Jazz Fest on Locals Day

Went to Jazz Fest yesterday with The Darling Daughter and saw Old Crow Medicine Show, among others.  It's a rare treat when a show so completely exceeds expectations, and they were high for OCMS.  But first the day running up to this grand finale: Locals Day cheap tickets. Lunch on boiled crawfish.  Higher Heights Reggae at Congo Square.  Gal Holiday at Gentilly Stage.  Native American Pow Wow at the LA Folklife Village.  Ecole Bilingue de Nouvelle-Orleans at the Kids Tent.  Tatiana Eva-Marie and the the Avalon Jazz Band at the Cultural Exchange Pavilion.  Ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in ages.  John Mooney & Bluesiana at the Blues Tent (where else?).  OCMS at the Gentilly Stage.  Then we wandered around for a little bit of early supper.  I'm sure I've missed a few in there, but you get the general idea: it was a full day.

Woooh, got all that?  Making it even better, most of the lines were either very short or nonexistent even at the beer stands.  Still, the event was pleasantly crowded without being over-stuffed, with a pleasant crowd which made it all the better.

OK back to OCMS.  They roared out of the gate playing some songs off their new album Volunteer, slowed down a little with an old favorite Take It Away, then slammed back into high gear with three fiddles howling away in unison.  Just amazing, and funny as hell too.  "If you're gonna play in New Orleans, you gotta have three fiddles!"  At the hour mark they played their usual closer Wagon Wheel, then came back for a tear-down-the-house encore of 8 Dogs 8 Banjos, then rounded out the set with a... a spiritual that fit the festival mood.  They do know how read and please a crowd.  By the end of the 1:20 set, everyone was so exhausted that I wonder how people survive a complete show.  If they're playing anywhere near you, make the time.

8 Dogs, 8 Banjos.  3 Fiddles.

So that was it for the day.  Took the back route, Highway 90, home after all that, listening to a mix of WWL reporting on the day's events at the Fairgrounds (when they could pull themselves away from speculating about The Saints' next football season), KLEB, and OCMS's Volunteer in the CD player.  Got stopped by a shrimp boat passing through the Rigolets drawbridge near sunset, that was a nice bonus.  A good day in all.

ps: On the way home, I could hear bugs thwacking on my car while passing through the swamps south of Slidell.  Formosans termites!  Yuck!

pps: Pics from Locals Day and an article about OCMS, both at The Advocate.  Good times, good stuff.