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L.
#1
28
VO
13 N
2
O. 3 MARCH
5
01
real talk with
BLACK YOUTH PROJECT 100
also in this issue:
SWANS
SCREAMING FEMALES
BUKU
& advice by
BIG FREEDIA
magazine.com
FOUNDER
Leo J. McGovern III
PUBLISHER &
EDITOR IN CHIEF
magazine.com
Dan Fox
fox@antigravitymagazine.com
barryfest.com
MANAGING
PUBLISHEREDITOR
Erin
Hall
Leo McGovern
erinhall84@gmail.com
leo@antigravitymagazine.com
ART
DIRECTOR
EDITOR
IN CHIEF
Kevin
Barrios
Dan Fox
kevin.barrios@gmail.com
fox@antigravitymagazine.com
PHOTO EDITOR
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
Adrienne
Battistella
Erin Hall
ambattistella@gmail.com
erinhall@antigravitymagazine.com
COMICS EDITOR
COMICS
EDITORS
Caesar
Meadows
Leo McGovern & Caesar Meadows
jigsawjct@yahoo.com
leo@antigravitymagazine.com
jigsawjct@yahoo.com
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
Sara Pic
sara.pic@gmail.com
ART DIRECTOR
Kevin Barrios
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
kevin.barrios@gmail.com
Beck Levy
beck@astropressdc.com
ADVERTISING
Jennifer Attaway
ASSOCIATE
EDITOR
aysia_999@hotmail.com
David Jamison
jamisondavidjr@gmail.com
DISTRIBUTION
Tiffiny Wallace
WEB
distro@antigravitymagazine.com
D.
Weaver
web@antigravitymagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jennifer Attaway
ADVERTISING
Jennifer
Attaway
Leigh Checkman
liprap2@netscape.net
CONTRIBUTING
Kevin Comarda WRITERS
Derek
kermox504@yahoo.com
judgeperezrevenge@yahoo.com
Anton Falcone
Julia
Barron
antonfalcone@gmail.com
juliabarron8@gmail.com
Graham Greenleaf
Jules
Bentley
greenleaf504@gmail.com
xjulesbentleyx@gmail.com
Rev. Daniel Jackson
M. Bevis
thefunkmaster47@gmail.com
starofkaos@hotmail.com
DerekCheckman
Leigh
judgeperezrevenge@yahoo.com
liprap2@netscape.net
Emily McWilliams
Breonne
DeDecker
ejmcwill@gmail.com
breonne@gmail.com
Sara Pic
Yvette
Del Rio
sara.pic@gmail.com
yvetteregrets@gmail.com
Eric Elvers
Pierson
Carl
ewillyp@yahoo.com
carlelvers@hotmail.com
Robert
Landry
Mike Rodgers
rlandry504@gmail.com
mike@antigravitymagazine.com
Rachel
LeePatrick Welch
Michael
rachelelee@gmail.com
michaelpatrickwelch@gmail.com
Andrew Mullins, III
apmullins3@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTING
Andru
Okun
PHOTOGRAPHERS
andruokun@gmail.com
Adrienne Battistella
Kate Russell
ambattistella@gmail.com
kate.c.russell@gmail.com
Joshua
Brasted
Alex
Taylor
josh.brasted@gmail.com
thealextaylor@gmail.com
Gary LoVerde
garyloverde@cox.net
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Sean Ambrose
LISTINGS
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events@antigravitymagazine.com
Joshua
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REVIEWS
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SNAIL
SNAILMAIL
MAIL
P.O.
BoxFreret
2215 Street
4916
Gretna,
LA 70054
New Orleans,
LA 70115
Cover
photo
Cover photo
Photo and
by Dan
Foxthis page
by Adrienne Battistella
“Dealing with the
constant influx of
media, or content,
or information—
or whatever you
want to call it—is
hard. It’s like a fly
buzzing around
your head at a
family picnic. It’s
constant, it’s all
consuming, and
it’s hard to ignore.
Sometimes it’s your
job not to ignore
it, and it’s hard
to prioritize what
things merit your
attention and what
things do not.”
Pg. 25
A monthly rag such as ours is always trying to be timely, and yet we are
almost certainly outdated the moment the papers hit New Orleans.
The “nowness” all periodicals aim for is a moving target and in today’s
media hypercycle, that target moves fast. Hence, we found ourselves
asking a morbid question in preparing this month’s issue: does “Black
Lives Matter” still matter? Not the sentiment of course, but the phrase,
the slogan, the hashtag. The high profile killings of Michael Brown and
Eric Garner by police—and the subsequent public actions—captured
national media attention at the close of 2014. But sadly, their murders
were hardly the first or the last in a centuries-old epidemic plaguing
this country and especially this city. In this month’s issue, we’re really
excited to bring you an interview with some of the founders of Black
Youth Project 100. You will find a lot more names and histories involved
in and consumed by this struggle in that conversation. In this case, I’m
happy to be untimely, to be focused on these issues this month—and not
“official” Black history month or in the heat of some large-scale media
event—because police brutality, institutional racism, economic disparity,
and gender equality are all tied up in each other and should not be having
“moments” of media prominence; they should not merely be “trending”
just so they can be buried under the next wave of infotainment. It’s hard
to talk about race, but ultimately it’s harder not to. We need to keep
having these discussions in the lulls between street protests and highprofile incidents, because we’re still a long way off from a livable solution.
Confronting racism—white supremacy specifically—and its deadly
consequences is not a part-time gig or an occasional singular event, but
something to work on a little bit every day. —Dan Fox
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@ANTIGRAVITYMAG / #ANTIGRAVITYMAG
Comments
“Skateboarding belongs in
the streets. OG legend Warren
Day would get kicked out of
skate parks for screaming,
cursing and breaking boards.
To me, that will always be New
Orleans skateboarding.”
We got some of y’all taking last month.
Here’s what you had to say, via your
‘puters. First, our provocateur-laureate
Jules Bentley, as usual, took the brunt of
your ire for his People’s History of Mardi
Gras piece, “Farewell to the Flesh:
Notes on a Cybernetic Carnival.”
This article is typical hipster posturing.
“I was into DIY parades before it was
cool, man. You probably never heard of
Eris. It was pretty underground.” Give
me a break. The only thing I smell is a
pretentious windbag wallowing in his
own filth. —Williamina Soros
I realize this article was intended to
over-dramatize. However, as I was
present at this year’s Chewbacchus,
I can attest that I didn’t encounter
any physical contact (“clammy”
or otherwise), I didn’t see anyone
“panting” or “convulsing” nor was
there any smell in the air that is not
usually present in the 9th Ward. I’m not
affiliated with the krewe nor do I have
any interest in vouching for them. I
just thought the derogatory statements
here veered so far from reality that the
author should be called out. —Craig
Next up, some of y’all pined for the skate
culture of yore after reading “Gracious
Host: Parisite Ushers in a New Era
of NOLA Skate Culture” by Robert
Landry and Dan Fox.
As a lifelong skateboarder from NOLA
since ‘96, I’m not sure how to feel about
this. On the one hand, I’m happy to
see the city being more positive and
willing to chill a little, but on the other
hand, I don’t like what’s happening to
4 * ANTIGRAVITY * MARCH 2015
skateboarding in our city. This is New
Orleans. We’re loud, violent, dirty,
and real. We’re not California, and
skateboarding is not little league. All
this hippy/DIY crap is getting real old.
It’s cool, but it seems like it’s being done
just for the sake of being cool. Are the
primary people involved even from
here? Were they born and raised in this
city? Do they even skate? Or are they
introducing ideals from more affluent
areas? Just like all the new hipster,
uptown bars and food trucks? This
is not my New Orleans. DIY skating
means skating in streets on something
skate-able that was not meant to be
skated. Adapting to your city, not
having the city adapt to you. I’m glad we
have another place to skate, but it will
never be the only place. Skateboarding
belongs in the streets.
OG legend Warren Day would get
kicked out of skate parks for screaming,
cursing and breaking boards. To
me, that will always be New Orleans
skateboarding. Kids should feel
intimidated. It builds character. We’re
too busy trying to all be friends and
scared to hurt someone’s feelings. Life
has winners and losers. I don’t want
my kids (yes I have two young boys) to
play any sport where everyone gets a
trophy, or where they don’t feel bad for
sucking at skateboarding. That feeling
will either make them try harder and
be dedicated to skating and fall in love
with it (like it did for me), or make
them give up, in which case they never
loved it to begin with. Like I said, I don’t
know how to feel about this. Ultimately,
it’s a good thing. But we still need
remember that the focus should always
be on skateboarding and preserving
our unique New Orleans skate culture.
—Rforet
Responding to Rforet:
I can relate to your ambivalence. And
I’m one of the park’s organizers! You
say “New Orleans skate culture” as if
that’s one obvious thing we can all agree
on. If that’s so, why do we have so many
arguments and knock-down drag-out
fights about EVERYTHING related
to the park, and to skateboarding in
general? Put 10 skaters in a room
and you have 15 opinions—15 rabid,
passionate opinions! That’s because it
isn’t one thing. To you and your friends,
it was one thing, and it was obvious
what it was. But that’s no longer true.
Do you really want to tell the poor and
working class kids of Gentilly that they
MAYBE shouldn’t have a skatepark,
because of... Warren Day? What a
bizarre invocation of his name.
You say you like tough talk that risks
hurting feelings—is that what you want
from me? As a boy raised working class
in the Bronx, I can certainly go there,
but I just don’t have it in me to battle
other skaters. I see it as a huge waste of
my time. I’m too busy building a park.
I’ve been spending 20, 30 hours a week
on the park, with no pay, and there’s a
group of us doing this. We’re not just
building Parisite. We’ve also been talking
to the city about building OTHER parks,
because we think New Orleans can
support at least 4 big ones and several
smaller ones. We’re talking about
incorporating skateable elements in
existing public spaces. And we’re working
to make sure city council doesn’t make
skateboarding illegal in the CBD. You
heard right. We’re on the case.
For the record, I was raised by a single
working class mom in the Bronx. But
I did most of my skating in Seattle in
the 90s. Years later, I was on a bike
and was hit by a car, and as a result you
won’t see me doing any high-impact
activities at this point in my life. But I
have figured out ways to stay involved
because I can’t get it out of my blood.
I encourage you to look us up on
Facebook and come meet us. You might
decide that we are, in fact, everything
you stand against, and that’s fine. Get
to know me first, then judge. I can live
with it. —Skylar
finally, from King Louie (in a string of
texts), regarding our characterization of
Natas Kaupas as a “vert legend.”
Dude, Natas was sponsored as a
STREET pro. He didnt skate vert.
Nor did he demo as a vert skater. I
was at the Skate West Natas demo. He
spray painted a car and skated on it
while Catch 22 (local hardcore band
who really thought they were from
England) played. Also JFJ Skate Shop
sponsored Bobby Pavonie at least two
years before Larry [Blossom] was on
the sponsorship level. And I think he
even went pro for Epic for a short while.
AND I MEAN THAT AS NO SLAM TO
LARRY WHO RULES! And my shop
[Louie’s River Ridge Ace Hardware]
also had three local riders. Not gonna
make it about my shop. But Skate West
used to buy all there Powell Peralta
decks from us. Powell wouldn’t sell to
them. Powell had minamal orders and
we had always met there standards. I
don’t think they were a business. Just
some kids dad slapped up a sign... but
thats actually cool too. Nice article
anyway. —King Louie
MARCH 2015 * ANTIGRAVITY * 5
Astrocreep
by Mistress Anthropy
TWO MINUTES OF DARKNESS
and already at least seven transwomen have been murdered, including New
Orleans’ own Penny Proud. This has to end.
It’s also particularly important to refocus the gender lens with regards to this
Taoist passage, since this is a lesson about labor, and women’s work is so often
devalued, taken for granted, made invisible. Then we come to the matter of
“bad” and “good.” I’m not an adherent of conventional morality, heaven and
hell, or absolute truth, so let’s set the religious implications of this binary
aside. It’s important that we recognize “good” and “bad” to be unstable
categories, murky designations, which can apply to someone for a time and
then cease to, or apply in some ways and fail to in others. Once you are able to
see those categories as conditional, relative, and in flux, it’s obvious that bad
people and good people is not a binary, not a population cleaved in two and
diametrically opposed, but actually just one big group: all of us.
So what is the message here then, for all of us? If you understand “good” as
meaning “able to provide something” (since that is how it is defined in the
internal logic of the passage) and “bad” as “needing something,” you can see
this as a message about interdependence and care.
Needing care is culturally seen as being weak or deficient, since your worth
is measured by if you are able to work, and how much you are able to earn.
Capitalism offers us a very narrow view of usefulness here, and when you
think about it, it’s pretty perverse to be thinking of people as “useful” isn’t it?
Doesn’t that imply that others are useless? There’s nascent genocide, covert
eugenicism in that world view. And after all, we all need care sometimes,
right? This proverb tells us that needing care creates an opportunity for
someone to be useful. If you must have it in the language of the market,
vulnerability creates jobs. Thinkers in the field of Disability Studies have long
used this relationship to point out that people who aren’t able to work still
contribute to the economy in many ways.
It shouldn’t even matter. None of us ask to be alive, and to continue last
month’s Crass theme, we’re all owed a living. And yet the idea that some
people are useless, some populations disposable, is so pervasive. Just
as people who are unable to work for whatever reason aren’t passive
participants in the economy, neither are those who need care passive
participants in our cultural world.
From Anton Kerner von Marilaun's Pflanzenleben or The Natural History of Plants their
Forms, Growth, Reproduction, and Distribution (1887).
That is roughly the duration of totality for the solar eclipse on March 20th.
The full darkness will only be visible in two populated places, both remote.
I’m enthralled by animated gifs depicting the path and span of the eclipse,
its precision and reliability, the tiny yet vital role it plays in so many cycles.
Something about viewing pages of charts of every eclipse’s transit, year after
year, brings me a powerful calm... maybe it’s just the S.A.D. talking (that’s
just the hip new way of referring to feverish depression, right?). The eclipse
occurs right at the tail end of the sun in Pisces, and there is something very
Piscean about the primal dreaminess humans experience in the face of
astronomical phenomena.
This month, it will feel like we get about two minutes of that dreamy,
nurturing darkness. The rest of the time, it might feel like we’re in a harsh
light and even under a microscope. This ratio is comparable to how many
of us live: briefly immersed in creative flow, more often paralyzed with selfconsciousness. Some performers I know describe the moment they became
confident on stage as being defined by the realization that the audience is only
paying partial attention. Mostly people are preoccupied by the errands they
mean to run after, or a cutting remark from earlier in the day, or wondering
if they look alright. Once you put your stage fright in perspective of the tiny
intersection of our awarenesses, well, why not just try to have fun? Like every
lesson from performing and music, this is absolutely a life lesson, folks.
There’s a passage in the Tao Te Ching that reads, depending on what
translation you have, that “A good man is a bad man’s teacher/A bad man is a
good man’s job/Understand this and you will have real intelligence.” In order
to delve as deeply into this lesson as I want to, we will first have to address
some rhetorical and conceptual problems with it. For starters, let’s decide that
we’re talking about people, not just those who’d describe themselves as men.
It’s tempting to just let that go without saying, since it seems obvious, and
since we are so used to making that adjustment in our heads. But we ought to
demand gender justice at every opportunity—after all, we’re barely into 2015
If you ask for help you give the gift of letting someone help you, of making
it visible that we all need care. You gain the opportunity of connecting with
other people and building relationships on your mutual needs. You create the
possibility for reciprocity. As we move toward spring, this month, let’s awaken
to the ways we rely upon the people who rely upon us, or who we take for
granted, or who we don’t think of at all.
Aries
You’ve been on a streak, working and
socializing hard. Sometimes there are
these glimmers of hope that it’s really
possible to have it all. Maybe so. But
also, maybe you’re skidding along on
thin air like Roadrunner. Don’t look
down or you’ll fall! After you’ve been
overachieving with no consequences,
your perspective gets a little warped.
Your instincts no longer tell you when
to tap the brakes. Take a detour and
avoid a cartoon cliff-plunge, ideally
before the solar eclipse. You don’t
have to become a homebody. That’s
just not in your nature, and as spring
approaches your travel itch is strong.
Just tend to problems at home before
you go out.
Taurus
When you’re in a bad mood, the clouds
gather and you bring a little darkness
wherever you go. Even though you often
intend not to take moodiness out on
people, it happens. Taurans are not good
at hiding their displeasure. That’s what
people love about you though, too—you
may be a bull but you’re not bullshit. But
you don’t want your friends to walk on
eggshells around you, right? Manners
have gone a bit out of vogue but they can
provide a helpful roadmap if you wish
to sweeten your relationships with the
people around you.
Gemini
Though you’re well-versed in the
exercise of seeing more than one side
of a story, there are some dualities that
challenge even your broad imagination.
For example, the gap between how you
experience yourself and how others
experience you, their perception of you.
There are ruptures in life where we
suddenly get an insight into ourselves
from a further away vantage point.
