What a busy weekend! My sister H was in town briefly from Minneapolis; I performed an informal wedding ceremony in a beautiful courtyard at a guesthouse in Treme on the edge of the Quarter; I did a funeral for a friend's mother on Saturday; it was the French Quarter festival; and our monthly family dinner, instead of being a cooking competition, was held at the Star Steak & Lobster Restaurant on Decatur. On top of everything else, Sunday was the big celebration worship service at our sister church to dedicate their brand-new post-Katrina building. Oh my! It was just run from one to thing to another. I was sure glad when Monday rolled around.
Thursday night we took my sister H out to Frenchman Street, and it was quite the smorgasbord of musical selections -- a great combo with horns playing the Spotted Cat, Shamarr Allen and his Big Dawgs at DBA, a street band of what Big Man calls "waifs," the Boom-Boom Room hosting the HBO "Treme" filming, and the Balcony Club with the Mardi Gras Indian Rhythm group and a Big Chief. Big Man played with them and it was the bomb! H was totally blown away by the amount and quality of live music on Frenchman on a Thursday (of course, it was FQF, but still and all ...)
The weekend's weather was, once again, Tourist commission perfect. If you wanted to quibble, I guess you could have said it was a little too hot for the season, but it was mild and sunny, with blue skies, a few fluffy clouds, and a wonderful, cooling breeze off the River. Just wonderful. I made a big mistake by not wearing sunblock to the little wedding ceremony on Friday, and I ended up with mild sunburn on my shoulders. I learned my lesson and was lathered up for the funeral on Saturday afternoon, prepatory to hitting the festival right after.
Of course we enjoyed the people-watching, and there were lots of people to watch. It does seem that the FQF gets more and more popular every single year. The crowds were huge! But still, it was always possible to find a good place to stand or sit and enjoy the music, sometimes even with shade, and we never had to stand in a line once, for food or drink, or for Portalets. So while there were lots and lots of people there -- of all kinds, of all ages, of every ethnicity -- it was not a problem.
Music we enjoyed: Swingaroux, Gal Holiday, Bone Tone, Irene Sage, Coco Robichaux, the Pinettes, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Joe Krown, Russell Batiste, and so many more! Plus there were the delights that were off the FQF schedule -- Big Man pulling out his horn and blowing along with a drummer and guitarist in front of the Cathedral, to the great appreciation of both crowd and musicians; and the unknown young black soprano who stood on an iron lace balcony on Chartres and regaled a stunned audience below on the sidewalk in front of the W Hotel with aria after aria. It was like a dream.
Food was great also, as always. Loved the smoked turkey legs, the char-grilled oysters, and a special shout-out to the Praline Connection festival plate of grilled marinated chicken livers with hot pepper jelly, grilled zucchini and onions, and traditional mess of greens served over rice. Yum!
Another fantastic FQF and now it's on to the countdown for Jazz Fest!
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