i returned last monday from what is now becoming an annual pilgrimage for me – another trip down to new orleans for the the jazz and heritage festival. two long weekends with a huge amount of artists to choose from, and once again my group selected the second weekend.

thursday has usually been my favorite day there, as the ‘fest’ experience is fresh, the crowds tend to be a little smaller, and it is a good day to visit the smaller stages and local acts. if you have never been there, on any given day there are 12 – 14 different stages with an average of 5-6 acts on each one, starting at around 11 am each day and ending promptly at 7 pm each evening. but this thursday was different as the rolling stones were the main event – a third attempt to get them there as the first two were cancelled because of covid and then mick’s health. so they not only booked the main draw on the opening day, but they also took the unprecedented move of closing all the other stages for the last two slots of the day. so it was crowded on the main stage, like nothing i had ever seen there.

the stones put on a great show, and had two local legends join them on stage – dwayne dopsie on ‘let it bleed’ and irma thomas on ‘time is on my side’. ivan neville’s dumpstafunk went on before them and killed it, but it was overall probably my least favorite day there.

friday got off to a late start as some thunderstorms moved through the area, but i was able to catch the last half of local act andrew duhon. enough that i made note to look into him more when i got home. cyril neville’s uptown ruler and then lil’ nathan and the zydeco big timers gave me some more local flavor – what i really come down here for.

i then caught allison russell in the blues tent, although she really is by no means a blues based artist. she has been making a bit of a splash nationally in the last year, and so i was anxious the see her live. she is a very talented woman, and a unique sound, but she went off on a political rant for a tad too long for me, and so i freed myself to find something else. i grabbed myself some jambalaya and headed off to the congo square stage and caught up with steel pulse for most of their time slot. i had not seen them live in probably over thirty years.

i was a huge fan of theirs when i was in college. although only about 3-4 members of the original band were still together, i am happy to report that they still sounded great and really nailed it. i finished with catching the last few songs of foo fighter’s set on the big stage before departing for the night.

saturday i started out with local zydeco artist yvette landry and the jukes. i have seen her here twice before and she is well worth the repeat visits. the rumble featuring chief joseph boudreaux junior had a real funky sound, and then i went to the gospel tent for some classic old school gospel from the zion harmonizers.

after some creole rice with chicken and tasso, i took a break from the sun and heat in the hospitality tent before heading over to catch nickel creek at my favorite smaller stage. i have to say that they might have been the highlight of my weekend. i was not crazy about their last album (i reviewed a few months ago), but they were very entertaining and sharp, and they were clearly happy to be there. i finished the evening as before, catching most of neil young and crazy horse at the big stage.

sunday was always looking to be the best overall day, and it really did not disappoint. we started off at the second biggest stage and caught local talent mia borders. she has a new album coming out in august and did a real energetic set. you will hear more from me on her later.

next up was a recently formed ‘super group’ called dragon smoke – made up of ivan neville, guitarist eric lindell, and the rhythm section of galactica. they lived up to the hype and burned it to the ground for about an hour. following them were the radiators, and i watched about half of their set before heading back over to the gospel tent (it was sunday after all). local soul artist jonte landrum had a solo spot there, and had her family accompany her as she belted out some gospel classics. that girl can sing. from there i went over to dwayne dopsie and the zydeco hellraisers. dwayne was very animated about his time on stage with the stones earlier in the festival, and did a couple of covers in their honor. bonnie raitt was next, and then i caught a bit of the wallflowers before heading home and closing out another successful trip to the big easy.

hat tip to john camp for the videos here. if you like what you see there is plenty more of that on his youtube page.