I'm so proud of them! The best concert photos I've ever taken. :)
And even more amazing because I'm so short--almost all of them were taken by my holding the camera up over my head! :rofl: God, I love the delete-ability of digital!
So you missed the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz Fest? No worries! Put on your favorite zydeco album and take this virtual tour with my photos!
Day 2 (I couldn't afford to go all three days the first weekend, so skipped the first day.)
The first band I caught was
The Iguanas. Don't let the name turn you off, they
rocked!Next up:
Walter "Wolfman" Washington. An
awesome bluesman! (Calling DUer blue jay... have you played with this guy? He seems right up your alley!)
I spent a good chunk of time eating gator bites and checking out the crafts fair in the middle of that day. Just dug on the ambient music for a while. Then it was time for the headliners--all appearing at the same time. :( We sampled them all, anyway.
Etta James - still looking and sounding hot after all these years.
CJ Chenier. I owned a CJ Chenier CD before I even had a CD player, just because I couldn't find him on cassette. I bought my first CD player because of CJ Chenier. The best damn zydeco artist
evah.
Dave Matthews I've seen Dave a bunch of times, but my SO was a Matthews concert virgin... and a big Matthews fan. I bought the tickets to the Jazz Fest as his 44th birthday present.
Also on Day 2:
While I wandered off to check out some crafts, my SO, usedtobesick, got to meet
Harry Shearer. We saw Harry later, enjoying a beverage at a little cafe.
Then, when I was taking a long photo of CJ Chenier that didn't come out, this guy in a suit walked through my camera shot. "What dork wears a suit to Jazz Fest?" It turns out that dork was
Rod Stewart with some supermodel-type chick.
Day 3
Allen Toussaint and
Elvis Costello played together. I admit, I far prefer Toussaint to Costello... and this show reinforced that preference.
For amazing costumes and tight percussion the Carrollton Hunters Mardi Gras Indians cannot be beat! Because they don't have a web site for me to link to, I'll post two of the photos I took of this band.
There were very few women and women-led bands on the roster.
Rosie Ledet was the one who zydeco-rocked the hardest, with her wonderful, wonderful band, The Zydeco Playboys.
And of course... the evening ended with
Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band singing old spirituals, union tunes, and songs from the Depression Era.
Alas, after Bruce, my lovely two days at my first New Orleans Jazz Fest ended. And I can't afford to go back next weekend. :(
But somehow, I don't think this first jazz Fest will be my last! :)