Issue Articles — Features
Mardi Gras Day With the Skull and Bones Gang
As the sun prepares to rise on Mardi Gras Day, strange rumblings start to reverberate throughout the Sixth Ward. Scary figures dressed in black begin to emerge from the Backstreet […]
The Oldest Mardi Gras Indian on the Streets
Thomas Sparks, Sr., Big Chief of the Yellow Jacket Mardi Gras Indian gang, marks a unique milestone this month. On February 17, Mardi Gras Day, he celebrates his 83rd birthday. […]
Boyfriend Is a Girl
She calls herself Boyfriend, which is as succinct a summation as any of her mission statement: not so much bending genders as tweaking perceptions. All of them. A Tennessee expat […]
High School Marching Bands Roll for Mardi Gras
High school marching bands can be the highlight of any Mardi Gras parade. The booming bass drums push the crowd back from the curb while the blare of the brass […]
The Baby Dolls are an Iconic Mardi Gras Tradition
Lifelong New Orleanian Millie Charles, best-known as the founding dean of SUNO’s school of social work, was born in 1924. She and her friends use to wait with great anticipation […]
2014 Best of the Beat Award Winners
We celebrated our 20th anniversary of the Best of the Beat Awards on January 22 at Generations Hall with a big party honoring Louisiana musicians. In attendance was an overwhelming […]
Online Local Grocer Good Eggs Continues to Count its Greens
About this time last year, Good Eggs New Orleans was a bright one-year-old with 10 employees selling products from roughly a dozen Louisiana farmers and food makers. Today, the local […]
OffBeat Magazine’s Best of the Beat Awards 2014
In early December, OffBeat solicited nominations from musicians and others in the music community. We gave these results to our writers and editors and, with input from both, determined the […]
Heartbeat Award: Pat Jolly
A December day in the life of Pat Jolly included attending the Jefferson City Buzzard’s Christmas party and a stop at the McKenna Museum for the opening of the Mardi […]
Lifetime Achievement in Music Education: Roger Dickerson
It wasn’t long after a teenaged Terence Blanchard began piano and composition lessons from Roger Dickerson, Sr. that Blanchard experienced the holistic nature of the composer’s teaching style. “He asked […]
