dld
05-03-2004, 06:27 AM
Met up with The Swishes Wednesday night at a nice little wine bar in the Warehouse district. What a great couple. But who woulda thunk Swish got his nickname from those stinky little Swisher Sweets Cigarillos? :D Anyway, the Nasties and the Swishes had a great time! After lubing up the moving parts at the Wineloft, we went out for dinner at the Marcello Family's restaurant, "Eleven 79". It wan't on the wrong side of the tracks, it was ON the tracks. OK, 10' off them. Outstanding food with Frank S., Tony B., and Harry C Jr. piped in over the roar of the cappos and bosses.
We formed up the next morning and headed out to the fest, got lucky and found parking in the same zip code. Went to see a jazz Quintet called Tony "Oulaboula" Bazley who came highly recommended by my Bro n Law. They were tight and played some cool modern jazz. Piano, saz, drums (Mr. Bazley, 70+ yrs. old), trumpet, cello and a guest flutist for 3 songs. Good start!
Left there and went to the Blues Tent. Coco Robicheaux (Roe-beh-show) and Spiritland played. First couple of songs started out very Robin Trowerish - Bridge of Sighs era, but pretty much turned to mush after intro. Although parts of his songs connected, as a whole, his performance didn't make any of us want to go out and buy his stuff. He let a black backup singer do the lead vocal on one song and she was outstanding. More of her, less of him would have made a better show.
Next up, Kenny Neal, a third generation Baton Rouge blues guitarist - songwriter. He did a more soulful , R & B infused blues show. I didn't particularly like his last album, but he had some pretty good stuff going on here. Definitely betterr than Robicheaux.
Saw the end of Wayne Toups and Zydecajun. Prolly liked this more that Swish did. I guess its in our La. genes. Hes great in a bar, a bit less in an outdoor venue. Then the rains started. A cool, wind driven drizzle. Now for something a little bit different, I called a buddy who was supposed to meet us, on my cellphone. Got him and asked him what venue he was at. He said the Accura stage. Thats where we were. (out of 12 stages) Asked him where exactly. He says about 60 feet off to the north of the medical tent. Thats where we were. I said hold on, let me get out fromunder my umbrella and stand up and look for you. I do. Hes 15 feet away. I swear, the world is getting smaller....
Next up, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. From his catalogue of hits, Sneakin Sally Through The Alley, Yes We Can Can, Southern Nights. Mother N Law, Working In A Coalmine, and Fortune Teller, he sang the last 4 along with lesser known material. Very smooth singer and a gifted piano player. Backup vocalist took the lead on a Toussaint produced hit, Lady Marmalade, and just nailed it. A very good, tho rain marred, set.
Rain let up and we then saw The Iguanas (hot hot hot! ) and the Subdudes (not so). Could it have been an off afternoon or just material selection? Will definitely be looking for Inguanas CeeDees. Very Los Lobo-ish.
Friday was not going to be a fest day (weak schedule) and it was rained out anyway. We spent the morning at my Bro n Law's house (Studio B) and his recording studio (Noise Labs). Nick couldn't have been more gracious with his time or more entertaining with his stories of R & R history. A real trooper who's spent time in the trenches.
Bourbon Street Friday night. A roiling mass of insane partying humanity. Between the huge crowd down for Jazzfest and the PGA's SBC tournament, and the usual collection of knuckleheads, it was almost too much. Bumper to bumper people from one side of the sidewalk, across the street, to the other sidewalk side. For about ten blocks. On the plus side, live music was coming from damm near every doorway. Naked hooter sitings, two. On one body, and they were awesome. Mrs. Nasty did a great job of pretending not to see them. I didn't.
Saturday at the Fest, pent up demand from Friday's rainout, perfect weather, and a good lineup produced prodigious crowds. Parking was a joke. But we made it. First up, Anders Osbourne. Local talent, and damn near awesome. Had George Porter Jr. on sax, from the Meters with him. They just tore it up for the 3 songs we stayed for. Funky, hook laden, blues. Left early to get a good seat for Sonny Landreth. And we did. Front and center. See Chip's revue for his playing style.
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=1542&highlight=sonny+landreth
Just a freakin great show. A couple of blues thumpers that kinda drug, but for the most part, rock n roll with Zydeco influences that had everbody standing and shaking their bad thang..
Went to the jazz tent to see Dave Brubeck. Couldn't get within 50 feet of the tent much less inside. Totally congested there with fans outside of the tent just trying to hear a snippet of one of his songs. About this time, 8 days on the road took its toll, se we bugged out. Other groups we would have liked to have seen Saturday, Santana, Marcia Ball, Blind Boys From Alabama, the Funky Meters, and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Just a tremedous Saturday lineup.
