Category: Events

Need to repent? Go to Ash Wednesday in the French Quarter

After having released all aggression, urges and desires during the Mardi Gras holiday, you may feel the need to repent and ask God for forgiveness. If so, French Quarter churches will be holding services on Ash Wednesday.

Services and distribution of ashes will begin Feb. 18 at 7:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, attached to the Old Ursuline Convent Museum located at 1116 Chartres Street, then and at 12:05 p.m. and 5 p.m. at St. Louis Cathedral, located at 615 Pere Antoine Alley.

The service at St. Louis Cathedral will be Archbishop James Checchio’s first Ash Wednesday mass since he was appointed Archbishop of New Orleans in September.

Ash Wednesday is the Christian holy day marking the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and charitable giving. The day occurs after Fat Tuesday and precedes Easter, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus. This year Easter will be observed on April 5.

Observers of Ash Wednesday are marked with ash on their foreheads, which is typically done in the sign of a cross and signifies repentance.

Halloweeny

Working in the service industry can be pretty boring sometimes. The same ole everyone else having fun while you work. Halloween is one of those days that breaks up the boredom and monotony. Patrons parade in and out in some great costumes and generally that night draws a different crowd. Not the usual weekend partiers but those that only go out a few times a year as they grow older. Looking for fun and not afraid to splurge.

When I drove cab at night in New jersey it was actually kind of fun on Halloween. Always busy, good tips and a non-stop spectacle. Creative garb sometimes lampooning topical news stories, superheroes, sexy nurses or sexy cops with a sprinkling of drunken zombies. At the end of my night, I would vacuum up all of the feathers, sequins and props.

I never knew what to expect when the customer would walk towards my Crown Vic. I always kissed up by complementing their creativity. We had this one weekend regular who always took a cab to a local club “The Headliner” in Neptune NJ. Each year they had a massive costume contest with a $1,000 prize or something. Even though he was a regular and I heard his address dispatched countless times, this was the first night I actually had him as my passenger.

He exited his apartment (40-ish) wearing torn blue jeans, Converse high-tops, an AC/DC black T-shirt, leather biker jacket, baseball cap and the cheesiest shoulder length black wig. Totally nailed the Mike Myer’s “Wayne’s World” character. When he climbed in, I greeted him with “Hey, Wayne!” He responded with a “Huh?” I guess it didn’t register with him. As I dropped him off at The Headliner I said, “Good luck with the contest.” All though I knew there would be way better costumes than his.

A month or so later, dispatch radios me his address again going to the same place. A couple of minutes after being out front he exits the apartment wearing torn blue jeans, Converse high-tops, an AC/DC black T-shirt, leather biker jacket, baseball cap and the cheesy shoulder length black wig. That wasn’t a costume he was wearing on Halloween, it’s how he always dresses right down to the cheap wig. I mentioned this to the dispatcher back at the cab stand and he laughed “Not a costume, he’s been dressing like that for years!”

10 years later on Halloween I’m working as a dishwasher at a Sicilian restaurant in the French Quarter. The place had been slammed all night. It was close to closing and I was trying to keep caught up. I stuck my head out of the kitchen to see a table of 6 getting up to leave. I grab the plastic tub and start bussing the table as a couple stayed to take care of the tab. The two were maybe in their late 30’s, very professional looking with nice costumes. I can’t remember hers, but he was Kato from The Green Hornet. I mean every detail. The exact hat, mask and chauffeur suit. Neither of them seemed to be having a good night.

“Hey KATO! Did you enjoy your meal?”
His head snapped in my direction as he was paying the tab. “What did you call me?”
“Uhm, Kato? From the Green Hornet, right?”
“Thank fuckin god! Someone tonight knew who the fuck I am! You are the only one, THANK YOU!”
He pulls a $20 out of his wallet and tosses it on the table for me.
“Naw that’s ok man..”
“NO! You take it. You made my night that at least one person knew who Kato was!”
I glanced at his wife who was now kind of smirk-giggling. I guess she was relieved her husband was in a less pissy mood now.

So, this Halloween have fun, make money and keep guessing.

Swifties Are Always Welcome

Phenomenal seems to be the most frequently used word by French Quarter businesses to describe the past week of the “Swifties” invasion. Swiftie denotes a dedicated fan of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, whose three nights of concerts at the Caesars Superdome flooded the French Quarter with her most diehard followers this past weekend. The Swifties quickly gained fans of their own among the local business community, not only for their patronage, but for just being courteous and downright nice people. If a business owner wasn’t a Taylor Swift fan prior to this week, they certainly are now.

Jaded service industry workers in the French Quarter are no stranger to large homogeneous groups and typically expect an aggravating work shift dealing with rude, entitled customers. Not so with Swift fans. In fact, the complete opposite seems to be true. I received nothing but compliments for the sequined customers, who were generally described as “very kind and spending lots of money.”

Cary Thompson, general manager at 13 on Frenchman Street had nothing but praise for the crowds of Swift fans this week. “They weren’t just trying to be kind; they were very genuine and engaged,” he said. “They all seemed very based, happy to be here and really vibing on each other’s fandom and positivity.”

