1) I expect to be roundly slapped for this but it has to be said. I love New Orleans music... but I absolutely hate Jazzfest. Nothing could be more un-New Orleans than a confined no reentry venue where admission is an outrageous $40.00 per day.. where you're not allowed to bring your own liquor... where the food is good but ridiculously priced... where the crowd is mostly white, largely upper class, professional, out-of-town, aging boomer-fallen hippies, who view their participation in this rip-off as a means to purchase some degree of "authenticity". In other words.. it's an annual gathering of Chris Roses from around America.
And no, Katrina did not change this. This is borne out in the headlining acts.. a virtual who's who among pseudo hip non-threatening soft rock for white people who aspire to affect a certain brand of with-it intellectualism. Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffet, was Dave Matthews there again? What a fucking joke. And I don't care if Bruce Springsteen thinks he's Pete Seeger these days (although Pete Seeger would be bad enough) he's still Bruce fucking white bread Springsteen. Jazzfest still represents the worst of the commodification of New Orleans culture. Don't try to tell me this year was different. I was there Saturday. It still sickens me.
2) The latest Antigravity has a nice feature on the recently departed Mike Frey. The recently reconfigured M.O.T.T. band (a space crud project created by Frey and certain other assorted knuckleheads) will open for the Hazard County Girls this Friday at One Eyed Jack's. I believe tickets are eight dollars at the door. If you tell them I sent you you will likely be asked to leave.
See also: A friendlier take on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival by Adrastos
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