All in all, a great time. Rain was a downer but it happened on a day we weren't going anyway. Meeting Paul and Mrs. Paul was a hoot and we really hope to do it again. They're so cool, they even pretended to like the Abita Turbo Dogs we brought them :cool: Anyone who believed the Swisher Sweet story, uh, don't. The man knows his cigars. Hopefully the weather held and they made it out Sunday. Hope to see more Rave Wreckers there next year.
We formed up the next morning and headed out to the fest, got lucky and found parking in the same zip code. Went to see a jazz Quintet called Tony "Oulaboula" Bazley who came highly recommended by my Bro n Law. They were tight and played some cool modern jazz. Piano, saz, drums (Mr. Bazley, 70+ yrs. old), trumpet, cello and a guest flutist for 3 songs. Good start!
Left there and went to the Blues Tent. Coco Robicheaux (Roe-beh-show) and Spiritland played. First couple of songs started out very Robin Trowerish - Bridge of Sighs era, but pretty much turned to mush after intro. Although parts of his songs connected, as a whole, his performance didn't make any of us want to go out and buy his stuff. He let a black backup singer do the lead vocal on one song and she was outstanding. More of her, less of him would have made a better show.
Next up, Kenny Neal, a third generation Baton Rouge blues guitarist - songwriter. He did a more soulful , R & B infused blues show. I didn't particularly like his last album, but he had some pretty good stuff going on here. Definitely betterr than Robicheaux.
Saw the end of Wayne Toups and Zydecajun. Prolly liked this more that Swish did. I guess its in our La. genes. Hes great in a bar, a bit less in an outdoor venue. Then the rains started. A cool, wind driven drizzle. Now for something a little bit different, I called a buddy who was supposed to meet us, on my cellphone. Got him and asked him what venue he was at. He said the Accura stage. Thats where we were. (out of 12 stages) Asked him where exactly. He says about 60 feet off to the north of the medical tent. Thats where we were. I said hold on, let me get out fromunder my umbrella and stand up and look for you. I do. Hes 15 feet away. I swear, the world is getting smaller....
Next up, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint. From his catalogue of hits, Sneakin Sally Through The Alley, Yes We Can Can, Southern Nights. Mother N Law, Working In A Coalmine, and Fortune Teller, he sang the last 4 along with lesser known material. Very smooth singer and a gifted piano player. Backup vocalist took the lead on a Toussaint produced hit, Lady Marmalade, and just nailed it. A very good, tho rain marred, set.
Rain let up and we then saw The Iguanas (hot hot hot! ) and the Subdudes (not so). Could it have been an off afternoon or just material selection? Will definitely be looking for Inguanas CeeDees. Very Los Lobo-ish.
Friday was not going to be a fest day (weak schedule) and it was rained out anyway. We spent the morning at my Bro n Law's house (Studio B) and his recording studio (Noise Labs). Nick couldn't have been more gracious with his time or more entertaining with his stories of R & R history. A real trooper who's spent time in the trenches.
Bourbon Street Friday night. A roiling mass of insane partying humanity. Between the huge crowd down for Jazzfest and the PGA's SBC tournament, and the usual collection of knuckleheads, it was almost too much. Bumper to bumper people from one side of the sidewalk, across the street, to the other sidewalk side. For about ten blocks. On the plus side, live music was coming from damm near every doorway. Naked hooter sitings, two. On one body, and they were awesome. Mrs. Nasty did a great job of pretending not to see them. I didn't.
Saturday at the Fest, pent up demand from Friday's rainout, perfect weather, and a good lineup produced prodigious crowds. Parking was a joke. But we made it. First up, Anders Osbourne. Local talent, and damn near awesome. Had George Porter Jr. on sax, from the Meters with him. They just tore it up for the 3 songs we stayed for. Funky, hook laden, blues. Left early to get a good seat for Sonny Landreth. And we did. Front and center. See Chip's revue for his playing style.
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=1542&highlight=sonny+landreth
Just a freakin great show. A couple of blues thumpers that kinda drug, but for the most part, rock n roll with Zydeco influences that had everbody standing and shaking their bad thang..
Went to the jazz tent to see Dave Brubeck. Couldn't get within 50 feet of the tent much less inside. Totally congested there with fans outside of the tent just trying to hear a snippet of one of his songs. About this time, 8 days on the road took its toll, se we bugged out. Other groups we would have liked to have seen Saturday, Santana, Marcia Ball, Blind Boys From Alabama, the Funky Meters, and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Just a tremedous Saturday lineup.
All in all, a great time. Rain was a downer but it happened on a day we weren't going anyway. Meeting Paul and Mrs. Paul was a hoot and we really hope to do it again. They're so cool, they even pretended to like the Abita Turbo Dogs we brought them :cool: Anyone who believed the Swisher Sweet story, uh, don't. The man knows his cigars. Hopefully the weather held and they made it out Sunday. Hope to see more Rave Wreckers there next year.