I am going to New Orleans!

Had a couple fancy meals in New Orleans that I'd highly recommend if you are looking for something like that:

Tea service at Sucre
Brunch at Brennan's

I'd go back to either of these in a heartbeat.

Avery's has the best seafood gumbo I've had in a restaurant but they were just featured on a guy fieri episode so go during off hours.

So the New Orleans Jazzfest booked The Rolling Stones as a big 50th Anniversary coup, charged jacked up prices for tickets, sold out immediately (Jazzfest has never been able to sell out before) and now Mick has a medical issue and the Stones have cancelled their tour. What a cluster, I bet the JF office is an insane and horrible place to be this morning. (I booked first weekend, in part to avoid all this hoopla.)

https://www.nola.com/jazzfest/2019/03/rolling-stones-cancelled-for-jazz-fest.html

Rumour is Fleetwood Mac will be filling.

The grey hairs that clog the the field with their portable chairs should be happy.

JazzFest never appealed to me. I can understand others paying premium prices for classic/legacy mainstream musicians, but the times I've been I've circulated between the Congo Sq (R&B/urban) and Gentilly (indie) stages, almost impossible due to the press of people. Of the hundreds of artists this year, I've a lackluster interest in Kamasi Washington, and that's it. The fest needs to rely less on boomer artists to stay relevant going forward. Voodoo and Buku are more my thing.

I'm a grey hair (no chair) but I won't be seeing any of the mainstage acts (unless you count the tribute to Fats Domino with Irma Thomas, Bonnie Raitt etc.)

As a gigging blues musician I'm interested in Taj Mahal and locals like Alvin Youngblood Hart, and there's some interesting world music making its way over from Festival International in Lafayette. As long as there is trad jazz, brass bands, and Mardi Gras Indians, I'm happy. (Both of the fests you linked are a generation or two apart from my tastes.)

I agree with Dan re going to Jazzfest to see brass bands, old-school New Orleans r’n’b, etc. I like the gospel and Congo Square global music too

I would even argue that it's better to go to French Quarter fest (or the now-annual Original Brass Fest in Congo Square) to see this stuff, rather then messing with Jazzfest at all.

Does TBC still busk outside of the festival, or are they too old/professional for that now?

I am more curious about Essence Fest there than Voodoo.

I also loved the one Ponderosa Stomp I attended there, and was sad to see on FB that they’re taking a hiatus ( although doing a 1 night thing with a few acts in Brooklyn and some small things in New Orleans too)

I don't know why I have yet to give French Quarter Fest a try. I guess I just fell in love with Jazzfest in 1988 and keep clinging to that, although I haven't attended in a decade. It does seem like the rapidly escalating price of Fest is to subsidize to booking of Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen, and I don't go see them anyway.

FQF is great! Way more chill and focused on the local musicians that I actually want to see.

lol, now Fleetwood Mac canceled because of illness

food is cheaper at FQF too, used to be maximum $4 for any dish (idk if that's changed).

i once saw a serene dr john being driven around FQF in a golf cart. like a buddha. i have since aspired to a similar beatitude

fqf is def a good time.

I’ve always liked going down to NOLA *during* Jazzfest, even if I don’t make it to the actual festival (which, if memory serves I’ve probably only gone to maybe three times). weather’s usually pretty good and there’s tons of stuff/ music going on in all the local haunts

What are the best liquor stores in N.O., with an emphasis on amari and other liqueurs? I've been recommended Keife & Company and Martin Wine. I'm going down for a couple of days at the end of this month.

Don't know about amari but Keife was the only place I could find Becherovka 18 months ago

Thanks! The N.O. event that I was going for has been rescheduled, so I may or may not make the trip this month.

https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/article_e0e12f22-9520-11e9-8dd4-2b995adb9059.html

Geno’s Po-Boys in that Pink building closing down after 50 years. Will be sold and replaced with condos. Business post-Katrina hasn’t been the same. Article provides more details

Gene’s I mean

https://64parishes.org/new-orleans-pop-festival

50 years ago, 2 weeks after Woodstock

A young Deacon John played as well as many who had also been at Woodstock

Seven years is too long! Flying out on Sunday for a week and staying on Frenchmen Street. Hope to finally get to the Maple Leaf for Rebirth on Tuesday. Also plan on seeing Kermit at his Mother-in-Law Lounge and Corey Henry at Vaughan's Thursday night.
Any hot new bands in the R&B or jazz vein that I should be checking out?

Recommendations on any new clubs or reasonably priced restaurants would also be welcome.

Huh, I thought I saw on social media that Rebirth wasn't doing Tuesdays anymore and that TBC had taken it over, but maybe that was just temporary (Rebirth is listed on their website).

was about to highly recommend sneaky pickle on st. claude for excellent and fairly cheap eats, but just looked and they're temporarily closed due to a fire! next time, maybe.

https://www.wwoz.org/programs/inthestreet

Second line parade link ( usually on Sundays)

An Offbeat mag editorial was touting St Claude Street

Big 6 Brass Band

Avery's on Tulane has the best restaurant gumbo I've had outside of Prejean's in Lafayette (and pretty damn good poboys, too).

avery's used to be in my lunch rotation, great french fries too

I thought I saw on social media that Rebirth wasn't doing Tuesdays
Don't know about that, but I just learned they're not playing the Tuesday I'll be there. They're on tour elsewhere, apparently.