Enormous peaceful crowds packed Bourbon Street for blocks singing Swift songs, dancing, and just being cool and loving. This is not exactly what we are used to seeing on Bourbon Street. There is clear evidence that this group of people seemed to have left the Quarter cleaner and in better shape than they found it.

One of Bourbon’s most hardened and renowned night club managers, Eddie O’Dwyer at The Frat House on Bourbon Street had this to say about this Swifty weekend: “If I could open a strictly Taylor Swift bar, I would. Great crowds and numbers since Thursday. No problems, no headaches, everyone nice and polite. I was like wtf?! I’ll take this 7 days a week, 365. I hope they come back next year!” Eddie added his security staff was extremely bored from all of the politeness.

One shop, Gimme at 713 Toulouse St., was elbow-to-elbow with Swifties for days. The shop, which features accessories best described as pink and glittery, has never seen crowds of customers like this since they opened about three years ago, or at any point in their entire retail experience in the French Quarter. Owner Jeff McCoy and his wife Nikki not only praised the quantity of customers, but the quality of customers.

The bright pink Gimme shop features fun quirky accessories and glittery makeup, a huge draw for Swifties. Several people asked what kind of a shop it is the rest of the year thinking it was Taylor Swift pop-up store here only during the concert. “Nope, this is us year-round,” Jeff McCoy responded.

Excessively polite and courteous patrons filed in and out of the shop as soon as the doors opened. McCoy recalled one incident. “We were just locking up and closing for the night when a couple of customers from earlier in the day started to tap on the window for our attention,” he said.

Somehow the customers had inadvertently received a pair of earrings in their purchase bag that they had not paid for. Since they were leaving the next day, they made a special trip back to the small shop that night to either return or pay for the merchandise.

Overwhelmed with such honesty, Nikki and Jeff said they refused payment for the earnings. “Please just keep them,” the McCoys told the group.

According to Jeff, that incident was the best example of the type of crowds they were serving this weekend.

Turtle Bay on Decatur Street had informally renamed the upstairs as “Taylor Bay” for the concert weekend and decorated wall-to-wall in bright, glittery tassels, just like the kind of dress Taylor Swift wears on stage (in fact, when I Googled the spelling of tassel, the search bar auto-populated with “tassel dress Taylor Swift”). Guests loved it and here’s what owner Steve Smith had to say on this weekend:

“I’ll start by saying, going into the weekend I wasn’t a Taylor Swift fan. Not a hater, just indifferent. As a 54-year-old guy, I wouldn’t have been able to name one Taylor Swift song. I’m sure I’ve heard some just as a member of society, but I couldn’t have told you what songs hers were when I heard them. My wife and I happened to be in Nashville last year when the Taylor Swift tour was in town. We saw how many people it brought there. So, when we found out the tour was stopping in New Orleans we knew it would be a busy weekend and wanted to take advantage.

“We decided to turn the upstairs room at our bar/grill into a Taylor Swift-themed room. We knew with three sold out shows in the Dome, New Orleans was going to get plenty of visitors this weekend. What we didn’t know, was the town was about to be consumed and completely taken over by a seemingly never-ending swarm of ‘Swifties.’

“Every bar, restaurant and shop was filled for three days giving businesses a much-needed shot in the arm after another long summer. But this group brought with it more than monetary gains to the city. They didn’t just spend money around town, they shared their fun loving, friendly, carefree attitude. Every one of the Swifties, young and old, came with excitement and a smile ear to ear. Their attitude was truly contagious. You could feel the excitement and buzz around the city from the tourist to the locals.

“I’ve been in this business for over 30 years in New Orleans and I can’t really remember an event like this not called Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest or French Quarter Fest that brought the same energy. That includes the many Super Bowls, college football championships, concerts, etc. I’ve witnessed. In a town that sees plenty of ups and downs from a very contentious political season, crime, poor infrastructure, and the rest. The Swiftie invasion and shared positive vibes was more than welcome. It was one of the best weekends for the city I can remember, certainly since covid. I know we have the Super Bowl coming in a few months and it will be great. But I would gladly take another Swiftie invasion weekend any day!!“

Thank you, Taylor Swift and your fans, not just for giving New Orleans the huge financial boost we knew we needed, but more importantly the emotional lift we didn’t know we needed.“
-Steve Smith, Turtle Bay.

Regardless of what someone’s opinion is of Taylor Swift’s music or politics, one cannot deny that she boosts the economy of any city she performs in. Not every event or festival here can say that. There have been large groups of fans for events that were way more trouble than they were worth and their return visits are always dreaded.

Summers are always slow and with the current economy, this visit has been a blessing. Jeff McCoy stated: “When she schedules her next tour, I’ll personally go to a council meeting and encourage the city to invite her back.”

Hell, when she comes back, I’ll spend the money and go to a show myself.

Little Amal visits the French Quarter

A spectacular sight was seen in the French Quarter on Saturday, when a world famous 11 feet high animatronic puppet graced our city. Little Amal is a project by Handspring Puppet Company from South Africa. Little Amal has been on a global tour known as The Walk to bring awareness to refugees fleeing from the continuing conflict in Syria. Amal portrays a 10-year-old girl fleeing a war-torn nation searching for her mother by walking the earth.

