Last week, the New Orleans Police Department announced that they would enforce an ordinance on the books that prevents live music from being played on Bourbon Street from 8 p.m. until 9 a.m. They served notices to the To Be Continued Brass Band, who plays on the corner of Canal and Bourbon. While the NOPD didn’t arrest any of the members of the band, they made it clear that violations of the city ordinance would be stopped.
Subsequent to this, thousands of music lovers and the media (including The Times-Picayune, Gambit, WWOZ and OffBeat, among others) protested and a Facebook page quickly gathered over 10,000 followers. Someone—no one knows exactly who—put in a complaint about the brass band, which caused the police to respond.
Remember that we have a brand-new city councilperson for District C (which includes the French Quarter), Kristin Gisleson Palmer, and a brand-new chief of police, Ronal Serpas. Perhaps this gorilla-thumping-its-chest tactic was to show that the “new NOPD” means business on enforcing city ordinances. Or perhaps Palmer was contacted by the apparently few people in the Quarter who have always been against live music. Or perhaps a guest staying in a hotel on Canal Street was bothered by the “noise” of the To Be Continued crew. Or maybe a business owner on Bourbon decided that the live free music was taking people away from his bar or club.
Whatever.
As my columns through the years make it clear, this is an ongoing problem in the city, and in particular, the French Quarter. There are residents in the Quarter who do not want any noise other than perhaps the clip-clop of the ubiquitous tour carriages. The Quarter is a neighborhood, just as Treme is a neighborhood, and the Bywater and Uptown and the Faubourg Marigny. People do live there. However, I have a problem with the reaction of certain Quarterites and other neighborhood downtown groups who want to turn the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny into a suburb. I cannot understand why these people choose to live in a densely packed, urban environment that is not only an historical treasure (which means that there may be daily tours of the area) but one that also includes bars, clubs, restaurants and adult entertainment—and expect it to be as quiet as living in the Garden District or Metairie.
In a lot of ways, the Quarter has been exploited shamefully by some of the businesses that now operate there. They’ve eschewed our indigenous culture, which includes live music, cuisine, love of our laidback lifestyle and the joy we take in celebrating just about anything we can think of—and they’ve turned the Quarter, notably Bourbon Street, into a place that’s celebrated for unsavory debauchery (not that I have anything against debauchery, but please, no vomiting on the street!).
So what changed over the years?
New Orleans has allowed its culture and uniqueness to be swept away by the almighty dollar. Commercialism over authenticism. We simply cannot allow it to continue by sweeping away some of the sweetest things New Orleans has: her music and musicians.
I do understand that residents need a decent quality of life, but if you choose to live in a tourist area (and let’s face it, the Quarter has been touristy for over a half century at least), you have to live with the hassles that come with living there, including loud garbage trucks, tours, tourists and street musicians. Residents of the Quarter (and the Marigny) don’t want another Bourbon Street in their ’hood. This I can certainly understand. But there has to be a solution that can work for everyone. Frenchmen Street seems to be working fairly well; the city imposed a “Cultural District” zoning overlay on the street to limit the numbers of bars, music clubs and restaurants the street can handle. Did no one ever consider doing this for Bourbon Street? Or North Rampart Street?
My point is that no one who reads OffBeat can tolerate the thought of music not being able to be performed on the streets of New Orleans. The current ordinance is obviously too restrictive and needs to be amended. Residents, musicians and businesses need to come together to determine what works for all of us. This means that all of us need to contribute to the thought processes that will result in something that will keep our city’s music and also keep our historic neighborhoods as places where people can live—albeit with the issues that come living in an urban entertainment district.
This means that we can’t just complain about it; we have to bring everyone to consensus—the mayor, the city council, the NOPD, musicians, businesses and residents. There is a neighborhood meeting on July 10 at the Maison Dupuy at 6 p.m. that would be a good forum to discuss and present solutions. Note I didn’t say to bitch about the situation. We’ve had enough of that and we need to move on. I’ve posted the names, phone numbers and email addresses of groups and people who could be relevant in helping to come to a solution.
I’d really like to see the next season of Treme take on this issue. So far, the series has certainly made a point of showing the adversarial position taken by the NOPD on things like second line parades, Mardi Gras Indians, and street musicians. Can we make it a bit stronger next season? Get Toni Burnette involved in this fight—especially since the real person the Toni character is based on (local attorney Mary Howell) has been a part of this issue for many years.
A final, gushing note to the writers, producers, cast and crew of Treme after the first season: I am so thrilled and proud that you’ve shown the world my city, with all of its quirks, flaws, loveliness, decay, problems and warm and resilient people. Oh, yeah, the music is pretty damn hot, too. The show’s not only a hit here—where we appreciate your attention to detail in “getting it right”—but worldwide. Can’t say I’m surprised, but it says so much about the care and attention you’ve given this series. Congratulations to you, and thank you for telling it like it is. We look forward to much more of Treme.
P.S. Happy, happy birthday to our own Pete Fountain on his 80th (July 3) and to Little Freddie King on his 70th (July 19)! Pete will be honored on Saturday July 3, at a concert at the Rock ’n’ Bowl from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with protégé Tim Laughlin heading the ceremonies. Da King will celebrate on July 16 at BJ’s Lounge. We love you and wish you all the best.
