New York/Memphis, June 7, 2012 – Viacom Music Group, which includes MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo, today announced the first batch of diverse artists set to join The Flaming Lips in their quest to break the Guinness World Records title for “The Most Live Concerts in 24 Hours (Multiple Cities).” And the competition will start in Memphis, on Beale Street, where as W.C. Handy once sang, “…every night is Saturday night!” There, in W. C. Handy Park, the New Fumes will open for The Flaming Lips before the bands race to the MTV concert tour bus, heading to performance gigs in both Clarksdale, MS, and Oxford, MS, before the night is over!
The selection of Memphis as the kick-off city for the on-line concert competition thrills Memphis Mayor AC Wharton: “We’ll show MTV once again our one-of-a-kind Memphis hospitality!” Memphis civic leader and developer, John Elkington, the single person credited with resurrecting Beale Street in the early 1980s from blocks of closed-up shops and falling-down clubs reacted, “MTV’s ‘O Awards’ – where else would they go but Beale Street? Show biz, fun, and a built-in cool audience watching The Flaming Lips perform on-line and in Handy Park. This is the Beale Street of my dreams.”
Recently, Memphis has been the choice for many other MTV productions, all clients of the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission. They include Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer’s on-line music dramatic series, $5 Cover, and the on-line horror dramatic series, Savage County. However, Memphis’ history with MTV stretches back as far as 1998, when the MTV Sports & Music Festival 2 rocked on the banks of the Mississippi River in Tom Lee Park.
Tickets for the Memphis event will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 8, at www.ticketweb.com. The “O Music Awards” kick-off is presented in coordination with Performa Entertainment Real Estate, The Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission, The Memphis & Shelby County Music Commission, and The Memphis Music Foundation.
