In New Orleans the Sunday before Mardi Gras, while Thoth and Bacchus rolled down St. Charles Avenue, a different celebration was taking place in Church Point, Louisiana, 25 miles Northwest of Lafayette. This year marked the town’s 51st official Courir de Mardi Gras, first organized in 1961, although informal celebrations had been taking place since [...]
Tag Archives: Mardi Gras
Reflections on “The Day”
February 22, 2012 – 3:41 pm
Mardi Gras was great; the weather cooperated; all relatives and family arrived safely and partied without incident throughout the weekend. When we were kids, my daddy used to leave very early on Mardi Gras morning (before the sun came up) and schlep down to St. Charles Avenue to save the family a spot where we [...]
YouTube du Jour: Galactic
February 22, 2012 – 9:29 am
At 6:30 a.m. on Fat Tuesday morning, I was driving my dog to the levee so it could run before I disappeared into the day. As I drove by Tipitina’s, Galactic’s Lundi Gras show was just letting out, and a girl walking the center line on Tchoupitoulas told my car and any traffic that would [...]
Krewe of Muses Parade: Photos
February 17, 2012 – 3:48 pm
The Krewe of Muses‘ greatly anticipated parade rolled Thursday night, featuring many of New Orleans’ most popular marching groups and high school bands, including O. Perry Walker, St. Augustine, and Warren Easton. Groups that marched in the Muses parade included the Big Easy Rollergirls, Pussyfooters, Camel Toe Lady Steppers, Bearded Oysters, 610 Stompers, Noisician Coalition, [...]
The Baby Dolls are 100 and Brand New This Carnival
February 16, 2012 – 12:12 pm
Mardi Gras Indians are, at this point, a well-understood phenomenon. There have been scholarly studies, pop-culture head-nods, and heaps of plaudits from the larger community. This should have been the fate of the Baby Dolls, Millisia White thinks, and it’s a gap in our Carnival consciousness that she and her Baby Doll Ladies are looking [...]
Bad Apples
February 15, 2012 – 2:00 pm
I’ve written many times about the issues of noise, safety, sanitation on Frenchmen Street, and wherever there’s music in the city. Most live music is played in bars, and bars breed these problems, unfortunately. Unless the operators in a densely populated entertainment area like Frenchmen Street pay very close attention to what happens, problems arise quicker than you [...]
Mr. Shorty Goes to Washington
February 15, 2012 – 9:29 am
Trombone Shorty has been invited to the White House Tuesday to play as part of an all-star show honoring Black History Month. The performance, titled “In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues,” will feature Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, B.B. King and Keb Mo, and more, and it will be streamed live at [...]
Krewe of ‘tit Rex: Photos
February 13, 2012 – 4:43 pm
One of the big off-season Mardi Gras stories was about the miniature Krewe of ‘tit Rex, who were sued by Carnival kings the Krewe of Rex and changed their name to Krewe of ‘tit Rəx (with a schwa). In a nod to the lawsuit, the city’s only micro-Krewe held their fourth annual parade this past [...]
Treme Notes: Elie Marches
February 13, 2012 – 1:33 pm
[Updated] Last season, one of the Treme storylines involved Antoine Batiste’s high school band wanting to play in a Mardi Gras parade. Sunday’s Krewe of Carrollton Parade tipped the direction that plotline goes when a band from Theophile J. Elie High School marched, accompanied by a handful of cameras and mics. Walking in front of the [...]
