It is Carnival time and the weather outlook is bleak. There isn't a date left on the parade calendar where there isn't at least some doubt as to whether or not people will be sloshing about in boots and ponchos. If you are so equipped and hardy enough, it's usually not such a bad deal. The parades look a bit messier but the crowds are lighter. If you can stay dry enough, it's possible to have a fine time. This still doesn't stop some of the larger krewes from getting nervous. So nervous, in fact, that some of them are talking crazy talk.
Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni said Wednesday that he has had
queries from multiple New Orleans Mardi Gras krewes, asking if their
parades could roll in Jefferson Parish if necessary. Multiple inches of
rain, strong wind and thunderstorm are expected throughout the weekend,
according to the National Weather Service.
After buzz about
possible rescheduling on Tuesday, New Orleans police announced that all
parades would roll on their scheduled days, but times could be changed.
"I've
had some discussions with a couple captains candidly, just saying that …
'if we had to move, could we talk to you?' I said 'we're open to
anything,' " Yenni said in a press briefing. "I'd have to get with our
sheriff's department to make sure we could accommodate that. … but if we
can help put on Mardi Gras, we certainly want to do so."
Or maybe it's just Yenni talking crazy. The krewe spokesmen all sound like they're cooperating with NOPD. Although, the "candid discussions" with Yenni might also be a bit of back channel brinksamanship over rescheduling. Or maybe they're just looking to pick up some of that sweet JP moolah.
Wednesday, the parish council voted to give $25,000 subsidies each to Caesar and the Krewe of Centurions.
"Some
council members are choosing to give money directly to krewes that will
help their efforts," JP Council member Jennifer Van Vrancken said. "One
of the things that I do is support the Rhythm on the Route band
competition. So my office helps fund all of the winners."
JP
President Mike Yenni said taxpayer money given to the krewes is well
worth the price when you consider carnival has a $24 million dollar
economic impact on the parish.
"So for the small amounts of money
that the parish council has allocated to these krewes, to kind of help
them out on those prime nights and prime weekends, we're seeing return
on that investment," Yennis said. "Hotel occupancy in Jefferson Parish
is up to 90 percent."
We've talked at length about the problems of route consolidation already so I don't want to go too far into that right now. Orleans Parish parades would do well to disperse away from the St. Charles route back into the neighborhoods to spread the celebration more evenly across the city the way it was once not so long ago. The Jefferson Parish issue is an added layer on top of this, though, having to do with the white flight origins and lingering racial divisions between New Orleans and Metairie. That dynamic is changing again in the era of gentrification. As the city becomes more desirable to wealthier whites, the suburban lifestyle is starting to change as well. These trends are beginning to manifest in the Carnival calendar.
Anyway, we'll have to see how that develops in the future. Right now we're more concerned with the rain since that is definitely affecting things. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to ruin anybody's time entirely, though. Often a little rain on a parade isn't all that bad. We've seen our share of it already and have come through pretty well. Here are some photos and stuff.
Saturday was touch and go for the five parades that rolled through Orleans Parish. Pontchartrain got off without a hitch. Captain Sam is one of my favorite Carnival icons. He and I are the same age and we both lived in New Orleans East for a time when we were younger.
Also it looks like they've done away with the pretense of titling their royalty with roman numerals. I guess I can get behind that.
I don't have any pictures of Choctaw or Freret. That's when the quagmire began. It was bad. And I felt bad. I had to go lay down for a while, frankly. But somehow we rallied in time for Sparta.
Because the previous night had been a little too much about straight whiskey when it should have been about Miller Lite, Saturday had to be about Diet Coke when it also should have been about Miller Lite. (This also may have something to do with being the same age as Captain Sam but never mind that right now.) The point is, we watched Sparta and Pygmalion without drinking any alcohol. Yes, it is perfectly fine to do this.
Let's see what pictures look good here. The intermittent rain didn't make it easy. Sparta had a Shakespeare theme of some sort. It looked very good. Here is their Taming Of The Shrew float. It had a big ol' pelican on it.
