Treme Overlaps Life

The Saints lost today – bad. All the more reason to sit back and watch HBO’s Treme and remember all the ways this city overcomes. This week’s episode covered the week following Christmas 2008 into New Year’s 2009. I happened to be in Louisiana that week in real life. I was visiting family for the holidays when I had an epiphany. I’d always meant to retire here, but I remember walking toward my cousins at their docked boat as the sun set over the Tchefuncte River and thinking, “What am I waiting for?” By December 2009, I was here.

Beatles Fest 2013

House of Blues hosted the 11th annual New Orleans Beatles Festival, the third one I’ve attended. It seems hard to believe that the Beatles debuted their first album, Please Please Me, in the UK 50 years ago. Next year will commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Beatles coming to America. Oddly enough, the band made a stop on that tour to play the stadium in City Park for $5 a ticket. Their only request was to meet the legendary Fats Domino, which they did. 

French Quarter Fest Friday

For 30 years, the French Quarter Fest has been bringing together the best of New Orleans music and food. The festival continues to grow in size and scope, this year adding a film festival and an additional stage on Decatur St. bringing the total to 21. With 800 local musicians to see for free and over 65  local restaurants offering local cuisine, the festival is my favorite every year.

Wednesday at the Square with Anders Osborne

YLC Wednesday at the Square is back!!! Colin Lake got the season off to a great start with his funk-rock flavored show. It’s still odd to see a guy play a seated guitar but the rest of his band keeps the stage hopping. Lake came from Oregon to New Orleans in 2009 – the same year I arrived.

The event continues to make improvements. My favorite new thing is that, thanks to “The Square” and iPads, they accept credit cards for ticket sales. The event is free but food and beverages are purchased with tickets and the ticket proceeds go to the Young Leadership Council, the group responsible for the lights on the Crescent City Connection bridge among other things. They’ve raised more than $25 million for community projects in the New Orleans area since 1986.

Super Bowl Continues…

I’ve already spoken about the power going down in the Superdome, but the weekend up to that point ran pretty perfectly. Day 3 of the NFL concert series, we only caught one show – 2012 Grammy winners Rebirth Brass Band. More out-of-towers joined in the festivities but the crowd was still mainly the Who Dat Nation sporting black and gold. We knew all the call-backs and when to thrust our fists in the air and shout, “Hey!” and when to find a tissue and wave it for a second line dance. It struck me as ritualistic like church – the church of funk in the house of soul. As such, I wondered if the visiting teams felt as left out or confused as a Buddhist at Mass but they seemed to be having fun in any case.

The Beatles, Big Easy Style

Summers in New Orleans usually bring lots of heat and few festivals but, lately, the weather has been cooler than most of the nation and we got to celebrate the 9th New Orleans Beatles Festival. Founded by guitarist Chuck Credo IV (grandson of Chuck Credo Jr.  of The Basin Street Six), the festival moved from Mid-City Lanes Rock N Bowl to the House Of Blues in 2007.

Po-Boy Festival and RED

The Saints didn’t play this Sunday so the city turned out in full force for the 4th annual Po-Boy Festival.

http://www.poboyfest.com/

For those not in the know, a Po-Boy is New Orleans’ version of a submarine sandwich invented by Bennie and Clovis Martin. Former streetcar conductors, they opened Martin Brothers’ Coffee Stand in the French Market in 1922. In 1929, transit strikes rose across the nation and, in solidarity with their former coworkers, the Martin brothers vowed to keep the strikers of Division 194 fed. When they’d see the strikers coming for a meal, they’d say, “Here comes another poor boy” and the name stuck to the large, overstuffed sandwiches they doled out.