Mardi Gras 2003 in Acadiana

(3/10/03) Everything is relative.   I've been visiting Acadiana every year for Mardi Gras festivities since 1996 and now that I live in Lafayette,  the number of events I've attended during the long weekend (Friday thru Fat Tuesday) looks positively laid back when compared to prior years.  I had a great time, what with lots of friends in town, all those dance floor reunions, but nonetheless this year I took it much easier than in the past.   

Here are some highlights from the festivities:

Friday night:  Keith Frank at Hamilton's Club.   There was a great dance crowd at Hamilton's and Keith put on a terrific show - down to business right away with no excessive fiddling with the sound system.  He looked and sounded great - in fact, he appears to have  lost a lot of weight lately.  Check out his just-released CD, called "The Zydeco Icon", which can be purchased at keithfrank.com.  

Saturday was a busy day.  It started at the jam-packed Zydeco breakfast at Cafe des Amis, with Thomas Fields playing on the Cafe's expanded dance area, which greatly reduced the hazardous conditions for the waiters/waitresses trying to serve breakfast amid the commotion.  Afterwards, a new tradition may have begun at  Gerry Spangler's Mardi Gras King Cake party, located at his home, now dubbed the "Breaux Bridge International Hilton" and located about a mile or so down the road from the Cafe. A laid back crowd enjoyed light refreshments, dancing under Gerry's shaded carport, and the opportunity to visit with friends outside of the clubs.  From Gerry's I continued on to a  Crab feast at a friend's home in Opelousas - cracked crab, sausage, boiled corn & potatoes, yams, more King Cake... yum!  For my evening's outing, I decided to go to  Sonny Landreth's CD Release Party held at Grant Street.  Sonny is an awesome slide guitar player and when he plays, crowds gather in front of the stage and just stare open-mouthed at his wizardry.  This night was no different.  I also met the owner of Grant Street this evening and got to go back stage for the 1st time.  (there's an entry room with a fridge, tables and lots of musical memorabilia on the walls, and then a larger room behind that with sofas and armchairs.)  In the near future, Grant Street will be opening up a music store in a space located near their front entrance, to sell local CDs and advanced tickets for their shows.  After Raccoon Records closed a few months ago, there has amazingly been nowhere to find an extensive selection of local music in the Lafayette area - unbelievable for a town that has such a wealth of musical talent.   

On Sunday I  had breakfast with friends at Dwyer's and then had a lazy morning.  Around 4pm we went over to Whiskey River for their annual  Mardi Gras Party with Balfa Toujours followed by  Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys.  All I can say is what a zoo!  I have never seen that place so packed.  Ray Abshire filled in for Dirk Powell during Balfa's set, which was a really crowd pleaser.  A large percent of the crowd were in Mardi Gras costumes and every time the Mardi Gras song was played, folks got even more charged up.  Kevin Wimmer & Courtney Granger brought the house down playing a killer version of "Blue Runner".  Later Kevin joined the Mamou Playboys to add some of his high spirits and excellent fiddling to their show.  The Mamou Playboys repertoire has been shifting away from swamp pop and rock and back to their interpretations of traditional Cajun  material, examples being a fine Dennis McGee medley and  "Pa Janvier",  and  some songs the band has written that expands upon these traditions without shattering it, such as David Greely's  as-yet unnamed Cajun swing tune & Sam Broussard's Vini Jilie. 

On Lundi Gras (Monday), I made up for having a relatively slow paced Sunday.  I started with a visit to What Bayou Trading Company to attend their  "Artists on the Patio" Celebration.  Many local artists and craftspeople, including Trish Ransom ('debris' art and jewelry),  Barbara Roberds (photography) and Don Brasseaux (furniture) and Dennis Ward (clay masks) had their works on display.  We were all very disappointing to learn that What Bayou will be closing its storefront  in the next month, although there are currently plans for the  shop to maintain its web presence.   From What Bayou, many of us continued on to Eunice and the St. Landry Council on Aging's Annual Mardi Gras Dance, featuring Zydeco Force.  Once again  the 4 year old  Broussard boy stole the show, displaying amazing talent for so young a child. After taking an afternoon break, some of us headed over to La Poussiere in Breaux Bridge to attend the annual CFMA Mardi Gras Ball.  The costumes were fantastic, the dance floor is one of the best there is and Walter Mouton keeps the crowds moving on it.   The next stop was Step Rideau at El Sido's and then, if that wasn't enough, I ended the evening at Grant Street to see Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys again.  Perhaps the funniest thing I saw all Mardi Gras, was at this Grant Street show.  At one point during the set,  from the passion of the moment and music, no doubt,  Jimmy Breaux (BeauSoleil's accordion player) jumped on top of Kyle Hebert's shoulders (Kyle  play bass with several local Cajun bands) and the duo went running back and forth on stage as Jimmy flailed his arms excitedly.  Watching the band's faces as they one by one became aware of what was going on was just hilarious.

Mardi Gras day was spend in rural Acadiana - at T-Mamou, Iota's family-oriented celebration, highlighted by the children's Mardi Gras performance,  interesting homespun crafts booths and music by various bands including Rosie Ledet.   From Iota, many of us traveled on to Eunice to see the Mardi Gras riders come in, and later dance to Paul Daigle and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at the stage located down the street from the Liberty Theater.  This is one not-to-be missed event.  Over 600 Mardi Gras riders, dressed in traditional costumes, on horseback, drinking beer, with captured chickens for the evening's gumbo dangling from their horses, coming down the narrow streets, occasionally interrupted by wagons holding either Cajun bands or port-a-potties.