Going
back to New
Orleans.... and coming home as newly-weds.
(New Orleans 2002, and what we did when we got there.....)
Below is a (short!) account of our vacation/honeymoon to New
Orleans in september 2002.
Click here to see all external
links on this page.
We've been to New Orleans before, in 1999, and already back then we
immediately felt very much in synch with this city and it's music. So
when we decide to get married, not very much later, we at once agreed
it
had to be in New Orleans.....
Getting married abroad. That turned out to be quite an adventure. We
won't bother you with all kinds of red tape and catches 22 (except for
one!), and just tell you our most fondest memories of our time in The
Crescent City.
Music.
"If you go to New Orleans, go gotta go see the Mardi Gras" (Professor
Longhair).
We didn't. See the Mardi Gras, that is. But otherwise, if you go to New
Orleans, you go to see, hear, and experience music. To our most humble
opinion...
Oh, and did we see, hear and experience music! Of all 29 nights, we
stayed just the one at the hotel, and that was because of a curfew.
Hurricane Isidore was raging, and that was an experience in itself
(more
about that later).
First of all a list of our favourites, concerts we visited and thought
were either very good, very nice, or even very funny....:
Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias
A great concert in Donna's Bar & Grill on
Rampart. Wild, funky, hot, fantastic. And those Injuns, wow!
Anders Osborne & Big Chief Monk
Boudreaux
A CD-release-party for the new CD by Anders Osborne and Big Chief
Monk Boudreaux in Tipitina's. A
very unique concert, and CD, because never before had there been
a
musical coproduction between Injuns and others. We shot loads and loads
of pictures that night!
Tipitina's is a wonderful
club,
for more than one reason: they've got very good concerts at very
reasonable prices, they've got Abita
Amber draft (AND Haineken & Kroelsj in bottles-- that's
Vogon-phonetic for Heineken and Grolsch); the atmosfere is always
great;
AND they've got Jo "Cool" Davis.
Lil' Freddie King Band
Now this is what we would call a nice story: we first noticed
The Lil' Freddie King Band while we were waiting to board our plane
that
would take us across the Atlantic, at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam).
Wade
(that's the drummer) wore this t-shirt with the Louisiana Music Factory-logo,
and Boi said to Nicole: "Looks like that group of people is heading in
the same direction. And, since one of them is carrying a guitar-case,
it
looks like it's a band."
To our surprise it turned out that they had the seats next to us on the
plane, across the aisle. Somewhere during the flight we opened the box
with our new tax-free digital camera, and Wade became interested. They
told us they were heading home from this huge gig in Switzerland. One
thing led to another, and before we landed in Memphis, our next stop,
we
had invitations to their concert in Metairie.
We never made it to that one, because of transportation-problems and
wedding-red-tape. But we did see them at this little festival in
Armstrong Park. They recognized us and called us backstage. We had a
very nice powwow back there, and they introduced us to Guitar Slim Jr.
But the best is yet to come: when they were due to go on stage, we went
frontstage again, and Freddie dedicated a song to us! "This song is
dedicated to our friends from Holland, who came here to become husband
and wife." Now, ain't that nice! We were scarlet, both of us, but we
liked it very much. Thank you, Freddie! Hope to see you again soon.
Oh, and yes, of course, sorry, the music.... It was good. Freddie plays
a mean guitar! Swampy country blues, with a very entertaining Freddie
in
the lead.
Walter 'Wolfman'
Washington
Anyone ever been to a concert by WWW? Yes? You know what I'm
talking about. No? You should!
Now, this man plays the meanest
guitar I've ever heard. Rhythm-changes, key-changes, breaks, weird
chords, anything goes. And damn! it's funky.
This was one of the last gigs we went to before we had to catch a plane
back home. After it was over, heading home in a cab, Boi said to
Nicole:
"Oh man, now that I've seen and heard this, I'm at peace with going
home. I've seen and heard it all...." And he meant that. The saying is:
"See Naples before you die." Hell no! "Hear WWW before you die" is more
like it!
This gig was in the Maple Leaf Bar, on Oak. Quite small (look at the
picture: it's just an XL living room), and frequented by all the
incrowd. Nice patio in the back.
Kermit Ruffins &
the BBQ Swingers
This guy, all by himself, put me back into traditional jazz. I'm
a Blues- and Rhythm 'n' Blues-fan, but when I listened to jazz, it
always was modern jazz. But ever since seeing and hearing him play in
Le
Bon Temps Roule, I appreciate Trad Jazz a lot more.
No wonder though, it's so much fun watching Kermit play! He just radiates
warmth. He knows how to entertain people, he knows how to communicate,
he knows how to play that horn. Some people call him 'the new Satchmo'.
Very much agreed, and he's welcome to that title.
