New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival ... Anybody going?

I'll be attending both Fridays, at least. If anybody else is going to be around, we can make it an unofficial SportsJournalists.com Festival Gathering. My schedule:

First Friday
Biggest act I'll see: Robert Plant and Allison Krauss
Biggest act I probably won't bother seeing: Sheryl Crow (I tend to stay away from the big stage unless it something big)
Act I'm most looking forward to seeing for the first time: The Zydepunks
Other acts of note on my to-do list: Tab Benoit (he overlaps with Plant/Krauss, so I'm not sure how I'll juggle that), Doyle Bramhall and C.C. Adcock with the Lafayette Marquis
Nighttime activity: Drinking beers with some Times-Picayune folks, watching the Hornets.

Second Friday
Biggest act I'll see: Stevie Wonder
Act I'm most looking forward to seeing for the first time: Richard Thompson
Other acts of note on my to-do list: Trombone Shorty

 

Lucky.

 

I'd love to see some of those acts. I went once ... ONCE. I'll never go again. It was so hot and crowded and unruly that I vowed never again.

 

I try to stay away from the truly monstrous crowds. I'm missing some of my favorite smaller acts because of Widespread Panic (Thursday) and Jimmy Buffet (Saturday). Why they scheduled WSP on Kids Day (tons of school kids on field trips with a bunch of potheads, he says stereotypically), I'll never understand.

But even on days with big crowds, you can hang at the tents and smaller stages and see great music without the crush. I toughed it out for Springsteen in '06, and it was awesome. Tears in the eyes on more than a couple of occasions.

 

NMA, Cowboy Mouth, Dave Matthews w/Lenny Kravitz (back-to-back-to-back, same stage) in 2001 spelled disaster for me and Mrs. t_b_f.

 

I was going to mention DMB in my post. I went to see him one year and it was crowded. The next year or year after I think they had 200,000 people out there. The aerial shots of the Fair Grounds infield were unbelievable.

 

I get into town next Thursday night. I'm not sure what my schedule will be, but I'll be there until Sunday afternoon.

 

I wish I could go. Sounds like something extremely cool to attend. Maybe next year.

 

He won't return the favor.


HA ha, hitting below the belt!

When is this? It sounds wicked cool.

 

Doyle Bramhall. Is this the young guitarist who has been on tour with Clapton and who also performed with him on both Crossroads Guitar Festival DVDs (and did solo stuff, too, in 2007)? He was also in the band Arc Angels and played and worked on at least one or two records with Indigenous, a Texas blues band.

 

Today was a damn good day. We got there just in time to see The Roots, and then grabbed a soft-shell crab po-boy, and then caught Jimmy Buffet. Now I'm off to Cooter Brown's to watch the Hornets' game.

Friday wasn't bad either but the rain was a little annoying and Stevie Wonder's set was a little disappointing. Trombone Shorty, however, was amazing.

 

I went to the Jazz Fest back in 1998. It was a lot of fun, but it was very, very hot, and it was a long day; of course, I was 16 and never had been to an all-day festival. Go hungry and with plenty of dough, and be ready to meet some interesting folks.

Three friends of mine, all named Mike, ran into the Rastafarian dude ... named Mike. We spoke for a few minutes, got photos with each other and went our separate ways. Whenever we get together -- just one of the Mikes -- we still talk about it.