Those moments are jarring and difficult
for most people. But since you are
proficient at setting aside your ego, at
least in theory, you could potentially
endure that moment and grow from
it. Look for it toward the end of the
month.
Cancer
As you emerge from the dark waters
of winter rumination, your senses
awaken. But like Austin Powers
unfreezing, your self-control isn’t
necessarily returning in the desirable
order. You might be able to yell before
you can whisper. Spring is a delicate
time that calls for some whispering. If
you’re trying to find your bearings, and
need companionship or a guide, your
relationship to them may be tenuous
this month. Keep your grumbling to
yourself. Let a gentle silence fill the
space between you and people you’re
not on firm footing with.
Leo
There comes a time every few months
for Leos where you just want to drop
everything and go somewhere. You’re
not so hard to please, though. When
the itch comes over you, you can be
satisfied just by making everyone go
swimming, or stay up all night walking
around. It’s good to remember that
adventure is available locally and in
small doses. When you’re weighed
down by obligations, and can’t just
skip town, you’ll get moody unless you
locate vacation where you are. Chase
a good time, but don’t chase down a
feeling, because you’ll never be quite
satisfied with what you find.
Virgo
I recently heard an interview with
Virgan comedian Maria Bamford where
she reported that, during a darker
time in her life, it felt like it would be
less dramatic to just kill herself than
it would be to walk into an emergency
room, seeking help. Ridiculous, right?
This type of distorted thinking is caused
by a loss of perspective, and Virgos are
especially susceptible to it because of
being so detail-oriented. So, if you need
some extra support this month, and that
makes you feel worthless, remember
that it’s not dramatic to ask for help.
Everyone needs it sometimes. Then
go watch every episode of the Maria
Bamford Show.
Libra
We all engage in imaginary affairs. Do
you have a plan B boyfriend—someone
you used to date who you think of
as your fall-back life plan? A work
wife—someone who takes care of your
emotional life in your workplace in a
way that is supposedly platonic? Or
even, how about a barista crush? If
there’s someone in your life who you
project some seemingly harmless
emotional expectations onto, things
might get a little ouchy with them this
month. Your charm and diplomacy,
which got you in the situation in some
ways, will hopefully lead you out of it
mostly unscathed.
Scorpio
If you’ve been feeling in touch with
your body lately, March may have
some serious sensuality in store for
you. How do you know if you’re in
touch with you’re body? If you’re a
Scorpio who loves to exercise, notices
subtle changes in your daily habitats,
and tries out new recipes all the time,
perhaps you are. If you just shove food
in your face hole so you don’t die, and
constantly are wondering where the
mysterious bruises on your legs came
from, you might be a bit of a space
cadet. If that last bit sounds a little too
familiar, and you suspect you’re feeling
disassociated, ask yourself why. There
are so many valid reasons to psychically
flee our flesh sacks. Try to do what you
can to make it safe to come back.
Sagittarius
March may hold a new solution for
an especially persistent problem—a
new way to approach some trap that
you’ve just been circling the drain
on. It’s funny, sometimes a solution
is just a reframing of an issue, and
sometimes it’s the mere sense that
you have reframed it. Regardless, the
ability to inject even a little of your
trademark positivity improves things
exponentially. “Positivity” is a word
that’s as dubious as “solution,” anyone
who has lived a little knows that. What
I’m referring to here is your knack for
rallying, which doesn’t just energize
and inspire you but everyone around
you. You probably don’t even notice it
most of the time.
Capricorn
Have I ever told you this before: that
strength oughtn’t be measured by
how much suffering you can endure?
Sometimes when I’m down in the shit,
my partner will catch me listening to
Magnolia Electric Co, project of brilliant
late Capricorn songwriter Jason Molina,
and just raise their eyebrows as if to
say, “really?” There’s a time to wallow, a
time to retreat, and a time to revive. This
month, look at your comfortable habits
that keep you brooding alone. Challenge
yourself to resist the trappings of cozy
isolation, notice what little things make
you feel stuck.
Aquarius
You’re in a phase of wrapping up big
projects, and you’ll spend the first half
of the month continuing to do just
that. After all the work you’ve been
doing—not just slogging along, but
learning big truths about yourself and
the world—you’re probably feeling
like kicking back. For some Aquarians,
being idle can inspire serious antsiness.
Whichever type you are, this is a great
time to focus on projects with less
instantly gratifying payoffs. Not the
home chore type stuff that you do but
loathe, more like life chores. Reconnect
with an old friend and share all you’ve
learned lately.
Pisces
If there’s an area of your health you’ve
been neglecting, it may rear its head
around your birthday, especially
if your birthday falls near the full
moon on March 5. For Pisceans with
chronic health issues, it may be that
some combination of medication and
lifestyle habits that you had assumed
was working actually isn’t. Regardless,
it’s a time to make minute adjustments.
One’s birthday season is an auspicious
time for such things anyway. The sun
is in your sign and people seem to “get”
you more than they usually do. If you
need some time off to deal with your
health, ask for it around March 10th.
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Reality Bites
by YVETTE DEL RIO illustration BEN CLAASSEN III
A Selfish, Soulless, Seafood Splurge
It’s at this point in our relationship
that we may as well discuss religion,
right? Like 99.9% of other native
New Orleanians (give or take a few
percentage points, I guess), I’m
Catholic or at the very least, culturally
Catholic. My family’s been down with
the Church for roughly 500 years,
and I’m certainly not going to veer off
course. I mean, why should I? I love big
pretty buildings, incense, weird statues,
completely baseless superstition, and
Lent. Yes, that’s right, Lent! Lent is
even more exciting to me than Mardi
Gras, because I love self-denial. I have
literally never broken Lent, not once
in my 30-some odd years of giving up
things that I love for 40 days, for no
discernable reason. Since my favorite
thing is eating, my Lenten abstinences
almost always involve food. In the past,
I’ve given up M&M’s (I was 5), refined
sugar, caffeine, going out to restaurants,
alcohol, high fructose corn syrup,
and fried foods. Fried foods was the
stupidest choice because the best thing
about Lent, besides the masochist thrill
I get from telling myself no over and
over again, is the Lenten Fish Fry. Every
year, I try to hit up as many church fish
fries as I can, in an eternal quest to find
the perfect one. If you want a complete
list of churches holding Friday fish
fries, check out the Archdiocese of
New Orleans Twitter account. Yes, the
Archdiocese has a Twitter account,
and it’s kind of awesome. It’s where I
learned that just this year, the Pope has
urged everyone not to “let meatless
Fridays be a selfish, soulless, seafood
splurge.” Which, let’s be real, is exactly
what’s going to happen. Sorry, Pope
Francis! As there are four Fridays in
March, here’s a look at four different
local fish fries.
St. Mary of the Angels (3501 N.
Miro St.) St. Mary of the Angels is my
personal yearly go-to for fish fries.
I think I went four times last year.
They’re the closest to my house, so it’s
easy to get to, and they have solid fish
fry offerings: Fish, baked macaroni
and cheese, potato salad, green peas or
green beans, a slice of bread, a bottled
water, and a dessert (usually a slice of
pound cake). They also operate every
Friday during Lent, unlike some of the
other churches. They aren’t fancy;
they don’t have oysters or shrimp, the
macaroni and cheese is of the Velveeta
variety, and well, you get a slice of
white Bunny bread. But it still stands as
one of my favorites. The fish is always
well-fried (crispy but not overly so),
there’s just the right amount of salt,
and they actually season the fish. And,
as an added bonus, they have a bottle
of Crystal hot sauce and sliced up
lemons right by the register so you can
season up before you leave, which is
helpful if you’re running back to work,
or simply not heading to a place where
there’s going to be a bottle of Crystal
at the ready. The potato salad is the
mustardy type, which, let’s be honest, is
the best type of potato salad there is. In
addition to all this, the atmosphere is
fun. They’re serving out of the parking
lot of the Church and they have—hands
down—the best music of any of the
churches; it’s always Old School R&B
and soul music. You haven’t lived until
you’ve seen a Franciscan monk in a
hooded robe frying fish while dancing
to the Isley Brothers. The best! 9/10
Slices of Bunny Bread
Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic
Church (3366 Esplanade Ave.) When
I talk to friends about local fish fries,
this is the place most people have gone,
which is so sad! I mean, Our Lady of
the Rosary gets some play from me
just because they tend to be open
later than the other fish fry venues
in the city proper, so if I’ve missed
every other church’s closing time and
I’m not feeling like driving out to the
suburbs, Our Lady of the Rosary is
there to satisfy my needs. And honestly,
the convenience factor is one of the
only selling points of Our Lady of the
Rosary. They aren’t, however, open
every Friday during Lent, so you have
to check to make sure they’ll actually
be there when you go. The offerings
are probably the most basic: fish,
french fries, green beans, and coleslaw.
I always get disappointed when I see
french fries at a fish fry; it’s straight up
lazy and it’s just not what I want. The
fish here is also inconsistent. I’ve had it
come out both overly salty and not salty
enough, and it’s always strangely bland.
I’m assuming they just don’t bother
with seasoning the fish fry batter,
which again, just seems lazy. The cole
slaw is lackluster and the green beans
are dumped straight out the can, with
nothing added. The setting is actually
sort of fun if you went to Catholic
school, or if you just want to pretend
you did. You’re basically just in the
cafeteria of an elementary school, and
I felt myself flashing back immediately
when I walked in there for the first
time. Really, this isn’t the best fish fry.
It’ll do, though, if you’re out of other
options. 3/10 Lazy French Fries
All Saints (300 Ptolemy St., Algiers
Point) All Saints is actually the closest
fish fry option if you’re in the CBD or
French Quarter, because it’s in Algiers,
literally right next to the river, walking
distance from the ferry. And, it’s so
cute! They serve out of a little building
behind the church. When I went there,
I was really confused because there
was no signage whatsoever, and the
doors to everything were completely
closed up. Luckily, a friendly gentleman
with a mouth full of glittering gold
teeth saw me wandering around the
Church grounds, asked me if I was
looking for the fish fry, and walked me
to the right building! It’s like a little
restaurant; there are tables with white
tablecloths set up, and tartar sauce,
hot sauces, and ketchup on each one.
Unfortunately, the day I went, I had
to get back to work, but it would have
been really nice to sit and enjoy my
fish with some friends, or just hang
out with the very amiable older folks
who were milling about. On to taste!
The fish is perfect, the best I’ve had at
a fish fry––expertly seasoned, not too
salty but not under-salted either. The
sides are standard: potato salad (again
of the superior mustard variety); peas
from the can, but dressed up with pearl
onions (I think) and seasoning; baked
macaroni and cheese with a nice brown
crust on top; a slice of white bread;
and a piece of homemade bundt cake!
Great atmosphere and delicious food.
I have no complaints, other than it was
actually really hard to figure out where
I was supposed to go. I told them they
needed signage, so hopefully they take
my advice. 10/10 Glittering Gold Teeth
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (8968
La. 23, Belle Chasse) No problems
with signage at this one, as there’s a
giant blinking billboard right off the
highway proclaiming “LENTEN FISH
FRY FRIDAYS” which, yes indeed. The
offerings here are more diverse than
usual; in addition to fish, there’s also
shrimp, oysters, poboys, and combo
plates (I had the fish and shrimp). Also,
and this is important, you can either get
a side of french fries or white beans. I got
the white beans, of course, and what a
great decision. I have no idea what they
put in meatless white beans (other than
copious amounts of butter) that would
make them that delicious, but they were
amazing. They were also, sadly, the best
part of the meal. The fish servings were
tiny and underseasoned. The shrimp
was fine, in that way in which fried
shrimp is always fine. However, the
white beans were truly inspired, and I
feel like that alone was worth the cost.
They also have desserts for sale for $1
each. I had a really generous slice of
(obviously homemade) lemon pound
cake and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
I normally do my seafood gorging
alone, but for this one I brought a nonCatholic who’d never experienced the
Lenten church fish fry experience, and
she was thoroughly nonplussed. She
didn’t understand why we wouldn’t just
go to a regular restaurant, one which
would be guaranteed to have a standard
menu, some level of quality control, etc.
And I’m so glad she brought that up,
because it reminds me that perhaps I
should explain why I love fish fries even
though there’s certainly no dearth of
good seafood restaurants in this town.
There’s an inherent crapshoot aspect
to it all, which is what makes a fish fry
fun. There’s no telling what you’re going
to get, who will be there, and what the
food will actually be like. I’ve made a lot
of jokes here, but let’s be totally serious
for a moment: the food at these events is
being cooked by volunteers, grandmas
and grandpas, moms and dads, good old
fashioned home cooks who are making
these amazing spreads, and I appreciate
every one of them. So no matter how
snarky I may be coming off, please
remember that I really do love a fish fry.
I always have a good time, and I like that
my money is supporting local charities,
which could actually help real life
members of my community. Fish fries
rule. 7/10 White Beans
NOW LOCATED AT 4400 BANKS ST.
dine in // delivery // take out
504.483.8609 // midcitypizza.com
Guidance Counseling
this month: BIG FREEDIA
TWERKING AND JERKING
I just moved to a new city, and at age 25,
I’m having to get a driver’s license and
car for the first time. I know I should
have gone through this as a teen, but
I grew up with subways and cabs and
never thought I’d need to worry about a
car. My girlfriend has been very helpful,
letting me practice driving her car
around parking lots and backstreets, but
I’m a nervous wreck, and I’m beginning
to notice her patience wearing thin. I
don’t have the money or time for driving
school, but I really need to pass the
driving test ASAP. What’s the best way to
get over my street fright?
Put some Big Freedia music in the car,
turn the volume up, and roll all the
windows down. Trust me, your fear will
be gone.
My boyfriend and I have been together
for nearly six months. He is sweet and
sometimes overly romantic (which I find
charming), but I’ve recently found out
that his nickname for me is also what
he used to call his ex (it’s too specific to
say what, sorry!). I know he loves me
and that he has no interest in rekindling
things with her, but it really irks me that
I got a recycled term of endearment. I
honestly wouldn’t be so bothered if it
were a more generic “baby” or “sweetie”
or something. I haven’t brought this up
to my boyfriend yet because I’m worried
that I will seem petty and jealous, but
I’m really getting sick of hearing his ex’s
pet name. Am I being crazy, or do I have
the right to my own moniker?
Oh girl, everyone needs a nickname and
an original one. Find one you like and
tell him to use it from now on.
My son is a junior in high school, a
great student and all around good kid.
He’s also 16, which means I’ve learned
never to open his door without giving
him about 5 minutes’ notice. My wife
and I had “the talk” with him years
ago, and we like to think we’re sexually
progressive/enlightened. Last week,
my visiting father, a devout Catholic,
forgot to knock before entering the guest
bathroom, and walked in on my son
mid-sesh. This happened while I was
out, so my father lectured his mortified
grandson on sins of the flesh for over an
hour before I got home. I know his belief
system requires him to “save” my son
from his “sin,” and so he thinks he’s doing
the right thing, but this is taking a toll on
my son. Short of cutting my father’s visit
short, how can I get through to him that I
won’t tolerate what he’s doing to my son?
Oh that’s terrible to hear. Your father
needs a Twerk lesson from me. Release
your ass and your mind will follow. But
really, I think it’s OK for your father
to share his beliefs with his grandson,
whether you believe them or not. As a
parent, you can guide your child and let
him know a better way. It’s not gonna
do irreparable damage.
I was recently promoted to a
management position in my office, a role
which frequently requires speaking in
front of large groups. I’ve always been
very comfortable speaking in front of
small groups, so I assumed it would be
no big deal, but with the stress of a new
position and the pressure from upper
management to perform well, I’m having
a lot of trouble keeping my composure
when presenting at these large events.
Dry mouth, shaky voice, losing my place,
the whole nine yards. I’m worried that
my job will be in jeopardy if this keeps
up. What can I do to regain the comfort I
had before?
Oh I used to have terrible stage fright so
I feel for you. Slip on some Bounce and
get in front of the mirror and practice.
Is it a bad idea to be in a band with your
boyfriend/girlfriend/partner?
Yes very bad idea. When you have
issues it’ll mess with your creativity. I
used to bring my boyfriend on tour with
me as a dancer, but I don’t anymore.
photo by Joshua Brasted
A household name here at home for years, Queen Diva Big Freedia has been taking
audiences around the country by storm, grabbing their slightly-stunned hands
and dragging them onto the dance floor for a crash course in New Orleans bounce
culture. She has toured with popular indie outfits like Matt & Kim and The Postal
Service, as well as performed at festivals worldwide. She is the star of her own
reality show, Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, which kicked off its third season on
Fuse this past February, and she’s set to release a memoir in 2016. Big Freedia will
be performing as part of the BUKU Music + Art Project lineup this month. Take it
away, Queen Diva!
The Cost Of Living
by Andru Okun illustration Ben Passmore
First Impressions
I found a kitten underneath
an abandoned car who’s
more from New Orleans
than I’ll ever be, which I’m
fine with. He’s a full-grown
cat now and he stays at my
house. We’re growing up.