Pygmalion wants to be First Weekend Endymion. (Tit-Dymion? End-Mini-on?) This year its captain (some Rizutto or another.. Is it Jack or Phil?) cut some TV ads promoting the parade and ball as a major event. That's not unheard of but it is unusual. Especially for a first week parade. I'm not sure why they feel like they have to do this. Are they worried about being eclipsed by the growing spectacle of Chewbacchus across town? Anyway, it's funny.
The parade is fine. It really does look like somebody tried to make an Endymion but just didn't have enough parts. Maybe some day they will pull it off. The rain made this attempt appear less successful than it could have been. Here is what I mean by the comparison.
These maid and duke floats are modeled on the long procession that Endymion typically begins with. The riders are supposed to have big headdresses suspended from the rigging behind them. But the rain must have messed that up Saturday. Anyway you see what they did there.
They've also developed a couple of gaudy, led-covered signature floats. The Jester here is a reference to the French Quarter daiquiri shops the Rizuttos also happen to run.
They try to bring in a lot of cool marching clubs as well. The Krewe de Lune is in either its third or fourth year now.
The theme was.. sea creatures or something... I forget. Here is a 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea float. The floats in both Sparta and Pygmalion looked good despite the rain.
It's actually a pretty nice parade. The wanna-be-Endymion air of it only makes it seems smaller by comparison. In any case, both of these parades were fine examples of how persisting through a little rain can pay off.
We are hosting out of town friends this week and these were their young children's first Mardi Gras parades. So the weather wasn't ideal. But we are pros at this and as such we had spare ponchos for everybody. The right gear really does make all the difference. There still isn't much I can do for my camera, though. So I only got a few phone snapshots. Most of them are bad.
I did feel obligated to get a shot of their monument joke. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. But the subject is more than tired at this point.
Druids also offered commentary on the shorter Canal route. They're correct here. Maybe a little whiny and passive aggressive in tone. But still..
There was also the traditional, but subtle, knock at Nyx which you can see in this blurry photo if you want to click on it. It's just a purse with some big bills spilling out of it. It's a reference to Nyx's iconic symbol and the ongoing controversies over the grifter in charge of the krewe. Here she is now on her Captain's float.
As we have come to expect with regard to the "largest parading organization in all of Carnival" the problems with Nyx didn't have as much to do with the rain so much as they did with... being Nyx and doing Nyx things.
Crowds stationed around Magazine and Upperline streets got a bit more
time to plead for hand-decorated purses after a float hit tree limbs on
Jefferson Avenue, leading to a downed power line and a brief delay in
the Krewe of Nyx parade, according to Entergy New Orleans and the city's
emergency-preparedness department.
"A float came into contact with tree limbs," said Yolanda Pollard,
spokeswoman for Entergy New Orleans, and the limbs fell onto a line
servicing a single property on Jefferson Avenue, near the start of the
parade.
Yeah yeah, it was a freak accident and could have happened to anybody. But for a self-proclamed "superkrewe" that always ends up being a little too big for its britches, not quite fitting an oversized float down an Uptown street is a little bit too on the nose as a metaphor.
We experienced the delay as an extended gap in the parade which is kind of a rare thing these days and so kind of nostalgic. Here is the back of the parade catching up.
Due in part to the power line incident and to the weather, Nyx ended up being kind of a wreck; delays between floats followed by very large floats going way too fast
through the rain to try and catch up, that sort of thing. The typical Nyx problem of too many floats with no bands or marching units between them was in evidence again this year. Toward the back end, it starts to feel very much like a truck parade.
There's nothing wrong with a truck parade, of course, especially when, as is the case with Nyx, everybody seems to know one or several of the riders. That plus the light crowd makes for a prime opportunity to catch pretty much everything. The first-timer children in our group enjoyed the hell out of that. One can even appreciate the chaotic atmosphere of watching a parade struggle not to fall apart. Which, really, is the most appropriate way to celebrate during a thunderstorm anyway. Nyx might not be the Prime Time event it bills itself as. But, for this year, anyway, it might be the model for pushing on through the weather for the other superkrewes to emulate.
How to be a good host and still party down at the parade?
To help less experienced parade party hosts master the day, we asked Scineaux, Tim Acosta of Rouses Supermarkets, who is known in his food-centric family for hosting big backyard parties, and longtime caterer Linda Kleinschmidt-Schmidt for tips.
