Music at the Intersection Music Festival 2023: Day 2

Our second full day in St. Louis was an absolute blast filled with great food, memorable fun, and fantastic music. 

We started the day with brunch at Rooster’s Cafe, a chain restaurant loved by locals with heavenly dishes like their slingers, crepes, and donut holes. We are still dreaming about their stuffed cinnamon roll french toast #Chef’sKiss. With full stomachs, we headed to The Gateway Arch, a popular tourist attraction in St. Louis. Did you know that The Gateway Arch is considered a national park, and happens to be the smallest one in all of the United States? We had no idea, let alone the fact that tourists can take a ride up inside the arch! We squeezed inside small carts that barely fit five people and made the three minute trek up the arch, which was a wild experience. Once at the top, we enjoyed the tremendous views of all of St. Louis through small windows strategically placed in the Arch. 

After The Gateway Arch, we excitedly made our way to the MATI music festival, which boasted an impressive day two lineup featuring some mega blues and jazz legends. The sun was beaming even hotter than the day before, and the festival was drawing in a noticeably larger crowd than day one.

The first artist we had the pleasure of watching was Samantha Fish, an impressive blues icon from Kansas City, Missouri. She performed with guitarist Jesse Dayton, who she worked with for her first ever collaborative album, Death Wish Blues. The duo did not disappoint, and looked like rockstars in their sparkly all black attire, despite the sun beating down on the stage. We had the opportunity to interview Samantha Fish later in the day, so stay tuned for her full interview.

 

After catching our breath and hydrating in the shade, we ran over to the main stage to catch blues legend Taj Mahal. Mahal has been crushing it since the 60’s, and has performed with icons such as the Rolling Stones, the Temptations, The Who, and more. The crowd was overflowing as people gathered to see Taj Mahal, who was seated on stage surrounded by three different guitars of various sizes. Wearing a cool hat and colorful button down, the 81 year old looked cool as a cucumber. He and his band of respected elder musicians gave one hell of a performance that transported listeners to a different time, and their slightly risque lyrics made the crowd cheer with laughter. 

 

Andy Frasco & The U.N. gave one of the most memorable sets of the entire festival. We had been informed that Andy’s performances were known for being a good time, but we were not prepared for what was in store. A barefoot Andy Frasco was up, down, and all around the stage with a bottle of whisky in one hand and his microphone in the other, frequently swapping the whisky for a cigarette. His guitarist, Shawn Eckels, gushed blood from his forehead at one point, but that didn’t stop him from head banging and playing solos like nobody’s business. During the middle of his performance, Frasco jumped into the crowd and directed his own version of the Horah. Yelling “left, right, back, forward!”, we got swept up in the madness and loved every second.

 

Up next was another jazz icon, the legendary Herbie Hancock. Hancock has been an integral part of the jazz music scene since the 1960’s, and was a member of the Miles David Quintet back in the day. He’s received countless Grammy awards, and was the talk of the town on day two. It felt really cool to be in the presence of such a trailblazer and witness his incredible talent.

 

 

The Teskey Brothers are an Australian blues rock band who are currently on their North American tour. Josh and Sam Teskey look identical, with stellar voices to match. The band was captivating as they had many members on stage playing a variety of instruments such as a saxophone and trumpet. That golden hour lighting hit the band just right as they passionately sang songs from their most recent album, The Winding Way.

 

 

Tank and the Bangas were hands down one of our favorite sets of the whole festival. Their energy was indescribable, and it was hard to take our eyes off of lead vocalist Tarriona “Tank” Ball who’s stage presence is just magic. Hearing the “this boy be in my dm’s say I’m pretty” viral tik tok sound from Tarriona live sent us into orbit and now we can happily cross that off our bucket list. This New Orleans based band performed in the big top tent, giving them a whimsical backdrop for their dazzling performance. 10/10.

 

 

The Fearless Flyers are four groovy musicians, most of which also play in the funk band Vulfpeck. Mark Lettieri, who’s also in Snarky Puppy, performed with the Flyers which made for one epic crossover. 

 

Thundercat was one of our most highly anticipated artists of the whole festival. Although he had some technical difficulties in the beginning of his set, he was all smiles and pushed through, delivering a powerful performance. His opening guitar solos left our jaws on the floor. He sang fan favorites such as Dragonball Durag, Them Changes, and Flying Lotus’ Black Gold.

 

 

Our final artist, and arguably a tie with Tank and the Bangas for our favorite set, was the Marquise Knox Band featuring the Funky Butt Horns. Did they live up to their name? Yes! Did they have everyone on their feet, ourselves included? Yes! Did they leave us wanting more? Heck yes! Marquise even came into the crowd at one point and danced around the entire big top tent with audience members, making their set feel like one giant party. Being from St. Louis, the Marquise Knox Band was the perfect artist to close out the whole festival, which genuinely healed our soul.

 

 

Overall, The Music at the Intersection is an incredibly underrated musical festival that manages to bring some of the most legendary and accomplished blues and jazz artists together for one spectacular weekend. This festival does an amazing job of telling the story of St. Louis and Midwest music culture through its epic lineup and impressive scale. By the second day, we felt at home walking around the festival being greeted by so many friendly faces and welcoming folks. St. Louis has our heart, and we cannot wait to see what’s in store for next year.