Like so many before and after
me—uninvited and clueless—I came
to New Orleans. My first visit was in
March, 2008. I rode around on a shitty
loaner bike, something of a rite of
passage for a particular type of new
arrival. I was on vacation, surveying
the damage. I left unable to imagine
living in a place as broken and chaotic
as the one I experienced then. I was
in awe, punch-drunk by a staggering
city that I innocently believed to exist
in an endless state of summer. While
it could’ve been the malt liquor in
the afternoon or the food poisoning
from Manchu, it’s more likely that my
fairly intense first impression of New
Orleans was mostly formed from my
own general sense of bewilderment in
a place that, at that time, felt outside
of any version of America I had ever
encountered before.
with us from the places we visit. In
some ways, that’s what they’re there
for: taking. We go somewhere, leave
with facile interpretations of what we
imagine life is like there, and carry
these one-dimensional ideas around
with us like souvenirs. The important
stipulation regarding these simple
narratives is that you’re not allowed
to keep them if you decide to stay. To
actively live in a place, especially one
you’re not from, means sacrificing
your surface understanding of it and
attempting to see the place for what it
truly is. In the case of New Orleans—a
steadily transforming city where some
things never change, where beauty is
as likely to fall apart as falling apart can
be beautiful—solid ground seems like
the greatest myth. To stay is to figure
out where to stand when everything is
forever shifting.
To be clear, that version of New Orleans
no longer exists. The city has changed
since then, as has my concept of it.
Perhaps the consequence of going
beyond a first impression is losing the
original feeling that impression evoked,
the unique sense of wonder dependent
upon a suspension of disbelief and an
unwary interpretation of truth.
By the time I transplanted myself
here—at the beginning of a summer
stained with oil, in which excessive
heat caused the roads to buckle;
a period in which when the paper
wasn’t delivering bad news it was
commemorating it, marking the five
year anniversary of the deluge—forces
were in motion and momentous shifts
were occurring, fundamentally altering
the composition of the city. The 30-
There are all these myths we can take
plus acres of barren space in the area
of Mid-City between Claiborne and
Rocheblave, an entire neighborhood
erased by eminent domain, was my
personal introduction to what progress
could look like in a city still more than
100,000 people shy of its pre-storm
population. I had a lot to learn.
Life progressed. I learned about
winter in Louisiana, how as the days
got shorter the clouds of cold breath
would appear heavier, floating in
poorly insulated bedrooms like faint
symbolism, each exhalation a reminder
that I didn’t know anything. I got a
job in a restaurant serving bad Italian
food to disgruntled French Quarter
tourists. I stayed in a house where
my foot went through the floor while
walking in the living room. The next
house was an improvement and I lived
there until the ceiling in my room caved
in. I then moved to a punk house with
a black cloud above it and a broken
refrigerator full of maggots. At various
points, some friends ended up in the
hospital, others in jail. I made friends I
considered irreplaceable and then they
left. Other friends were lost without
anyone having to move anywhere at
all. I took part in the destruction of
a serious relationship, developed an
understanding of how insecurity and
social anxiety can make it a struggle to
establish meaningful connections with
people. I ran away a few times, either
escaping my own troubles or immersing
myself in the problems of others, or
maybe both. I got my first full-time
job, learned how to tie a tie. I figured
out what an autoimmune disease was,
but not before getting to know what
long-term bouts of depression felt
like. I found a kitten underneath an
abandoned car who’s more from New
Orleans than I’ll ever be, which I’m fine
with. He’s a full-grown cat now and
he stays at my house. We’re growing
up. We have central air and heat and a
roommate who helps edit the writing,
although most of the appliances are in
some way broken and we can’t seem to
get rid of the cockroaches.
This is the first installment of a column
intent on exploring ideas around
the loose theme of life lived in New
Orleans. Its title, The Cost of Living,
is a phrase that serves to remind us
that being alive is expensive while
ultimately failing to account for the
abstract nature of what it’s trying to
define. Let this be an opportunity to
recognize that any estimation of life in
general is inherently flawed. I should
also say: if I had a “save the world”
complex I would’ve never shown up.
I never thought New Orleans needed
my help. I’ve taken way more than
I could ever give. In this way, I feel
a sort of debt to the city, a personal
accountability. I realize that this
is very much something that I’ve
constructed in my own head, but I don’t
imagine that the city is saying “pay me
back.” Rather, I think New Orleans
communicates in a more eloquent and
ethereal way, sometimes leaving me
to wonder if what it’s trying to express
isn’t simply: pay attention.
Hidden Louisiana
by Breonne dedecker
BAYOU ST. MALO
“If you didn’t want to be found, this
would definitely be the place to
go,” says the pilot of the small boat,
laughing. We turn around again. It’s
a bright and chilly Sunday morning.
I am surrounded on all sides by
narrow ribbons of water that slither
throughout the marshes of lower St.
Bernard parish. Winter has rendered
the marshgrass a pale gold, and the
wind rattles the dry stalks together.
The boat is captained by a friend:
he’s a native of Plaquemines parish,
and spends most of his days boating
through or flying above the lower
Mississippi delta around New Orleans.
But even with his knowledge of the ins
and outs of the meandering waterways
between the city and the Gulf, a
computer tablet running Googlemaps,
and a navigational chart bought at the
Hopedale marina, we’re a little lost.
We’re weaving northeast towards
Bayou St. Malo. In the late 1700s,
during Spanish rule, Bayou St. Malo
was the territory of the largest band
of escaped slaves in the region. They
were known as Maroons, a term derived
from the French word marronage,
which more or less means “to run
away.” The inhabitants of St. Malo lived
off of the land, hunting and fishing
in the marshes. They worked in the
cypress mills that spread like fractals
in the swamps. They built permanent
settlements along the southern shore
of Lake Borgne, and defended their
territory from incursions with weapons
stolen from the plantations they had
escaped. “Woe to the white who would
pass this boundary,” was purported to
be written next to an axe buried deep
into a cypress tree on the edge of their
autonomous zone.
The band of Maroons on the shores of
Lake Borgne were led by Jean St. Malo,
an enigmatic man whose presence
in history books is limited to a folk
song extolling a man who organized
revolution against the planters, and his
execution date.
The existence of a large band of
militant free Maroons, so close to New
Orleans and the plantations clinging
to the sides of the Mississippi River,
was dangerous to the ruling planters.
The Maroons exerted constant
pressure on the regime of slavery,
from pilfered animals and weapons
to the desertion of more slaves. The
Spanish government grew increasingly
desperate to capture the Maroons and
abolish the colonies, but the confusing
waterways and impenetrable swamps
surrounding the settlements made
it impossible for a regular military
campaign to be effective. Instead, they
mounted a counter-insurgency strategy
based on destroying the networks of
support the Maroons relied upon. The
movement of slaves was restricted,
and trade between slaves and other
communities was outlawed, choking off
supplies to the Maroon colonies. Slaves
were promised freedom if they could
provide information on where the
Maroon colonies were located. Laws
were passed holding all free people of
massive pelicans, roosting on the long
wall of rocks that act as a protective
wavebreak separating the chop of the
lake from the marshes, take offense at
our presence and flap into the sky. We
find a small spit of higher ground, and
are able to land the boat.
color responsible for the crimes of the
Maroons, creating tension between
communities that previously engaged
in commerce with one another. (For
a more detailed discussion of the
historical and political context of
the Maroons and the networks of
resistance they built in the swamps,
read M.G. Houzeau’s “Undermining
Slavery from the Cypress Swamps,”
available on the Raging Pelican website
at ragingpelican.com.)
not this high ground was once part
of the settlement, considering how
much the land has changed in 300
years. The cypress swamps are all
gone, either logged off or killed off
by saltwater intrusion. This stand
of trees is the only break in the
monotonous horizon of grass, the
last bit of solid land surrounded by
marsh. It is easy to imagine this place
as having always been uninhabited.
Unlike many of the other places I go,
there are no artifacts, no physical
things left behind that can help build
a narrative regarding what happened
here, who built it, or why it exists.
There is only the sun and the wind
and the water. But the desolation of
Bayou St. Malo is not found in the
loneliness of the marshes. It lies in
the fact that the Maroons were not
able to control their lives even on this
difficult to locate margin of the world.
The emptiness here is the absence of
their survival.
Although the government knew where
the settlements were by 1782, it took
nearly two years, and several attempts,
for a successful military raid to occur.
On June 14th, 1784, the Spanish
government captured 41 Maroons,
including Jean St. Malo. Four days later,
he was hanged in the public gallows of
New Orleans, in what is now Jackson
Square. His body was left to rot as a
warning to the enslaved.
We are approaching the end of the
bayou, and the mouth of Lake Borgne.
Fat nutria swim along the muddy banks
of the marsh, sliding up the banks and
disappearing into the grass. Dozens of
A beach of oyster shells and broken
bottles leads up to a copse of live oaks.
A downed tree reveals an intricate nest
of roots bleached white and smooth
by the sun and wind. Someone has
artfully placed numerous nutria skulls
amongst the tangled roots, which is
simultaneously beautiful and creepy.
We find a US geologic survey marker
from 1934 that has toppled over into
the brush that reads ST MALO.
It’s impossible to say whether or
Story lost deep in zef culture. It features
Marilyn Manson and his ex-wife Dita
Von Teese, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’
Flea flailing around Yolandi, a heavilyscarred Jack Black, and supermodel
Cara Delevingne shooting a squirt gun
filled with fake blood. Anyway, if you
see their show, you might not be able to
accurately explain what you’ve seen or
understand half of the words, but it will
be memorable. You will also certainly
see some sweet sweatsuits. (KR)
Empire of the Sun
I missed Empire of the Sun when they
came to the Civic in 2013 and I will
never forget the agony of the next
morning when I re-posted photos
from the show on social media. I
scrolled through dozens of Instagram
posts showing the outlandish set
bathed in neon lights, the eclectic
towering costumes, and the sweet
sounds of “Walking on a Dream.” The
most painful moment was watching
the crowd sing along to “We are the
MUSA
Self-described as a Brazilian/redneck
half breed DJ from the swamps of New
Orleans, Musa Alves (pictured above) is
notorious for her Saturday night dance
party, Obsession, which often pounds
its way into a Sunday morning service
of sin at The Saint. Since she started
DJing in 2008, Musa’s reputation as
an inexhaustible dance goddess has
carried her to festivals all over the
world including Pitchfork, Fashion
Week in New York and Paris, SXSW,
Mad Decent Mondays, All Tomorrow’s
Parties, and our very own Voodoo Fest.
She has also graced the dance floors
of clubs in Milan, London, Berlin, and
Barcelona. With a curriculum vitae as
strong as the one she has amassed since
her humble beginnings, it is a pleasure
beyond measure to have her DJing the
New Orleans dance party of 2015 at
BUKU. (AT)
People,” because a) the crowd’s singing
was horrible and b) it would have been
so much better if I was there. Even if
you actually made it to their show at
the Civic, it’s worth seeing them again.
Their aesthetic is somewhere between
superheroes and fantasy-world
conquerors, which pairs well with their
bright, synth-laden music, well-honed
after years of relentless touring. (KR)
BUKU 4 YOU
by Andrew Mullins III, Kate Russell, and Alex Taylor
photos JOSHUA BRASTED
Parrotheads and classic rockers stand down: this is not your AARP convention, ‘90s
glory days revival, camp-chair army jamstival. The BUKU Music + Art Project, now
in its fourth year, drops on New Orleans this month like a neon-lit, spraypainted
Godzilla, stomping and wamping its way up and down the Mississippi River. Housed
between Mardi Gras World, the Crescent City Connection, and the abandoned Market
Street Power Plants, BUKU brings the block party vibe to dystopia. Here are AG’s
picks for this year’s lineup.
FRIDAY 3/13
A$AP Rocky
A$AP Rocky’s catchy brand of laid
back party rap makes his a name iPod
dictators at house parties around
the world cannot scroll past. His
major hit, “Fucking Problems,” (from
debut album Long.Live.A$AP) is
ubiquitous. It’s in your friend’s car,
it’s on Q93, and it’s stuck in your
head. While A$AP originally moved
to New Jersey from Harlem, his
career has been influenced more by
the Houston school of rappers. He
has been championed by large forces
in the music industry like Drake and
Rhianna, but also commands respect
from the indie rock crowd, having
appeared in a Lana Del Rey video
and igniting a hype so out-of-control
that it almost burned down Brooklyn.
A grab-bag of rappers appeared on
Long.Live.A$AP, including Kendrick
Lamar, 2 Chainz, and Yelawolf. A$AP
Rocky may be everywhere, but he
promises to deliver an awesome
performance for those at BUKU
looking for a more traditional dance
party than the laser-focused intensity
of most electronica shows. (AM)
Die Antwoord
When you talk about Die Antwoord
(pictured above), things are bound to
get weird. They have said literally the
craziest shit ever in their interviews.
A personal favorite of mine is when a
reporter called them and Ninja told
the reporter how there was a German
Shepherd in their friend’s freezer
so they were just hanging out and
making a carpet out of the dog’s skin,
and, oh by the way, they’re vegetarian.
Meanwhile, the reporter’s ear was
desperately pressed to the phone while
he struggled to make sense of Ninja’s
incomprehensible ranting, so the poor
guy didn’t even comprehend what was
said until he could play the tape later.
Die Antwoord’s Ninja and Yolandi are
known for their distinctive zef identity,
oddball music videos, and IDGAF
attitude. Enough time has passed since
their whirlwind introduction in 2010,
when the two South African rappers
were snapped up by Interscope Records
and toured the festival circuit, that
they are now widely recognized as
legitimately entertaining headliners.
They’ve released two albums on
their own record label (their brief
romance with Interscope didn’t last
long), including 2014’s Donker Mag.
The highlight of the album wasn’t
actually any of the tracks but instead
their insane music video for “Ugly
Boy,” which is like a Who’s Who of
Hollywood-meets-American Horror
Pell
New Orleans native Pell returns to
the Crescent City on the Ballroom
stage at BUKU. The 21 year-old MC
lived in New Orleans until Hurricane
Katrina forced his family to move to
Starkville, Mississippi. In interviews,
Pell discusses how the move kickstarted
his music career. He began listening
to contemporary artists like Kanye
West and John Legend and coupled
those influences with more established
subgenres of Southern hip-hop, like
Empire of the Sun
crunk and bounce. These combinations
influenced the young artist to write an
album that’s both true to his Southern
roots and conceptually progressive.
Pell released Floating While Dreaming
in 2014 with production by Danish
electronica producers Tomas Barfod
and Jeppe Kjellberg. In an interview
with Complex, Pell referred to his
music as “futuristic soul” and that
description is apt. The production
is more ambient than most hip-hop
records. Not content to simply rap,
he sings and invites other crooners to
settle the lyrics and choruses back into
the cut. His sound is laid back without
being laconic or boring, like many
contemporary rappers. The songs are
more introspective and intelligent than
your typical late-night, bang-it-out club
hits. (AM)
Gramatik
Gramatik was on BUKU’s first lineup
and I can’t wait to welcome him back.
His samples are well-chosen and
woven into gently pumping beats,
which makes sense when you find out
that his mother found him rocking out
to his sister’s vintage cassette tapes at
only three years old. He incorporates
live instrumentation into his shows, so
it’s not just watching one guy fiddling
around behind a deck. Gramatik
recently outgrew the Pretty Lights
label, where he’d been Derek Vincent’s
first pick, and formed his own label,
Lowtemp, which released 2014’s Age
of Reason. Even more appealing,
Gramatik backed up his beliefs about
keeping the internet as free as possible
by releasing the funky and diverse
album as a BitTorrent bundle. His set
in the Float Den will be packed and
lively. (KR)
Run The Jewels
It was meant to be a one-off
collaboration. Underground darling
MC El-P paired with Atlanta rapper
Killer Mike to produce Mike’s 2012
album R.A.P. Music. The futuristic
sound of the music melded well
with Mike’s breakneck rhymes and
politically scathing lyrics. The album
stunned critics and fans. Riding the
wave of success and their status as
underground emperors, El-P and
Killer Mike made their partnership
official by forming Run the Jewels and
have released two eponymous albums
produced by El-P, with both sharing
duties on the mic plus a litany of
guests. El-P and Killer Mike manage to
straddle a line between party-rap and
conscious hip-hop without becoming
simplistic or preachy. The production
is layered and complex, but wacky
and fast in a way that’s almost out
of control. The two MCs eviscerate
both abstract politicians and very real
cops, and even a couple of whack MC’s
mothers. This isn’t the self-serving
egotism of Jay-Z or Kanye West, who
claim to transgress racial and class
boundaries due to their universal pop
appeal and personal wealth. Killer
Mike and El-P straight up disabuse any
utopian ideal of pop music, describing
the daily transgressions each of them
deals with because of class and race.
