French Quarter Festival 2013 Day 4: Diva Rising, Comfortable Crooner, Solo Cowboy, & Swamp Funk Perfection

April 19, 2013 by

TO FREELANCE OR NOT TO FREELANCE

FQF4 Pipe

In Full Writer’s Mode

I woke up Sunday morning feeling fine but, after a day of daquiries, I decided to keep it dry again, especially since I needed to be semi-professional. I’d been in contact with Better Than Ezra’s publicist, Ashley, since doing my interview for Krewe of Rocckus and there was a young new singer she wanted me to check out, hopefully landing another story in Offbeat. Ashley wouldn’t be in town until the following week, though, to make a formal introduction but her client was singing today and I wanted to know what I was getting into. If her style completely left me flat, and since I’m not the biggest modern R&B fan that was a very real possibility, then I’m not sure how I’d feel about doing a piece. Thus I rushed to make sure I had time to park and take my daily walk before she took the stage at 12:30. Halfway through the first song, it was clear that [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews

French Quarter Festival 2013, Day 3: King Kermit, A Faithful and Prodigal Son, & Bonerama Baby!

April 17, 2013 by

UP CLOSE, PLANTED, & CUTTING LOOSE

Saturday Was My Day To Cut Loose

Saturday Was My Day To Cut Loose

Whereas Day 2 of French Quarter Festival was my day to wander, I planned to stay planted for Day 3. A succession of local legends would pass across the Abita Beer Stage by the river Saturday so I arrived well before arguably the greatest current New Orleans performer took the stage at 2:15. When I arrived, local legend with Mardi Gras Indian roots, Donald Harrison, Jr. was in the midst of his set and the crowd was thick. I slowly pressed into the crowd, finding an open spot near the front where I watched him perform flanked by masking Indians (my dang sixth sense!)

Saturday was also my day to indulge. Signs and announcements constantly beckoned patrons to keep the festival free by not bringing outside food and drink. I’d done my duty the two days prior, visiting a few food booths and even having a couple of beers Friday after my dry first day; Saturday, though, I [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews

French Quarter Festival 2013 Day 2: An Animated Diva, A Funk Farmer, & A Dirty Old Man

April 16, 2013 by

RETURN OF THE ROOKIE MISTAKE

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South Peters Street Stage

Day 2 of French Quarter Festival was my day to wander, explore, and discover since there was no one on the schedule I was itching to see until the oft-mentioned Dirty Dozen Brass Band closed out the stage on South Peters Street at 7:30.

Again I spent a leisurely morning Friday before parking and making the thirty minute walk to the French Quarter. Since I didn’t have any agenda, it was the perfect day to meander and check out the more intimate stages on Bourbon and Royal Streets. While the St. Peters Street stage near the river is in a wide median and faces down the street and those beside the river at Woldenberg Park are on an open lawn that can hold thousands, the small stages in the heart of the Quarter face across the street, focusing more on the house bands from local bars and accommodating crowds in the dozens instead of thousands. As I wandered down Bourbon, however, there was one problem: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews

French Quarter Festival 2013 Day 1: A Soul Queen, A Wolfman, & A Bag of Donuts

April 15, 2013 by

IN HARDSHIP, THE BIG EASY COMES UP BIG

A Little Rain Wouldn't Ruin My First Day of Fest

A Little Rain Wouldn’t Ruin My First Day of Fest

In April 2005 I attended my first French Quarter Festival at the urging of locals who prefer this local-centric event to the out-of-town crowds and superstars of Jazzfest. It was an amazing weekend, and though I didn’t think it bested Jazzfest, I was sure I’d soon return. Then, just four months later, Hurricane Katrina hit and I along with most of the nation feared New Orleans and its wonderful culture was down for the count. I stayed away for six years as my life went in a different direction, but a city known as The Big Easy got Big Tough, showing it’s drive and resiliency, and the music continued. On Thursday I attended the festival’s 30th uninterrupted opening.

OF THE CREOLES, BY THE CREOLES, FOR THE CREOLES

Mission Accomplished: The Crowds Returned, Even In The Rain

Mission Accomplished:
The Crowds Returned, Even In The Rain

The French Quarter Festival was founded in 1984 to draw locals back downtown and has succeeded wildly, winning praise as locals’ favorite event. It has grown into the largest free music festival in the south, drawing over half a million visitors last year to it’s 21 stages spread throughout the streets of the Quarter and the riverfront lawn of Woldenberg Park. Additionally, this event’s mission is to support local music, food, culture, and business. Local bands fill every slot except for one stage of Louisiana influenced music, the food comes from local restaurants ranging from the finest in dining to popular dives, and there are lectures, films, dance lessons, and other events reflecting and promoting local color. All the labor contracts also go to local workers. FQF is truly [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, History & Trivia, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews

Do You Know What It Means To Live In New Orleans? (Making My First Groceries & Coffee At Krewe Du Brew)

April 13, 2013 by

TAKE YOUR BIKE . . . BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES!

My Future Regular Blogging Spot

My Future Regular Blogging Spot

I’ve often been told the best way to get around New Orleans is via bicycle—albeit on a cheap one as theft is rampant. So far I’ve been walking all over town, unafraid to take a forty-five minute stroll to get to a bar or restaurant. This time, however, arriving back at around 5pm Tuesday with my bike in tow, I immediately hit the road trying to beat an impending storm.

