French Quarter Festival 2014 In Pictures

April 10, 2014 by

SAYING FAREWELL TO AN OLD MUSICAL FRIEND

2014-04-10 18.52.00In 2013 I posted detailed daily reviews of French Quarter Festival, the second largest New Orleans music festival after Jazz Fest (though Voodoo Fest may beg to differ) and one of the largest free music festivals in the nation. This year, however, I am around for only the first of this four-day event. I am loath to leave when so much wonderful free music is filling up the city’s tourist core, but I was granted a reviewer pass to cover Wanee Fest in Florida, The Allman Brothers‘ annual festival and campout on the Suwanee River. The Allman Brothers are one of my top five all-time favorite bands and they announced in January that they were calling it quits after this year; thus, iI can’t pass up the opportunity to say farewell to an old musical friend.

Fortuitous Timing

Fortuitous Timing

As consolation, I made it out to the river front today to enjoy some wonderful music on a sublime afternoon. The crowd was as quirky and engaging as always, so I thought I’d let the pictures do the talking and give you a glimpse of the wonderful time you’re missing if you’re not in New Orleans this weekend!

 

 

BONERAMA, BABY!

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Selfie With the Crowd [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, New Orleans Attractions, Travel, Venue & Band Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

My Year Of St. Patty’s Day, Part 2: Irish Channel Redo & Irish House Bubble & Squeak Stew

March 26, 2013 by

SUPER SUNDAY OF SLOTH (THE 8TH DEADLY SIN WHEN IT’S YOUR PROFESSION TO PARTY!)

Lock & Reload: By Mid Afternoon I Was Ready to Rejoin the St. Patty's Party

Lock & Reload:
By Mid Afternoon I Was Ready to Rejoin the St. Patty’s Party

My Mardi Gras ailment had run smack into allergy season which, driving back and forth between Jacksonville and New Orleans, was compounded by completely different pollen potions. On February 9th the health insurance from my old job had terminated. On February 10th I had awoken sick, struggling on and off ever since. My religious notions are based more on irony and coincidence than faith. Some greater consciousness with a sadistic sense of humor seems to be pulling the strings, for such ironic juxtaposition occurs much too frequently in my life to dismiss as random chance.

On Thursday I had finally visited a Walgreens clinic to throw cash at a Nurse Practitioner for an Rx of ‘cheap’ antibiotics. I hadn’t been deathly ill since just after Mardi Gras but couldn’t shake ebbing and flowing congestion as well as bouts of achy exhaustion once or twice a week. I only mention this because March 17th was not only  St. Patrick’s Day–the climax of four days of celebration–but also ‘Super Sunday’ for Mardi Gras Indians–the one day when they all converge in daylight to show off their costumes and march together. My antibiotics apparently hadn’t worked their magic yet, however, and I woke up once again feeling spent. Instead of chasing Indians and leprechauns, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Greatest Hits, Restaurant Reviews, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

My Year of St. Patty’s Day Part 1: From Red Stick To Irish Channel

March 24, 2013 by

CALLING BATON ROUGE (RING LATE, HANG UP EARLY)

Me With the Tusas At Their Home for The Baton Rouge St. Patrick's Day Parade

Me With the Tusas At Their Home for The Baton Rouge St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Having detoured around an accident, I arrived in Baton Rouge late Friday night where I’d been invited to attend the parade Saturday morning at the home of Dirty Little Angels author Chris Tusa and his wife Pam. I still miss those late-night, heavy conversations from my days in academia and Chris and I immediately dove into formidable quandaries of art, politics, life and literature, pontificating until after 3 a.m. The only downside of this verbal rambling was that, unbeknownst to me, Baton Rouge is an early party town. The parade that would pass by their front yard began at 10 a.m., so guests were already arriving 8 a.m., reluctantly rousing me. I guiltily yet groggily rolled out of bed searching desperately for coffee.

Waiting for the Parade

The Parade Finally Arrives

As we waited on the parade, Chris played dueling stereos with his braggart neighbor, eventually turning off his system in disgust at the one-upper next door while I stayed inside and had a pleasant chat covering a few hundred years of U.S. history with his former neighbor, a retired firefighter. Two consecutive sprawling conversations with well-read sparring partners—it was nerdy nirvana.

B.R. SPD Parade 1When the parade finally did roll by it was [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Flat-On-My-Ash Wednesday

March 3, 2013 by

“THAT MARDI GRAS WILL KILL YOU!”