Run the Jewels do not deal with
bullshit. The albums are cynical and
in-your-face, but also just a shitload of
fun. The duo established a reputation
on the festival scene early into their
time performing together. High energy
hip-hop with breakneck beats and
funky production will blow up the
Ballroom stage at BUKU. It will be
one of the more exciting and intense
performances of the weekend. El-P and
Killer Mike know no other way. (AM)
Portugal. The Man
(pictured above) The sticky-sweet vocals
and pretty piano pieces characteristic
of Alaskan indie-rock favorite Portugal.
The Man seem, at first glance, an unusual
choice for the BUKU masses who have
come to dance, but The Man has friends
in rhythmic places. The lifeblood of
their last album, Evil Friends, pounds to
the heartbeats of the illustrious Danger
Mouse, and most recently the band has
been getting cozy in the studio with none
other than Mike D of Beastie Boys infamy.
The band’s new heartthrob has promised
to push them even further, “make it bump
more, trap that shit out.” If the Mike D
remix of “Modern Jesus” is any indication
of what to expect from their upcoming set,
the juxtaposition of D’s pumped-up drums
mingled with lead singer John Gourley’s
distinctive castrato is about as close to sex
as music can get. (AT)
Boosie BadAZZ
The prolific rapper, formerly known
as Lil Boosie, has been a fixture in
Southern hip-hop since his teens,
collaborating early on with UGK’s Pimp
C and Webbie. His lengthy discography
even includes albums while
imprisoned, although those were made
mostly with old work. In recent years,
he’s received more attention for his
court drama, subsequent incarceration,
and the viral Free Boosie campaign, but
he’s out and returning to the spotlight
as Boosie BadAzz. (KR)
SATURDAY 3/14
Raury
Raury is an 18 year-old MC-crooner
from Atlanta who is a promising young
prospect in the underground hip-hop
scene. He evades easy classification.
Critics and fans are equally perplexed
and excited by his music. His songs
are all over the place musically, and
eclectic in a creative way that is loose
and genuinely surprising, gliding
between soulful R&B and strong
Afrobeat electronica. Until 2014, most
of Raury’s music appeared in singles
and he had one song on the Mockingjay
movie soundtrack. Columbia records
signed him to a deal and artists like
Kanye West are trying to recruit him
for various tours and projects. More
importantly, the buzz surrounding
his mixtape (Indigo Child) and live
performances is starting to catch in the
underground scene. “God’s Whisper”
and “Superfly” are great examples of
how Raury can make a tune stick to the
bones when he hones in on a hook and a
beat. (AM)
Passion Pit
(pictured above) Passion Pit’s BUKU
performance is their first set of a
spring 2015 tour and their new album,
Kindred, is set to release in April, so
BUKU crowds should be in for a first
glimpse of their new work. Passion Pit,
whose first album, Chunks of Change,
was written as a belated Valentine’s
gift for lead singer and songwriter
Angelakos’s girlfriend, is known for
their upbeat rhythms that somehow
evoke nostalgia even when you’ve
never heard them before. Their music
has remained remarkably consistent
throughout the years, though many
critics say Gossamer didn’t pack the
same punch as “Sleepyhead,” “Moth’s
Wings,” and some of the other tracks
from their first albums (although two of
the tracks—“Constant Conversations”
and the catchy “Take A Walk—are
pretty memorable). To check out the
first tracks of their new album Kindred,
you can head to their new website
kindredthealbum.com or perhaps you’ll
be treated to them live at BUKU. (KR)
TV On The Radio
The winds of change have tried to rock
this band loose from its moorings over
the past decade. They’ve moved from
the East coast to the West, changed
record labels, and lost one of their
key bandmates, bassist Gerard Smith,
to the great gig in the sky. Despite
all this, their sound has remained
decidedly consistent. Seeds, released
in November of 2014, is more polished
than their earlier recordings but still
pulses with the same powerful rhythms
that set them on their course to indierock stardom so many years ago.
Lyrically, the optimism of tracks like
“Golden Age” from the 2008 release
Dear Science has given way to a darker
worldview. Their latest single “Happy
Idiot” ends with the lines “I’m gonna
bang my head to the wall/‘til I feel
nothing at all/I’m a happy idiot.” These
are the lyrics of a band that has faced
loss in the ensuing years, and I have a
feeling that their specific, individual
pain speaks to a sentiment shared by
the desperate youth and bloodthirsty
babes of America as a whole. The
golden age we promised ourselves
is merely more of the same ol’ same
ol’. Yet, they beat on. With anthemic
tracks designed for a live audience, the
hope is that their show at BUKU will
be as formidable emotionally as it is
viscerally, so long as you’re prepared to
wax nostalgic with tracks from a more
innocent past, and then dance your way
to oblivion with the refrain “ignorance
is bliss.” (AT)
The BUKU Music + Art Project takes
place March 13th and 14th. For more
info, check out thebukuproject.com
Catharsis at Gasa Gasa by Adrienne Battistella
Doomtree at One Eyed Jack’s (photo by Sean Ambrose)
Zola Jesus at Republic (photo by Joshua Brasted)
much as descendants of that legacy
of Negro spirituals and other cultural
expressions of Black folklore and
slave narratives; and simultaneously,
products of contemporary Black
performance aesthetics (hip-hop,
spoken word, R&B, the blues, etc).
My work aims to continue the legacy
of performance traditions that were
necessitated to communicate the
urgency of survival, identity, autonomy,
and humanity. Technically, my plays
are musicals, but that doesn’t capture
their soul. Meaning, there is song,
but it’s not about singing. There’s
movement, but it’s not about dance.
There are characters, but it’s not about
acting. There is story, but it’s not about
crafting a linear play. The dream is to
explore the most compelling, honest,
unflinching ways of approaching
questions of humanity, inclusive
of race, class, gender, and spiritual
identity—in the service of unity
through diversity, cross-community
healing, and understanding.
UP IN FLAMES
Exploring life’s final moments with The Burnin’
by Rachel Lee photo Melisa Cardona
Our audiences have been raw and
ready to lean into the conversations
that the play instigates
On April 23, 1940, the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi burned to the ground.
209 people were killed and many more were injured. Almost all of the victims were
Black, and many were buried in a mass grave. It was the fourth deadliest fire in a
place of assembly in the history of the United States. 63 years later, on February 17,
2003, 23 people were killed and at least 50 injured when panic ensued after guards
used pepper spray to break up a fight at the E2 nightclub in Chicago. Again, most of
the patrons were Black.
Cristal Truscott, founding artistic director of Progress Theatre, felt a resonance
across space and time between these two tragedies and followed that thread to write
and direct a searing a’capella musical that follows both stories. I had the opportunity
to experience a preview of this play, The Burnin’, last summer, and I have not been
able to get it out of my head ever since. With a hard-hitting script, talented cast,
and timely subject matter, The Burnin’ is one of the best new works I saw in 2014.
Junebug Productions—known for producing socially relevant works by some of
the best artists of color in New Orleans and around the country—is hosting three
performances of The Burnin’ this month at the Contemporary Arts Center. Truscott
was kind enough to answer a few questions about the show.
How did you find the two stories
that The Burnin’ is based on?
Cristal Truscott: In 2003, my brother
sent me a link to a front page article
in the Chicago Sun Times about the
E2 club tragedy. The article showed
pictures of each of the people who
had died with a short sentence or two
about their lives. Although this article
was meant to be a tribute, the short
snippets of those interrupted lives
made me want to explore or imagine
all of the complexities of a life—
particularly a young life—and a person’s
identity, dreams, and potential beyond
the headline of being a victim of the
tragedy. I wrote a play called MEMBUH
(as in “Remember”) inspired, in part,
by this notion of the fullness of who
the victims might have been in their
everyday lives, beyond their identity as
mere clubgoers. I knew then that I also
wanted to write another play, a second
play about those final moments in the
midst of tragedy, exploring the notion
of the clarity or hyper-awareness
that comes in that space when one’s
life “flashes before one’s eyes,” or of
life being cut short right at the cusp
of moving closer to your dreams and
who you were/are meant to become.
A few years later, I was in Natchez
doing research for my dissertation
and learned about the 1940 Rhythm
Night Club fire. The circumstances of
both events: overcrowding, blocked
entrances and exits, and limited
public and social space for the
African American community in both
locales (along with the trans-history
connections between Mississippi and
Chicago via the Great Migration) made
it clear to me that The Burnin’ would be
that next play.
What kind of research did you do to
develop the world of the play?
As an academic, my inclination was
to research all that I could about both
events. At the same time, as an artist,
I felt the lives of those who died were
so precious, I wanted to respect that.
I knew that my goal was not to stage
a retelling of the event or a biography
of actual victims’ lives. So the result
is a play that is inspired by the events
rather than based on them for accuracy.
Through fictionalized locales, The
Burnin’ follows a group of clubgoers
in 1940 and their counterparts
in the contemporary club scene
as a framework to explore social,
political, and cultural questions and
complexities through the intersections
of race, gender, and community during
times of trauma and survival.
What performance traditions
influenced the style of the play?
Why write an a’capella musical?
I call my plays neo-spirituals—or
a’capella musicals—crafting them
consciously, methodologically, and
specifically through the lens of African
American performance traditions. Neospirituals are descendants of Negro
spirituals, which were a’capella at first
by necessity, [since] drums [were]
forbidden to enslaved Africans in
America. It is a testament to those who
survived that the absence of the drum—
though intended to be a limitation, a
restriction, and an oppression—gave
birth to this genre of music so rich with
not only rhythm (because the “drums”
are still there in the voices) but also full
with agency, resistance, celebration,
survival, and cultural aesthetic and
nuance. I see neo-spirituals very
How has the production intersected
with the Black Lives Matter
movement? Have current events
shaped audience responses?
The play is a tribute to Black life. It is
a eulogy for dreams deferred by death,
injustice, systemic oppression, and
circumstance. The work was entering
its final stages of development as the
Black Lives Matter movement was
finding its voice and so the intersection
is inevitable, invaluable, and meant to
be. The Black Lives Matter movement
now has a name, but artists, community
workers, advocates, victims’ families,
and activists have been doing the work
of that movement for years. So it’s a
blessing to join in solidarity with this
demand for the value of our lives, our
communities, our dreams, and our
potential. Our audiences have been raw
and ready to lean into the conversations
that the play instigates. We’ve received
so much gratitude and support from
audiences who see the piece as another
opportunity to move dialogue forward,
to move action forward, to continue the
larger work of equality and freedom.
What are you looking forward to most
about performing in New Orleans?
Oh, so much! We are looking forward
to sharing and engaging with
communities, artists, and others who
are doing the work and to those who are
new to these conversations and looking
for somewhere to start. New Orleans is
such an archive of culture, landscape,
and cross-pollinations. We are looking
forward to just learning from New
Orleans and from all the people we
meet there!
The Burnin’ will be performed at the
Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp
Street) on March 12, 13, and 14. Tickets
will be available on cacno.org. Doors
open at 6:30pm, with the performance
starting at 7:00pm.
sharing eyeliner and Garbage B-sides with
Marissa Paternoster of
by DEREK photos ADRIENNE BATTISTELLA
I'm happy and grateful that
there are kids still willing to
make their personal living
spaces public for punk shows
Maybe it was Kathleen Hanna who once said the best way to express appreciation
for a band is to give them something you’ve made. You know, the rule of reciprocity.
Seeing Screaming Females for the first time didn’t inspire me to run out and start
writing furious psychedelic guitar solos. But I did write a column about the show,
which I then cut out and passed to their bassist Mike the next time I saw them,
at a show at the Zeitgeist. As soon as the paper left my hands an awkward self
consciousness crept over me, and this was compounded by the fact that my tone can
at times be ambiguous and cause for misunderstanding. Throughout the night I
wondered if anything I’d written about Screaming Females could be construed as
insulting. Then Hilary arranged to have them stay over at Nowe, and instead of
detouring us through Central City, I led them straight into the throes of post-Saintsgame debauchery. God, now they’re really gonna hate me, I thought, after 20 minutes
sitting still in the warehouse district. The story ends, anticlimactically, with us
making it to my house half an hour later, followed by a brief tour of the building and
the band going to sleep.
Skip to several months later. Screaming Females were playing the upstairs of the
House of Blues with Vox and the Hound. Screaming Females’ drummer Jarrett
would later recount walking up to find me “chilling backstage eating red beans and
rice.” And I’ll neither confirm nor deny this allegation. What I will say is, this was
a great show. Up to that point, I’d sorta gotten the vibe that Marissa, the vocalist/
guitar-sorceress portion of the band, was a little stand-offish. Not unfriendly, but not
particularly loquacious either. Her persona had become shrouded in mystery—the
performer who paradoxically sheds her meek, quiet exterior in an explosion of
emotion once the show begins. This aura quickly dissipated, however, once she came
and sat down at my little table. We’d exchanged only a few words up to this point, so
I was pleasantly surprised to find us launching right in, obliterating any need for the
usual ice-breakers. I don’t know how we got on the subject, but there we were, having
an “OMG me too!” moment over our shared love of the ‘90s band Garbage. Little did I
know they would eventually go on to share the stage with this legendary band!
Since their HOB show, I’ve been lucky enough to catch Screaming Females more
times than I can count on one hand (not on their tour with Garbage, sadly). And even
though they never got to play Nowe Miasto as planned (they cancelled that leg of tour
due to Marissa getting mono), and even though I know they are only placating me
every time I ask to go on tour with them, and the closest I may ever come to this dream
is that ride home they gave me after the show in San Francisco, Screaming Females
remains one of the few contemporary punk bands that I pay attention to.
Tell me about the formation of, and
the scene that nurtured, Screaming
Females. What were the first shows
like that you played?
Marissa Paternoster: We began playing
in 2005 in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
New Brunswick is a college town but
there isn’t much going on there in
terms of the arts. Our first shows were
all basement shows, thrown in people’s
houses. That’s how we built the network
of friends that we still stay in contact
with to this day: throwing shows for
touring bands in our hometown and
then they’d pay it forward when we
came through their home town.
How much of this scene remains
intact? Even though you’ve relocated to Philadelphia, and you
have a huge number of people who
love you all over the world, does that
collection of people from the early
days still feel like the support base
for Screaming Females?
From what I’ve seen over the years,
the New Brunswick scene ebbs and
flows with the entry and exit of Rutgers
students. So the punk houses come and
go, and sometimes the scene is more
inactive than it has been in the past, but
it has never ceased to exist. I still visit
New Brunswick fairly often and set up
shows there once in a while. It can be
poisonous to hold on to the past too
preciously, so I embrace the new faces.
I’m happy and grateful that there are
kids still willing to make their personal
living spaces public for punk shows.
internet, really, but it seems like things
moved at a more pleasant pace. I’m
sure it’s all relative, but it’d be nice to
have days in which we didn’t have to
confront our virtual visages via iPhone
or computer or whatever. I think that if
we existed pre-internet era we’d have a
really dope snail-mail fan club, à la the
Misfits Fiend Club. That is my dream.
Let’s talk a little about the notion
of “DIY.” I know you guys have
a booking agent. And you’re on
a label that releases/distributes
your records. And you toured with
Garbage. Have any of the decisions
you’ve had to make, as you’ve gained
popularity as a band, ever been
difficult to reconcile? Are there
ever misgivings, any vague feelings
of compromise?
Whenever we have to make big
decisions on behalf of our band, we
try to reach consensus and we take
it very seriously. I think that we
always maintain to keep in mind that
our number one priority is to make
engaging music, put on good shows,
and keep ourselves physically and
mentally fit. We are but three humans
and there certainly came a point where
the workload was too much. However,
we are still deeply involved in all facets
of Screaming Females and intend to do
just that until the end. I am sure there
have been times when relinquishing
some of our control was difficult, but
we only make decisions with the best
intentions for our band, and if any
purists want to poo-poo it that’s their
prerogative and it’s okay by me.
I guess I want to ask a sort of
highfalutin question. How do
you define “success?” Have the
benchmarks for success changed
since you first began in 2005?
Is there an acknowledgement of
those benchmarks now in 2015 and
perhaps the years to come?
I get to play music for a living and I
consider that a success!
Something I’ve heard our friends
in Thou talk about, and has made
me consider for other bands, is
this idea of prioritizing releasing
records—the body of work being
the primary project, rather than
touring. Like Thou, you seem to
have a very consistent stylized
aesthetic for all your releases;
it’s something you’re obviously
intentional about. I’m curious:
Where does Screaming Females
stand, generally, on its agenda as a
musical project? Has there been an
emphasis on writing songs for the
purpose of performing them, or do
you tend to think of the live shows
as a kind of rawer showcasing of
the songs whose purer incarnations
exist on the record?
I mean, with the exception of some
of the songs on our EP “Chalk Tape”
that we put out last year, nearly every
Screaming Females song can be played
live if we wished. We don’t typically
write things that cannot be performed
at a show. We don’t have any concrete
agenda when it comes to songwriting
besides to write good songs! That’s our
main concern, I guess.
