Last year at this time, there was a serious issue concerning the so-called “noise ordinance,” which prohibits street musicians on Bourbon Street after 8 p.m. and only allows noise up to a certain decibel level, among many other restrictions. At that time, the To Be Continued Brass Band was accosted by the NOPD for playing [...]
Missing the Music Boat…with Some Potential Lifesavers
Having been in the business of promoting New Orleans and Louisiana music for over 25 years, I’ve seen its acceptance in the mainstream ebb and flow. Having tourism officials recognize the value of using our music to attract visitors has been up-and-down. The last big push we had for music statewide ended when Mitch Landrieu [...]
Unleash Your Fun Side
Just as this issue went to press, the city’s tourism marketing agency announced a new advertising campaign that’s designed to convince potential tourists to visit New Orleans to “unleash their suppressed fun side.” Geographically, the campaign will focus on large drive-in cities like Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Memphis and Chicago (Chicago is a drive-in market?). The [...]
Quarter Time
I have so enjoyed the weather lately, and the spring. In the past few weeks, we’ve celebrated Mardi Gras (can we make it late every year?), St. Paddy’s Day, St. Joseph’s Day and Super Sunday. I hope you’ve had a chance to check out OffBeat’s Flickr page because our “on the street” photographer Kim Welsh [...]
Culture on a Pedestal
Went to a nice party last week presented by the Preservation Resource Center to discuss their “Ladies in Red” gala on June 10. I love going to small parties and hanging out with interesting, intelligent people who make me think. Now, you say, everyone likes to do that, but I differ in that opinion. Sometimes [...]
Loving Music Until the End
In OffBeat’s pages, we’ve covered the struggles that our musicians face as they age: illness and incapacity to work; bad business decisions that have impacted royalty income. Many Americans have a safety net of savings or pensions or investments that can keep us afloat in our later years. Most musicians do not. More often than [...]
Preserve the Moment
I thoroughly enjoyed going to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. But I’ve always been a museum buff. It’s interesting to see what’s come before and see it happen again and again. You just have to be cognizant of the patterns that emerge as time goes by. Music is [...]
Threadhead Scores
Many books have been written about New Orleans, particularly since Katrina. I just read Dan Baum’s brilliant Nine Lives, and it’s one of the best books I’ve read recently about the city. It follows the lives of nine New Orleanians from the time of Hurricane Betsy to Hurricane Katrina, bookmarks, if you will, of destruction [...]
Where is the Pride?
We take an enormous amount of pride in OffBeat, and we put a lot of time, effort and money into our editorial content, photography, design, distribution and even into our ad design. We are dedicated to our mission of promoting local music and culture, presenting new music and ideas, and also to paying tribute to [...]
