MUSICAL MORONS
Wow, I am dismayed to hear that the crowd booed Dr. John. I was not impressed that Bon Jovi was playing and was not interested in seeing him. I come to New Orleans to hear local and regional music, and I was upset that the Hot 8 was not invited because they could not get the money they asked for when there were so many obviously expensive acts. Personally, I felt there were way too many “musical morons” at the fest, which is the reason that I will personally not attend in the future. Something has been lost in the crowd—too bad. It would be so much more enjoyable if the big expensive acts and big crowds were not there.
I am a lover of New Orleans who knows it is all about the music. My first Jazz Fest was in 1984; it was small and wonderful.
—Laura Lake, Eastsound, WA
MORONS WITH CHAIRS
I was trying to exit from the front of the Dr. John audience after his set and was nearly trampled by people trying to get close for Bon Jovi. The problem is not just morons; it’s morons with chairs. There was no place to walk for all the freaking big-ass folding chairs with cup holders, umbrellas, ottomans and baby racks. Next they’ll be slinging porta-potties under their seats. Why is it fair for some people to squat out turf and “appropriate” territory when we all pay the same price? If you want to sit, use your arse. If you want on the elevator, you have to let people out first. People do this at Mardi Gras with ladders but it doesn’t bother me because I don’t have to pay $50 to stand on St. Charles Avenue.
Perhaps selling more tickets than the venue will accommodate should also be examined. I heard that Saturday was the biggest audience ever. [It wasn’t.—Ed.] I personally had to defuse at least two cursing matches between two sets of Dr. John and Bon Jovi fans. If something isn’t done to solve the problem soon, there will inevitably be a Jazz Fest marred by violence and perhaps even death in the near future.
I have been going to Jazz Fest since it began and have never had such an ugly crowd interaction as I and many other experienced trying to exit the Dr. John gig. That kind of behavior is the antithesis of what Jazz Fest is all about.
—Paul Fayard, Crystal Springs, MS
NO CHAIR ZONE
One of the best decisions the producers of Jazz Fest have made in recent years has been the creation of the “no chair zone” in front of the Acura and Gentilly stages, providing people who choose not to have a chair an unobstructed place to stand and maneuver. They should take this one step further and create an open “lane” between the racetrack and the “no chair zone,” particularly at the Acura Stage so that people would not have to climb over chairs and through the “compounds” that have been set up by the folks between the track and the infield. I attend every day of the fest and never bring a chair. At the same time, I don’t begrudge someone who enhances their enjoyment of the fest by parking in one spot. I just wish that Quint Davis et al would provide us mobile festgoers a “fast lane” to travel in so we could take in even more of the great things the fest has to offer.
—Mike Corn, New Orleans, LA
BOOING
I just read the Weekly Beat and was appalled at your report that Bon Jovi fans booed Dr. John. As a veteran of 27 Jazz Fests, I’ve learned to clear out early from the two main stages where the big, outside acts close because their crowds simply don’t “get it.” That’s why I made the tough decision Saturday to skip Dr. John, and now I’m glad I did, because bearing witness to that kind of disrespect directed toward a New Orleans music icon of his stature would have ruined my day (heck, and maybe landed me in jail). You’re right: if big name acts are necessary to maintain the cash flow to help Jazz Fest thrive, so be it. But please Mr. Davis, let’s exercise some discretion and book those who are at least known for having an intelligent, socially aware fan base (think Springsteen, 2006, as the template).
—Wayne Hearn, Chicago, IL
LOCALS NOT WANTED
I went to the Superdome box office on February 18th to buy 3 sets of tickets for the first and second weekends of Jazz Fest. It never dawned on me that the tickets I bought would specify a particular date for which each ticket was valid. What idiot thought this up? I and everyone else have always bought tickets for a weekend specifically because we don’t know three months in advance which date we might wish to attend. I might add that the schedules aren’t out then either for us to make such decisions. Also, I might want to use 4 tickets on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday, mixing them was the whole point. No one said anything about this new policy. No notice was at the Superdome and nothing in the advertisements. Try finding someone to talk to about this! This is outrageous, unfair and has put a real damper on my Jazz Fest plans. Hmmm, that free festival in Lafayette with great food and great music sounds really tempting now! Maybe me and all my local friends that support local music the rest of the year will go there instead. Clearly, locals aren’t wanted at Jazz Fest anymore.