On this tip, just this week I saw
that you’re the cover story for Spin
magazine. How’d that go? Have you
begun to sense any kind of ripple
effect, the stirrings of a “new era”
for Screaming Females, in the wake
of this kind of exposure? Or does it
feel like par for the course at this
point?
It went fine. I’m not sure if I feel any
kind of new beginning peaking over the
horizon. Maybe I’m too much in my
own head.
Have you felt some awkwardness
or discomfort with any attention
paid you by mainstream press—how
you’re portrayed, etc.?
Sure, often times I cringe when quotes
get mangled or are taken out of context.
But if I got bent out of shape every time
that happened I’d be a hot mess. I don’t
play music to prove my self-worth to
other people. I do it because I enjoy it
and it makes me feel fulfilled. I try not
to take myself too seriously.
Can we back up a minute and talk
a little about Garbage? I know
that was some years ago now, but I
remember at your House of Blues
show in New Orleans just totally
gushing with you about how much
we both love Garbage—and you kind
of leaned in and whispered that
you’d traded a couple emails with
Shirley Manson. Needless to say, I
was still floored when I heard a few
months later that you guys were
sharing bills with them! How was
Photo by Eric Martinez
that experience?
Haha, yes! Derek! It was awesome.
Garbage was my very first favorite band
when I was just beginning to listen to
rock’n’roll. I was very sick with mono
on our tour with Garbage, but it really
was a wonderful trip and all of the band
and crew were very gracious and kind
to my band. I still value our friendship.
Also, if you want, I can burn you a copy
of my Garbage B-sides collection I
burned off of Napster in 2001.
Hell yeah! You’ll have to pardon
my next question; I’ve been on a
steady diet of Wired magazine the
past week. How do you feel the
pervasiveness of the internet has
affected your band? I was thinking
about how 20 years ago, the path for
an indie band to attain any degree
of prominence was restricted by
all these gatekeepers—the music
industry executives, the echelons
of radio and MTV. Now there’s
YouTube and these concepts
like “crowdfunding.” Of course,
any deserved recognition you’ve
received is no doubt on account of
your musical virtuosity and tireless
touring—which in many ways is a
timeless element of being any kind
of artist. But I’m wondering: How do
you think your situation would be
different if Screaming Females were
playing in the pre-internet era?
Dealing with the constant influx of
media, or content, or information—or
whatever you want to call it—is hard.
It’s like a fly buzzing around your head
at a family picnic. It’s constant, it’s all
consuming, and it’s hard to ignore.
Sometimes it’s your job not to ignore it,
and it’s hard to prioritize what things
merit your attention and what things
do not. I never knew a world without
I asked you about this once, but I’d
like to hear the answer again. Every
time I’ve seen y’all play, you’ve
donned your ceremonial garb:
literally a dress for you, Marissa,
and for Jarrett, the large bead
necklace. What is the significance of
this ritual?
Superhero outfits! They are magical
talismans.
What’s next for Screaming Females?
And when are you going to let this
little beast work his magic behind
your merch table?
Only if you hang out with me in the
ladies room while we put on eyeliner
together!
Screaming Females play Gasa Gasa/
Sisters in Christ on March 15th (in support
of their new album, Rose Mountain out on
Don Giovanni), with Downtown Boys and
HiGH opening. For more info, check out
screamingfemales.com
photo by Adrienne Battistella
UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK
Activism On (and Off) The Streets with the Black Youth Project 100
by Jules Bentley
Activism is something that's been
romanticized—again by the media—
where if you don't have a bullhorn,
if you're not out in the street, you
aren't doing it. There are people
who cannot afford to be out there
in the streets, but there is something
realistic within their means and
their livelihoods that they can do
to support the movement.
The pattern of American police murdering people of color, an everyday reality for
some communities, came to the rest of the world’s attention in 2014. The ongoing
governmental failure to prosecute some higher-profile cases triggered introspection,
protests, and large-scale uprisings in many American cities.
New Orleans has its own martyrs, and its own roll call: Jenard Thomas, Raymond
Robair, Henry Glover, Danny Brumfield, Ronald Madison, James Brisette, Adolph
Grimes III, Dawonne Matthews, Wendell Allen, Justin Sipp... those are just a few
of the names of Black New Orleanians murdered by NOPD within the last decade.
If you go back a little further, you find many more. You find the Hot 8 Brass Band’s
trombone player, “Shotgun” Joe Williams. You find Adolph Archie, beaten to death
inside the NOPD First District Station, and you find Kim Marie Groves, assassinated
by a NOPD-hired hit man for having reported police brutality. At present, there are
only two NOPD officers on death row for having killed civilians (Antoinette Frank
and Len Davis); the vast majority of our police who murder walk free.
In cases where people of color are murdered by someone besides NOPD, the police and
an increasingly complacent, incurious press must satisfy themselves with abusing the
corpse, mounting a posthumous assault on the murder victim’s reputation. Mirroring
a trend seen elsewhere, NOPD had a longstanding practice of responding to the
murder of Black folks by trumpeting the victims’ arrest records, implying they had it
coming. After the February murder of 21-year-old Penny Proud, the fifth trans woman
of color to be killed nationally in the span of a month, NOPD and local corporateowned news sneeringly misgendered her, disrespecting her identity and suggesting
that Ms. Proud was a sex worker who thus somehow courted her own brutal death.
Is there any hope for a future different from this past and present? Several things
distinguished New Orleans’ “Black Lives Matter” protests from our city’s usual
sign-wavings, including that much of the visible leadership was young Black women,
part of what may be an emergent new generation of civil rights organizers with a
radically different analysis and approach. I sat down to talk to three of them: Toya
Lovevolution Ex, Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa, and Christine “Cfreedom” Brown,
all members of the New Orleans chapter of BYP100, a new organization aiming to
mobilize communities of color beyond electoral politics.
Can you explain how BYP100
started, and how y’all came together
as a chapter?
Cfreedom: The founder of the Black
Youth Project, Cathy Cohen, called
for 100 young Black activists between
the ages of 18 and 35 across the
country to meet, just to get us in the
room together. It just so happened
the Trayvon Martin verdict was
released the same weekend that we
met each other. So we got together
off the momentum of all these things
happening nationally. There were three
New Orleans members of BYP100:
Dee-1, who’s a rapper, got signed;
Nicole Tinson graduated from Dillard
and went to Yale; so that left just me.
Knowing that New Orleans had a lot
of powerful activists, I felt it necessary
to make sure we had a chapter
representing in the South. I had to pull
some more people together.
FreeQuency: I think each of us who are
in this room, and a lot of the faces that
you’re talking about seeing recently,
those young women of color, are all
people who do this work outside of
this moment that we’re in nationally.
When Cfreedom called us all together,
about a dozen of us came to that first
meeting. The Black Youth Project is all
Black people, so it was all Black folks.
Three founding members of the New
Orleans chapter are men, but the rest
of us are women. A good number of us
are queer women. That’s something
that attracted me personally. You
hear about how the Black woman is
the pillar of the Black community and
support and all this, but you don’t
necessarily see Black women in the
forefront or the leadership—but before
the BYP100, the Black Youth Project
was a research body, started by a Black
queer woman. And when she expanded
it out, when BYP100 was formed, they
were intentionally formed under a
photo courtesy of Cfreedom Photography
There have been so many Black
New Orleanians murdered by
police. When I saw these rallies for
Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown,
I couldn’t help but think: why
hasn’t New Orleans been able to
sustain this kind of mass outrage
or consciousness over the killing of
Black people by NOPD?
Cfreedom: We have so much violence
in New Orleans, I think many times
it happens and then gets swept under
the rug—on to the next person and the
next time it happens. I think because
there’s this new national and even
international awareness, we’re able to
have greater momentum.
Toya: I think to add to that—it’s just in
the past two years smartphones have
been in the hands of more people, and
more people have been able to catch
things and immediately post things.
That’s playing a part. People finding
it online and picking it up, making it
harder to ignore.
Cfreedom: Local awareness already
existed with the Wendell Allen case,
the Justin Sipp case, and countless
others like Adolph Grimes III and the
killings during Katrina, way before
BYP was even thought of. But when
the case in Ferguson happened, we had
the opportunity to hold a magnifying
glass on this. Currently, we’re trying to
magnify some more recent situations
that have happened down South—like
Victor White, where they’re saying he
“Houdini-d” himself, shot himself while
his hands were cuffed behind his back.
FreeQuency: I just interviewed his
dad the other day, for TheGrio[.com]—
it was basically just a discussion me
and him had about why his son’s case
hasn’t received so much attention. We
talked extensively about how being
in the South had a lot to do with it.
Toya and Cfreedom are from New
Orleans. I’m from Kenya, the global
South, but my roots in organizing
were in the North, and it becomes
clear as you’re organizing in the U.S.
South that there’s a real disconnect
between what happens in the South
and national organizing.
I thought New Orleanians taking
and holding the lobby of the 8th
District NOPD station in August,
after the murder of Mike Brown,
was extremely newsworthy—
possibly unprecedented—and there
was zero news-media coverage of it.
But it got livestreamed, and images
queer Black feminist framework... So
Cfreedom had called us and we were
meeting, and there became a need for
an organizing body that had all the
different elements of resistance but
also community healing, so we just
kind of stepped into that place and
were accepted by the community. We
weren’t actually ready for the level of
acceptance we received... especially
from the elders in the community who
were like alright, well, here’s a load off
our shoulders.
Cfreedom: I think that’s important—
Toya held a meeting here with some
elders, organizers in the community,
and they really have been waiting to
pass it forward.
and discussion of it went all over
Tumblr and Instagram. It made me
wonder if my mindset of “Where’s
the media? Why isn’t the media
covering this?” might be outdated.
Cfreedom: I’m a photographer, so I’m
definitely gonna be my own media,
wherever I go. It depends on what
you’re doing. Sometimes you want the
news media there, but the media will
put it out the way they want to.
FreeQuency: And that’s if the media
comes out. Which goes back to your
earlier point, Toya, about social media
and being able to create our own
narrative—we can do that for ourselves,
if people aren’t willing to cover it.
The big media pick and choose—they
highlight certain things.
Toya: They leave out women.
FreeQuency: Yeah. Those four killings
of mostly young Black men that made
nationally televised news happened
between July and August, in a onemonth timespan. The month before,
four trans women of color across
the country had been murdered, but
nobody said anything about it. So when
we’re talking about organizing on
behalf of all Black lives, we’re saying
that the deaths of those four women
of color who were trans should have
sparked as much national outrage as
those four Black men who were killed.
Operating in New Orleans with this
intersectional, queer, and feminist
politic, have you encountered a
photo by Peter Nakhid
generational disconnect?
Toya: Man, we had a really deep
conversation last night—I’m not
going to share too much of it, but we
talked about this, and there was an
elder in the room who really had to
get schooled by a young female about
how the patriarchal society we live
in actually hurts the movement. The
movement won’t get nowhere with
y’all thinking that if Black women
are saying, “women need equal
rights,” that we’re just picking up
some white women’s movement. Last
night people were dropping history
knowledge, how tribes native to this
land thrived off a matriarchal society,
and many African tribes—
FreeQuency: All these African tribes
y’all wanna be throwing back to—oh, my
Kings, my Queens—do y’all realize a lot
of these tribes had zero problem with
homosexuality and women-centered
leadership? Yeah, that disconnect is
something I personally have run into in
New Orleans, especially with organizers
who come from a religious background,
which is very big in the Black
organizing community—historically the
Black church has played a really, really
big role in the movement. Personally, I
think it’s about valuing yourself and all
your identities, all your manifestations
of Blackness, and demanding that
other people do that as well. And being
upfront and honest about it and asking
people, “Hey, when you say Black,
exactly what do you mean? How do you
feel about these queer Black people, or
those ‘thugs’”—because it’s not just a
problem of homosexuality. There’s a lot
of respectability politics in general in
the Black community, a lot of poverty
shaming, a lot of slut shaming. It just
naturally happens because the Black
community has for so long been in a
struggle for survival, and for so long had
to choose the “best” representative in
order to shine for us. Claudette Colvin,
a 15-year-old Black teenager, refused
to move to the back of the Montgomery
bus before Rosa Parks, but then she got
pregnant a few months later and the
movement said, “We can’t use you—
because you are a young Black woman
who’s pregnant, you cannot be the face
of this movement.”
Both nationally and locally, with
actions like the die-ins at malls and
the Black Friday boycotts, there’s
been a larger economic focus to
this movement, an analysis that
connects the patterns of state
violence and police murder with
the larger apparatus of economic
oppression. That economic angle
seemed new to me.
Cfreedom: It’s new? When you think
about the bus boycotts, how much
power those had... Now, we know how
much money Black people spend a
year, and how we are constantly giving
all our money to the people funding
our oppression. We see that if you
have enough money, you’re protected.
We’re not protected. We need to
withdraw our money and put it back
in our community, so we can protect
ourselves. I talk to kids in school, to
tell them to think about working and
creating businesses and working with
I'm definitely
gonna be my
own media,
wherever I go
each other versus trying to go work for
somebody else.
Toya: Economics would be the
immediate campaign, because we’re
still dealing with a police system that
has come from slavery, to keep the
poor in line, to keep slaves in line, and
protect the property of the rich. Police
do the same thing, to this day. But our
overall campaign would be to shift what
police do: actually protect and serve us.
Don’t just paint it on the cars, actually
do it.
But when you look at NOPD,
for instance, do you think that
policing as an institution can even
be reformed? Is that possible,
given the principles this country
operates on?
Toya: Oh—that word, reform...
FreeQuency: Reform is a weird word.
Transform I think is the real thing.
What Toya is saying is true—when we’re
talking about the police and say, “the
system is broken,” the system is not
broken. The system is working just fine,
the way it has been working, the way it
is designed to work. When we’re talking
about how we move beyond it, we have
to move outside of it.
It’s a pretty huge undertaking.
How do you not feel overwhelmed
by it all?
Cfreedom: Strategy.
Toya: Unity. Strategy and Unity.
FreeQuency: And self care. Self care and
self love is so real in movement building.
Cfreedom: We just keep passing it on,
and connect with other people who do
other things. I’m a documentarian and
photographer so I gotta hold that part
up—we take the different tools we’re
blessed with and come together.
FreeQuency: I’m tired of this notion
that an activist is a certain type of
person. Activism is something that’s
been romanticized—again by the
media—where if you don’t have a
bullhorn, if you’re not out in the street,
you aren’t doing it. There are people
who cannot afford to be out there in
the streets, but there is something
realistic within their means and their
livelihoods that they can do to support
the movement. I’m always telling
people: look within your life. Whether
it’s something small, like you’re only
gonna support Black-owned businesses,
that’s your commitment, and no one
has any right to shame you for that. We
don’t need everybody out there in the
streets. Street-based protest has its
value, but I’m always more interested
in what we do beyond that. If you’re
an artist, paint something. You gotta
figure out what makes the most sense
for you in your identity, in your skill
set, and then go for it and just trust and
know that people will accept it, if you
really are doing the right kind of work
in your community. And I tell that to
white folks too, who ask, “But how can
I help?” I’m like, just stay in your lane.
Organize your own people. If white
people were organizing their people on
behalf of other people—not in their own
interest, but in the interest of greater
equity—this fight would be half as long.
White people who just want to be in the
streets, I’m like, go home and talk to
your uncle about this shit.
This movement seems very
consciously centered on those most
affected by police violence, which is
to say, nonwhite people. At the risk
of now making the conversation
about whites, I’ve seen some
well-intentioned white activists
struggling to come to terms with
what their role should be.
We welcome any support
and any real solidarity,
but we're going to
demand that we define
what solidarity is.
FreeQuency: If not being centered in
something is so hurtful for you that you
can’t participate in the liberation of
others, I don’t fucking want you in this
movement. I’m beyond that point of
catering to white people and whiteness.
The last civil rights movement
involved catering to whiteness, seeking
acceptance within that structure. I
don’t think this movement that we’re
in right now is about acceptance within
that structure. We’re not just making
demands of ourselves as Black people
and Black community and Black
leadership, but also in terms of our
relationship to white people and the
power structure. We’re saying hey, this
is our movement. We welcome any
support and any real solidarity, but
we’re going to demand that we define
what solidarity is. It’s not going to be a
slogan, it’s not gonna be you showing
up and taking pictures and saying you
were here. It means you understanding
how whiteness has impacted us, and
also how whiteness has impacted
yourself and how you operate—and that
unwillingness to not be at the center is
part of growing up in whiteness, under
white supremacy, and being told all the
time that white voices need to be heard.
What’s next going forward for
y’all? What are you looking
forward to in 2015?
Cfreedom: BYP100 nationally has an
“Agenda to Keep us Safe,” a booklet
with different asks, some of which
are for policies we already have in
Louisiana, so we’re talking about
creating a New Orleans version of it
that’s more reflective of the South. Like,
we already have body cameras on police
here, so our focus is trying to get more
police accountability, to establish what
the consequences are if a police officer
doesn’t have a camera or turns a camera
off. And we’re focused on mobilizing
young Black voters, and activists, and
training young people coming up... with
Black Lives Matter, you’re seeing a lot
of organizations coming out of that
focused on younger activists. That’s a
part of what BYP is.
