You know that old idiom, “A rotten apple spoils the barrel”? We had a taste of that on Halloween night when two morons on Bourbon Street and Canal Street decided to take their personal fights to the street using guns. In the process, two people were shot dead, and eight others were injured. This happened in [...]
Tag Archives: Bourbon Street
Freddie Mercury and Queen: A Night at the Fairmont
November 1, 2011 – 12:12 am
By the time Freddie Mercury arrived in his favorite American city for a sold-out 1978 Halloween night concert at Municipal Auditorium, Queen had already crossed that threshold from popular to international superstardom. A Night at the Opera, featuring Queen’s tour de force “Bohemian Rhapsody,” had seen to that just two years earlier. Moments before the [...]
Perle Noire
November 1, 2011 – 12:09 am
Photographer: Kaylin Idora This photo of Perle Noire, a burlesque performer, was taken one muggy Friday night in the lobby of the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street. Perle had just returned from performing in L.A. with Dita von Teese. We hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks so she invited me to [...]
Bring the Noise
September 21, 2011 – 11:02 am
In the wake of the bust of Bacchanal, supporters of live music in the city have portrayed government as being anti-live music. I don’t think that’s true in the sense that I don’t believe anyone on City Council or in government is actively hostile to live music. But it is passively hostile; government tends to [...]
September 2011 Letters
September 1, 2011 – 12:01 am
BIRTHDAY It was refreshing to read a researched article on 100-year-old Lionel Ferbos. I liked it so much I reprinted 200 copies and distributed them for his Palm Court birthday party. He deserves all this and more. Sorry he wasn’t on your July cover. —Sue Hall, New Orleans, LA FRENCHMEN VS. BOURBON As a professional [...]
Music = Noise?
August 24, 2011 – 1:43 pm
From the time that cities grew larger, there’s been a clash between residents and businesses who serve them. I suppose that’s one of the many reasons American suburbs developed. You live in one place; your business services are usually in a strip center, or suburban buildings away from homes, or a strip mall. Suburbs—because they [...]
August 2011 Letters
August 1, 2011 – 12:01 am
RADIO REQUESTS I was told that a guy from River Ridge was in the write-up on a band called the Missing Monuments. I don’t know him personally but I enjoyed reading the article. To the person who wrote the article, Sam Levine, I want to point out something. The comment on someone sitting by the [...]
Paying Musicians on Frenchmen–How Do We Do It?
July 7, 2011 – 12:50 pm
Received a call from a local musician, complaining about the pay musicians receive when they play at clubs on Frenchmen Street. “Sometimes I’ll drive in [he lives in a suburb] to play a gig, and I’ll leave with maybe $10 in my pocket for the evening. By the time I subtract out the gas money, [...]
What’s The Difference Between Bourbon and Frenchmen?
July 1, 2011 – 12:02 am
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 [...]
Debate on the Sound Ordinance Continues
June 15, 2011 – 6:14 pm
For months, a task force has been attempting to revise and amend the existing noise ordinance that prohibits noise over a certain decibel level. This was precipitated by the (almost) arrest of the To Be Continued Brass Band on Canal Street. When the current administration looked at the noise ordinance, the consensus was that it [...]
