Another group of big headliners and more picture perfect weather on Saturday brought out maybe the largest crowd yet for Jazz Fest 2024.
Grammy-winning country musician Chris Stapleton had the Festival Stage area filled back to the track with an all-ages crowd singing along to his hits like "Traveller" and "You Should Probably Leave." There wasn't a lot of banter from the stage, but Stapleton and his band, including wife Morgane Stapleton, didn't really need more than soulful vocals and good songwriting to keep the audience engaged.
Normally, musicians brush off a drunken yell for "Freebird," but Stapleton didn't even need the prompt. He launched into the first verse of Lynyrd Skynyrd's anthem before transitioning into his "The Devil Named Music." Stapleton closed with "Tennessee Whiskey," and the show ended smooth and sweet.
The field at Congo Square also was packed to see R&B star Fantasia. Early in her powerhouse set, she paused to give the audience a chance to snap some photos and requested they put their phones away so that she could give them their money's worth. And she did just that.
The crowds at the Gentilly Stage were treated to cool breezes and shade from a thick cloud cover for most of Vampire Weekend's set, but the band was as sunny as ever, with its indie rock sound infused with Afropop and Caribbean influences.
Longtime Vampire Weekend fans can debate how the band changed when founding member Rostam Batmanglij left in 2016. The remaining core of Ezra Koenig, Chris Thomson and Chris Baio is still going, and just released "Only God Was Above Us" in early April. But at Jazz Fest Saturday, there was some unplanned lineup juggling. Baio was sick, so Thomson became a "one man rhythm section," as Koenig called him, and he switched off on bass and drums. Ray Suen shared duties on bass and an array of other instruments.
The group handled the changes well, and working with so many multi-instrumentalists may help. The band's inclusion of musical influences has them working in some lap steel here, violin there, and more.
Crowds fill the stands during the Chris Stapleton performance on the Festival Stage on Saturday.
The touring lineup also includes Colin Killalea on sax and guitar and Will Canzoneri on piano. Canzonerie is from the Deep South, and at one point he showed he's not unfamiliar with New Orleans by launching into a solo version of "Big Chief."
The whole band was leaning into pleasing the crowd, sporting what they said were vintage store finds of early Jazz Fest printed shirts.
And they played a lot of the hits that originally drew fans and two Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album.
Gambit recaps the first Saturday out at Jazz Fest 2024.
They opened with new song "Classical" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" with its reggae beat, and "Unbelievers," before digging more of the new album. "Capricorn" seemed right in line with previous material. The new song "Connect" was full of long instrumental flourishes, and Koenig said he calls the song "psychedelic Gershwin," and perfect for a jazzy crowd, he added. They also played "Prep School Gangster" off the new album, and Koenig said it might be the first time they've played it at a show.
There were some detours, though it's not clear if that was about how many songs Thomson mastered in his crash course on bass, or if they were just enjoying themselves. They offered to play anything for an audience member who said it was his birthday. He wanted Springsteen, and the band got pretty far into "Hungry Heart" before Koenig abandoned the project. They also said they'd play their song "Bryn" for a woman in the crowd named Bryn, but they also abandoned that mid-way through. A "Saturday night," sultry sax version of "Flower Moon" went much better.
They saved a lot of popular songs until the last half hour of the set, and the crowd was very into the closer "Walcott," "A-Punk," and "Diane Young." Along with tunes like "Oxford Comma" and "Campus," Vampire Weekend can get into some wordy songs — often about social issues — and yet, with its upbeat sound, it never feels like a protest band or even very somber. The crowd ate it up, and Koenig promised the band would come back with Baio for a longer show next time.
The Batiste Brothers Tribute to Russell Batiste on the Congo Square Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Congo Square was absolutely packed for The Batiste Brothers' tribute to the late Russell Batiste, who died last September. While the show was technically billed as The Batiste Brothers, it was much more of a family affair, with Russell’s brother Damon, their father David Batiste Sr., and uncles, cousins and others representing four generations of Batistes taking the stage.
From the first “What?” hollered in ohmage to his brother’s catch phrase, the crowd was deeply invested in the show, The band played through a number of their originals like “Louisiana” and “It’s About Family” as well as a few covers and New Orleans standards, much to the delight of the crowd.
It was a fitting, loving tribute to a lost legend of New Orleans’ culture.
Playing first thing in the morning is always a dicey situation for bands. Between brunch, hangovers and the general sluggishness of the pre-noon hours, crowds can be hard to come by. You’d think that would be especially true for a dreamy, genre-defying band like People Museum.
But that wasn’t the case for their 11:15 a.m. set on the Gentilly Stage where the band mesmerized a sizeable crowd for its entire 45-minute performance. The band worked through much of its catalogue, including songs from its latest EP "Relic."
It was a decidedly mellow, experimentally minded way to start the third day of Jazz Fest, which was fitting given the beautiful weather, chilled out crowds and psychedelic sensibilities of many of the artists on stage Saturday.
Gambit will be out each day of the fest to capture all of the music, food and sights.
