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Archive

Jazz Fest Day 1: The Deluge

First, Dan’s Tabblo with some of the highlights from Thursday and Friday:

http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/250575/?s=auto_28426

We made it to the Fest around 11:30 to hear the first set of bands. Dan suggested that we arrive famished because the food is really good. We agreed. First we grabbed jambalaya and shrimp gumbo, a Rose Mint tea and headed over to the Baptiste Brothers on the Acura stage. They were mostly a cover band, but were energetic and fun. Then we split up and headed out in separate directions. The stages are set up around the horse racing track, so it’s easy to do loops, and of course there are craft and food booths in the infield as well. Brian and I were interested in hearing some Gospel so we caught the Dynamic Smooth Family Gospel Singers who wore melon dresses and melon suits. The rain started so more and more people jammed into the tent, and singers got more and more energized. The water started rising in the tent, blowing in from the side and pouring off the roof into large puddles. When a service truck would drive by outside, the “tide” would come into the tent. The music kept going though. We may miss church on Sunday but we are definitely getting a good dose of “praise Jesus” this weekend.

After the Dynamic Smooth Family finished their set, the Unstoppable Gospel Creators took the stage. They may have been unstoppable, but the moved a bit more slowly than the previous act. I wasn’t as keen on the a teenage girl doing interpretive dance either. Coupled with my urge to find a port-a-john after drinking 32 ounces of iced tea (on top of two glasses of water and a cup of coffee that morning), I decided it was time to venture out to the bank of bathrooms. Of course, it started raining again at that point, so I got a bit wet, but not completely soaked while waiting in line. We headed over to the Jazz tent next because I wanted to hear Ellis Marsalis. I enjoyed the music but Brian started “bonking” – cold, wet, hungry and packed like sardines in a tent with thousands of people. I decided to help fix the only factor within my control, and went out for food.
My cross-country reflexes kicked in during the rain. One can either fight against the elements (which, of course, is fruitless) or accept and enjoy them. I cheerfully opted for the latter. I heard there was “waiting” at the food lines, rather surprising given that everyone was hiding under tents. I went out to get us food and discovered that it was actually “wading” (as per Dan’s picture). The cooks were wading in a foot of water as well. Eh, feet dry out, as do wet shirts. I chit-chatted with others in line, and noted that blue skies could be seen to the north and west. Of course none of us tourists knew which way the weather patterns moved, but we took it as a promising sign. I grabbed a trout combo with gumbo and a sweet potato pie and headed back to find Brian.

The trout was really tasty, lightly breaded and pan-friend with butter, but tasted much lighter than it sounds. The gumbo had sausage and a big claw of crawfish. Bolstered by our food and the clearing weather, we headed outside to the Gentilly stage for Better than Ezra. We crossed the river of mud and found the rest of our crew in a good spot – not only for seeing the stage but also for catching footballs!  The drummer started out in a black three-piece suit with light gold shirt and gold tie, but quickly shed the jacket to reveal short sleeves.  They did a fantastic rendition of the Rolling Stones’ [gotta look up the song – “whata matter with you boy?!”]. The lead singer had Mick Jagger’s mannerisms down to a T.  There was a good mix of songs we knew and a really energetic crowd.

When the rain cleared it was beautiful and we really enjoyed Better Than Ezra and ZZ Topp.

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