FreeQuency: The Black Lives Matter
thing was started by three queer Black
women, the two main organizers in
Ferguson are two queer Black women
who just got married the other day—it
really is a national thing, and it’s
beautiful not to have to apologize for
claiming liberation for all parts of your
Black identity. All of us had been doing
organizing before this happened, and I
don’t know about y’all, but a lot of times
I would find myself having to conform
to different types of organizing and
different definitions of Blackness. This
new movement has really created this
space where we don’t have to do that
in order to do our work. It’s like, if you
want the youth struggle, here’s where
we are. There’s some folks, some heads
in New Orleans who in the past, I’d try
to have these conversations and they
weren’t really having it, but since the
BYP actions, recognizing the power and
the momentum we have, they’re kind of
like, “Alright, alright. We see y’all. We’re
gonna meet you on your level.” It’s a
beautiful thing.
For more info, check out byp100.org
with many other Swans releases, it is a double album overflowing with sprawling
perspective and grand design, punctuated by Gira’s trademark phrasing and hypnotic
delivery. Where Swans once summoned the primordial howl of a world gone mad,
their vision has evolved on an infinite scale, into a resounding cry for entry into a
universe as vast and unforgiving as life itself.
by M. Bevis
You leave the tail
behind and the body
just keeps going
Instead of joining the usual suspects of metal and punk rock for their sound and
style, Swans forged a singular vision, one as bleak and seemingly hopeless as their
spawning ground of New York City in 1982. For early witnesses of Swans’ live attack,
mastermind Michael Gira appeared as part poet, part psychopath. He bellowed
and raged, attacking the audience as if it were an enemy being taught a lesson. This
approach was only compounded by the band’s fascination with being the loudest live
act on the planet, earning them a reputation for abuse in the name of entertainment.
Much like their namesake, Swans were both gorgeous and aggressive, suggesting a
cruel beauty to all things, with scant apology.
Entering the ‘90s, Swans experienced a shift in both lineup and overall vision. Gira
grew tired of being seen as simply another shock act and distanced himself from
a hard-bitten stance, preferring to instead widen the scope of his music to include
harmony and in some cases, traditional song structure. The confrontation and
invective were replaced with a decidedly cinematic scope and vision. By the time the
band released White Light from the Mouth of Infinity in 1991, Swans had arrived
at a place that was relatively comfortable, while still retaining a sense of danger via
Gira’s despair, loss, and greed-themed lyrics. This sensibility was pursued until 1997,
when the band was dissolved due to a mix of rumored internal pressures and Gira’s
Calvinist work ethic, which included spending time releasing music via his Young
God recording imprint and exploring an even more welcoming sonic territory with his
other act, Angels of Light.
Aristotle once said, “Nature abhors a vacuum,” and the same could be said of the
Swans. In 2010, Gira reignited Swans with a renewed vigor, realizing that while
Angels of Light was a worthwhile pursuit, it was only Swans that could create
something large enough to fill the void. Swans resumed their usual workhorse
approach to performance, releasing My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the
Sky in the same year to especially warm reviews. Since then, Swans have stayed busy
with a constant stream of albums and tours, culminating in 2014’s To Be Kind. As
Early Swans sounded like a pushing
away, or a pushing back in general.
With To Be Kind the band seems
to have shifted into a welcoming,
almost inclusive tone. Is this
something that was naturally
arrived at, or a specific change?
Michael Gira: Both. I kind of like
your assessment of the early work
as being that. I don’t know that it
was intentional but listening to it or
thinking about it now... I don’t listen to
it but listening to it now I guess it could
be viewed that way. However, I would
say that by the late ‘90s the music was
much more inclusive, as in our album
Soundtracks for the Blind. I viewed it as
the starting point when I wanted to reiterate this band. So I wanted to make
music that was all consuming in a way,
I wanted to be inside of these swirling
maelstroms of sound again. So I took
that as the starting point and that’s
what we did. Along the way, when we
started performing live after the first
resurgence album, the music started
taking on this quality that was bigger
than us and these trajectories would
happen and the music would start
playing us, rather than the reverse. And
in that way, the audience is right inside
it with us and it seems to be a very
positive experience for all of us. So in
that way, I’m happy that we’ve done it.
To Be Kind in particular has a very
reverent, contemplative sensibility.
From the opening track “Screen
Shot,” listeners are drawn in close, to
be told something rather than have it
screamed from across the street.
Yeah, maybe, but I would say that it’s
not really telling them something. It’s
just all of us sharing this experience,
being inside this thing. I’ve used
the simile sometimes that it’s like
the difference between looking at a
painting and walking inside a piece by
the artist Richard Serra. He did these
big spiraling pieces of pressed steel
and you’d walk inside them and the
environment would change as you went
through it. It’s really something, and I
would liken the experience more to that
than looking at a painting.
“Screen Shot” is particularly
interesting, in that it could function
as a non-committal mission
statement for Swans both in sound
and lyrics.
I wrote that song on acoustic guitar.
That groove is just me playing the
way that I do, with my thumb. I play
guitar like a bass player, in a way. So I
was writing that groove and the words
came and I guess they were more like
a prayer, or a mantra, than anything
else. They fit with the groove well, then
of course I brought it to the group and
it developed from there. That’s kind of
a prosaic description of how the song
came about but that’s how it is.
For live performances, is the
band playing different versions of
songs from To Be Kind, as well as
unheard material?
We’re not playing the album live. We’re
playing new songs.
The familiar tracks that are
performed seem to have grown over
time, rendering the recorded track
as a capturing of the moment.
That’s exactly what happens. We don’t
play “Screen Shot” live but to use that
as an example: I’ll start off with a thing
on acoustic guitar, I’ll bring it to the
band, we’ll build it up and then we
start playing it live and it grows from
there. Eventually it just transforms
into something that we wouldn’t even
recognize from where we started. It
just keeps growing. I’ll direct the band
along the way or they add things and I
will encourage or discourage them. It
just kind of keeps metastasizing as it
grows. There are other songs that come
out of some really rudimentary idea
that I have and then just through the
force of the band playing together it
becomes something much bigger than
I ever would have imagined. That’s a
true “band” song. One of the songs on
the album like that would be “Bring the
Sun / Toussaint L’Ouverture;” that was
entirely organic, the way we wrote that
song. The way that began was the end
of the song, “The Seer.” We were just
kind of bashing and extemporizing on
the end of that (live) and it gradually
just morphed into this thing over
multiple performances. That’s sort
of how a lot of the new material has
come about, actually. There is a song
we’re doing now called “The Cloud
of Unknowing” and that grew out of
playing “Just a Little Boy” live. Another
one is “Black Hole Man” which grew
out of playing “Toussaint L’Ouverture.”
You leave the tail behind and the body
just keeps going.
Does that sense of shared discovery
make for a better live environment
as a performer?
That’s the biggest challenge for us, to
keep that sensation. We’ve been doing
this set since then and it’s continued
to transform itself. It’s gotten, if I may
say, really good now but it’s reached
the point where I know what’s going
to happen. Once it gets going, it’s
its own sort of entity though and
we’re just denizens of the world it
describes. The music that we’re doing
now is, it’s six pieces that we’re doing,
four of them unrecorded, there’s two
things from “To Be Kind” but they’ve
pretty much changed.
When it comes to Swans, is the
musical genre “outsider music”
apt? Or is it a term to be bristled at?
I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing
those clothes. Outsider art is usually
something describing a mental patient
making art... but I’m not a mental
patient, at least not yet. Maybe I’m on
the way. Maybe it’s art rock, pure and
simple. I’ll meet someone in an airport
and they’ll ask me what kind of music I
make and I’m flummoxed. I don’t know
what to say. I’ve used “cinematic rock”
and god, that sounds horrible. [Laughs]
Does story or sound come first in
the creative process for Swans?
In the so-called large songs, the ones
that are kind of vast sonically, the sonics
come first. Or sometimes it’s what’s in
my mind when I’m working in a small
way on the acoustic guitar—I’m thinking
of how it’s going to be orchestrated.
Then I think of how these words, how
any words at all are going to work to
amplify the sound rather than make it
smaller. That’s the hardest thing.
Lyrically, do you write from the
perspective of the protagonist of
your songs or are you telling a story
from an outside viewpoint?
That’s a good question. I strive not
to have my personal self invested
too much in the words. Of course,
ultimately it is, but it’s not about me.
I’m pretty much irrelevant. I’m just
a performer that has to bring these
things to life once they’re written. I
guess you could take a song interpreter
of great note such as Nina Simone,
when she sings, “I Loves You, Porgy;”
is that her singing about herself? She
invests everything she has into that
performance. So that’s the tangible
result of it, that she occupies the song
entirely. I try to set up a situation where
I can do that.
I’ve always gotten the sense that
while you were inhabiting the
subjects of the songs, you weren’t
speaking from personal experience.
I’m not Kanye singing about my bitch.
I loathe that tendency in pop music,
where the music is about the actual
person. It’s really, really disgusting. It
feeds into the whole persona of pop stars
[and] rock stars, which I find disgusting.
In the early days of the group, you
held down a rigorous work schedule
of both regular jobs and music. Did
that ethic serve to power Swans or
was it inherent from the start?
I don’t see how they are mutually
exclusive. That’s just sort of all I know
how to do and I guess that’s one reason
why, through persistence and hard
work we’re getting some recognition
now. In that I don’t mean kudos, I mean
that we have larger audiences and
there’s more of a context for us to keep
going and do what we do. That‘s just
ingrained in who I am. I just don’t give
up. I keep working.
Does that work ethic wear you and
the band down and is it possible
to stay healthy on the road for so
long, touring?
Well, we don’t take drugs. [Laughs] It’s
good physical exercise for one thing.
But my ears are severely challenged at
this point. I don’t wear ear plugs, I can’t
and still emote. I’ve got to be consumed
by it, so I don’t wear them. We kind of
set up the amps in a gentle half circle
so everything’s pointed at me in the
center—I’m the victim being prodded
with a pin under the microscope.
Touring, as I’m sure you’re aware, is not
glamorous in the least. It’s exhausting
and tedious and mind-crushing. But
once we’re on stage it’s a different
matter. I don’t know how much
longer I can keep up this momentum.
We’re going to start recording this
new material, as well as some other
songs I’ve written in September, then
inevitably tour for that. Beyond that,
I don’t know, we’ll see how long my
stamina lasts.
Swans play One Eyed Jacks on Friday,
April 1st. For more info, check out
younggodrecords.com
BABY BOY
2015
(SELF-RELEASED)
Baby Boy is one of the most underrated
bands to ever come out of Louisiana.
Their sound has always been one notch
above most post-punk bands in the
South and 2015 is evidence of that.
Existing as the other half of Thou, the
ever-prominent shining star of Baton
Rouge, Baby Boy has been relegated
to the shadows of basement venues
and Bywater houses, occasionally
peeking out for some light. Since their
formation in late 2009 after the demise
of Man Plus Building, the band has
released three EPs, each better than the
last. The thing that really completes
this trilogy of EPs, though, is the
recording quality of 2015. It sounds like
their live show: heavy and huge. Songs
like “Day Is Dying in The South” and
“I’m Trying” are really felt and contain
the energy the band exudes on stage.
What makes Baby Boy stick is their
ability to make the listener both want to
break things in their apartment and cry
with a harsh uncontrollable connection
to everything. Unfortunately, this EP
is the last thing that Baby Boy will put
out. With members moving around the
country, the band has said goodbye. I
guess they saved the best for the last.
R.I.P., friends. —Robert Landry
Crashing through the misogynistic
doors of the Grand Ole Opry house
and setting a fire, come Nashville
natives Bleed The Pigs. Their latest EP,
Overcompensations of Misery, is a 15minute binge of raw energy and force.
While predominantly a grindcore band,
most songs contain the nuances of
traditional metal. Leading singer Kayla
Phillipa lays harsh vocals that hold
powerful truths about oppression and
privilege. Songs such as “Supremacy”
and “White Washed” are typical for the
band with their cathartic tempo and
gut-wrenching tones. “Fear of Violent
Service” stands out because it shies
away from most of the faster rhythms
and experiments with slower sludge
elements. David Hobbs on guitar uses
a loop station to create eerie patterns
that evoke a dark atmosphere, which
really complements the band’s sound.
Bleed The Pigs have mastered the art of
versatility in their music. They can do
it all. In most cases, only so much can
be done with hardcore and bands end
up sounding similar, which is really a
commentary on the limits of the genre
and less an indictment of the bands
themselves. Everything that Bleed
the Pigs has recorded has come from
a basement and they are proud of it.
It sends a message of autonomy that
shouldn’t be overlooked by listeners
searching for clean recordings.
—Robert Landry
CRYING
SECOND WIND
(RUN FOR COVER RECORDS)
BLEED THE PIGS
OVERCOMPENSATIONS FOR
MISERY EP
(SELF-RELEASED)
Crying is one of the most interesting
and unique bands working today. In
a scene of fusion groups and bands
meshing obscure genres together,
Crying takes the cake. Blending
elements of ‘90s pop rock with classic
Super Nintendo synth patches, the
band melds the bubblegum energy
provided by the electronic stylings of
Rayan Galloway on synth and guitar
with adorable and honest vocals
from Elaiza Santos. Second Wind is
the second official release from this
New York band. “East Flight” starts
off the disc with a spark of driving
drums provided by Nick Corbo and
polkadot flashes of computer sounds.
Santo’s vocals are slow and caring
with a pungent dose of empathy.
The letterhead of the EP is “Batang
Killyjoy,” which is trademark Crying, if
more tedious and mature. The song has
ins and outs, which leave the listener
suspended and then caressed as if on
Lakitu’s cloud. Santos experiments with
vocals, becoming more comfortable
and shedding some skin. In their
previous EP, her voice was somewhat
suppressed. It’s nice to hear it shine and
take charge. “Close,” the album closer,
has a slow start. It’s a nice change of
pace and builds into an array of notes,
patterns, and brightness. The drone
is swaying and heavy where Corbo,
Galloway, and Santos all connect. The
band has tapped into an honest sound
with Second Wind, reflecting the truth
behind relationships and meditating on
thoughts we all share. —Robert Landry
FAT STUPID UGLY PEOPLE
NO SLEEP NO FOOD
(SELF-RELEASED)
Local thrash/power violence heroes
Fat Stupid Ugly People do it again with
another release even faster than their
Weight Loss Program EP. Awesome
cover art by Bill Heintz (again), but
pretty simplistic packaging. No lyric
sheet and boy do I need one! The
songs blaze by so fast that I can hardly
keep track, but with some of the most
hilarious song titles I’ve ever heard:
“When high school yearbooks become
hit lists with pictures;” “Wheelchair
DWI;” “I hope you brought your
Juggalo repellent;” “This nuke only
kills hipsters;” and my personal
favorite, “No, Robby Calahan is not
in Eyehategod.” Genius! Fat Stupid
Ugly People have been playing around
town for over ten years, delivering
their brand of faster than hell, non-PC
humor, so it’s your loss if you don’t
know ‘em or love ‘em. Also, some of
the nicest guys you’ll ever meet in New
Orleans (or any other town for that
matter). I’ll be on the lookout for a
future vinyl release (with a lyric sheet
please). —Carl Elvers
LADY LAMB
AFTER
(MOM+POP)
Aly Spaltro, otherwise known as Lady
Lamb The Beekeeper, returns with
a second album that proves she isn’t
entirely immune to a sophomore
slump of sorts, but it isn’t for her lack
of trying. Dropping the “Beekeeper”
from her pseudonym and paring
down the instrumental backing that
made much of her work on her first
release, Ripely Pine, softer (and in
some ways, easier to listen to), Spaltro
takes a tougher route with her music
in After. When it works, it works well,
showing off her vocal range far more
effectively and establishing a more
stream-of-consciousness tone that
suits her visceral imagery (see: the sly,
deceptively playful speculations on
love in “Vena Cava” and life in “Billions
Of Eyes”). When it doesn’t work, Lady
Lamb risks becoming a ponderous
Feist or Fiona Apple knockoff, putting a
couple of songs on After that seem more
like histrionic filler, “Sunday Shoes”
being the example that comes to mind.
Such songs are few and far between,
blessedly exhibiting evidence of an
artist who is becoming more thoughtful
about arrangements and phrasing,
drawing listeners into her strange,
surreal world more than ever before...
which is all any discerning listener
could ask for. —Leigh Checkman
THE STOVEBOLTS
OVER THE LIMIT
(BLAHLL!)
Mississippi bands usually don’t
disappoint and neither do Hattiesburg’s
the Stovebolts. Over the Limit, their
follow-up to debut To the Top, is a
pretty heavy dose of barpunk riffs,
twangy vocals, and coked-up tempo.