No exaggeration, some of her appearances since this project started in July of 2021 have included nearly 100 cities in 14 countries, covering more than 6,000 miles. New Orleans has the privilege of being her latest stop. On Saturday, the puppet’s stroll started on the Riverwalk, then proceeded to Jackson Square and onto the finish at Congo Square.

The scale and mechanics of the animatronic puppet are amazing to behold in person while from a distance the creation does take on a very human like presence. Praise to the creators and puppeteers, especially the one inside walking on stilts navigating our infrastructure. Amal’s magnetic VHS tape hair blowing in the wind from the river just added to the life-like quality.

Amal’s arrival was heralded by a lone trumpet player at the Moonwalk by the river. There was some sort of eery industrial fire to the southeast of us miles away casting a dark line of smoke on the horizon in the otherwise clear blue sky. Almost a war like backdrop to her story.

Waiting were performers from the local puppet company, The Mudlark Puppeteers. There was a brief performance about Native Americans, the river and colonialism. To be honest, I’m not really sure what the premise was. It did not strike me as particularly well-conceived, rehearsed or directed.

From there, it turned into a second line of sorts with the brass band TuBad. Prior to the start I was standing downwind from them smoking and caught a pretty good secondhand buzz, so of course they sounded good to me.

The puppet was, of course, the star attraction and at times dancing to the music of the band. I kept waiting for her to twerk for that true NOLA flair. Amal managed to dwarf anything she stood near in Jackson Square. The statue, the fountain and trees were all reduced in her presence.

I was impressed how the performers managed to bring life to the character by interacting with its surroundings. Leaning forward to look at a sign, examining a tree or fountain. As the crew walked down Decatur Street in front of the Square, the puppeteers thought that stopping to pet a carriage mule might be a nice gesture. As it approached the mule and put out a hand the size of a garbage can lid, the buggy driver screamed “GET THE FUCK AWAY!” as he shook his buggy whip at the puppet. The mules are usually pretty chill, but to be honest at first glance this puppet is a little freaky.

The procession stopped for another skit with The Mudlark Puppeteers in front of the Cabildo. This performance was a little more obvious than the first. It was about the slave trade in America. I’m not sure of the connection to the plight of refugees, perhaps it was just a regional culture reference.

Some puppet performers wore masks, while others had matching colonial wardrobe and most just wore street clothes. The masks were obviously those of white European-descended slave traders. All lifeless looking and identical except for hair colors of blond and red. The puppets brought out were characters of African slaves. The slaves looked like they were designed based on 1920’s racist advertisements for laundry detergent. It was just uncomfortable and awkward to watch the performance. –not due to the content but the quality.

On St. Peters Street, diners on the balcony of Tableau were treated to a nearly face-to-face encounter with the creation. With all that is happening in our frighteningly changing world today and the politicization of every aspect of it, there was not as much as I anticipated. I half expected to see pro-Palestinian supporters make some sort of an appearance. There had been a rally earlier in the week at Duncan Park.

Perhaps the organizers preempted any involvement by those looking to exploit the moment. The entire Israel and Palestine conflict is a hot button topic that only widens division. Thankfully none of that came into play yesterday, although it wasn’t not entirely unrelated.

There was however a second line reveler group sporting the colors red, green and yellow for Africa and Black Lives Matter regalia. A bit surprising since most corporations, NGO’s and nonprofits have distanced themselves from BLM following last year’s scandals. The organization’s leadership has been accused of embezzling tens of million from donors for personal use. The British production company responsible for this global odyssey probably had little or no say in who would be greeting them.

For the record, Syria is located in Western Asia, not Africa.

From an artistic standpoint, I would’ve sought out a Mardi Gras Indian krewe to accompany our city’s guest. The colorful and flamboyant Indian costumes would have nicely contrasted the muted earth tones of Amal’s appearance. Being also large in scale it would have made for great visuals with something iconic to our city’s culture.

I spent the rest of my day pondering the themes of refugees and colonialism presented by this performance. One could argue that the original European settlers in the Americas were in fact refugees fleeing religious persecution in their homelands. Apparently, the Native Americans had very liberal immigration policies for their times. An open border with assistance of food and shelter for the migrants. In hindsight the indigenous people might now think that was not a great idea.

Another parallel that came to mind was that the Jews were refugees in the 1930s fleeing from religious persecution. Now they are accused of being the colonizers, same as the Pilgrims. What is the tipping point from where refugees and migrants become the colonizers? I think there are many native Europeans asking that question today.

A discussion for greater intellects than mine.

Reporting from the East Bank of the Gonad Heights.

Red Dress Run 2023 (PHOTOS)

All photos by Eric T. Styles
Crowds of people wearing red dresses flooded Marigny, Bywater and the French Quarter on Saturday for the annual Red Dress Run. Usually held on the second weekend of August, it’s technically a race that you register for, with the proceeds going to support charity — although no registering doesn’t necessarily preclude participate.

Many just said “fuck it,” and decided to don a skimpy red garment and proceeded to get wasted early this morning. Were you one of those people? Let us know.