Ok it's mostly common sense. But the point about big batch dishes is good common sense to observe. At some point, over the course of the parade season, I usually end up making a big jambalaya. Menckles has a great chilli recipe that works particularly well when it's cold out. (It hasn't been this year. Last weekend, she made spaghetti instead.) For Mardi Gras Day I always make two pounds of red beans. Last night, we made what we hope will be the final big grocery run of Carnival. After Thursday, neither of us is all too keen to move our cars.
Chrissy Teigen,
the supermodel and author of the cookbook "Cravings" (Clarkson Potter),
had a question Sunday (Feb. 19) for New Orleans: who makes the best gumbo.
Teigen is actually one of the better celebrity follows on social media. Even if you don't care about the Hollywood and lifestyle stuff, she's witty and outspoken on a number of topics. It's why she can ask about gumbo and cause that to become one of those "Today on Twitter" items on NOLA.com. I even participated by way of having some of my photos retweeted at her by somebody. This truck looks like the sort of place to find pretty good gumbo. I didn't try any, though.
If you weren't in the mood for that stuff, there were plenty of other options along the route on Sunday. Here's a taco truck parked out in front of Rite Aid.
Brother's seems to have taken over Williams Supermarket. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Seems like we've lost a local-oriented business in favor of a more visitor friendly grab-n-go.
On the other hand, 24/7 seems nice. Remind me to check on that later to see if it's real.
Then you've got the regular collection of traveling carnie vendors selling fried goo of various sorts.
The "brick-and-motar" places along the Avenue are selling street food as well. One of the newest is the super-fancy Lula distillery and restaurant. They were making fancy drinks and selling cheap beer at fancy prices.
But Mardi Gras really isn't a time for fancy drinks or prices. It's more about the joys of tacky and cheap. On Saturday night, for example, this guy would sell you an orange daiquiri. If you wanted an orange daiquiri.
The Krewe of Pontchartrain even ran a food-based theme, as well they should given that their mascot is a catfish.
The first weekend parades are almost always lighthearted stuff. Pontchartrain's parade this year, for instance, was all about different things you can have on your po-boy. One of their tropes is they like to tease the crowd with extremely easy fill-in-the-blank float titles. So there were floats called "_oa__ _e_f" and "M_at__l" for (Roast Beef and Meatball) and, of course, "__ri_p"
The NBA All-Star Game appears to have gone off fine for the celebrities and high rollers for whom the entirety of downtown was pretty much walled off throughout the weekend. It turned out well for Pelicans fans too. First they got to see their hometown star pull down an MVP trophy with a 52 point performance. Nevermind that it was totally rigged.
In a game typified by selfish play, it was clear West teammates were
giving Davis additional opportunities that may not come when the game is
outside of New Orleans. Whether it was Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook,
Marc Gasol or DeMarcus Cousins, Davis was given chances to finish
possessions, just as West coach Steve Kerr predicted Saturday.
“It was amazing,” Davis said. “That's what I wanted
to do. I stressed that, I think more than enough, to the guys in the
locker room before the game that I wanted to get the MVP for this crowd,
for this city, and I ended up doing it. Them guys did a great job of
just finding me, giving me the basketball. They wanted me to score 50.
Every time, Kawhi (Leonard) was like, 'Six more points.' Or James
(Harden) was like, 'I'm going to pass you the ball.'
Next, they apparently stole DeMarcus Cousins from the Kings. At least that's the way they seem to feel about it in Sacramento. Maybe it was totally rigged. Or maybe the Kings are stupid.
Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a top-three protected 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 second round pick. That’s it.
That’s all the Sacramento Kings got for a center who is still young and
good enough to be a foundational NBA player. Exactly what sorts of
shocked, horrified noises should you be making in response to that
trade? Here’s some guidance: According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the
Pelicans had offered the same package minus Hield to the 76ers in exchange for Jahlil Okafor—who really sucks!—and didn’t get it done. Please, try to keep it down.
Whatever it is, you won't hear many complaints in New Orleans. All told, the All Star Weekend nobody really wanted could have gone a heck of a lot worse.
