There are some trips that (a)
foreshadow a long and prosperous friendship and (b) are really awesome.
My latest trip to New Orleans Jazzfest was both of these things. I went with my
soccer besties Natalie and Christine on an epic and somewhat spontaneous
journey to New Orleans. We had all been to NoLa before but never for Jazzfest
and never as a unified #horsebraiding unit. This was also all of our first
foray into the use of AirBnB – staying in someone’s house when they may or may
not be there. It’s wayyyy cheaper than a hotel (especially during Jazzfest) and
so I was like why not? We are adventurous individuals – we can handle it.
Team Horsebraiding. Don't ask.
We embarked on our adventure Friday night, complete with an
entire bottle of wine pregame at the airport AND wine on the plane (thanks,
Southwest.) We arrived to the aptly named Louis Armstrong International Airport
several hours later and head downtown in one of New Orleans’ finest taxicabs
(pause for sarcastic recognition). All that we knew was that our AirBnB
accommodation was right downtown on Canal Street a bit north of the French
Quarter. What we didn’t realize is that it was an older house amongst the
Tulane Medical School building complex. Needless to say, we were a little
weirded out. BUT as soon as we walked in the house, we realized we made the
right decision. The house was eclectic and looked like the apartment from
Across the Universe (if only we had Sadie to hang out with). We stayed in one
of the resident’s rooms, a girl with incredibly eclectic taste – wigs, vintage
shoes, a Willie Nelson shrine in the kitchen, philosophical writings on the
mirror. This chick was our kinda girl. Her room was HUGE – enough room for her
queen bed and a double air mattress. There was more than enough space for the 3
of us and all of our festival stuff, as well as a huge bathroom for us
connected to the room. Best of all? A dive bar next door named Handsome Willy’s
with the best day-of-the-week promotion I’ve heard since Wu-Tang Wednesday at
Satellite Room – ‘Funk N’ Crunk Fridays’. It’s OK – I know this is blowing your
mind as much as it did mine. I want to make it my goal in life to start a Funk
N’ Crunk Fridays trend at every bar I attend going forward. We called it a
night fairly early by New Orleans standards since Natalie and Christine had to
prepare themselves for their first big music festy.
The next morning we woke up refreshed and ready to go (and
entirely too early because we didn’t go out). We met our eccentric AirBnB host.
She gave us fantastic pointers about jazzfest and where to eat breakfast. Her
suggestion led us to the Ruby Slipper, a locals spot a few blocks down from our
little abode on Canal Street. They are famous for their larger than life
biscuits – for good reason. These biscuits were as big as my head and weighed
down with the most butter ever. We ordered 3 more for breakfast the next two
mornings. After a Walgreens run for beer/sunscreen/Cliff bars, it was Jazzfest
time.
Our house was near the French Quarter, but not necessarily
near the Jazzfest fairgrounds. So getting to the fairgrounds was our first
task. It turned out that from anywhere in New Orleans to the fairgrounds was
just $5 per person each way – not bad at all for a major tourist attraction.
The fairgrounds were quite a bit larger than we realized so we knew we would
need to get our bearings first. We wandered, got a schedule and a beverage and
made our way to the Acura Stage, Jazzfest’s main stage. I was the festival
veteran of the group, so my Camelbak was the communal hydrator. We got to the
Acura Stage in time for New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint to start his set. He
went through several classic New Orleans jazz songs which was a poetic way to
begin our first jazzfest. This was about noon, very early in the day for the
festival, so the area around the stage was fairly sparse. Good news for 3
chicks whose first jazzfest it was. Allen Toussaint then announced that he had
a friend that he’d like to bring on stage. I thought another New Orleans jazz
legend. And this is where the Jazzfest surprises began. Allen Toussaint’s “good
friend” was none other than Jimmy Buffet. Everyone was SHOCKED. I thought about
Parrotheads paying hundreds of dollars to see Jimmy Buffet and I got to see him
based on pure chance. Very cool. He sang a few songs and was on his way to
continue partying at Jazzfest. The daiquiris needed refilling so we attended to
that need. We wandered for a bit and even got to participate in a Jazzfest
parade, complete with a brass band and steppers. Walking past the food vendors
made me realize this wasn’t just any music festival – each stand was dedicated
to some New Orleans culinary specialty – crawfish, etouffee, jambalaya,
alligator pie, fried chicken – take your pick. My arteries were clogging with
each new food option. Although we had tickets to a show later that night to see
The Revivalists, they were also playing at Jazzfest at Samsung Galaxy stage,
the other main stage at the festival. I had just seen them a few weeks before
in DC so I knew how epic their shows could be. Nothing could have prepared me
for their festival style show – so much energy and all the instruments sounded
incredible in this setting. Best part of the show? 2 back-to-back Rage Against
the Machine covers. If there was any doubt in my mind that I had made a good
decision to come to Jazzfest, this doubt was on a plane back to DC.
