From DaBaby to Sarah McLachlan, here are Beale Street Music Fest's Friday highlights

Beale Street Music Festival made its big comeback Friday.

The three-day festival kicked off at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park, with performances from Three 6 Mafia, Van Morrison, DaBaby and many more.

Here's a look at Friday's highlights.

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Three 6 Mafia

Memphis’ most iconic rap act and the city’s most iconic music event made a triumphant return on Friday night as Three 6 Mafia headlined Beale Street Music Festival.

The opening night of music fest — back for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — was capped by a performance by Three 6.

Led by Juicy J and DJ Paul, the concert captured the comeback spirit of the evening, with a set that electrified an enthusiastic crowd and delivered 30-plus years worth of crunk classics — all of it backdropped by a playoff series victory by the Memphis Grizzlies that ended just as the group's set began.

Read Bob Mehr's full review from Three 6 Mafia's performance here.

— Bob Mehr

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Van Morrison

Friday night, Van Morrison was the bandleader of a show that was a crowd-pleaser — and that pulled material from throughout his career and the careers of his influences. Wearing a blue suit and his signature dark glasses and fedora, and sometimes performing on saxophone and harmonica, Morrison led the band through 20 songs — more, if you subdivide the medleys.

He and his veteran nine-member band delivered 90 minutes of largely classic and expertly if un-urgently performed Van Morrison material.

Morrison sang "Precious Time," from 1999. He sang "And It Stoned Me," his masterpiece William Blake-meets-Ma Rainey masterpiece from 1970. He did "Wild Night," from 1971. He dug deep into that alternative Great American Songbook that consists of blues and soul classics rather than pop standards: He covered "Help Me" by Sonny Boy Williamson (the one who died in Helena), and Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You," immortalized by Ray Charles; and he did a blues medley that blended "Baby Please Don't Go" with "Parchman Farm" and "Got My Mojo Working."

Read John Beifuss' full review from Van Morrison's performance here.

— John Beifuss

Sarah McLachlan

"I've been living under a rock for two years," Sarah McLachlan said at the start of her set. "This is way more people than I've hung out with in a long time. You look good!"

It was McLachlan's first festival performance post-COVID-19. Singing a mix of popular songs, such as “I Will Remember You" and some deeper cuts such as "Elsewhere,” McLachlan kept the crowd mesmerized for the entirety of her 20-song set, proving she hadn't missed a beat during the break.

McLachlan debuted two new songs, during the performance, "Reminds Me" and an unnamed tune that tackled what she saw as a need in the world to come together. The second song followed a well-worn pattern of McLachlan's to toe the line of politics without getting explicitly political. Both songs had more hopeful tones than her normally sorrowful songs.

"I'm up here singing my sad little songs, but honestly the sadder the song the more joy I get out of singing," McLachlan said.

Her encore? "Angel."

— Gina Butkovich

Sammy Hagar & The Circle

As the stereo music died out, cueing live music from Sammy Hagar & The Circle, the crowd broke out into cheers for the group that filled in for the Foo Fighters.

With two former Van Halen members, Sammy Hagar as a lead vocalist and Michael Anthony as a bassist, the show was packed with Van Halen music along with Sammy Hagar originals. The group also featured New Orleans trombonist Trombone Shorty for two songs.

Leading off with “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” the crowd grew louder as news of the Memphis Grizzlies win spread from person to person — followed shortly with Hagar donning a Grizzlies shirt and saying, “Damn the Grizzlies, these f****** better be good. If my friends in San Francisco saw me wearing this, they’d go crazy.”

As the booze began to flow on stage and into the crowd — where Hagar sporadically tossed cans, the lead singer gave Anthony center stage to perform Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love.”

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As the show began to wind down, Hagar launched into a short explanation about how the group came to fill in for the Foo Fighters, who canceled all upcoming tour dates in the wake of drummer Taylor Hawkins' death.

“We were asked on a personal level, from promoters and the Foo Fighters themselves,” he said. “Please bear with me while I try to perform this. I’ve never played this song before.”

The group then launched into a rendition of the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” as a montage of the Foo Fighters with Hawkins played on the big screen.

— Lucas Finton

DaBaby

After a series of festival cancellations following his homophobic comments at Rolling Loud Miami, DaBaby returned to the festival circuit at Beale Street Music Festival. Despite the controversy preceding the Charlotte rapper’s performance, DaBaby was undeterred as he flashed his grin Friday night.

Donning a furry pink Prada hat and fitted green top, he performed his own hits including “Suge,” “BOP” and ”Masterpiece," along with guest verses on songs by Saturday headliner Megan Thee Stallion.

The “VIBEZ” rapper said it was his first time in Memphis and got a feel for the audience. “I need y’all to show me how y’all get down," he said.

“We need a Memphis moment,” he said and got the crowd to yell “Free Shiesty” before launching into Pooh Shiesty’s song "Back in Blood." (Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty was recently sentenced in a federal firearms case in Florida.)

By his fifth song, DaBaby’s sweat was glistening as much as his diamond-encrusted chain and watch.

Also during his set, he invited a fan up on stage to give him a lap dance on a prop bed and had fans take turns dancing on a stripper pole to his song “Ball If I Want To."

To close, he brought a young fan up to perform “Rockstar” with him.

— Astrid Kayembe

Al Kapone

Memphis rapper Al Kapone helped inaugurate the return of Beale Street Music Festival with a high-energy, early-evening performance on the Bud Light Stage at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park.

One of the more adventurous local purveyors of rap over the course of his career, Kapone has done everything from teaming up with the Memphis Symphony to celebrating the city’s R&B legacy with his most recent LP, “Hip Hop Blues.”

Kapone's music fest set — which saw him performing with a live band and backdropped by the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium — mixed some of his newer material with a selection of Bluff City classics like “M's Up," "Get it On The Flo" and "Get Crunk, Get Buck."

Kapone, best known for writing and producing the classic “Hustle & Flow” track “Whoop That Trick,” has seen the song evolve into anthem for the city and the Memphis Grizzlies in particular.

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Dressed up in Grizzlies gear — including a white Ja Morant jersey — Kapone delivered the song ahead of the team's Game 6 playoff contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Once the Grizz fans got hold to it's been a problem," said Kapone of "Whoop That Trick," shouting out the team. "Y'all make some noise for our Grizz."

— Bob Mehr

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: DaBaby to Sarah McLachlan: Beale Street Music Fest's Friday highlights