On Sunday morning, the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale celebrated the All Star Game with a float full of players' wives introducing their theme, "Femme Fatale Hosts Game Day." Turns out "Game Day" meant floats representing various board games like this Candyland number for example.
Still, it made for a nice kid-friendly day parade. You have to get up early to see it, but Femme Fatale puts on the best all around show of the first weekend Uptown. In just three years they've really blown up.
It doesn't hurt, also that they've managed to book some of the best marching bands. This year they were led by Southern University. They always bring the thunder and the lighting.
Music:
I had the bike Sunday morning which allowed me to get up and down the route and hear Southern play a few times. It's kind of dumb that I only stopped to record a few seconds of their cadence but I'm sure I'll see them again this year. I did happen to film the US Marine Corps band leading Alla later in the day. There are marching bands that are more exciting but the Marines produce a sound that is unique among them.
By comparison, Brother Martin High School here could use a little polish.
That's also Sunday afternoon, by the way, when Krewe of Carrollton once again unloaded all of the Catholic School bands... or maybe they left Brother Martin for King Arthur. Shit, I don't even remember now. Carrollton's parade was about music, in any case.
So.. you guessed it.. the floats were (mostly) songs you would find on jukeboxes. Like this KISS song.
Or these country "hits."
Some of the floats didn't make any sense, though. There was one about shrimp boots or something that didn't seem to have any connection to anything. Having the Elvi roll in front of a "Jailhouse Rock" float was pretty cute, though.
Seen a lot of the Elvi already this year. They were in Cleopatra too. Anyway, it was a perfectly fine Carrollton parade. Maybe felt like they were going through the motions a bit. I'm not really complaining, though. That's not what this section is about. The next section, however...
Complaints:
Actually, let's start with other people's complaints. In Uptown Messenger this week we find Owen Courreges writing the obligatory parade etiquette column so that we don't have to. I guess, he says it well enough. He comes off as more of a scold than he probably wants to. There are the standard reminders in there about the laws governing ladders and the blocking of intersections. Here is the point he makes about space saving.
POINTER #3: You can’t save a spot.
This is, perhaps, the most difficult rule for many people to
remember. So many people visiting New Orleans suffer from the
regrettable misconception that they can stake out a location in advance
of a Mardi Gras parade, and then exclude any unauthorized persons from
said location.
However, the places where people view parades are streets and
sidewalks, i.e., public rights-of-way. You can’t claim “dibs” over them.
Everybody has equal access. You can only claim a space with your
physical presence.
Things would go more smoothly if everyone understood this from the get-go. A lot of first-timers and/or people who only come into New Orleans for Endymion or for Thoth Sunday have a bit of a learning curve to deal with. I think if the city continues to take action like it did this week on the Orleans Avenue neutral ground, behaviors might start to change over time. The good news, though, is that they can also change within the space of an evening.
The secret to dealing with an over-Chad-ed parade route is patience. As tight as things may feel at the beginning of a parade, they almost always loosen up as the day or night goes on. People get more familiar and less paranoid. Everyone stops worrying so much about their territory and focuses instead on watching the parade or talking to people or, well, just doing what they wanna.
Nine times out of ten, you'll probably end up at the front for at least a float or two. Really, what you'll find is that you don't necessarily need to be in any one spot in particular anyway. It would be nice if people would recognize this straight away. And, like I said, the city is right to step up enforcement with an eye toward accomplishing this. But, usually, the Chads don't have anywhere near the power to ruin your good time that you may think they do. There are always exceptions to that rule but just keep it in mind.
On Saturday, the tents and ladders on the neutral ground only blocked a few people's view of the hapless Krewe of Freret. Below is a photo of their permanent royal fixture, Councilman Jason Williams dressed up, for some reason, like a stormtrooper.
This is Freret's fourth year. Unlike Femme Fatale, though, they've never made the leap out of beginner status. Their theme was, basically, "Hello this is our fourth year." All of the floats were loosely titled with some sort of pun using the number four. The floats were also mostly the Krewe of Boo floats so, in a lot of cases, the theming made no sense. Here is a float called "May the Fourth be with you." Ok. But why is it Dracula? No idea.
