First came the drums and tambourines. A hot, dense, exquisitely layered syncopation, rumbling from the back of the upstairs bar at Tipitina's Uptown. Then came the shouts and chants: "Hi-yo!" "Coochie Malay!" It could only mean one thing: Mardi Gras Indians.

The crowd downstairs could not yet see the source of this mighty clamor, and anticipation built as Chief Smiley Ricks and the Indians of the Nation worked their way downstairs through the dressing rooms and finally took over the stage,...