Jazz Fest

In 1994, Jane and I, along with our friends Karen and Jeff, attended our first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In the past thirty years, I have lost an exact count of the number of Jazz Fest’s that I have attended, but I believe it is somewhere in the 16-20 range.

In the past, we have gone to Jazz Fest with as many as a dozen friends. This year the original four made our way to New Orleans for the first weekend of Jazz Fest. Joining us for the first two days was my sister Ronna, a first timer for her.

On Wednesday night, Jane, Ronna, and I had a delicious dinner at Commander’s Palace. Karen and Jeff didn’t arrive until around 10;00 pm. This year marks the first time that the first weekend of Jazz Fest starts on Thursday; in the past, the first weekend was a three day affair.

Most of the attention for Jazz Fest 2024 is focused on the second weekend and especially Thursday as The Rolling Stones are playing Jazz Fest for the first time ever. They originally were scheduled for Jazz Fest in 2019 but had to cancel due to Mick jagger having heart surgery. We attended Jazz Fest that year (50th anniversary year) but can’t remember if it was the scheduled Stones weekend. The following year The Rolling Stones were scheduled for Jazz Fest (which we had tickets to also) but that was cancelled twice (April/May and October) due to COVID-19.

Situated in and around the Fair Grounds Race Track, there are over a dozen stages with music acts going on simultaneously so it is impossible to see everything. In years past, the music lineup is balanced between the two weekends. I believe this year the second weekend is stacked compared to the first weekend. Not only are the headliners more appealing but many of the tried and true Jazz Fest acts we have come to love are scheduled for the second weekend.

Our Thursday music highlights started at Fais Do Do Stage with The Revelers. At Gentilly Stage, we saw New Orleans Nightcrawlers.

In the Blues Tent, we saw one of our Jazz Fest favorites, Sunpie & The Louisiana Sunspots. We saw Sunpie perform at the first Jazz Fest we attended three decades ago. In fact, I have a shirt (with plenty of holes in it from wearing it so often) that includes him at (was then) the Fourth Blues Harmonica Blow Out at the Rock N Bowl. Last year, Jane and I saw Sunpie perform at the New Orleans Jazz Museum for a recording of the NPR show American Roots. After the show, we talked with Sunpie and I told him that he is our favorite discovery of Jazz Fest. We turned Ronna into a Sunpie fan years ago and she was excited to see him as well.

With Jazz Fest coming to a close, we walked over to Liuzza’s by the Track to take in the street scene and have a round of Bloody Marys.

While it was great seeing the three acts mentioned above on Thursday, the overall lineup for Thursday was a disappointment. The headliners were Widespread Panic, not a fan of that jam band and The Beach Boys, who I have seen a couple times in the past (including when I was a kid), but I think they are just a novelty act now. If I was local, I would have skipped this day (sorry Sunpie).

The music lineup improved Friday. We enjoyed the set by J & the Causeways on the Festival Stage. His voice resembles Tina Turner.

Fais Do Fo Stage is always good for local Louisiana music and CJ Chenier & the Redhot Louisiana Band did not disappoint.

After CJ, it was back to Festival Stage to see The Revivalists followed by The Killers. We saw The Revivalists five years ago at the Fest and they gave a great performance. The Killers have released other albums since Hot Fuss, but the popularity of that album, released 21 years ago, is why they were a Jazz Fest headliner. The other headliner Friday was Jon Batiste (which some in our group went to), but I saw him last year at Jazz Fest so I figured I would rock out to Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me, two of the biggest rock anthems of this century.

While waiting for The Killers set to start, I made a reservation at New Orleans Creole Cookery. I did this so we had some sort of plan following the day at the Fest. The food was average at best. We then walked over to Frenchmen Street.

Ronna had to leave Saturday morning to get back to her puppy. Unfortunately for her, she missed the best day of the weekend. The first act we saw Saturday was People Museum and I enjoyed listening to them.

My two favorite performances on Saturday were Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue which was followed by Wayne Toups. Both acts put on great shows.

One of the features of Jazz Fest is the incredible variety of food. My favorite (Jane’s too) this weekend was crawfish strudel which I had Friday and Saturday.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw Hurray for the Riff Raff perform on CBS Saturday Morning. Last week I received a text from my daughter Hannah encouraging me to see them at Jazz Fest. With that recommendation, we went back to Gentilly Stage to check them out. After a bit of a delay their set started. The sound mix was a little off and we stuck around for a few songs.

After leaving Hurray for the Riff Raff, we made our way to Fais Do Do to see the back end of Pine Leaf Boys set.

Midnight Disturbers is a collection of New Orleans musicians that play together once a year at Jazz Fest. We have seen them multiple times, always playing at the Jazz and Heritage Stage. They never disappoint.

I was not thrilled with the headliners for Saturday — Chris Stapleton and Vampire Weekend. We checked out Vampire Weekend for a few songs and then made our way to the Blues Tent to see Robert Cray for an excellent set.

Saturday night we treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at the Israeli-Lebanese restaurant Shaya. Usually on Saturdays of Jazz Fest weekend, we settle for some mediocre meal, but this time we treated ourselves to a wonderful experience.

We started Sunday morning in the Gospel Tent as Jane got beignets and cafe au lait (the stand is near the Gospel Tent) for breakfast. We listened to Bishop Joseph Carter & The Boyz.

We saw the end of Rosie Ledet’s set at Fais Do Do and then headed over to Economy Hall where we really enjoyed Gerald French & The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band.

Other acts we checked out were Shawn Williams, The Iguanas, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Trumpet Mafia, and Toronzo Cannon.

The two big headliners for Sunday were Anderson.Paak and Heart. I have never been much of a fan of Heart. I saw them once before at the July 4 Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Festival at RFK Stadium in Washington back in 2015. This time I listened to their first two songs before I headed over to the Blues Tent to see The Allman Betts Band. I walked into the tent as they were in the middle of Blue Sky. I knew right then that I made the right decision to abandon Heart and see Allman Betts. They played a great set and brought the house down with Jessica.

This may have been the best weather we ever experienced at Jazz Fest. Each day, the temperature was around 80 degrees and there was a nice breeze to keep things comfortable.

For the second consecutive year, we stayed in a house in Treme which is walking distance to the Fair Grounds. The house has totally been remodeled inside and it is very hospitable to stay in. The only downside is there aren’t many places to eat dinner within walking distance.

We look forward to attending Jazz Fest in 2025. As soon as we finished packing the car Monday morning and started driving, the weather turned to heavy rain and winds. Now, on to Florida for a family wedding and boating.