The first official Mardi Gras parade of the year—Krewe du Vieux—marched through the Marigny and French Quarter Saturday night, full of its usual satiric, irreverent, and lewd floats and costumes. The theme for this year’s parade, Krewe du Vieux’s 20th, was “Crimes Against Nature”. All photos by Kim Welsh.
Tag Archives: Mardi Gras
New Music: Galactic Says It’s Carnival Time
February 6, 2012 – 4:41 pm
On its new Carnivale Electricos, Galactic rearranges one of Mardi Gras’ signature songs—“Carnival Time”—and brings along the man who wrote it and made it famous, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson. The album is due out on Fat Tuesday—February 21—but since parades have started and it is Carnival Time, the band has given us the song as [...]
Galactic, Carnivale Electricos (Anti- Records)
February 1, 2012 – 12:57 am
On Carnivale Electricos, Galactic delivers exactly what the title promises. The funk band turns its attention to Carnival music, and electricity is central to every track. Carnival in New Orleans, Rio and Cajun Country may rely on acoustic instruments, but like From the Corner to the Block and Ya-Ka-May, Carnivale Electricos is the product of [...]
Various Artists, Meet Me at Mardi Gras (Rounder Records)
February 1, 2012 – 12:56 am
Outside of the original Mardi Gras in New Orleans that appeared in the mid-1970s and 2000’s Mardi Gras Essentials, this CD is no better but no worse than the plethora of Mardi Gras CDs currently available. What does set Meet Me at Mardi Gras apart is that it probably has the longest time span of [...]
Parading Club Bands
February 1, 2012 – 12:20 am
Playing music in a parade looks like fun, but while it is, it’s also hard, sometimes thankless work. OffBeat spoke with members of four nightclub bands who, during Mardi Gras, transform into street bands. Sue Ford fronts Mardi Gras’ first rock band, Pink Slip, once an all-woman group that now includes her husband, drummer Jimmy [...]
The Gravy: In the Kitchen with Raphael Bas
February 1, 2012 – 12:16 am
“In France, you go to the bakery. The king cake is right there, under your nose. It’s cooked, ready to go, some of them still warm. Looks beautiful. It’s easy to just grab it from there and consume it. Eat it! Bakeries are there for that. Patisseries. But you see, February, it’s the month of [...]
O. Perry Walker’s Marchers
February 1, 2012 – 12:14 am
The walls of the band director’s office at O. Perry Walker High School are plastered with newspaper clippings. One, from The Times-Picayune of February 12, 2010, features a photograph of the Walker marching band with the Krewe of Alla. Another, considerably more yellowed, has them marching with the Krewe of Aladdin in 2002. And nearby, [...]
610 Stompers: Stomping to Manhattan
February 1, 2012 – 12:12 am
In a city where “parade” is a verb, noun and adjective, the Macy’s Parade seems quaint. Still, New Orleanians watched the telecast of last year’s Thanksgiving Day parade with uncommon interest because the 610 Stompers were invited to be a part of it this year. The all-male dance crew started in the summer of 2009 [...]
Krewe of Muses’ Mardi Gras Throws
February 1, 2012 – 12:12 am
Plush? “You can never have enough plush.” Coozies? “You can never have enough coozies.” It’s a month from Mardi Gras and Virginia Saussy’s going over the throws for this year’s Muses parade. Saussy’s the creative director for the Krewe of Muses, and she’s fidgeting, trying to relax and talk in the living room of her [...]
Marching Band on Royal Street
February 1, 2012 – 12:08 am
Photographer: Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee My first time at Mardi Gras was in 2009. Two marching bands were “battling” in the street as a walking krewe was preparing to begin their route through the French Quarter. The light was in the right place, reflecting the band in the window of an antique shop on Royal [...]