My Booty From The Rex Parade: A Good Haul But I Was Paying the Price of Plunder

My Booty From The Rex Parade: A Good Haul But I Was Paying the Price of Plunder

I had begun feeling rough Sunday morning, but was too invested in Mardi Gras to take a break.  As luck would have it, it rained sporadically every day thereafter, yet I pushed on despite my increasing congestion and decreasing energy, traversing half the city on Mardi Gras day while stopping to rest on the sidewalk when I felt my fever spike.  I fought and ignored my body so I could experience the Full Monty.  Now it was my body’s turn for revenge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography Tagged With: , , , , ,

My Day of Mardi Gras, Part 4: Finale on Frenchman (Luck of the Indians)

February 28, 2013 by

WHAT IS AND WHAT NEVER SHOULD BE (BOURBON V. FRENCHMAN)

Me? A Music Nerd?!

Me? A Music Nerd?!

I have always loved music, with my passion blooming into obsession in adolescence as my shyness and insecurity discovered a constant, non-judgmental companion.  In my early twenties I discovered jazz, and I was just beginning to explore New Orleans brass rhythms when I first visited the city in 1998.  Being the music nerd that I am, I rushed to Bourbon Street ready to embrace jazz history and modern innovation.  Instead I found seedy strip clubs, cheesy daiquiri bars, corny t-shirt shops, and sleazy dive bars full of bands playing the same stringy-haired southern rock you could find in any bar south of Philly.  (I swear these same damn bands were playing Duval Street on my first trip to Key West where I expected to find steel drums and the next young Buffett!  Doh!)

One of my reasons for writing this blog is that, while I’ve come to love New Orleans, it’s not an easy city to get to know.  Jazzfest was the perfect gateway because it encapsulates all that is great about the food, music, and culture in a confined, accessible area, but beyond this fleeting utopia it took effort, research, and years of visiting to begin to crack the code of a city that can be as intimidating as it is welcoming.  Thus, I aspire to provide a point of entry for uninitiated but curious readers who would otherwise step onto Bourbon, say “This is it?” and head home wondering what all the fuss is about.  So, if you are such a reader, take note: Frenchman Street is [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

My Day of Mardi Gras, Part 3: Drawn & French Quartered

February 27, 2013 by

RAIN, RUN-OFF, & OTHER SUBSTANCES YOU’D RATHER NOT IDENTIFY (WHAT ARE PIRATE HOBOS MADE OF?)

Crossing Canal

Crossing Canal

As I reached Canal Street, newly baptized in hot chocolate and ready to cross into the Quarter, I found myself trapped.  The truck parade was still limping along (it had started around noon and it was now past 4pm!) down roads lined with metal barricades.  Emerging from St. Charles, the parade turned up Canal, rolling out of sight and creating a blockade that could take miles to circumnavigate. My feet were already throbbing and my cold certainly wasn’t improving. I’d spent over two hours and countless miles to get this far, so law and order would have to accommodate me at this point rather than vice versa.

Police presence, however, was strong this close to parade ground zero, for there is always a crush of tourists and over-enthusiastic locals on Canal Street radiating up and down the blocks adjacent to Bourbon.  I headed north until I saw that people were beginning to leap barriers and rush up to floats with outstretched arms.  Reaching a point where the breach was large enough to provide cover, I leaned over the iron railing and sat my hobo pack on a discarded, crushed box.  Rain was still misting down and the streets–notorious for potholes in this town–were covered with puddles of rain, run-off, and other substances you’d rather not identify, [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

My Day of Mardi Gras, Part 2: From Families to Freaks on St. Charles

February 24, 2013 by

AS SERIOUS AS A MAN DRESSED LIKE A PIRATE HOBO CAN BE

The Pirate Hobo Sets Off On His Mardi Gras Mission

The Pirate Hobo Sets Off On His Mardi Gras Mission

It had rained during our lunch respite, but the crowds remained strong and steady if not overwhelming as I left Superior Seafood and began to wander down St. Charles Avenue.  The truck parade was chugging along–a good two hours strong–and would still be in its final stages a couple of hours later as I reached Canal Street, blocking my entrance into the French Quarter.  It was a little melancholy leaving my friends again and setting off alone into one of the greatest communal celebrations in our nation.  I’d always attended Mardi Gras with friends, the last time with some of my dearest on this planet, but this time I was on a mission as opposed to just hanging out.  Despite slinging a hobo pack over my pirate-clad shoulder, I was serious about documenting as much as I could before midnight struck. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, History & Trivia, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Day of Mardi Gras, Part 1: From Missing Zulu To Bead Dogs & Bead Babies on St. Charles

February 21, 2013 by

THE TREME BONE’S CONNECTED TO THE — RIO BONE….

