May 1, 2016

JazzFest (cont'd)--

Happy May Day!  

Love the tradition of leaving flowers on someone's doorstep as a Happy Surprise!  Leaving this Hibiscus, 

Easter Lily & Swelfie...

on your Doorstep!!!  Hope you like!!!  These are flowers growing in our yard and this is Michael and I on the way to the last day of JazzFest 2016!  

We are here to see Arlo Guthrie's 50 Year Anniversary of Alice's Restaurant, headlining the Jazz Tent this afternoon, but we are anticipating an entire day of FUN!!!!

The stellar line-up had us shaking in our boots--shrimp boots that is!  Really glad to have these as the Jazz Tent started to fill up and not just with Music-Lovers!!!That isn't a shiny floor--it is water!  They had the pumps going, but we were, as Beans Barton would say, In The Puddle of BeFuddleMent, fersure! We were there for the duration and there were plenty of Happy Surprises today...Started out with a local that I hadn't heard, Brother Tyrone and the Mindbenders, Excellent stuff!  Then, I always love Terrence Simien and the Zydeco Experience.  And what an Experience!  

Back in 1986, the band I was in, Dog's CurFew (Yes, prior to Lips & The
Trips), opened for him at Fitzgerald's in Houston.  He was the only band I wanted to see at the Club that month (no Stevie Ray that month) so it was perfect.  I remember he used to take off his shoes and go running up into the balcony with his mini-squeeze box, his scratchy-board player following. He has not lost his spark and just gets better every year!!!  Love him!!

Got a very Happy Surprise that--Ms. Carolyn Wonderland would be sitting in with Ms. Marcia Ball!!!!! Niiiiiiiiiice.

I couldn't get a good shot, but she performed "Ain't Nobody's Fault But Mine," which I had seen her do on The YouTube on that Texas TV-Show with Bonnie Raitt.  FANTAB!!!Marcia Ball's always good and in addition to Carolyn, another Austin-ite, Shelly King was onboard this go-round.We weren't prepared for the Staple Singers--WOW!  Mavis Staples is still going strong and what a group of talented folks she has with her.  Sorry about the photo quality, but you get the idea:  you don't need a lot of bells and whistles when you are the Bell & Whistle!

Speaking of Bells/Whistles, how about Mr. Arlo Guthrie and his daughter and son with him?!!  His lovely daughter, Sara, came out first and beautifully sang three songs accompanying herself on acoustic guitar: including Donovan's "Catch the Wind," one of my favorite songs from the ole Hippie Daze.  At first I was disappointed because she explained that her Dad was at the end of a long tour and needed a bit more of a break, but Aleluia, Another Happy Surprise!  I wouldn't have missed her!  She was adorable--commenting on how it was they were playing folk music in the Blues Tent at the Jazz Fest!  

Then of course, Arlo:  Started out with "I don't wanna pickle..."  They were coming to an end of a one-and-one-half year "Alice's Restaurant's 50th Anniversary" Tour.  I owned that Alice's Restaurant album and played it ALOT.  He did the entire song perfectly and afterwards joked, "If I knew it was going to be so popular, I would have made it shorter!  Too late now!"

He did "Chill of the Evening" and a jazzed-up version of "St. James Infirmary."  He explained he had to do one Ledbelly song each performance as since Heddy Ledbetter was a friend of his Dad's, Woody Guthrie, and he met him when he was two years old, he had to keep his memory.  

His stories and recollections are classics by themselves: Woodstock!  Wavy Gravy!  Brown Acid! Molecular Structure!  Launched into "Comin' into Los Angeles" with the end of that story, appropriately enough.

And ended with "The City of New Orleans" train song with everyone singing along! 

He played the Jazz Fest a couple of years ago and I knew Michael would like it so I made sure we got here!  We both loved, loved, loved it.  Worth all the water, the storming, the wading through to get food (but no lines at the Food Tents!) and the waiting...A Lips Recommendation! 

And lest we forget how far we have come, here are tickets from the past-- 

In 1985 the price of admission to The Louisiana Heritage Fair was $5.50--"No Pets or Glass" and in 2009, $25.00 got you in to the N.O. Jazz & Heritage Fest--Presented by Shell and there was no "No Audio/Video Recording."

May 4, 2016

Lips & The Trips at Mahogany--

Lips & The Trips played our usual Mahogany Jazz Hall Burlesque Bar and Absinthe House with the Australian Janis Joplin, Jewels Sidiropoulos sitting in (on what else?  A Joplin tune) with us and Long-Time Fan and Stalwart Supporter, Kendal Petri cheering us on!

May 5, 2016

Cinco de Mayo--

Iiii-Yeeeeee!  My Super Honey Bandito saving us from El Gringoes!

And saving Jewels & I from bad food!--

May 7, 2016--

Pleasant visit with Jewels on our balcony, pampered by the weather and Our Fave-Rave Certified Executive Chef, Michael!  Michael is proudly sporting the apron Jewels brought him from Australia!

Jewels proudly sported these blue eggs from her Hostess' brother's chickens, on St. Charles Avenue!  Thank you to you both!!!

