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HOT SEVEN
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| Best Bets of the Week |
02 01 05 |
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| hotpick |
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LUNDI GRAS is much too tasty a Mardi Gras appetizer to miss, so set your alarm clocks nice and loud for Rex and Zulu Tuesday morning, and remember -- there will be plenty of time to recover during Lent.
Last-minute costume shoppers will dig the final day of the French Quarter Mask Market (10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dutch Alley in the French Market, 522-2621), featuring wearable art by more than a dozen local and national mask makers, plus live music from the Lil' Rascals and Hot 8 brass bands.
Mardi Gras kings and queens abound on Lundi Gras. Kenner Mardi Gras royalty will make an appearance at the annual festivities at the Rivertown Exhibition Hall, with live music, food and performances honoring the monarchs of the krewes of Argus and Zulu (10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 415 Williams Blvd., Kenner, 468-7231, ext. 220; www.kenner.la.us/lundigras.html).
After that send-off, the latter will be off to the 13th annual Zulu Lundi Gras Festival. The daylong outdoor party features three stages of music (one for the kids) and includes performances by Marva Wright, Charmaine Neville and the ReBirth Brass Band. There will be food vendors and hourly second lines by the costumed Zulu Carnival characters, and the festival culminates in the arrival of the king and queen of Zulu on the traditional Coast Guard cutter at 5 p.m., followed closely by the arrival and unmasking of Rex, king of Carnival, at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Woldenberg Park at the Aquarium of the Americas; www.mardigrasneworleans.com/zulu/lundigras.html).
Parades continue as well, with Proteus and Orpheus rolling Uptown at 5:15 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., respectively; the latter features the cowboy-hatted, bare-knuckle patriotism of Toby Keith as celebrity monarch.
In the clubs, the free "Rock the Block" party features cover band Bag of Donuts and roots-rock stalwart Cowboy Mouth, with new bass player Sonia Tetlow (who recently replaced Mary LaSang in the ever-shifting CM rhythm section), celebrating the Fat Tuesday re-release of its 2000 album, Easy (Valley) at 2 p.m. at the Howlin' Wolf (828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF; www.howlin-wolf.com). Later, the Wolf brings out powerhouse funk trio PBS (11:45 p.m.), featuring George Porter Jr., Russell Batiste and Brian Stoltz. Galactic and Athens, Ga., jam band Tishamingo are at Tipitina's (cover $20. 501 Napoleon Ave., 895-TIPS; www.tipitinas.com), while the Neville Brothers hold court at the House of Blues (225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE; www.hob.com); cover $30, showtime 10 p.m. Cult hero/organ freak Mr. Quintron (pictured, with Miss Pussycat) will coax strange noises and dance music out of instruments of his own devising at One Eyed Jacks (615 Toulouse St., 569-8361); call club for cover, showtime is 11 p.m.
After all that, it will likely be Mardi Gras by the time you get to bed. Maybe you should just stay up. -- Alison Fensterstock
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The time warp back to the '80s is in full effect. There are girls wearing leg warmers, a Bush in the White House, and bands that sound like Echo and the Bunnymen, U2 or Joy Division. In the case of the Early Day Miners, this is not a bad thing. The latest album from this Bloomington, Ind., five-piece, All Harm Ends Here (Secretly Canadian), has a shimmering yet melancholic sound. The songs build but rarely climax. This band lets its music wash over the listeners. In the tight confines of the Circle Bar, Early Day Miners' chime-like notes and echoing guitars on tunes like 'All Harm' and 'The Purest Red' should have an overwhelming effect. Chris Brokaw (formerly of Boston's Come) and locals Bipolaroid are also on the bill. Cover $5. -- David Kunian
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- Reckless Kelly, opening for Pat Green
- 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3
- House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE; www.hob.com
This Austin, Texas-based roots rock band made its debut at Jazz Fest in 2004, and the band's new Wicked Twisted Road (Sugar Hill) shows how it developed its following. The opening tracks are a twang or two from the best commercial country, with melodies and choruses you can sing, and singer Willy Braun sounds like a guy you'd like to drink with. 'Stick Around' will sound like a natural country single to rock fans and a natural rock single to country fans. 'Sixgun' revs up the tempo and distortion, and the riff for 'Wretched Again' recalls the Standells' ³Have Love, Will Travel.² Heard next to headliner and fellow Texan Pat Green, it's easier to notice how much rock 'n' roll Reckless Kelly has in it. Tickets $25. -- Alex Rawls
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- The Upper Crust, Supagroup and Dash Rip Rock
- 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4
- One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., 569-8361