—Bob Bolin, New Orleans, LA
YA-KA-MEIN
I want to thank Rene Louapre so much for that that write-up on me. Everyone that read OffBeat came to my booth and told me that it was a beautiful piece. I just want to tell you and the OffBeat family that I love them so much. I am taking a rest from Jazz Fest now, thank you kindly.
—Ms. Linda (the second-line Ya-Ka-Mein Lady) Green, New Orleans, LA
GRATITUDE FOR THE JOY
I’m a lifetime subscriber from the time it only cost $300. This is ridiculous now.
Out of gratitude for the joy, the knowledge and the sheer presence of New Orleans your magazine brings to the outside world each month, I respectfully donate this small contribution. Thanks again and keep on truckin’.
—Anton Vandorpe, Kortrijk, Belgium
EDDIE BO
I am planning my 28th trip to New Orleans and was looking to see where Eddie Bo was playing. I was truly saddened to hear of his passing on March 17. My friend, Stephanie Karoly, and I always enjoyed listening to Eddie, dancing to his music and talking with him and Veronica during their performances. He will be sorely missed.
Please convey our sincerest condolences, utmost respect and admiration for a superb musician and a fine human being to Veronica. My visit to New Orleans will not be the same knowing that Eddie will not be playing anywhere there but know he’s playing for his maker.
—Tony Vasil, Sayreville, NJ
PLAYING FOR PEANUTS
Jim Markway is right about the venues and owners. We have musicians in this town who play for peanuts just to have a gig. For example, [at a local hotel] a duo is playing for $240 for 3 hours. A damn shame! Give it a minute and all the good players will be gone. Bravo Jim!
—George French, New Orleans, LA
OFFBEAT, OFFBEAT ON FRENCHMEN STREET
In the April article, Another Trouble Street, John Swenson didn’t get the facts on the situation which led to erroneously accusing our neighborhood association of bad acts and intentions. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association has been a champion for enhancing Frenchman Street. We are proud of what Frenchman Street has become and for supporting and protecting businesses and residences in our community.
The FMIA was a primary author of The Frenchmen Street Arts and Cultural Overlay, created to be an incubator for live music. Simply reading the overlay and its intent would have educated him on this, as well as the fact that unlike Bourbon Street, we crafted protective safeguards into the overlay that prohibited t-shirt shops and the like from taking over.
The trouble on Frenchmen Street started when the City failed to enforce the overlay which is designed to protect the delicate balance of the mixed uses in our neighborhood. This failure allowed some business owners to develop an, I can do whatever I want attitude, disrupting the lives of our neighbors, both residences and businesses, who call the Marigny triangle home.
Some businesses forget that they are in a neighborhood. All businesses need to be aware that what they do effects the lives of people that live and work around them, some who might need to be asleep at 1 a.m. on a Thursday. They need to be as concerned with being good neighbors as they are with making money.
Swenson’s article omits the reasons why these establishments were cited by the City and State. In the case of Lazziza’s, the owner decided to play live music at such a volume and at off hours that the neighbors complained. The neighborhood association intervened to help by having the neighbors communicate their concerns with the owner and although he made some changes the noise remained unbearable for the neighbors.
In fact, the actions and subsequent inaction of Lazziza’s drove a long-standing B&B on the same street out of business because their guests could not sleep. The FMIA is committed to supporting businesses and residences to work respectfully together to make the Marigny a great place to live, work and play. If everyone follows the rules, we can all enjoy Frenchmen Street.
As for Hookah Café, when the State came out the first time they only issued a warning on the smoking issue and found no other problems. When the State returned, Hookah Café was cited again for the smoking issue but was also cited for 5 other violations of their liquor license. The neighborhood association stepped in again to try and help, but if a business decides to operate outside their license and break the law, there is little that can be done. In contrast to what was reported we came up with a solution to the smoking issue but Hookah Café decided it was not good enough.
The simple fact is that most of our businesses know and follow the law, they thrive and so does our neighborhood. Some business owners disregard the laws that affect their businesses, including the Frenchmen Street Overlay, and when they get caught point the finger at everyone else.
We support live music as evidenced by the hundreds of hours we put into working with residents, the businesses on Frenchmen Street and the City to come up with the overlay. We want it to work, and that requires that everyone play by the rules and respect each other.
Business owners who chose not to actively participate in our community and claim they have not been invited to meetings—which are open to the public, posted on our Website and printed in our newsletter which is available for free at the many great coffee shops in our neighborhood—as some sort of evidence that they have somehow been left out only demonstrate their intentional disconnect and disrespect for the people that live and work here.