Same exact shit is popular there now as when I lived there 20 years ago. What a shithole. Fun to visit for a few days though.

We had an epic time. One of the highlights was seeing Michael Doucet play to a small dinner crowd at Three Muses on Frenchmen. (We had seen him perform with Beausoleil to thousands at a music fest in Rhode Island just the week.) Bought him a drink and had a nice chat with him. Real genuine, friendly guy. He recommended some good restaurant/cocktail spots, including Cane & Table on Decatur, which was indeed special.

Please stop jumping under parade floats. 2 in 4 nights, after some 38 years without fatalities among Mardi Gras spectators.

Uh. More like don’t reach for beads and trip and fall. Sad accidents

endymion is the absolute worst, the whole vibe of the krewe and the metairie-convenient mid-city route bring really bring out the lsu polo straining over a sunburnt gut brigade

I am going to New Orleans this weekend, and also the weekend after that.

This weekend is for a wedding, and I'm a little concerned because it's with a group of Milwaukee people and I don't drink very much these days. Adam, any recommendations for Marigny/Bywater bars (or anywhere between there and the Garden district)? I think they would like Bud Rips, Vaughan's, idk. I'm just used to going wherever the good brass bands are playing.

i've been gone for 6 years (!!) so my knowledge is well out of date but:

1. i worked at vaughan's for a long time so i am biased but any non-thursday evening there is a good chance to view firsthand the effects of long-term alcohol abuse, really gets deep into the 1970s era white boho new orleans soul

2. bud rips is like fancy now i heard? in my day it was the last explicitly racist bar in the neighborhood. beautiful tin ceiling tho.

3. markeys is my old home base but the owner goes on these periodic no-new-friends type rampages and deliberately makes it an unpleasant place to be. idk where it's at right now.

4. my buddy has a couple places in the french quarter if you want fancy pants cocktails. manolito and "jewel of the south"

5. when i lived on chartres and franklin, i think you were there last time we hung out, i liked all the gay bars in that area. big daddy's and friendly bar in particular.

I wandered into Bud Rips last year and had a good experience, then I googled it yesterday and the first auto-complete was "bud rips racist". Oh no! Then I found an article from 2017 saying it was now under new non-racist management, whew! Thanks.

The Mother-in-Law Lounge was originally opened in 1994 by Ernie K-Doe, the rhythm and blues singer, and was named for a song he recorded that topped the charts in 1961.

Mr. Ruffins didn’t anticipate the ownership transformation on St. Bernard Avenue. “We wish that black owners were still there,” he said. But he added, “There’s no time to be negative about it, just because we didn’t do what we were supposed to do to keep it alive.”

Just off St. Bernard Avenue, a number of black-owned places, like Bullet’s Sports Bar and Bertha’s Place Bar and Restaurant, continue to thrive. Elsewhere across the city, there are other strongholds.

From a N.Y. Times article

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/us/new-orleans-black-bars-second-lines.html?referringSource=articleShare

Victor Dawkins’s routine has varied little in 40-plus years of owning The Other Place, a brick two-story that is one of the last black-owned bars on St. Bernard Avenue.

But outside, much has changed. Four of the six nearby bars — all of which were once owned and operated by black people and served black customers — now have white owners and cater to a primarily white crowd.

Article mentions other places including Sportsman’s Corner

that bums me out, st bernard between rampart and claiborne on a weekend night was an amazing vibe

Yeah, good piece though. I'll be at most of these since they're stops during the second line this Sunday. :)

Going to be in New Orleans in early November, what should I do? Any ILXors about?

Randomly decided to spend a few days there with the family on Christmas break. Now I sort of don’t know why or what to do there, so help me come up with ideas I guess?

I enjoyed the art museum, the Avenue Pub, and walking through Mid City.

Was just there last month for my second visit of the year. A few favorites: Lengua Madre, fantastic Mexican restaurant in the LGD (definitely need to reserve a few weeks in advance); Bacchanal in the Bywater, I've been there so many times, really my favorite wine bar anywhere (it's best when you can sit outside, so weather could be a factor); Cane & Table and Jewel of the South in the French Quarter, great cocktail menus; N7, a good nouveau French place with another great courtyard area; Turkey and the Wolf, delicious sandwiches; Susan Spicer's Bayona restaurant; Parkway Bakery for po' boys; Liuzza's for BBQ shrimp; Domino Sound for vinyl.

Also we spent a lot of time riding around the city on rental e-bikes, the flatness makes it a very bikeable city (lots of bike lanes, although not many protected ones — also really have to watch for potholes). Riding through City Park is really nice if the weather's OK. Also, if you feel like a 15-20 minute drive, Dong Phuong Bakery in a kind of godforsaken stretch of New Orleans East makes some of the best banh mi I've ever had along with delicious Vietnamese baked goods. Get there in the morning when they open and everything's fresh.

Enjoy! I love that city.

As a bonus if you go to Dong Phuong, you can see the ghostly remains of the Six Flags park that got shut down after Katrina, off the side of the 510 connector.

when my wife finished grad school i got 80 dong phuong banh mi and 100 pieces of mchardy's chicken for the graduation party.

I made my friend stop by Dong Phuong on our way out of the city and he was slightly grumbly about it, like "Why are we way the hell out here." Then we got our stuff and we're back in the car heading out and he started to eat his banh mi and was like, "This is amazing."