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| Jazzfest - Day 1 |
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| Jimmy Buffet & Allen Toussaint - NBD |
The Revivalists - Rage cover - Bulls on Parade - Minute 17:20
Speaking of Rage Against the Machine. Following The
Revivalists set, we only had about an hour until Bruce Springsteen & the E
Street Band started at the Acura Stage. So instead of being inundated with
Tulane students waiting for Foster the People, we made our way to Acura. It was
unbelievably packed. Like Bonnaroo was never even this packed – I guess
everyone else knew how sweet it was that the Boss was at Jazzfest for the price
of a day ticket. The most annoying thing about Jazzfest is that they don’t
limit where people set up chairs and such. So getting close to the front of the
stage is a feat for those who don’t mind getting dirty looks from those in
their tailgating chairs. We were in that category of people. We got as close as
we could without suffering a claustrophobia anxiety attack and severely pissing
off the people standing an inch from my face. The Boss was as incredible as
ever, playing quite a few songs from the new album and then more recognizable
songs like Hungry Heart. A few songs in, I realized this was not the typical E
Street Band crew. There was a newcomer, none other than Tom Morello from Rage
Against the Machine. I just about fainted from shock. Probably the best way to
end the first day of Jazzfest. After a while of looking at the guy in front of
me’s neck, we decided to get some air and walk over to see Trey Songz. I really
don’t wanna hear it, fellow music snobs. I couldn’t stand to be that
dangerously close to some Jersey tourists’ B.O. for one more second. There was
definitely more space at Trey Songz, the opportunity to see the sun begin to go
down and some dancing. And Trey was as sexy as ever. Eye candy may have been
better than the show, but that’s fine.
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| Best girls in the world |
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| Trey Songz! |
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| The Boss |
We had tickets that night to an awesome show at the Joy
Theatre featuring three prominent New Orleans acts – Earphunk, Motet and the
Revivalists. We went to a standard (and overpriced) place for dinner in the
French Quarter. After the server told us a good way to get a feel for local
culture was to go to the zoo, it was definitely time to go elsewhere for
tourism advice. The show started with Earphunk who rocked the Joy Theatre. The
best of the night in my opinion. The theatre wasn’t full at all for Earphunk
but I figured that was a result of them being the opener. The $4 Stellas
definitely helped make the night more interesting. The Motet wasn’t really my
style, but the lead singer definitely had stage presence. The Revivalists were
the headliner, but I felt that for that venue, Earphunk stole the show. The
Revivalists are definitely better suited for a large festival atmosphere than a
smaller venue. It could have something to do with that fact that the theatre
was half empty, but…I’m just sayin’.
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| Me & Dave Shaw from the Revivalists! |
Sunday was to close out the 2-weeklong festival. Some of my
favorite acts were to come. Let me preface this epic of a day by saying Natalie
had casually been saying throughout the trip that her cousin was the
significant other of the bassist in Arcade Fire. I knew songs by Arcade Fire
but I was completely oblivious to how big time of a band they were. I guess I
should have known by the mere fact that they were one of the headliners of the festival. Fail Nora.
The early part of the day wasn’t too exciting musically so we did a bunch of
the stuff that looked awesome but weren’t sure if we would get around to it –
go to the zydeco stage, learn how to properly dance to zydeco music, go to the
Native American village and watch a man move his feet faster than any human
I’ve ever seen during a traditional war dance, eat Indian fry bread, eat other
New Orleans food (namely crawfish), make friends while eating crawfish and…buy
more sunscreen for Christine’s fragile Eastern European flesh.
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| Christine + Zydeco dancing |
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| Nola parade |
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| Native American traditional dancer |
A few hours later, we made our way to the Samsung stage for
the the funk fest began for the day with George Porter, Jr. and the Runnin’
Pardners. Awesome I know. We were at front of the stage doing what I like to
call Nora-funk dance. It’s really catching on I think. I wish I could go to
shows like this all the time – all is right with the world at a funk show. Like
all of the musicians we’d seen, these guys were insanely talented local
musicians. After that funky dance party, we made our way to another one at the
Acura stage and figured we would just camp out there for Arcade Fire and
Trombone Shorty to close out the festival. Ian Neville’s funk project,
Dumpstaphunk, rocked the Acura stage and I was finally able to hear my favorite
New Orleans funk number, “Hey
Pocky-a-Way”. I danced my life away for that one and had exhausted my
Camelbak so I needed to take a few to chill. We waited about an hour for Arcade
Fire. In this time, Natalie had been texting her cousin and she was able to get
Nat a backstage pass for the show. Christine and I were able to get right to
the front of the general admission fence as Nat went backstage to hang with her
cousin and the rest of the Arcade Fire crew. Going into this show, I knew a few
Arcade Fire songs but by no means was I a huge fan. I just knew they were a
band made up of a bunch of people. From the beginning of their set, they were
really playing into a New Orleans state of mind – parades, horns and drums, costumes,
etc. What made it a great festival show was that even people who didn’t know
their music that well could have a blast with it. They are so fun to watch
because they all play so many different instruments. One song one of the band
members may be playing lead guitar, and the next song they may be playing the
steel drums. Great show.
