Coming soon Krewe du Vieux 2012

Working to get bunch of photos up from Krewe du Vieux parade in New Orleans last weekend- havin' a bit of a technical issue so in meantime, enjoy this video taken at a bar in the Marigny neighborhood . Video features the Paulin Brothers Brass Band who played at a pre- parade party for one of the parade sub- krewes. I have gotten friendly w one of the members of this krewe over past couple years and have for the past 3 years had privilege of attending these pre-parade activities. There are a number (maybe 15-20?) sub-krewes for this parade and most do some variation of this kind of party before the parade. Krewe members assemble at a local neighborhood bar to get costumed, have something to eat and drink and usually have live music. This particular sub-krewe then second lines w the Paulin Bothers brass band leading the way from the bar to the start of the parade. Just another typical day in New Orleans. Enjoy the music video.

Rebirth Redux

Make way for the Rebirth . A clip from the Philly show Wednesday nite.

I Like to watch...

..the New Orleans Mardi Gras parades on the Uptown parade route (that's the route I will be riding on Sunday Feb 19th) via the NOLA.com Parade Cam. It is a pretty lo-tech/low budget affair and can have it's share of tech glitches during the broadcasts, but typically they do a decent enough job. (The announcers can also be annoying at times but it is a live on the street view of most of the major parades.) The parades really start to roll as of tonite- Friday- and there will be a couple to watch on Sat & Sunday this weekend as well. Then there is a break in the action til next Wed nite and then from that day thru Mardi Gras day you can see parades every day. Schedule of parades & broadcasts can be found at top of NOLA.com homepage (remember to adjust times for East Coast viewing by adding 1 hr or for West Coast viewing subtract 2 hrs from the scheduled times). Once you get parade up on the screen & it starts to roll kick back, pour the beverage of your choice into a glass and enjoy. You can even practice yelling "Throw me somethin' mister!" as floats roll by on screen- who's gonna know?

NOTE: Make sure to try paradecam out and get familiar with site and how it works BEFORE Krewe of Mid-City parade rolls on Sunday Feb 19th, 11:45am CST/ 12:45pm EST and 9:45AM PST.

Not in a million years..

..did I expect half of the Philly crowd at the Rebirth Brass Band showlast nite to be Mummers! But that's the way it went down . My wife and I got there early and as people started coming in we noticed groups- mainly guys- wearing various jackets or sweatshirts with names I recognized as mummer organizations. We ended up standing nxt to a group of guys who were part of the Woodland String Band - who it turns out were the 2012 String Band Champs. As we talked w these guys it started to make sense. Some of the mummers groups have over the years hired NO Brass Bands to play w their groups in the parade and they've gotten friendly withthem. These guys were also musicians themselves & appreciate the brass bands musicianship and then there is the whole Mummer-Mardi Gras-Secondline connection so now this was starting to make perfect sense. Finally there turned out to be one more piece to the puzzle- the unannounced opening act was a brass band made up of an amalgam of players from the various mummer marching bands so this helped to create this wild New Orleans-Philly Mummer mix in the music and the audience . The mummer band had 8 trombones, 1 sax, a mini tuba , a regular tuba, bass & snare drum and a percussionist. They got the crowd warmed up and as they started to play a handful of guys came out on dance floor in full Mummer wench regalia- jumping and dancing to the music while waving their decorated umbrellas. As the show continued more and more umbrellas- both NO and Mummer style - literally popped up in the crowd and were waved around. What a trip! When Rebirth came on the crowd was primed & ready. The band was its usual powerful self- these guys are at the top of their game. At one point the band gave a shout out to the Mummer group they had marched w in the past - think it was the Pirates- and noted that they don't do The Mummers Parade no more because the parade is too (expletive expletive ) cold. Anyway, the band played a great set featuring some new songs from their current Grammy nominated album and then some instrumentals and greatest hits. All in all have to say I got my 20 dollars worth and seeing the energy created by the Philly Mummer- NO Brass Band was in a word priceless. Only in Philly, only in Philly.

Scenes from a Second Line

Click HERE to see some pix and videos taken at the Treme Sidewalk Steppers 2012 secondline parade held on Super Bowl Sunday.

Rebirth in Philly tonite...

Just secondlined behind 'em in NO on Sunday and tonite wife and I gonna see 'em here in Philadelphia at Union Transfer. Keepin' that NO vibe goin'.

Rouses, po'boy and the airport

Took a morning ride thru City Park then along Bayou St John. Beautiful sunny morning. Popped into Rouses for supplies for return trip- mainly beer (Abita cans!) and a bottle of King Cake vodka..also some bags and twist ties to "band " a few doz beads for nxt weeks parade-oops also picked up a "six pack" of Hubigs pies for home. Bit of a challenge getting all back to sis's on bike ( important to strap the 12 pack to back rack for balance & then the vodka, other six pack of beer and the pies in bag on your back). Sister picked me up and got to go see her hospital ( she runs a veterinary Hosp) and then walked across street to the Short Stop for a shrimp po'boy ( fully dressed of course) w a bag of Zapp's chips. Nice lunch w sis and her bf & now sitting on Tarmac awaiting take off in- get this-a USAirways jet decorated in full Pittsburgh Steelers colors! Oh well gotta get home somehow...