Kind of a shady mix but I think that’s
how they like it. “The Stovebolt Theme”
is an over-the-top intro to the band,
though strangely leads off side B of the
vinyl. Stellar production and chops
galore from the whole band make for a
killer record. I can’t help but think this
is something Jello Biafra would want
to take over (don’t let him, though!).
For fans of Nashville Pussy, ZZ Top,
flash art, early Van Halen, and true
Mississippi grit. —Dan Fox
SUN HOTEL
RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS
(COMMUNITY RECORDS)
For those familiar with Sun Hotel,
expectations of their new (and final)
record would include heavy reverb and
powerfully sad songwriting. However,
there is more than any Sun Hotel fan
is ready for. For those of you who are
unfamiliar, as I was until this release,
it’s time to catch up. There is something
growing, living in Rational Expectations
that is maybe unexplainable. Picture
yourself in the first year of college, a
new life and a new self in front of you.
There is safety and maybe a little bit
of energy. Now strip that away and
pile on the weight of lost friends and
uncertainty. Singer and songwriter
Tyler Scurlock has used this process to
refine the sound of Sun Hotel for the
past five years. Their final release as a
band, Rational Expectations, delivers
in the same way that last bittersweet
night with a drifting lover does. It pulls
off the protective coverings of the
earphones and whispers sweet nothings
with songs like “11:57.” Bassist John
St. Cyr takes hold of the rhythm to
drag Scurlock’s vocals and Alex Hertz’s
slow, open guitar chords. Tracks like
“Bouquet” and “Tropic of Cancer” focus
on the groove provided by drummer
Ross Farbe, which create a strong
groundwork for sporadic vocals and
guitars to bounce on. The closing songs,
“Without Feather” and “Aprazolam” are
carried mostly by Scurlock’s angry, sad
lyrics. This album completes the legacy
of Sun Hotel. It is a band ending where
it started—a guitar in a quiet room with
a heavy heart. —Robert Landry
P. CURRAN
THE BREATHTAKING CHRISTA P.
(CADIZ & CADIZN’T)
New Orleans in the ‘90s: a great
place for an escaped fugitive to hide
in plain sight... or it would be for
one particular fugitive if he hadn’t
encountered someone who could
hold his past against him. P. Curran’s
latest novel attempts to expand on the
worlds explored in his short stories
(featured in Stay Out Of New Orleans)
in an absorbingly convoluted tale of
one man’s melange of odd jobs and
attempts to keep his stories straight.
Curran’s fugitive stumbles, secondguesses himself, and tries to maneuver
his way out of bad ends and dead ends
before coming completely undone in
this gutter noir filled with corrupt cops,
families in conflict, blackmail, and
a few dead bodies. The Breathtaking
Christa P., despite its mentions of
Jazz Fest and a plot point involving
the May ‘95 flood, isn’t as married to
New Orleans as Curran’s short stories
are, nor does it have any supernatural
elements. He eschews those entirely
in the service of the fugitive’s point of
view, and the feel of the novel suffers
a little as a result. As pulp fiction
goes, though, Christa P. is satisfying
storytelling. —Leigh Checkman
Monday: 3/2
Wednesday: 3/4
Circle Bar: Blind Spots with Gandhi
Castle, 10pm
d.b.a.: Luke Winslow King, 7pm; Glen
David Andrews, 10pm ($5)
Hi-Ho: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party, 8pm; Hill
Country Hounds, 10pm
Maison: Chicken & Waffles, 4pm;
Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses, 7pm;
Shotgun Jazz Band, 10pm
Maple Leaf: Jon Cleary & the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen, 9pm
Siberia: COMIC STRIP: Comedy and
Burlesque Night, 9pm
Checkpoint Charlie: T Bone Stone &
the Happy Monsters, 7pm; Hubcap Kings,
11pm
Circle Bar: Jim Keaveny, 10pm
Civic Theatre: Simon Posford
Presents The Shpongletron 3.1 w/
Phutureprimitive, 9pm
d.b.a.: Tin Men, 7pm; Walter Wolfman
Washington & The Roadmasters, 10pm
($5)
Gasa Gasa: CakeWalk with Noruz & The
Willie Green Project, 9pm ($5.00)
Hi-Ho: Teacher Appreciation Night, 6pm
Maison: The Jazz Vipers, 6pm; Roamin’
Jasmine, 9:30pm
Maple Leaf: Solar Strut featuring Steve
Malinowski - Keys/Bass, Joe Gelini Drums, Chris Alford -Guitar, 10pm
Siberia: Powernaps and the Tinypukes
Happy Hour!!, 6pm; CANCERSLUG,
Death Church, SPIT, DJ Kurt Amacker,
10pm ($8)
Tuesday: 3/3
Checkpoint Charlie: Jamie Lynn
Vessels, 7pm; Kristen Ford, 11pm
Circle Bar: Mope Grooves with The Life
and Times, 10pm
d.b.a.: Treme Brass Band, 9pm ($5)
Hi-Ho: Songwriter Showdown, 7pm;
DRGN King + Little Maker, 9pm
Howlin Wolf: Kyle Kinane, 9pm
Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, 6pm;
New Orleans Swingin’ Gypsies, 9pm
Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band
One Eyed Jacks: HELMET “Betty” 20th
Anniversary Show (Playing The Album
From Start To Finish), 9pm ($17 advance
/ $20 door)
Siberia: Makin’ Trivia with Aloysius
McMurphy!, 7pm; Six Pack, Led to the
grave, Budd Dwyer, Short Leash, 10pm
($7)
Thursday: 3/5
Checkpoint Charlie: The Wasted Lives,
7pm; Texas Pete, 11pm
Circle Bar: Brief Lives, 10pm
d.b.a.: Otra, 10pm ($5)
Hi-Ho: TRIVIA THURSDAYS, 7pm; The
Plus One Show, 9pm
Howlin Wolf: COMEDY GUMBEAUX
FREE SHOW!, 8:30pm (in the Den)
Maison: Jon Roniger, 5pm; Sweet
Substitute Jazz Band, 7pm; Zena Moses
and Rue Fiya, 10pm
Maple Leaf: The Trio featuring Johnny
V & Special Guests
Siberia: The Salt Wives Happy Hour!,
6pm; LA LUZ, The Shivas, Native
America, Very Primitive, 10pm ($8)
Tipitina’s: Greensky Bluegrass + Rayland
Baxter, 8:30pm
Friday: 3/6
Allways Lounge: Suntundra Moon, 9pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Randy East & T
Bone Stone, 4pm; Woodenhead, 7pm;
Tony Rayney, 11pm
Circle Bar: Helen Gillet “Silver Bangkok”
Album Release Party$10, 10pm
d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans, 6pm;
John “Papa” Gros, 10pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: The Kid Carsons Album
Release Show with WB Givens, 10pm
($10.00)
Hi-Ho: Transplanted Roots, 7pm;
RE:Beat with DJ Matt Scott, 10pm
Howlin Wolf: Laurie Lehner plus Ani
Carlson and The Man Named Bones, 8pm
(in the Den)
Maison: Leah Rucker, 4pm; The Messy
Cookers, 7pm; The Jesse Smith Project +
Street Legends Brass Band, 10pm
Maple Leaf: Groovesect
One Eyed Jacks: DJ Soul Sister’s Right
On 80s Party, 9pm ($10)
Siberia: The Bubblegum Lounge Karaoke
Happy Hour with DJs Robin Rubbermaid
and Anthony!!, 6pm; The Deslondes, The
Banditos, Twain, 10pm ($8)
Tipitina’s: Bayside + Senses Fail + Man
Overboard + Seaway, 8pm
Saturday: 3/7
Allways: Local Uproar! A Free Comedy
Show, 7pm; Bella Blue Presents Strip
Roulette, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Good Children,
4pm; Leisa K + Rule 52, 7pm; The Daily
Times, 11pm
Circle Bar: The Fifth Men with
Biscuithound plus Ruby & The Rogues,
10pm
d.b.a.: John Boutte’, 8pm ($10); Little
Freddie King, 11pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: Uptown Sounds ft. Naughty
Professor, Stoop Kids, Abby Diamond,
Yugen, & The Quintessential Octopus,
8pm ($10.00)
Hi-Ho: DJ Soul Sister presents HUSTLE,
11pm
Howlin Wolf: Mississippi Shakedown
plus Fides, 10pm (in the Den); Live For
Live Music NOLA Launch Party, 10pm
Maison: New Orleans Swamp Donkeys,
4pm; Smoking Time Jazz Club, 7pm;
Ashton Hines and the Big Easy Brawlers +
Dysfunktional Bone, 10pm
Maple Leaf: CommonSenseNOLA
Fundraiser - Click for more info 8pm
One Eyed Jacks: WTUL presents
In Loving Memory of The Dropout
featuring Quintron, Babes, Heavy Lids,
Bottomfeeders, Planchettes, Woozy and
Patrick Shuttleswerth plus DJ’s Benny
Devine & Weird Steve, 9pm ($12)
Siberia: Leyla McCalla + Sarah Quintana
+ Jon Hatchet, 6pm; Simpleplay Presents:
MEGAFAUNA, The Noise Complaints, 35
PSI, 10pm ($7)
Sunday: 3/8
Checkpoint Charlie: Open Mic
featuring Jim Smith, 8pm
Circle Bar: Mobros with Feverish plus
Fishplate, 10pm
Civic Theatre: Bo Burnham, 8pm
d.b.a.: The Palmetto Bug Stompers, 6pm;
The Mumbles, 10pm ($5)
Gasa Gasa: The SpitRaw Society
presents: Rawkus! International Hip
Hop House Party + Live Band + Open Mic
Cypher, 9pm ($5.00)
Hi-Ho: NOLA Comedy Hour hosted by
The New Movement, 8pm; Voltaire, 10pm
Howlin Wolf: The Grammy nominated
Hot 8 Brass Band, 10pm (in the Den)
Maison: NOJC Nickel-A-Dance featuring
Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers,
4pm; Bon Bon Vivant, 7pm; Corporate
America, 10pm
Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio
One Eyed Jacks: Dina Martina: Live in
New Orleans, 7pm ($20 advance / $25 at
the door)
Siberia: Shadow Gallery Presents: We’re
All Mad Here!, 10pm
Monday: 3/9
Checkpoint Charlie: Wendy Darling,
7pm
Circle Bar: Druids, 10pm
Maison: Chicken & Waffles, 5pm; Aurora
Nealand & The Royal Roses, 7pm; Musical
Expression, 10pm
Tuesday: 3/10
Vessels, 7pm; The Olivia de Havilland
Mosquitoes, 7pm; Jack Hinevson Band,
11pm
Circle Bar: Ruby The Rabbitfoot, 10pm
Hi-Ho: Songwriter Showdown, 7pm
Howlin Wolf: Comedy Beast FREE
SHOW, 8:30pm (in the Den)
Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, 6pm;
Chance Bushman, 9pm
McMurphy!, 7pm; WB Givens, Ira Wolf,
Natural Forces, 10pm ($6)
Wednesday: 3/11
Allways Lounge: Esoterotica, 7pm
Checkpoint Charlie: T Bone Stone & the
Happy Monsters, 7pm; Bottoms Up Blues
Gang, 11pm
Circle Bar: Corners, 10pm
($5)
Gasa Gasa: Bowery Presents: Quantic
with special guest: AF THE NAYSAYER,
9pm ($12.00)
Hi-Ho: Teacher Appreciation Night, 6pm;
Sleeze + Autumn Stay + Stereo + 35PSI,
9pm
Maison: The Jazz Vipers, 6pm; James
Jordan & The Beautiful Band, 9:30pm
One Eyed Jacks: The Sword with
Suplecs plus Eagle Claw, 8pm ($15)
Saenger Theatre: Craig Ferguson, 8pm
Siberia: Sword & Backpack: Siberia
Game Night, 6pm; Guitar Lightnin’ Lee
and the Thunder Band, Lonely Lonely
Knights, DJ James Weber, Jr., 10pm ($6)
Thursday: 3/12
Checkpoint Charlie: Eric John Kaiser,
11pm
Circle Bar: Baby Bee with Parlour
Tricks, 10pm
Civic Theatre: Elvis Costello, 8pm
d.b.a.: Jon Cleary, 7pm; Jeremy Lyons &
The Deltabilly Boys, 10pm ($5)
Gasa Gasa: Bowery Presents: Horse
Feathers + David Ramirez, 9pm ($10.00)
Hi-Ho: TRIVIA THURSDAYS, 7pm; Grid
Squid Hip Hop Showcase, 9pm
Maison: Jon Roniger, 5pm; Shotgun Jazz
Band, 7pm
V & Special Guests
Old Marquer Theatre: The Stinky
Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid
Tales, 7pm
Siberia: BIG DEAL BURLESQUE, 9pm
($8); Two Cow Garage, Name Calling,
Melville Dewys, 10pm ($6)
Tipitina’s: Homegrown Night 2015
Concert Series Featuring Squirrel
Queen, Aunt Ruth’s Red Dress, Nyce!,
Hill Country Hounds, and Alexes Aiken,
8:30pm
Friday: 3/13
Allways Lounge: Revue Nouveau, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: King Snakes, 7pm;
Birthday Candles, 11pm
Circle Bar: Shilpa Ray, 10pm
d.b.a.: Meschiya Lake & The Little Big
Horns, 6pm; Lost Bayou Ramblers, 10pm
($10)
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents: X
Ambassadors, 10pm ($10.00)
Hi-Ho: The Transplanted Roots + Parsley
+ The Monocle, 7pm; Bate Bunda, 10pm
Howlin Wolf: Comedy Beast Unleashed
feat Addy Najera, James Hamilton,
Benjamin Hoffman, Joe Cardosi and
Molly Ruben-Long hosted by Cyrus
Cooper and Andrew Polk, 9pm (in the
Den)
Maison: Ramblin’ Letters, 4pm; New
Orleans Swamp Donkeys, 7pm; Rumba
Buena + The Business, 10pm
Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects
Tales, 7pm
One Eyed Jacks: Brass Bash :: A Benefit
to Support Luke’s House featuring Red
Wolf Brass Band, Panorama Brass Band
and Dirty Bourbon River Show, 6pm ($25
- $100)
Saenger Theatre: Penn & Teller, 8pm
Siberia: PSYCH OUT Happy Hour:
DJs Suzy Q and Nommo, 6pm; The
Pallbearers, Ossacrux, Donkey Puncher,
Eat the Witch (PARISITE SKATE PARK
BENEFIT!!!), 10pm ($10)
Tipitina’s: 2015 NOLA Stones Fest With
John “Papa” Gros, Chuck Credo IV, Fred
Leblanc, Alex McMurray, Carl Dufrene,
Chad Gilmore, Brad Walker, Mike Dillon,
Joe Stark and Special Guest plus Alvin
Youngblood Hart & Chris Mule., 10pm
Brawlers, 10pm
Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects
Tales, 7pm
One Eyed Jacks: Futurebirds with Water
Liars plus Yard Dogs, 9pm ($10)
Siberia: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk
Revue Happy Hour!, 6pm; Katey Red,
Sex Party, Magnolia Rhome, Saucy Yoda,
Kelly Pounchin, Kid Fresh, Red Team,
Danger Boyz, DJ Kenji, 10pm ($8)
Tipitina’s: Smokers World and The
Captain Midnight Band , 10pm
Sunday: 3/15
Circle Bar: ONWE with Nicholas
Nicholas, 10pm
Cedell Davis, 10pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: Bowery Presents: The
Districts + Avers, 9pm ($10.00)
The New Movement, 8pm
Howlin Wolf: Gorilla Music Battle of the
Bands, 2pm (in the Den); The Grammy
nominated Hot 8 Brass Band, 10pm (in
the Den)
Tom Saunders & The Tomcats, 4pm; Too
Darn Hot, 7pm; Soul Project, 10pm
Tales, 7pm
Siberia: Ben Caplan, Kelcy Mae, Shane
Sayers, 6pm ($7); UKIAH DRAG, Heat
Dust, FEZ, Eastrod, 10pm ($5)
Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music
Workshops Feat. TBA, 1pm