If at some point during Carnival, you've had your fill of marching bands and chorus after chorus of 'Mardi Gras Mambo' and you want to hear some friggin' rock, this is your show. The Upper Crust from Boston and local Supagroup specialize in cool, hard-rock riffs with an appropriately nasty sense of humor (watch for the band in Saturn Wednesday night shooting a video). Dressed in pantaloons and powdered wigs, the Upper Crust sing foppish anthems like 'Let Them Eat Rock' and 'I've Got My Ascot and My Dickie.' (The band also has an interest in the hip lower Garden District bar The Saint.) Supagroup's 'Let's Go' (from the upcoming CD, tentatively titled Rules) features the immortal couplet: 'She's got me penciled in to meet all her friends / Damn, I miss the NFL.' Rounding out the bill is Dash Rip Rock. How was Mardi Gras celebrated in the days before Dash? Call club for cover. -- Rawls
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- The Go-Go's
- 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6
- House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE; www.hob.com
If fame is a moth-to-a-flame proposition, few bands flew into the fire as quickly as the Go-Go's. But no matter what, we'll always have those three thrilling albums in four short years: the 1981 masterpiece Beauty and the Beat, 1982's Vacation and 1984's Talk Show (all on IRS). The true believers of the L.A. punk scene may never forgive these five cool chicks from varying cliques -- Belinda Carlisle was a cheerleader, Jane Wiedlin wore a punk snarl, etc. -- trading in their trash bags for mini-skirts. But whether they were stumbling through a cover of 'Johnny Are You Queer?' or popping bubble gum to 'Our Lips Are Sealed' or even 'Head Over Heels,' they represented female bonding at its finest. Tougher than the Bangles and sweeter than the Germs, they pre-dated the Donnas, and everyone's better for it. Their reunion efforts (including 2001's God Bless the Go-Go's) have been fleeting, and loyalists may wince at Carlisle's Playboy spread here or Wiedlin's The Surreal Life casting there, but the Go-Go's will always have the beat. Tickets $40. (P.S. Look for them riding on a Krewe of Muses float Wednesday night.) -- David Lee Simmons
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- Bacchanalia at Bultman
- 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6
- Bultman Funeral Home, 3338 St. Charles Ave., 525-3377; www.saveourcemeteries.org
Local nonprofit Save Our Cemeteries once again offers Bacchus-goers the chance to watch the superkrewe roll in grand style -- while also supporting a good cause. Held annually at the historic Bultman Funeral Home at St. Charles and Louisiana avenues, Bacchanalia at Bultman offers the perfect view from the expansive front porch of the property and a place to take a break from the noise and crowds with its serene back patio. Inside, the Super Bowl will be shown on a big-screen television. The party also features food including jambalaya and hot dogs, plus daiquiris, wine, beer, water and soft drinks. Bathrooms and security are provided, though limited parking is only available through advance reservations. Tickets are $50 general public, $40 SOC members, $20 for ages 14-20, $10 for ages 7-13, free for children ages 1-6. -- Frank Etheridge
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The Bad Off 10:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7 Fans of earnest yet nuanced rock ¹n¹ roll will get a chance on Lundi Gras to board the burgeoning bandwagon that is the Bad Off. Less than a year old, the band members bring considerable chops -- front man Erik Corriveaux toured the country in 2002 with Sylvain Sylvain of New York Dolls fame, while drummer Jody Smith has done numerous tours with Dash Rip Rock. The Bad Off gained local notice chiefly through two gigs: covering Led Zeppelin at the Mermaid Lounge¹s Masked Band Ball over Halloween, and opening for the Hazard County Girls at One Eyed Jacks in December. For this show, the band looks to showcase its brand-spanking-new album, Twilight in Eclipse (Independent), for one set, and reprise its well-received Zeppelin freak-out in the wee hours. Several free mp3 downloads are available on the band¹s Web site. Cover $5. -- Etheridge
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- Matt Anderson Rediscovered
- Through March 2
- Robert Bruno Gallery, 900 S. Peters St., 679-0001
He came to New Orleans in 1966 and attended Tulane, and he's been a presence here ever since. A presence with a camera. For years he was a contributing photographer with The New York Times, and his work has appeared in publications ranging from Travel and Leisure and Connoisseur to the Christian Science Monitor and the International Herald Tribune. But this Matt Anderson Rediscovered show is not so much about journalism as it is about his creative environment, the New Orleans streets that Anderson has patrolled for so long -- on foot or on his bicycle -- the everyday life of the city that he has observed like a fly on the wall for all these years. It's a low-key show, poignant in its record of sights once all too familiar, but now vanished, or forever transformed by time's passing. -- D. Eric Bookhardt
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