The Mardi Gras Pirate Hobo Strikes Again

The Mardi Gras Pirate Hobo Strikes Again

Although Mardi Gras season tends to run late into the night, Mardi Gras day itself is much like Christmas–the excitement begins at the crack of dawn (or earlier), with the festivities already ebbing by late afternoon.  Yes, some people rage on until midnight, just as some cling to Christmas till the waning hours, but the last parade wraps up in the early afternoon, prompting the feasts and reunions in the neutral ground to gradually clear.  Soon the roads are largely deserted except for Bourbon, Frenchman, and (allegedly) those surrounding the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme.  I’m sure a few other spots continue to thrive, but generally celebration tends to move to house parties and bars. [Read more…]

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

Lundi Gras is the Day, but Danny Cattan is THE Man!

February 19, 2013 by

WHEN THE WORLD IS RAINING DOWN ON ME…

Let it go! Let it Go! Let it Go!

Let it go! Let it Go! Let it Go!

When the world is coming down on me, I let it go!   –Cowboy Mouth, “Jenny Says”

As Cowboy Mouth rocked my Lundi Gras troubles away, two friends from Rocckus, Megan and Amanda from New York (where their brother Chris had already  returned), appeared out of nowhere dressed in gowns for that night’s Orpheus ball.  When it began to drizzle Amanda pulled out a poncho but Megan had forgotten hers, so I offered my jacket as I opened an umbrella in quiet admiration:  It takes dedication to rock out in the rain in evening-wear.   In return, the sisters offered a red spoon to throw during “Everybody Loves Jill” but I proudly/embarrassedly pulled out one of my own, carried from Jacksonville in hopes that Cowboy Mouth would be playing somewhere.  How about right outside my hotel?!  Thank you guardian Mardi Gras angel!

Rocckus Reunites in the Rain with Red Spoons Ready

Rocckus Reunites in the Rain with Red Spoons Ready

Soon the show came to its typical explosive conclusion with “Jenny Says,” Cowboy Mouth’s one radio hit from the mid-nineties and my introduction to the band several years before I otherwise discovered New Orleans music.  It remains their signature song, played penultimately in concert (pre-Katrina it was the final song, but the storm changed everything) by a band that understands why people continue to attend live shows in the digital age.  During this cleverly crafted bit of pop-catharsis Fred LeBlanc has fans [Read more…]

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

Up-Lifted At Lundi Gras (Are You WITH ME?!?!)

February 17, 2013 by

Monday morning I awoke for the last time in my big, comfy bed in the Hilton with a cold still clawing at my throat thanks to Saturday night’s debauchery; but I at last felt rested and filled with possibility.  Today, after all, was Lundi Gras.

YES MA’AM, THOSE ARE IN FACT BLACK MEN IN BLACK FACE

Kings of Rex & Zulu Meet On a Drizzly Mardi Gras (Thus apologies for fuzzy photography!)

Kings of Rex & Zulu Meet On a Drizzly Lundi Gras

For most of its history, the day before Mardi Gras was an off-day filled with scarce activity.  In 1987, however, the King of Rex, Mardi Gras’ oldest Krewe that parades Mardi Gras morning, resumed an old tradition of arriving via boat the day before Mardi Gras.  At the same time, a journalist had stumbled on an obscure term used in a remote neighborhoods and attached it to the festivities.  Thus Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) was born and carnival season took its next quantum leap forward.  The revived arrival now took place at the gigantic Riverwalk Marketplace (what would have seemed science fiction absurdity in the early twentieth century when Rex last arrived via water) and grew into a day of concerts and festivities.  Soon King of Zulu began to meet with the King of Rex upon his arrival, though I’ve yet to stumble upon just how far back this tradition dates.  Zulu, an African-American organization born out of defiance much like the Indians, is the second-oldest marching Krewe, thus making this meeting a mildly reassuring gesture (though only mildly ’cause it feels like just that–a gesture) of racial unity during an event largely dominated by white riders wearing hoods and robed costumes (no one said Mardi Gras can’t be oddly creepy too.)  Of all these robed and hooded parade costumes, Rex’s are the most regal, but their lack of clownishness actually gives them more implied menace, and it doesn’t help that Rex’s lieutenants ride on horseback. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Autobiography, Food & Cocktails, History & Trivia, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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