And to Pixie, sportin' some mighty fine whiskers--

Later that afternoon, we attended the Art Walk on Magazine and met up with neighbor Kendall and Kingston (what a coupla Cuties!) at the Breaux Mart parking lot--

It was way too crowded for us and after a quick peek inside the Dat Dog outside space, a quick hello to the owner and neighbor Joanna, we split for a more quiet environment, our balcony--

Peace & Pomegranates

May 8, 2016

Mother's Day & Sydney's B-Day Bash with Lips & The Trips

Lips & The Trips was extremely honored to play Phamed Photog Sydney Smith's Birthday Bash at his Uptown Hacienda.  We opened and backed up some super-stellar players and had a big time to boot!  

Psyched to be playing--

with these two who did not hug the thistles--

Just me-- hee hee

Mark, onstage, about to crank it up--

Matthew DeOrazio played drums then switched to guitar when we asked for volunteers from the audience to sit in on the traps!  Yowza!

Jimmy Hall (from Wet Willie) got up and sang and played harmonica!  My sister had that album and I used to listen to that song:

"If I don't love you, Baby, then--

Grits ain't Groceries,

Eggs ain't Poultry and

Mona Lisa wa--as a ma-an"

He still had it and it was fun playing with him.  The audience was great.  As was Sherman Bernard's sound system and Sound Man--

I met Sherman when he was a young pup at Tipitina's doing sound for Jimmy Thackery who was opening for The Rads, Mardi Gras, 1985, Beauty!

My Happy Birthday Spanking Paddle that Carolyn & Mitch gave me back in 1995 when we used to play my BeeDay at Checkpoint's came in handy!!! After I broke it out and we broke the ice and S.s' bottom, we BROKE THE PADDLE!  OUCH!

I invited his "friends" up to spank him, and he began a "This is Your Life" segment with each one, talking about how they met and how their relationship progressed.  The funniest repartee was with his ex- and current business partner in Haunted History Tours, Kahlila--

Wanted to get Jewels up to sit in, but she arrived the moment I walked off the stage! Did get to visit, however, and there was Peter!  Met him from Anastasia Shaw back in the day.  He was her English teacher and I drove across the Lake in The LipsMobile to his birthday party one night.  Don't see Stacy, but I see him at Sydney's Events.

The other "Usual Suspects"--

Tony & Tyease Seville

Andre & Chuck (not pictured) were trying to get thrown out; Michael Dearie was just trying to get some mudbugs--

She wants some Birthday Cake--

Sydney wants to blow out his candles--

And I want to go home with My Honey after a nice dip in the pool--

Lest we forget how far we have come, a former Sydney Party, me sporting the Vox Phantom IV and Sydney, sporting facial hair, c.1999-ish!  (Pete Alba in the background)--

From Left: L.J. Goldstein, Joshua T-Bone Stone, Sydney, Bicycle Louie (R.I.P.), and Yours Truly.  THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, Y'ALL!

May 14, 2016

Bayou Boogaloo Bike Pub Crawl--

Was excited that Ole Pals Lee Kester & Pat Dunn were in town and rented bicycles from Amusing Bikes to join us on our annual pilgrimmage with Peter, The Nutty Tour Guide on his Pub Crawl:

Cruised by some new and old spots, always with a twist from our Entertaining Guide. Here, at the former Eagle Saloon on Rampart, just off of Poydras Street in the CBD.  This was once Louis Armstrong's neighborhood, rich in people, music and "goings-ons," as I discovered in his first Auto-Bio, Satchmo, My Life in New Orleans, a great read!  

Here is Lee at Duncan Plaza, in front of City Hall--they tore down Louis' boyhood home to build City Hall in the 1950s.

Church near the old LSU University Hospital

You can see the former Falstaff Brewery beacon in the background--

Took part of the new Lafitte Greenway to a favorite stop, Judy's Oop Ooh Pah Doo Bar (named after her grandfather, Jesse Hill's song) and she sang it with the band!

The newly-renovated building housing the Mid-City Movie Theatre and Alco-Bev Snack Bar was our next stop, with a/c and (what else?!) Alco-Bevs! Last year, the project was in its infancy so it is great to see how great it turned out!  Lovely!  Looking forward to catching a flick there in the near future!

As has been in the past, ended the day at the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club where the Pinettes Brass Band were once again playing.  

May 25, 2016

Lips & The Trips, Mahogany Jazz Hall

Was super-excited because my Mentor and Idol, Sean Walters and his lovely and generous wife, Susan Kennedy arrived in town and would be at my gig.  Sean helped me start out back in THE DAY!!!!  He still performs solo and in his band The Louvres and I was ecstatic that he consented to sit in with us on a song he used to always have me come sit in with him, Freddy Fender's "Sea Cruise."

Jewels Sidiroupolos was also back from Greece, attended and sat in--it was a Hoot of a Hootenanny with a stage-ful of FUN and FROLIC!!!!

 [All photos phorthcoming!]

June 1, 2016

Lips & The Trips, Mahogany Jazz Hall

We scored every Wednesday night this month, except the 15th.  Really loving being back out performing.  Matt El D'Orazio has been drumming with us and he is a total blast-off!  Also, MOJO, who had a birthday (6/23) on the 23rd and performed his nasty red-headed song in my honor after I sang him his Happy Birthday serenade.

June 20, 2016

Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's 77th Birthday & Party

Love this man a big bunches and they threw a party for him at Cafe Istanbul at the Healing Center.  I think he broke the world's record on photographs being taken.  We need to notify Guiness!  Big ole birthday cake and a big performance from our Idol.