Last night I went out to a joint called Vaughn's, where Kermit Ruffins
was playing. This bar was no French Quarter Daiquiri trough either. It
was a cramped little shack with sagging wood floors and an ancient cash
register that served no other purpose than to hold the money. A cigar
box would have served the same function.
Since the Saints are still in the NFL playoffs, the band led off with a
rollicking version of "When the Saints Come Marching In" interpolating
the Saints's de facto theme song, "who dat?" They promised to return to
the "Who Dat?" Song throughout the night, and they did.
One tremendous thing about the bar was how informal it was: band and
audience were barely separate, with the band tucked into a corner of the
dancing area, and between songs it was difficult to see any separation,
with individual members of the band carrying on conversations with the
audience.
We were lucky enough as well to run into another member of the Rebirth Brass
Band (the tuba player, Phil), who'll be playing the Velvet Lounge in March. He handed us a copy
of "Ultimate Rebirth Brass Band," which was nice.
All in all, it was a very late night.
4 comments:
It's wonderful to hear about the rebirth of New Orleans. Last year after the hurricane, KOB posted pics of neighborhoods that had NOT been devastated. It was wonderful to see those pics.
This story is great, another way of explaining that the spirit of New Orleans is sturdy and will prevail no matter what. Thanks.
You're such a rockstar, dude.
Where I come from one cannot secure the purchase of liquor after 2:30 in the morning. In N.O. it was a seamless segue from 2:30 to 3:30 to dawn because there are no external clues or last calls. The bars are open 24 hours and I even witnessed a cop getting into his patrol car with an open bottle of beer. That is a dirty city.
kermit ruffins and rebirth, two things i miss the very most about living in nola.
Post a Comment