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Festival Of New Orleans

I popped along to this yesterday cos it's near where I work. Due to the nature of the venue it was rather soulless, but the music i saw was excellent.


I hadn't been there before and found the layout a tad confusing. As you go in the main entrance go round to the right. On your right is the Indigo Stage which is clearly marked. Go past past hundreds of restaurants and bars and you eventually get to an open area on the left, this is the Louisiana Pavillion Stage, but isn't marked as such. To get to the Matter Stage you have to go a bit further on and through a little door on your right. The only way you will be able to tell it's there is by the numbers of people going in and out. Hope that helps.


I saw Kermit Ruffins who was amazing, and the end of the Annointed Jackson Sisters set, which was very impressive too. Confusingly I wasn't allowed to take my drink into the Matter Stage to see Beausoleil, but I had taken one in there earlier to see Kermit Rufffins.

There wasn't much in the way of New Orleans food or drink, maybe there'll be some more today.
 
What a weird old night. In almost every way, it was an abject failure.

The advertised Bourbon St honestly amounted to a banner saying Bourbon St hanging above the usual bars and restaurants selling paninis and burgers.
There was no vibe at all.
They hadn't set up any bars to cope with the volume of people - so you had to queue for hours in small bars that were understaffed and overpriced.

Security were all over you like a rash.

They'd stuck the 'main stage' in one bit of what was essentially a corridor running the length of the dome. There was no vibe, the sound was appalling, you couldn't get a drink and if you went for a piss you likely couldn't get back in.

There was NOTHING that made you feel you weren't just being fleeced in some corporate shitpit. It was so frustrating - to spend presumably huge money getting so many people over from New Orleans, and then fail to live up to it with the decor, the vibe, the facilities...

.. And yet. And yet. The Rebirth Brass Brand in the Indigo venue were on fire. And despite the sound, the lack of facilities, the fake grass, the heavy-handed bouncers, Dr John on the Main Stage was fantastic. I finally got to see one of my heroes do Walk On Gilded Splinters, Tipitina, Right Place etc etc. It may well have been a cheesy substandard set, I've no idea. He was just ace and redeemed the whole thing. But then I'm partisan. For most people it was a dreadful awful soulless disappointing experience, and that's a shame
 
El Jefe said:
What a weird old night. In almost every way, it was an abject failure.

The advertised Bourbon St honestly amounted to a banner saying Bourbon St hanging above the usual bars and restaurants selling paninis and burgers.
There was no vibe at all.
They hadn't set up any bars to cope with the volume of people - so you had to queue for hours in small bars that were understaffed and overpriced.

Security were all over you like a rash.

They'd stuck the 'main stage' in one bit of what was essentially a corridor running the length of the dome. There was no vibe, the sound was appalling, you couldn't get a drink and if you went for a piss you likely couldn't get back in.

There was NOTHING that made you feel you weren't just being fleeced in some corporate shitpit. It was so frustrating - to spend presumably huge money getting so many people over from New Orleans, and then fail to live up to it with the decor, the vibe, the facilities...

.. And yet. And yet. The Rebirth Brass Brand in the Indigo venue were on fire. And despite the sound, the lack of facilities, the fake grass, the heavy-handed bouncers, Dr John on the Main Stage was fantastic. I finally got to see one of my heroes do Walk On Gilded Splinters, Tipitina, Right Place etc etc. It may well have been a cheesy substandard set, I've no idea. He was just ace and redeemed the whole thing. But then I'm partisan. For most people it was a dreadful awful soulless disappointing experience, and that's a shame
Click to expand...

What jefe said really ( except I didn't see the people that he saw ) . The actually venue to hold it was a pathetic , having to be in a crowd moving very slowly to get about 20m in 30 minutes was fucking stupid , a bit of stewarding would have sorted that out but I got the impression since most people weren't paying customers and were there for a something free the O2 couldn't have given a fuck .
Even if I wasn't currently boycotting the O2 venue (free stuff is ok because you don't have to pay for it ) I probably wouldn't bother going back there unless it was something I really wanted to see .
 
Glad I stuck to Plan A then.
Thought a lot about going to this but decided to go shopping and clubbing instead.
Maybe next year it will be better?
 
I should have known better. I even had mates working there for the Festival so only myself to blame...

Corporate bollocks. In a word. No stalls , no atmosphere, hyper expensive food, in your face security, nothing for the kids to do ( apart from collect about a 1000 bead necklaces which are now scattered over the floor) only a few good bands to save anything from the mess.

I had thought that maybe they would open the arena floor for market traders or set up a kids area where the "outdoor" stage was...but no. We left about 5pm along with hoardes of others on the bloody bus replacement service as the tubes weren`t running North ( another great idea eh..>!)

A massive FAIL on every level....

.p.
 
I enjoyed myself yesterday despite the setting. Alan Toussaint and Dr John were both amazing, and i got chatting to a couple of guys from the Crescent City who kept buying me beers. Taking them to see Crystal Palace on Tuesday. :)
 
Maggot said:
I enjoyed myself yesterday despite the setting. Alan Toussaint and Dr John were both amazing, and i got chatting to a couple of guys from the Crescent City who kept buying me beers. Taking them to see Crystal Palace on Tuesday. :)
Click to expand...


Not really worth going , I reckon forest will turn a corner and stuff palace !
 
What a shame this turned out so negatively for many. I'd definitely have gone had I been in London, I saw Dr John last year (Rhythm Fest 2007) and he and band were fabulous then, and the lineup generally this weekend looked terrific.

But it sounds like there was all sorts of wrongness .... :(
 
there was no cajun food, that put me in a bad mood, no food how dumb is that? Although watching small people punch the inflatable tobasco bottles and then run away made me laugh.

Oh and it was cold :( But the music made me smile:)
 
onenameshelley said:
there was no cajun food, that put me in a bad mood, no food how dumb is that? Although watching small people punch the inflatable tobasco bottles and then run away made me laugh.

Oh and it was cold :( But the music made me smile:)
Click to expand...

I wasn't allowed to punch the tobasco bottles :( :D
 
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