Freret, as usual, also just seemed pretty raggedy in general. Noticeable empty spots where riders could be. That sort of thing. On the other hand, they do seem to enjoy themselves. I'm not sure about this but I think the "Lucha Krewe" appears in other parades although I also think they are a Freret creation.
So that's pretty fun. Maybe this whole parade should just be a marching club or something.
Speaking of marching clubs, here is something else that came up this week. The T-P is running a column by someone calling herself, "The Mardi Gras Czar." Okay, fine. I guess. Can the Czar be cited for overuse of third person voice, though? And the gimmicky language in general? She's also a contrarian with hot takes to offer. Consider this, for example.
Truth is, Mardi Gras Czar loves the mostly-female marching groups' spirit, costumes, boots and skill at applying fake eyelashes.
But what Mardi Gras Czar doesn't love is that the ratio of women's
marching groups to live bands seems to have mushroomed in recent years.
New Rule:
For every marching group that parades to recorded music, there should
be at least three live bands, high school or otherwise. While City
Carnival Ordinance Section 34-14 mandates that "each parade shall have
at least seven, but no more than 30 (30!) marching bands," there is no
language pertaining to marching groups.
For example:
The Krewe of Nyx was a highlight last year. Great throws. However,
there were so many women's marching groups in Nyx that I wondered if the
krewe simply forgot to book more than a few marching bands.
The thing is, despite the shticky presentation with the "New Rule" and such, she's kind of got a point. I don't know if the problem is exactly recorded vs live music. But there are situations where the marching clubs are starting to feel a little bit redundant. There have always been dance troops in parades. In recent decades, a new generation of them inspired by the Pussyfooters (seen here in Femme Fatale Sunday) brought a refreshing DIY artistry to the game.
Groups like this added a new dimension to the parades. They're an element that really set Muses apart during its early years, for example. Nowadays they're everywhere. And that's not itself a bad thing. Check out the Dames de Perlage and their homemade costumes, for example.
Or the fabulous Roux La La doing a Brazilian theme this year.
We seem to have reached a point, though, where these acts, including even the World Famous 610 Stompers, aren't the surprise element they once were. So when they are deployed by a parade that uses them, as The Mardi Gras Czar implies, in lieu of marching bands, then that can get a little boring. Freret felt like this on Saturday.
So did King Arthur a little bit on Sunday. Although, I will give that parade a lot of credit for owning its own limitations, throwing generously, and having a sense of humor.. or at least.. for putting Monty Python quotes on all of the float titles.
Their rented floats didn't fit a specific theme on their own without a little narrative help from the tittle cards. That was fine, though. It's cheap but it works. See, the Knights of the Round Table dance whenever they're able... they dance to ABBA.
#LastKnightInSweden?
Finally, in complaints, there are probably too many parades the first Sunday. This is yet another consequence of the over-crowded Uptown schedule. This is, I think, Alla's third year since moving over from the West Bank. According to the schedule, they begin at 2:00 PM. In practice, they are a night parade.
That might be OK if they were worth waiting for. But there isn't much to distinguish Alla from the three parades that preceded it. There's this big "Alla-gator" float.
Also, Alla emphasizes military and law enforcement every year so you get to see the coast guard and some friends of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand.
At the end of a long day and weekend, it can feel like a let down.
Police:
In addition to the Coasties and the JPs, in the parades, there is also the heavy presence of municipal enforcement all along the route. Here is NOPD's observation tower.
I wonder what happens when they have to pee.
Of course NOPD aren't the only agents of the law you might encounter. The real business is being conducted by parking enforcement.
Also, here again is our friend with the daiquiri cart. I didn't have the chance to investigate further but this appears to be a permit inspection. Or maybe there is some sort of code against selling orange daiquiris that are actually red.
Politics:
This is probably an item for later in the week. But as krewe politics becomes more relevant this week, here is a brief guide we produced last year for you to keep in mind.
Yes, it's a joke. And, yes, some of those groups share riders and it's not... look, don't @ me over this.
Instead, here is something to read. It's an ANTIGRAVITY article by Robin McDowell about the 1946 flambeau carrier strike. There are echoes of this in the current plight of so-called "culture bearers" who struggle to make ends meet entertaining the tourists and upper classes of our increasingly stratified and unaffordable city.