Ian Neville's Dumpstaphunk
After Arcade Fire was the moment I’d been waiting for –
TROMBONE SHORTY! It was also this moment that Natalie Benda asserted herself as
best person ever. In other words, she graciously offered to allow me to use her
backstage pass to see Trombone Shorty up close. I was officially freaking out.
Nat gave me specific instructions on how to get side stage to where she sat and
then how to get to the very front of the stage in the press area. Obviously I
was going directly to the press area. I waltzed past several security
checkpoints, right into the press area. This was literally right in front of
the stage – in front of the VIP section – where all press and photographers
were permitted to go. I didn’t know what to do with myself – should I take a
ton of videos? Should I just dance my life away? Stare at Trombone Shorty
incessantly? Well I decided to do all of those things (I think he looked
directly at me…). Since I probably looked like a teenager freaking out at a One
Direction concert, I stood out like a sore thumb and was eventually told to
leave…womp, womp. So Christine could enjoy some of the VIP lifestyle, I passed
the backstage pass along to her and Nat and I went back around to where the
ordinary folk watched the show. I was pretty awe inspiring to see Trombone
Shorty in his hometown close out Jazzfest like that – you could see how humbled
he was to have such a crowd supporting him on a stage he only dreamed to play
on growing up.
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| Literally that close to Trombone Shorty |
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| Thanks for being awesome, Jazzfest! |
Nat was our VIP party planner for the rest of the night by
informing us that we’d all been invited to a private party hosted by Arcade
Fire. Casual, right? We all felt like such VIPs for the night. None of us
brought overly sexy clothes – since we thought we would be degenerate music
festival goers the entire time – so dressing for the occasion was a bit of a
struggle. (WHAT IF TROMBONE SHORTY WAS THERE?? I gotta make sure I look
gooooood). Turned out we didn’t need to dress up at all, as the entire bar
crowd was reminiscent of an Urban Outfitters ad – old hip hop, hipster threads
and REALLY hipster drinks. Oh did I mention this was open bar? This was a much
welcomed treat. For the next few hours, we mingled with Arcade Fire, their
significant others and other hangers-on. This included Nat’s cousin who was
SUPER cool. Could she just be my life spirit guide? Her fashion, her life
course in Montreal – just all screamed cool.
We even had a bonding moment rockin’ out to ‘No Diggity’.
Arcade Fire’s conga drum players set up shop in the corner,
including a full drum set which super talented chick Régine Chassagne of Arcade
Fire started jammin’. James Williams, local New Orleans celebrity, even showed
up to show off his horn-blowin’ skills. This was what I wanted every night out
in my life to be like – random jam sesh with a rock band and I’m just the
audience. The girls and I made friends with James Williams, part of the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys Traditional
Jass Band. He was super cool and even offered to take us over to Frenchman
Street, New Orleans’ live music hub. We walked in the Spotted Cat Club like we
owned the place – James literally knew everyone. The scene is New Orleans is
very cool – musicians walk in the various clubs with their instruments and sit
in with whoever is playing that night. It’s so impressive that they can sit in
with anyone and sound like they’ve been playing together for years. A perfect
way to round out Jazzfest weekend.
Monday was our free day and the only thing I wanted to do
was go to the famous Willie Mae’s
Scotch House. They were famous to have the best fried chicken in the
country. Obviously I was going. We walked through the Treme neighborhood which
you could see had a ton of history in the city. About a block away from Willie
Mae’s we knew we were close because a man on the balcony of one of the houses
yelled down to us, “Y’ALL GET THAT CHICKEN!!” Yes. It was unassuming and not
fancy at all – just as all the best places are. They had all the traditional
southern sides and the chicken was unlike any I’d ever seen. Anyone who has had
fish and chips knows what the fried beer batter coating looks and tastes like –
and it’s delicious. The chicken tasted like it had this coating. It was
delicious. We made friends with some local old men who told us how often they
came to eat there. At total fullness, we exited the premises.
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| Willie Mae's Scotch House chicken |
While waiting for
Arcade Fire, someone near us told us that Magazine Street would be a cool place
to wander, shop and eat. It was about a 15 minute cab ride from Willie Mae’s
and a world away – much yuppier. Magazine Street was known for its shopping and
restaurants. The vintage and antique shops were quite good. Since it was Cinco
de Mayo, we figured it would be a good idea to find a semblance of a Mexican
bar and drink margaritas into oblivion. Juan’s Flying Burrito would do the
trick. This is also where we would meet our new bestie – Tyson. A 30-something,
ex military guy from Madison, Wisconsin – I think Natalie met her Midwestern soulmate.
He told us he was traveling alone and would buy us a pitcher of margaritas if
he could sit with us. 4 hours later, we were best friends and drunk Christine
had sufficiently freaked him out by asking about his management strategies of
his real estate business. We even shared a cab to the airport the next morning.
A very early morning flight ended our New Orleans adventure,
but this was one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken. There’s something
to be said for good friends who you can travel with – and give you backstage
passes to see Trombone Shorty. (LOVE YOU, NAT & CHRISTINE).
