked the high-energy performance he had in his youth, nonetheless, I was thrilled to see this music history cult icon.

1. Street Corner Jesus Guys
Every year without fail, these guys stands on the street corners of donwtown Chattanooga during Riverbend, holding up signs that banish literally everyone to Hell except themselves. For years, they have been one of the most popular acts there, especially during the Bessie Smith Strut, where most everyone there is drunk, high, or both. Continually heckled by passers-by with occasional half-eaten barbecue sandwiches and empty tall boys thrown at them, they valiantly stand at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and MLK Blvd., waving their signs and carrying large crosses to simulate the heavy wooden one that Jesus bore on his back. Funny, I don't remember Jesus' cross having wheels.