Uncle Lionel’s Funeral and Second Line

Last Friday, after 2 weeks of daily second lines in his memory, Treme Brass Band‘s bass drummer, Uncle Lionel Batiste, was to be laid to rest. To say it was raining doesn’t begin to cover it. Waiting for a streetcar to take me into town, I stood in the neutral ground wearing a plastic hoodie sack and rubber sandals and gripping an umbrella against water coming from all sides. When no streetcar appeared, I jumped onto a bus and we all stared out the windows at the flooding in the streets. It was pouring when the ride came to its final stop. Bourbon Street was a canal with water coming up over the sidewalks and into the shops’ open doors. By the time I crossed Rampart heading into Armstrong Park, the water was nearly knee high.

HBO’s Treme Event and Lion King

Though we spent most of the weekend in shorts backstage at concerts sponsored by the NCAA’s Final 4, we did manage to squeeze in some dress-up events too. The first was the 3rd annual My Darlin’ New Orleans party hosted by HBO’s Treme benefiting Sweet Home New Orleans, the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic and my beloved The Roots of Music.