It appears that OffBeat is suggesting that live music supersedes a neighbor’s right to sleep or another business’ right to operate. Ironic that a publication that’s offices are on Frenchmen Street would be so uninformed about businesses that chose to break the law and do not respect their neighbors. OffBeat is a great magazine, but in this instance, they are offbeat with reality.
—Chris Costello, President, Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association, New Orleans, LA
Your claim that my article contained factual errors is unfounded, nor do I ever accuse you in the piece of being in bad faith, and as for your intentions only you know them. You gave a clear response to my questions which I thank you for but insist on spinning the meaning of the facts in question—i.e. there are numerous vacant storefronts on a commercial street in your neighborhood— to some end that remains unclear. What is clear is that like other leaders in this city you seem to be exceedingly paranoid in response to press scrutiny. I didn’t accuse you of any wrongdoing in the piece. Perhaps you are alluding to something that isn’t actually in the story.—John Swenson
HOOKAH’S DEMISE
For almost 2 years I lived above the Hookah Café at 1409 Decatur. When I moved in during August of 2006, there were some noise issues, but only on the weekends. So the property owner for the entire building encouraged me to come up with a suitable compromise which she assured me would be enforced. I called Mr. Birman to set up a meeting with his managers regarding the noise. Together we worked out a workable plan to avoid future incidents. Unlike my predecessors, I agreed not to call the police, but rather the manager on duty if things got too loud. We then established a “maximum volume” level that Mr. Birman promised to enforce—unfortunately he never did.
Over the next year, Mr. Birman’s “restaurant” fell completely out of sync with the neighborhood’s character. More irritating, was that the club’s music exploded through the floor and into the rest of the building on a nightly basis, ignoring the compromise we had arranged. Let me be clear, the noise level was not modest, or even what I would consider loud, it was unbearable. Of course I would try and call the manager on duty as Mr. Birman had asked me to do. If no response, I would get out of bed and go down to the club to speak with the manager. Some of the staff was very nice and sympathetic, others were not. In fact, on one occasion, I was threatened as I left the club by a manager and his two personal body guards. Eventually I would have to call Mr. Birman on his cell phone, wake him out of his well-deserved sleep and hassle him to have his club turn the music down to our compromised level. In any event, the seismic shatter rarely subsided.
This situation played itself out like a broken record and on at least a dozen occasions I was forced to find alternate sleeping arrangements.
To Mr. Birman’s credit, he was not entirely unsympathetic. He fired the manager who threatened me and even bought me an ambient noise box to try and help me sleep—it did not, and the gestured missed the point entirely. Rather, I believe Mr. Birman was driven solely by a profit motive on a street and in a city that has long been about more than just profit. He said he was wasn’t willing to invest the money to soundproof the club because the landlord wouldn’t give him any assurance of continued occupancy. Fair enough. But he was also unwilling to keep the noise at the level we all agreed to. For her part, the property owner resides in California and had little-to-no involvement in settling the matter. Her aloofness was a much a contributing factor to Hookah’s demise as anything, I suspect. As for the club’s interest in the local music community, the only reason the Hookah began employing live musicians was at the behest of my brother and I who figured, “if we have to listen to something coming through the floors, it might as well be Vivaz or Gov’t Majik.” The fact is, the Hookah was zoned to be a restaurant and that’s what it should have been. But even as a live music venues, perhaps if Mr. Berman had once kept his word to keep the noise manageable, I would feel some inkling of sympathy for the owner’s plight.
I relay this story only to illustrate the disregard we residents sometimes face even as we try our hardest to compromise with sensible concessions. In covering this sensitive and somewhat polarizing issue, I would urge moderation and caution against memorializing figures like Mr. Birman without any context. There are still many residential units on Frenchmen and we owe it to them to adhere to deal struck by the FSACO. Business owners would do well to realize that it’s not simply the strip clubs and T-shirt stores, but rather the total loss of residential flavor and balance that make Bourbon Street unattractive to some locals. I for one, lament that Bourbon and Rampart Streets no longer boast the uniquely New Orleans music scenes they once did. In my opinion, they are but flip sides of the same coin, illustrating the danger of imbalance. By contrast, Frenchmen Street has found a balance and I sincerely hope that it remains intact for years to come.
—Tim Kappel, New Orleans, LA
Published June 2009, OffBeat Louisiana Music & Culture Magazine, Volume 22, No. 6.
