It’s hard to believe but this weekend marks the 7th edition of the annual three-day music festival and celebration of Mid City. As usual, the organizers have some great music in store for you. Here are my picks. The full schedule is here.
You can’t go wrong with the whole lineup on Friday afternoon and evening. Corey Henry and the Tremé Funktet get things started on the National Endowment for the Arts stage.
The band features Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill on his namesake instrument. Since reemerging on the scene just over a year ago, he has been tearing it with a wide range of performers. The rest of the members of the band are no slouches either.
After the festival, Dave Jordan will be having post-Boogaloo party at the Bayou Beer Garden on Friday night. He will perform with his band and entertain any revelers who straggle over to the bar, which is located on Jeff Davis Parkway on the edge of the festival site.
Saturday, I am very pumped up for another “reunion” performance by Iris May Tango. If they keep this up, we may be writing that the band is back together permanently. For those you that aren’t keeping up, this New Orleans band set the city ablaze back in the 1990s with a high-energy rock/hip hop sound that was way ahead of its time. Though the members are older and have mostly gone their separate ways musically, this will be one fun show.
And speaking of bands that are a blast from yesteryear, Bas Clas is also playing on Saturday. They tore up south Louisiana with a unique blend of rock and Cajun influences that was also ahead of its time. Now they are back and sounding better than ever.
Regular readers of this space will recall that I had high praise for Big Chief Victor Harris and his performance with his Mardi Gras Indian tribe at Jazz Fest. They return here on Sunday with a set that is bound to invigorate the crowd. He had an A-list of jazz musicians on board including trumpeter Irvin Mayfield to add depth and texture to the age-old Mardi Gras Indian chants.
Finally, in keeping with the old school focus of this post, don’t miss Ironing Board Sam on Sunday. This guy takes the cake as a musician who is willing to try anything in order to get his music out there. Back in the day, he played in an aquarium at Jazz Fest and even tried to play in a hot air balloon. Who knows what he has in store at the Boogaloo.
See you there!
