Mardi Gras

I’ve had the privilege of living in Mandeville for more than 10 years. Although I graduated from St. Scholastica Academy in Covington, my husband and I did not return to the area until our first child was born.Little Free Library...

The Krewe of Perseus recently held its annual golf tournament which, this year, will benefit the krewe as well as its Captain Allen Little. Little soon will have a liver transplant. The Krewe of Perseus Golf tournament was held at...

Jefferson Parish's east bank Carnival advisory committee meets Tuesday (May 7) at 7 p.m. It plans to vote on an alternate parade route, discuss modifying the parade schedule and consider other ways to improve the Mardi Gras season.The Jefferson Planning...

Here we go again! Jazz Fest 2013 will play out over the course of the next two days. Here are my picks for Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5. The full schedule is here. SATURDAY | Yesterday I gave you some inside information about the Red Hawk Hunters Mardi Gras Indians. Today I do the same. The Black Feather tribe opens the Jazz and Heritage stage on Saturday. The tribe’s Spy Boy is none other than Stafford Agee, the trombonist for the Rebirth Brass Band. Look for him in the purple suit with the full face, oval-shaped mask. Last year, I took some friends to the New Orleans Bingo Show! After it was over, they looked at me cockeyed with this “what the hell was that” expression. But upon further reflection they decided it was one of the best shows of the fest. They hit on the Gentilly stage at 12:30 PM. For the past few years, Galactic has been scheduled on the Acura stage. The huge crowd that is usually waiting for some other band, and the general pressure of getting up front and center at that stage, has pr

Three days left. How are your bunions? Got blisters? Callouses? Here are my picks. The full schedule is here. I always recommend starting your day with some Mardi Gras Indians. The Red Hawk Hunters are one of the younger tribes on the street. Their suits are some of the most impressive in the Indian nation. Here’s a bit of trivia to impress your friends—they sew in the flat, uptown style despite the fact that they hail from CTC—“cross the canal” in the lower 9th ward. You can thank the late, great Big Chief Rudy Bigard of the Ninth Ward Hunters for the cultural cross-pollination. Sometimes you just have to go check out an act at the Jazz Fest based on something as simple as their name. That’s exactly what I plan to do with Brushy One-String of Jamaica. He hits at 12:10 on the Jazz and Heritage stage. As readers with long memories may recall from last week’s picks, I was recently in Bahia, Brazil. Though I didn’t get to see Malê Debalê perform down there, I highly recommend checking them out. Be at the Congo

Brendan is on the scene at 5th & Olive where a tense standoff is blowing up into an all out confrontation between angry protesters and angry police. Pepper spray has been "liberally deployed," reports Brendan, and police are now throwing flash bang grenades into the crowd "like they are beads at Mardi Gras"—I could hear several go off near Brendan. "I would not be surprised if someone is hurt right now," says Brendan. Ansel Herz | The StrangerBANG! Flash bang grenade goes off near 5th & Olive For their part, protesters are throwing fireworks back at the police, along with other debris. Brendan says he's seen a bottle of water and a rock thrown at police. Stranger news intern Ansel Herz reports seeing rocks, paint balls, flares, and glass thrown by the crowd, though he didn't see any injuries. "Whatever it's original intent the protest became a tense standoff," says Brendan, after police attempted to arrest several protesters. Other protesters fought back, and Brendan can't be sure i

Umbrellas are welcome at New Orleans Jazz Fest second-line parades: Rain or shine

I never thought that this would happen. (Insert shameless self-promotion) Heck, I never even expected it to happen. But it did. I am being featured today on the Allison Miner Music Heritage stage at 4:30 PM! I will be interviewed about my book, Up Front and Center: New Orleans Music at the End of the 20th Century. The wonderful writer, author and raconteur John Swenson will be my interlocutor. Because it’s Jazz Fest, and we wouldn’t want you to get bored with a couple of talking heads, Alex McMurray will also be on hand. He will play a few songs, and perhaps add some erudite commentary. Of course, there is a lot of other music going on out at the New Orleans Fairgrounds on Slacker’s Day. Here are my picks. The rest of the schedule is here. Normally, I would suggest that you start your day with Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove, but something truly poignant will be happening on the Jazz and Heritage stage at 11:20 AM. The legendary Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Iron Horse died in March. He is still listed on the s

American Detours is back for another episode. We’re still in southwest Louisiana but we’re checking out a few new places, and we’ve got a different classic car to experience. This time around the machine being utilized is a 1971 Ford Mus

Harry Shearer, bass player for the satirical rock group Spinal Tap, whose enormous Marshall amplifiers reached volume 11 to get "that extra push over the cliff," is apparently not a fan of the extra decibels in real life. The comedian,...