Laissez les bons temps rouler; or New Orleans, Part 1
(Preservation Hall Jazz Band via Getty)
And I thought that New York was a music town. After spending a week in New Orleans, I have reassessed my parameters. We were there for JazzFest, but even just walking down the street, you could hear live music everywhere.
We spent the bulk of our time in the French Quarter, where along with countless cover bands playing bar favorites at every club, many restaurants had performers jazzing out to accompany their patrons' gustatory explorations. We dined at Crescent City Brewhouse one night, where a small combo played standards like "Autumn Leaves" and the slowest version of "Watermelon Man". I didn't get the name of the band, but I can tell you that the baked brie is delicious.
Also along Bourbon Street, there's a live karaoke place. Depending on the level of talent/drunkenness in the room, that can make for an interesting experience.
Uptown, we took Frenchmen Street by storm. It's a cool little alley of jazz clubs. D.B.A. (which is related to the one here on First Ave) had the best cover/available space ratio, so we plunked down there for the night. If we were splurging, we would have hit up Snug Harbor, which is where everyone told us to go, but it was $20 to get in and we're poor. Meanwhile, at $5-to-get-in D.B.A. we took in a really cool keyboard-based group. They were really good (and their drummer was pretty cute), and I think I wrote their name down somewhere, so more info may be forthcoming.
The other thing everyone told us to do was Rock N Bowl at the Mid City Bowling Lanes. This time we did pony up the $20 for their Zydeco spectacular. While we bowled (I bowled a strike, by the way! Just the one, though. Otherwise I did miserably.), like, a billion different bands plied their washboards and accordions for our listening pleasure. My favorite was Sunpie Barnes.
This man is enormous!
And that was pretty much the highlights of the week. There's a lot we didn't get to see, but we're going back. Someday.
If this report seems a little sketchy, that's because it is. I was on vacation fools! I didn't take notes. Except for our day at JazzFest, on which you'll receive a full report tomorrow.
eh.www.amNY.com