So few people who live and work in New Orleans actually ride atop
floats. Those who work ungodly hours day and night in restaurant
kitchens preparing New Orleans’ famous cuisine can’t actually afford the
food they cook (let alone a market rate apartment). The holders of
exclusive tickets bestowed for glamorous balls dance away their
one-night affairs, upholding the mutually engendering exchange of
appalling sums of money and social capital. The hours of work of
artists, security guards, sanitation workers, cooks, servers, and
delivery drivers are also part of this exchange.
Working at a Mardi Gras parade isn’t community service. It’s not
“patriotic,” as the post-World War II ads would have people believe.
It’s not something you do out of the goodness of your own heart to
improve the living conditions of vulnerable communities. Being paid for
your physical labor in smiles is an embarrassing and exploitive idea.
Most of the tasks that don’t include sitting on a float with plumbing,
heat, cold booze and snacks are bonafide wage labor.
Let’s look backward down Canal Street to 1946, and give a nod to a
tiny minority of courageous souls who realized a strategic advantage and
seized it. A humble few can wield some serious power—enough to shut
down one of the greatest shows on earth.
Advice:
Travel pieces about New Orleans this time of year can get pretty insufferable. But this National Geogrpahic listicle wasn't so bad. Maybe the restaurant recommendations are a little high end. Anyway, here is my "insider's tip" for this year. Skip Chewbacchus on Saturday night and go see the Uptown parades. It's becoming a bit of scene at Chewbacchus anyway. And the reviews, as of late, are less than.. um.. stellar.
They need to change the name Chewbacchus to Intergalactic Krewe of people walking looking bored.
Meanwhile, the popularity of the Bywater spectacle thins out the crowd on St. Charles where there are plenty of lightsabers anyway.
What you'll see there is Sparta, always a good looking classic style parade with flambeaux (pictured above.) The Sparta theme was based on different editions of Cirque du Soleil (and some puns.) My pictures of their floats didn't come out so great. Here is this year's King.
Following Sparta is a very ambitious Krewe of Pygmalion. Every year, Pygmalion tries a little bit harder to earn its Saturday night headlining slot. Here are their signature Jester and Pygmammoth floats.
Elaborate float design, fancy lighting, and a general bigly-ness gives this the feel of one of the later parades but on the first weekend and playing to a more manageable crowd. Pygmalion. Consider it.
Controversies:
Today is Wednesday and that means the "self-proclaimed Super-Krewe" of Nyx is back tonight for its sixth ride. According to the Arthur Hardy guide, they're already the second largest krewe in terms of membership.
But its explosive growth has also come with some growing pains. If you like one great big float after another, you will have enjoyed the last few years of Nyx. Sometimes it feels uneven, though. Almost like a truck parade. But, boy are they ever desperate to be recognized.
The ladies of the Krewe of Nyx have cemented their place in Carnival
history with the unveiling of a krewe crest plaque at the Mardi Gras
Fountain.
The Nyx plaque is the first to be added to the
Lakefront landmark since 2001. Nyx members dedicated their plaque Monday
night, in advance of their Wednesday parade.
“The Krewe of Nyx is
honored to be represented here at the iconic Mardi Gras Fountain, a New
Orleans tradition. We are honored and humbled to be among the storied
and historic krewes that comprise Mardi Gras today and in the past.”
said Julie Lea, captain of the Krewe of Nyx.
At least in the news, it does. For the nearly 3,000 krewe members, none of this stuff is important. They're just here for the big parade. And the remaining 40 percent of the city's population not riding are here to see it. Oh wait... but at some point we're expecting a Plus One.
Lost in the hurlyburly of the first weekend of Mardi Gras, the first
month of Donald Trump's presidency and the firehose of "fake news" comes
this definitely-not-fake-news from Weekly World News, the former supermarket tabloid that now seems to be an online-only affair.
Billed (rightly) as a "Mardi Gras STUNNER!," the WWN seems to be the only media outlet to report an alien vows: "I'LL LAND MY UFO ON BOURBON STREET — ON FAT TUESDAY!"