Despite the darkening skies, the air was cool and dry, making for pleasant cruising. I first peddled past a potential rental (rough neighborhood, so no dice) and then down Magazine Street past its eclectic restaurants, hip bars, and enviable housing, making it to Canal Street and the French Quarter in half an hour. I tucked this nugget away in my memory, wondering if [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Restaurant Reviews

My Spring Break, Part 2: A Woozy Wedding & Hurricane Hale

April 12, 2013 by

HANGOVERS ARE A BEACH

It Took A Miracle To Get Todd Here On Time

It Took A Miracle To Get Todd Here On Time

Although I’d been out until 4:30, I was up by 10:00. My friend Aimee was down to accompany me to the wedding but wanted to hit the beach first. As I packed up, I grabbed my phone to invite Todd; instead, I discovered an incoherent text from Meg:

 

 

It is 5:16 am and Todd is spiking puking galore. What the duck did you fee and give him to drink. In 6 years I have never seen him this drunk! Good thing we have 12 hours because he is al yours and chad’s in the am.

I sensed a veiled ‘get him right and get him there’ ultimatum in this slurred text and, considering Chad had just arrived and had hardly been around, I sensed this train wreck falling on my shoulders. There was no beach in my future.

LEGENDS OF THE FALL(ING DOWN DRUNK)

Around 11:00 I texted to see if Todd was awake: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography

My Spring Break, Part 1: Don’t Vodka Them After Midnight

April 10, 2013 by

MY FLORIDA YO-YO: TO MOVE OR NOT TO MOVE

A Spring Break Beach Wedding

A Spring Break Beach Wedding

After St. Joseph’s Night I was buzzing on New Orleans, but prior commitments soon brought me back to Jacksonville. Although I supposedly moved to New Orleans February 7th, I’ve spent as much time back in Florida–the deep roots I’ve planted keep drawing me back. I had to return a few days earlier than planned to deal with personal business, though I’d known for a year that my best friend from high school, Todd VanDenLangenberg, was flying down from Wisconsin to spend the week and tie the knot.  He and Meg, his fiancé, used to visit annually and fell in love with St. Augustine so decided to marry on the beach there, arriving Tuesday March 26th and leaving to honeymoon in Key West the following Monday. (I’ve lived in Florida a decade now and my best friend gets married there the month after I move!?!)

Todd & Meg Hanging Out In St. Augustine Wedding Week

Todd & Meg Hanging Out In St. Augustine Wedding Week

That Sunday was Easter and spring break for half of America when two of my best friends from my camp years, Carson and Heather, come down annually with their two kids whom I’ve known since birth and call me ‘Uncle Eric.’ It’s one of the few chances I get to see these dear friends I left in Virginia, so how could I justify not staying another week?! Thus, like so many college kids half my age (sob!) I [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Restaurant Reviews

St. Joseph’s Night: Tradition In Transition

April 8, 2013 by

TRUCKIN’ (THE INDIAN-APOLIS 500)

Indian 8My heart raced with excitement as I shot down the narrow, rugged side streets of Uptown. Thinking my roommate had spotted a lone tribe of wandering Mardi Gras Indians, I was afraid of missing my chance.

As I approached 4th Avenue, there were already cars lining the sides of the road. I pulled onto an overgrown grass shoulder in between two large aboveground cemeteries of typical New Orleans style. The moon shining off the bone-white tombs amplified the mystical aura of electricity filling St. Joseph’s Night, and up ahead I caught glimpses of bright beads and feathers rising above the growing crowd that was snapping photos and cheering on the dancing explosions of walking art. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Greatest Hits, History & Trivia, Travel

St. Joseph’s Day: A Fading Tradition

April 5, 2013 by

THE OTHER WHITE (EUROPEAN) MEAT(LESS)

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Joe Talamo Along With Wife & Family Open Their Home To Strangers On St. Joseph’s Day

New Orleans is always celebrating something, whether enlivening national holidays with local color such as the four days of St. Patrick’s Day I’d just enjoyed or the magical Christmas I blogged about in my last post; growing local festivals into epic regional holidays such as Jazzfest, French Quarter Fest, and Voodoo Fest; or taking traditions from around the world, mainly of European and African descent, and celebrating them in ways unique to the United States. Mardi Gras is the most well-know of this latter category, but another Catholic European tradition, this one arising from the large Sicilian population, follows closely on its heels. On March 19th, in honor of St. Joseph, earthly father of Jesus Christ, churches as well as local families around the city build elaborate altars and cook large feasts (meatless, of course, as it fall in Lent season) open to anyone who [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, History & Trivia, Interviews, Travel

The Facts of Life: Taking The Good And The Bad

April 1, 2013 by

IT’S NOT WHINING, JUST HONESTY (THE BEST POLICY!)

Ingenious Way To Wear Green How Can You Not Have A Great St. Patrick's Day Meeting People Dressed Like This?

Ingenious Way To Wear Green
How Can You Not Have A Great St. Patrick’s Day Meeting People Like This?

I had a fabulous Mardi Gras and, upon returning to New Orleans, a fabulous St. Patrick’s weekend. In between, however, things went sideways immediately following Mardi Gras as I waded through illness, a truck accident, and a frustrating housing search. Shortly I fled back to Jacksonville to recuperate wondering whether or not to blog about my rough week since this is supposed to be a ‘fun’ adventure blog. Ultimately I decided adversity is part of any good story and besides, honesty is the best policy, right?

Several locals who later read about my week of tribulation all assured me that [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews
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