Monday: 3/16
Checkpoint Charlie: Clyde & Iggy, 7pm
Circle Bar: Plains with Tweens, 10pm
Nealand & The Royal Roses, 7pm; The
Swamp Donkeys, 10pm
Siberia: Caddywhompus, Leapling,
Baked, 6pm ($7); Felix Martin, Stinking
Lizaveta, Mountain of Wizard, Dyse,
9:30pm ($10)
Tuesday: 3/17
Vessels, 7pm; One Tail Three, 11pm
Circle Bar: Yonatan Gat (of Monotonix)
with The Rob Cambre & Jay Steigner Duo
plus DANNY, 10pm
Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, 6pm; Bon
Bon Vivant, 9pm
McMurphy!, 7pm; Black Pussy, Jesse
Tripp and the Nightbreed, TBA, 10pm
Wednesday: 3/18
Happy Monsters, 7pm; Polly Pry & Good
Graces, 11pm
Circle Bar: The Louies$10, 10pm
Gasa Gasa: Bowery Presents: Twerps
+ Ultimate Painting+ Marine + Small
Reactions, 8:30pm ($10.00)
Saturday: 3/14
Show, 7pm; Naked Girls Reading, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Alexa Burroughs,
4pm; Dry County Whiskey, 7pm; Jeb
Rault, 11pm
Circle Bar: King Rey with Heavy Lights
plus Fred Thomas, 10pm
d.b.a.: John Boutte’, 8pm ($10); Vapors of
Morphine, 11pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents:
Rubblebucket + Celestial Shore, 10pm
($12.00)
Hi-Ho: Close Me Out, 8pm; DJ Soul Sister
presents HUSTLE, 11pm
Howlin Wolf: Spoken Nerd plus
Biglemoi plus Corey Taylor Cox plus
Wilderness Alive and J.W. Teller, 8:30pm
(in the Den); Private Event, 9pm
Maison: Cajun Zydeco Fais Do Do, 3pm;
Smoking Time Jazz Club, 7pm; Brass-aholics + Ashton Hines and the Big Easy
Hi-Ho: Teacher Appreciation Night, 6pm
Maison: The Jazz Vipers, 6pm; The
Messy Cookers, 9:30pm
Maple Leaf: oe Ashlar, Chris Alford, Eric
Vogel & Joe Gelini perform The Meters’
Look-Ka Py Py (full album) 10p
Siberia: Truckstop Honeymoon, 6pm;
Teenager, Sharkmuffin ft. Nasimiyu,
Grand Vapids, Strange Roux, Rough
Shape, 9:30pm ($7)
Thursday: 3/19
Allways Lounge: Ainsley Matich and the
Broken Blues, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Blood from a
Stone, 7pm; Isla Nola, 11pm
Circle Bar: Couches with Plaintain plus
Entente Cordiale, 10pm
d.b.a.: Truckstop Honeymoon, 10pm ($5)
Gasa Gasa: Shallou + TBA, 9pm ($5.00)
Hi-Ho: TRIVIA THURSDAYS, 7pm;
Cirque D’Liscious, 9pm
Maison: Jon Roniger, 5pm; Kristina
Morales, 7pm; Zena Moses and Rue Fiya,
10pm
V & Special Guests; St Joseph’s night,
4pm
Tales, 7pm
Siberia: The Salt Wives Happy Hour!,
6pm; FEMME FEMME FEMME: DJ
Musa, 10pm
Friday: 3/20
Allways Lounge: Prone to Fits, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: My Next Blackout,
4pm; One Tail Three, 7pm; London Has
Fallen + Olio, 11pm
Circle Bar: Five Eight$10, 10pm
d.b.a.: New Belgium Cocoa Mole’
Tapping, 4pm; Hot Club of New Orleans,
6pm; Mississippi Rail Company w/
Andrew Duhon, 10pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents: Steve
Gunn with Ryley Walker, 10pm ($10.00)
Hi-Ho: The Transplanted Roots, 7pm;
The Parishoners + more TBA, 10pm
Howlin Wolf: Eric John Kaiser, French
Singer/Songwriter CD Release Party
plus The Russell Welch Hot Quartet and
Meschiya Lake, 9:30pm (in the Den)
Maison: Leah Rucker, 4pm; Shotgun Jazz
Band, 7pm; Chegadao + Fat Ballerina,
10pm
Maple Leaf: Khris Royal & Dark Matter
Tales, 7pm
One Eyed Jacks: Flesh Art Show, 8pm
($20)
Siberia: The Bubblegum Lounge
Karaoke Happy Hour with DJs Robin
Rubbermaid and Anthony!!, 6pm; HOD,
Ritual Decay, Process of Suffocation,
Demonic Destruction, 10pm ($8)
Tipitina’s: Big Sam’s Funky Nation +
Tonya Boyd-Cannon, 10pm
Saturday: 3/21
Show, 7pm; Bella Blue’s Dirty Dime
Peepshow, 11pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Mike Singleton,
4pm; Kenny Triche, 7pm; The Louisiana
Hellbenders, 11pm
Circle Bar: Shame with Frail plus Earth
Horse, 10pm
Civic Theatre: Paula Poundstone, 9pm
d.b.a.: John Boutte’, 8pm ($10); Cedric
Burnside Project, 11pm ($10)
Gasa Gasa: Bowery Presents: Son Lux +
Special Guests, 10pm ($8.00)
Hi-Ho: Drunktoons, 7pm; DJ Soul Sister
presents HUSTLE, 11pm
Howlin Wolf: Miles Tackett of
Breakestra plus Hazy Ray and Righteous
Jones, 9pm (in the Den)
Maison: Bayou Saints, 4pm; Smoking
Time Jazz Club, 7pm; Kumasi Afrobeat
Orchestra + Africa Brass, 10pm
Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. & the
Runnin’ Pardners
Tales, 7pm
Siberia: Alex McMurray Happy Hour,
6pm; The Headwoundz, Manateees,
Dummy Dumpster, Planchettes, 10pm
($7)
Tipitina’s: Feufollet CD Release Party
Plus The Kid Carsons, 10pm
Sunday: 3/22
Circle Bar: EULA with Chelsea Kills plus
Andrew Meoray, 10pm
Solar Strut, 10pm ($5)
Gasa Gasa: Black Milk with The Nat
Turner Band wsg Slangston Hughes & Fo
on the Flo & More, 9pm ($10.00)
The New Movement, 8pm; Writers Block,
10pm
Herlin Riley & The Hot Foot Floozies,
4pm; Leah Rucker, 7pm; One Love Brass
Band, 7pm
Tales, 7pm
Siberia: Mikey Classic & His Lonesome
Spur, Michael James and his Lonesome,
Call Me Bronco, 6pm ($6); WAND, Babes,
Mystery Lights, TBA, 10pm
Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music
Workshops Feat. TBA, 1pm; Cajun Fais
Do-do Featuring Bruce Daigrepont,
5:30pm
Monday: 3/23
Circle Bar: Cobalt Cranes with Las
Roasas, 10pm
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents: All
Them Witches, 10pm ($8.00)
Howlin Wolf: Chihiro Yamazaki + Route
14 Band, 8:30pm (in the Den)
Business, 10pm
Tuesday: 3/24
Vessels, 7pm; Freakabout, 11pm
Circle Bar: Crown Larks with The
Primitive Boys, 10pm
d.b.a.: Brooklyn Brewery Tower
Takeover, 5pm; Treme Brass Band, 9pm
($5)
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents: Pujol,
9pm ($8.00)
Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, 6pm; The
Loose Marbles, 9pm
McMurphy!, 7pm; ELDER, Lazer/Wulf,
TBA, 10pm ($8)
Wednesday: 3/25
Allways Lounge: Esoterotica, 7pm
Happy Monsters, 7pm; Jam Jones & the
Soul Miners, 11pm
Circle Bar: Kristen Cothron and The
Darkside, 10pm
($5)
Promdate + Fancy Pants, 9pm
Maison: The Jazz Vipers, 6pm; James
Jordan & The Beautiful Band, 9:30pm
Siberia: Sword & Backpack: Siberia
Game Night, 6pm; Spray Paint, Heavy
Lids, Black Abba, 10pm ($7)
Thursday: 3/26
Allways Lounge: Love Bomb, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: The Still Tide,
7pm; Hubcap Kings, 11pm
Civic Theatre: Mary Chapin Carpenter
w/ Aoife O’Donovan, 7pm
d.b.a.: Jon Cleary, 7pm; Little Freddie
King, 10pm ($10)
Hi-Ho: TRIVIA THURSDAYS, 7pm; WCP
presents Kodak to Graph, 9pm
FREE SHOW!, 8:30pm (in the Den);
Dopapod plus Hipnosis, 9pm
Maison: Jon Roniger, 5pm; Shotgun Jazz
Band, 7pm; Dysfunktional Bone, 10pm
Vidacovich, Eric “Benny” Bloom & Chris
Severin
Old Marquer Theatre: Never Swim
Alone, 8pm
One Eyed Jacks: Found Footage
Festival, 8pm ($10)
Siberia: Rev. Spooky Lestrange and
Her Billion Dollar Baby Dolls Burlesque
Show!, 6pm; BOAN, Marie Davidson,
Creeper, Troller, allthecolorsofthedark,
10pm ($6)
Tipitina’s: Sylvan Esso , 9pm
Friday: 3/27
Allways Lounge: Clue! A Burlesque
Mystery, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: Good Children,
4pm; Signs of Iris + Death of Paris, 7pm;
Jonnie Morgan Band, 11pm
Civic Theatre: Rupaul’s Drag Race:
Battle of the Seasons, 10pm
d.b.a.: Aurora Nealand & The Royal
Roses, 6pm; Honey Island Swamp Band,
10pm ($10)
Hi-Ho: The Transplanted Roots, 7pm; Air
Sex Championships, 10pm
Maison: The Loose Marbles, 7pm; Soul
Project + Ashton Hines and the Big Easy
Brawlers, 10pm
Maple Leaf: The Fuzz: A tribute to The
Police feat. Tab Benoit
Alone, 8pm; No Sleep Til Burlesque: A
Beastie Boys Hip-Hopera, 11pm
Tipitina’s: My Sweet Lawd, a celebration
of George Harrison Feat: Jonathan
Pretus, Andre Bohren ,Bill Davis, Kyle
Melancon, Debbie Davis, Darcy Malone
Boye, Chris Boye, Davis Rogan, Kimberly
Kaye, Alex McMurray, David Pomerleau,
Marc Paradis, Josh Paxton, Skeet Hanks,
and more..., 9pm
Saturday: 3/28
Show, 7pm; Drag Duets, 9pm
Checkpoint Charlie: My Next Blackout,
4pm; Kenny Claiborne, 7pm; The Budz,
11pm
Circle Bar: Last Hombres, 10pm
Civic Theatre: Rising Appalachia w/
Resonaut Rogues, 9pm
d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny, 7pm; New Breed
Brass Band, 11pm ($10)
11pm
Howlin Wolf: Cedric Watson, 10pm (in
the Den)
Maison: Moonshine & Caroline, 4pm;
Smoking Time Jazz Club, 7pm; The
Essentials + Street Legends Brass Band,
10pm
Maple Leaf: Johnny Sketch & the Dirty
Notes
Tipitina’s: Tank & The Bangas and The
Second Line Show , 10pm
Sunday: 3/29
Circle Bar: His Name is Alive with Direct
Attack, 10pm
Cha Wa, 10pm ($5)
The New Movement, 8pm; Bantam Foxes,
10pm
Davell Crawford & The Creole Jazz Band,
4pm; Brad Walker, 7pm; Doombalaya,
10pm
One Eyed Jacks: Animation Block Party,
3pm ($5)
Siberia: Stellar’s Jay + TBA, 10pm ($6)
Howlin Wolf: Hazy Ray Trio, 8:30pm (in
the Den)
Maison: The Jazz Vipers, 6pm
Thursday: 4/2
Allways Lounge: Crescent City Kings,
9pm
Circle Bar: Valerie Sassyfras, 10pm
d.b.a.: Dana Abbott Band (cd release),
10pm ($5)
Hi-Ho: TRIVIA THURSDAYS, 7pm
Maison: Jon Roniger, 5pm; Sweet
Substitute Jazz Band, 7pm
V & Special Guests
Alone, 8pm
Siberia: BIG BUSINESS + TBA, 10pm
($12)
Friday: 4/3
Allways Lounge: Drag Bingo
Extravaganza, 10pm
Circle Bar: Pope with Grotto Girl plus
Yeesh, 10pm
d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans, 6pm;
Soul Rebels, 10pm ($15)
Hi-Ho: RE:BEAT with DJ MATT SCOTT,
11pm
One Eyed Jacks: Aquarium Drunkard
presents Swans plus Little Annie
featuring Paul Walfisch on keyboards,
9pm ($20 advance / $25 door)
Saturday: 4/4
Show, 7pm; NOLA Bunarchy, 9pm;
Anything Goes!, 10pm
Checkpoint Charlie: The Olivia
DeHavilland Mosquitoes, 4pm
Circle Bar: Colleen Green with Upset,
10pm
d.b.a.: John Boutte’, 8pm ($10); The Dirty
Bourbon River Show, 11pm ($10)
11pm
Howlin Wolf: Uniquity (Dynamic Duo
Edition), 10pm (in the Den); of Montreal
plus Yip Deceiver, 10pm
Maison: Smoking Time Jazz Club, 7pm
Tipitina’s: The Greyboy Allstars + Grupo
Fantasma, 9pm
Sunday: 4/5
Brother Tyrone & The Mindbenders feat.
Gospel Stars, 10pm ($5)
Howlin Wolf: The Grammy Nominated
One Eyed Jacks: Peelander-Z, 9pm ($12)
WEEKLY EVENTS
MONDAYS
Allways Lounge: Redbeans & Rupaul
Mondays, 7pm
Banks St. Bar: South Jones & Free Red
Beans & Rice, 9pm
d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews, 10pm, $5
Dragon’s Den: Service Industry Nights
with DJ Pr_ck
Monday: 3/30
d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews, 10pm ($5)
Swamp Donkeys, 10pm
Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio,
10pm
Siberia: YOB, Witch Mountain, MARS,
Ides of Gemini, 9pm ($12)
Tuesday: 3/31
Checkpoint Charlie: Jaime Lynne
Vessels, 7pm; Jeff Chaz, 11pm
Gasa Gasa: The Bowery Presents: The
Bright Light Social Hour, 9pm ($10.00)
Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, 6pm
Siberia: GEEK TRIVIA presents: LIVE
LONG AND PROSPER!!, 7pm; Achtungs,
Nervous Ticks, PLANCHETTES, Room
101, 10pm ($6)
Wednesday: 4/1
Circle Bar: Junk with The Night Janitor,
10pm
($5)
Gasa Gasa: And the Echo with Shark’s
Teeth and IZE, 9pm ($5.00)
WCP presents SHIBA SAN, 9pm
DISCOUNT VALIDATED PARKING AT CANAL PLACE
Hi-Ho Lounge: Blue Grass Pickin’ Party,
8pm
Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy, 4pm;
Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen
St. All-Stars, 6pm; Kristina Morales &
the Bayou Shufflers, 10pm [1st & 3rd
Mondays]/The Jazz Vipers, 10pm [2nd,
4th & 5th Mondays]
TUESDAYS
Banks St. Bar: NOLA County, 8pm
Carrollton Station: Acoustic Open Mic,
9pm
Café Negril: John Lisi and Delta Funk,
7pm
d.b.a.: Treme Brass Band, 9pm, $5
Dragon’s Den: Punk Night
Gasa Gasa: The Progression Series, 9pm
Howlin’ Wolf: LIVE IN THE DEN:
Comedy Beast
Preservation Hall: The Preservation
Hall-Stars featuring Shannon Powell
The Saint: Tikioke, 9pm, FREE
Siberia: Trivia Night, 8pm
Spotted Cat: Andy Forest, 4pm;
Meschiya Lake & the Little Big Horns,
6pm; Aurora & the Royal Roses, 10pm
WEDNESDAYS
Allways Lounge: Bustin’ Out (A Music
Series), 10pm
Banks St. Bar: Major Bacon & Free
BLTs, 10pm
Carrollton Station: Standup Comedy
Open Mic, 9pm
d.b.a.: Tin Men, 7pm; Walter “Wolfman”
($5)
Dragon’s Den: DJ T-Roy Presents:
Dancehall Classics, 10pm, $5
Hi Ho: Teacher Appreciation Night, 6pm
House of Blues: Jet Lounge, 11pm
THURSDAYS
Allways Lounge: Bingo! w/ Vinsantos,
6pm
Dragon’s Den: Adventures of the
Interstellar Bboyz: Ghetto Funk, Breaks,
Bass, Hip Hop, Funk and more, 10pm
Howlin’ Wolf: Comedy Gumbeaux, 8pm
(Live in the Den)
Maple Leaf: Johnny V. Trio & Special
Guests
One Eyed Jacks: Fast Times ’80s Dance
Night, 10pm
FRIDAYS
La Nuit Comedy Theater: Open Mic
Stand-Up , 10:30pm
SATURDAYS
Hi Ho: DJ Soul Sister presents HUSTLE,
11pm
La Nuit Comedy Theater:
ComedySportz, 8pm
SUNDAYS
Allways Lounge: Swingin’ Sundays (Free
Dance Lessons, 8pm; Live Band 9pm12am)
Checkpoint Charlie: Acoustic Open Mic
Night w/ Jim Smith, 8pm
Dragon’s Den: Church: Dubstep for the
Masses, 10pm (Upstairs)
Hi Ho: NOLA Comedy Hour hosted by
House of Blues: The Sunday Gospel
Brunch, 10am
Howlin’ Wolf: Brass Band Sundays with
Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais do do featuring
Bruce Daigrepont, 5:30pm
illustratons by Ryan Blackwood

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