The last week has brought to StLJN a steady trickle of visitors searching for information on the Mardi Gras celebration in St. Louis. For the basic rundown, I'd suggest checking the Soulard Mardi Gras celebration's official Web site and this article by Dianne Toroian Keaggy from last week's Post-Dispatch.
That searchers would come to a jazz site for Mardi Gras information makes a certain amount of sense, if for no other reason than that both jazz and Mardi Gras originated in New Orleans.
However, don't expect to see a lot of jazz bands (or blues bands for that matter) at St. Louis' official Mardi Gras events, because, regrettably, once again organizers seem to have gone in a different musical direction. According to the Post article linked above, the headlining band for Parade Saturday (February 2) on the main stage in Soulard will be...Evolution, a Journey tribute band.
Because nothing evokes the spirit and traditions of Mardi Gras like a Journey tribute band.
Further sarcasm seems inadequate to the task here, so I'll just note that since last year's headlining act was a Kiss cover band comprised entirely of little people, perhaps this year's booking actually represents a step back on the "cheap gimmick" scale.
True, there will be some opportunities to hear jazz, blues and Louisiana music around the area over the next couple of weeks. For example, the very entertaining group Gumbohead, who play Zydeco, funk and New Orleans R&B, are doing a bunch of gigs over the next couple of weeks, including co-headlining the Mayor's official Mardi Gras ball. As mentioned here a couple of times already, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be in Alton this weekend to play the Argosy Casino. And a few of the Soulard spots will likely have a blues band or two over this weekend and next, although the most vibrant blues in town now is heard not in Soulard, but in the so-called "South Broadway triangle" to the north.
Just don't expect to go to the official events in Soulard on parade day, and expect to be able to hear a lot of jazz and blues with roots in New Orleans and/or St. Louis. Further evidence that we're a long way from the French Quarter: In addition to the outdoor stage spotlighting 1980s hair-rock, on parade day the official Mardi Gras organization has also sanctioned a tent sponsored by motorcycle maker Harley Davidson that will feature a number of local rock and hip-hop acts, missing another opportunity to showcase Mardi Gras' signature sounds.
As someone who's now a member of the "hey, you kids get off of my lawn" generation, at least demographically speaking, I don't expect organizers to cater exclusively to my musical tastes for an event that seems geared mostly toward hard-drinking twenty- and thirty-somethings.
Still, it's not only a shame that organizers don't see fit to include culturally appropriate music like jazz and blues in St. Louis' Mardi Gras celebration; it also seems like a missed opportunity to appeal to those potential celebrants who don't want to hear generic rock. I'd think a tent or indoor venue featuring a smartly-booked selection of jazz and blues acts would do great business on parade day, but I suppose we'll never know.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Right on the money... or, should I say beads, Dean! No, it's all about the money, of course.
For (supposedly) the second biggest Mardi Gras celebration on the planet -- which is very difficult to believe -- St. Louis has no concept of what Mardi Gras is really all about.
It all comes down to community... just like in NOLA.
So why not celebrate community with music that is inclusive and local rather than the mindless, cover band crap the folks in charge seem to think is appropriate?
it all smacks of a decidedly huge inferiority complex. But hey, that's another story - and an unfortunate one that has always plagued our area's cultural history.
So how do we - or anyone else with a modicum of musical taste and an appreciation for the depth and talent on the local music scene - get to be a decision maker here?
Maybe that's the real story...
I completely agree. I'm a 19 year old St. Louis native and college student with very wide muisical tastes and I absolutely love New Orleans jazz and blues, but it's a complete disappointment that the closest thing to real jazz and blues on Mardi Gras that I will hear will be from my iPod.
How hard (and possibly cheaper for that matter) can it be to book dozens of blues and jazz acts? There was a Blues festival back in September and this is St. Louis!
Why the hell would I want to see Journey live? Wait, its a Journey cover-band? CRAP. I'm sorry, but annoying rock ballads, unoriginal bands, and hip hop do not belong in
Mardi Gras. Whoever organized the music line-up should be forced to listen to Journey for the rest of his life.
I love this city (and New Orleans as well), but I'm afraid that Mardi Gras will never be what it SHOULD be until those "organizers" stop whoring Soulard out to the corporations and actually try to make Mardi Gras a communal celebration of St. Louis' heritage. Just because a crap-ton of hoosiers will come into "St. Lew-is" to get drunk doesn't make it right to book a Journey cover band.
I say those of us who support a REAL Mardi Gras petition early on to get some real music on stage next year...I don't think this is what the founders of Soulard MG had in mind when they were parading down the street with trombones and tubas...God knows if I'll even hear THOSE this year...
Post a Comment