Festival

Music at the Intersection Music Festival 2023: Day 1

The Music at the Intersection Music Festival is one of St. Louis, Missouri’s most anticipated events of the year, taking place during the weekend of September 9th through the 10th. This is the festival’s third year, which focuses on blues, jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, and rock and roll music. Organizers do an exceptional job of combining large mainstream acts such as Thundercat and Masego with up and coming musicians from St. Louis and award winning artists from neighboring Midwest cities. This festival is a true labor of love and cultural deep dive into the imprint St. Louis has had on the music scene. We were fortunate enough to be invited for the weekend not only to enjoy Music at the Intersection, but explore St. Louis’ hottest restaurants and attractions for an immersive Midwest experience.

We arrived in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday afternoon and headed straight to the stylish Angad Arts Hotel, courtesy of Explore St. Louis. The Angad Arts Hotel, pronounced “On-God”, is a whimsical hotel featuring eye-catching artwork and exhibitions throughout the building. “Which color room do you have?” seemed to be a reoccurring question while conversing with locals, as the bright yellow, green, blue, and red rooms have become a staple. In case you were wondering, we had yellow and genuinely enjoyed the bright color scheme, although that seemed to be a controversial take.

In the late afternoon, Explore St. Louis had arranged for us to attend the St. Louis Art Museum, otherwise known as SLAM. We got to dive into The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century exhibit, which is available now to view until January of next year. The exhibit was absolutely incredible, and an extensive crash course in all things hip-hop that was a great preparation for the rest of the weeknd’s music centric activities. We ended the night with a pre-festival celebration at SLAM and delectable dinner at Idol Wolf.

The next morning, we brunched at Katie’s Pizza and Pasta, which was a much needed carbo load before heading into Day 1 of Music at the Intersection. Bustling with excitement, we did a quick lap of the grounds to understand the layout of the festival, which had four stages, a food truck court, vendors, merch tents, and much more. The first few artists we got to see were Mai Lee and Sir Eddie C, which are both up and coming R&B artists from STL. Their sets were electric, and they did their home city of St. Louis proud.

The next artist was one of our most anticipated acts of the festival, Phony Ppl. The Brooklyn based band of five is in a league of their own as they combine funk, soul, jazz, and Latin influences in their music. Lead vocalist Elbee Thrie’s voice was absolutely mesmerizing and the other members like Bari Bass and Elijah Rawk brought the energy as they jumped around the stage.

One of the most tender moments of the whole festival was when a young fan named Maxy Arts held up some beautiful paintings of Phony Ppl, which soon thereafter made its way to the stage and into Elbee’s hands.

Later in the day while interviewing the acclaimed Keyon Harrold, we ran into Elbee backstage and took some fun portraits that captured the band’s carefree energy.

The Nate Smith Trio performed on the main stage and featured Jason Lindner and Tim Lefebvre, which are incredibly acclaimed artists with an eclectic sound. Their entire set was improvised as they jammed together and bounced off each others’ groove.

Arrested Development is a Grammy award winning hip-hop group who are a force to be reckoned with. Their performance was one of the most energetic of the whole festival, with group members dancing their hearts out. They were mesmerizing to watch, with their colorful clothes and bright smiles lighting up the stage.

Everyone was hyped for Cameo’s set, which features the legendary Larry Blackmon. These Grammy award winning musicians have been around since the 70’s, and have had an insane influence on the music industry. They did not disappoint.

The City Wide Stage, otherwise known as the DJ stage, hosted artists such as the Mo Egeston All Stars all day long, which were an absolute joy to see.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Keyon Harrold before his set with Pharoahe Monch and Stout, which took place in the Big Top Stage. The Big Top was a funky performance stage in a colorful tent strategically placed between the other main stages. Keyon is an iconic jazz trumpeter and vocalist from St. Louis who’s worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce´, and more. The three artists brought the house down, with Stout’s vocals stealing the show. Stay tuned for Keyon’s full interview.

The last two acts of the day were headliners Masego and Snarky Puppy, and they couldn’t have been more different. Masego is a sleek saxophonist, having made a name for himself in the R&B and hip-hop world through his lyrical storytelling. We were only able to catch the middle of Masego’s set, but it was pretty evident that he was a fan favorite.

Snarky Puppy is a four time grammy award winning collective of musicians that have made serious strides with their jazz tunes and funky riff offs. They aren’t considered a fusion band or jam band though, and it’s important for Snarky Puppy fans to take note of this distinction. They mainly performed songs from their latest album, Empire Central, and featured crazy solos from their organ player Bobby Sparks and violinist Zack Brock. Some members, like Mark Lettieri, even played with other acts like The Fearless Flyers over the course of the two day festival. This was definitely a high note to end day one of Music at the Intersection.