The recent media coverage of Tipitina’s being put up for sale sparked a huge amount of discussion on the Internet. A thread on the newsgroup neworleans.info began almost immediately after an article on the possible sale of Tip’s ran in The Times-Picayune with dozens of people voicing their opinions on why the club was put on the market, who will buy It, and what fate It will suffer in the future.
The respondents to OffBeats sixth Internet poll were equally vocal about the pending sale of the legendary Uptown club:
“The House of Blues has been aggressively trying to capture Tip’s market & has succeeded. They have hired away talent, booked the bands and provided an atmosphere similar to Tip’s albeit sterile. More like a ‘Tip’s at Disneyland’. I guess that appeals to some folks; not me. HOB also has promoted itself through their TV show– I assume that’s had an effect.”
“HOB Is obviously the cause. It is a corporate invasion into N.O. Music-culture— something that had been mostly avoided. Not a good thing. The neighborhood of Tip’s seems to be the biggest problem, but it’s hard for an owner to do much about that. I think we’ll be lucky if Tip’s survives in any recognizable form.”
“Tipitina’s can no longer compete with the House of Blues for top name acts, and they did not catch the zydeco wave. They need to experiment and clean up the place without losing its funk.”
“The [Times-Picayune] said that prolonged road construction and the change in the drinking law had something to do with [Tipitina’s being put on the market], but I think that it’s mainly the House of Blues. As I understand it, the booking agent from Tip’s went to House of Blues and that probably hurt Tip’s the most.”
“I hope Tips will re-emerge quickly. I could go on for many bytes about the cool shows I’ve experienced there. I have to concur that the House of Blues is stealing some of the thunder, but it seems there is more than enough thunder in a city like NO. I hope that someone invests in the heritage/music that is Tipitina’s. ”
“I understand all of the bitching about HOB’s, but business is business. Jack and everybody at Howlin’ Wolf seem to be pulling through. Then there is the question of ownership not endearing itself to the musical community. Maybe selling Tip’s would be the best thing that could happen to the club.”
The solutions offered to reinvigorate Tipitina’s vary widely:
“If I were the new owner, I’d try new things: afternoon shows on weekends, better food, more ‘festival’ type things (who says piano night can only happen at Jazz Fest?). Tip’s has a reputation as being the native music joint, and programs or events that fostered and built up this would help, too. For instance, during the daytime, partner with the Orleans Outreach program (run by Jon Lohman) to make a music and heritage community center for school children. ”
“I hope it’s not necessary but perhaps Tip’s should go for the ‘new’ music. It’s better than shutting the doors, but I’ll miss seeing Dr. John, the Nevilles, Radiators & Subdudes there. ”
“Tip’s should survive with a little attention. I’d hate to have It give up the ghost and cede leadership to the House of Blues alone. While HOB has served to invigorate the local music scene, it’s still an interloper, or should be considered as such.”
“Will Tipitina’s persevere as the home of New Orleans roots music? I sure hope so. I hate to think it will no longer be a showcase of the New Orleans sound. I would also hate to see the new owners change the name of the place or remove the statue of Professor Longhair. Things do change, however, and maybe the new owners will need to try something different, like catering to the college crowd with alternative rock bands.”
If Tip’s does start trying to attract more alternative bands rather than New Orleans roots music, it will lose a great deal of appeal to crowds who have frequented the club for years. But given the recent rise in popularity and national attention of bands such as Better Than Ezra and Becky Sharp, by booking these bands and their contemporaries Tip’s may once again achieve its status as New Orleans’ premiere music club. Many of our survey respondents question not only the future of Tipitina’s, but the entire New Orleans music scene that is becoming increasingly popular to fans beyond the borders of Louisiana:
“As alternative music starts to take a down spin in artistic merit-if not popularity, more fringe and local areas will start to shine, and I think New Orleans can be one of them. Certainly, with the success of local places with a decidedly alternative focus (all the coffee shops, the changes along Magazine Street Pie in the Sky, Snake & Jake’s) the pieces are in place.”
“Major IabaI signings do have an affect on the local scene. In Austin there is always a flurry of interest and rumors of signings that go on for months after one major label signing. New Orleans has years of experience with this situation.”
“New Orleans may attain the next music city fad status like Seattle & Minneapolis but that never lasts long. The effect on more traditional Louisiana music, i.e. jazz. R&8, zydeco & Cajun, could be more exposure. New Orleans already has a grass roots reputation as a great music city.”
“It depends on how the public embraces the artists, some like the new stuff– some don’t. I don’t. I prefer the roots! I think the majority of N.O, does as well. Oh gosh, wouldn’t it be horrible if Quint Davis promoted more of these Generation X bands and Jazz Fest became Jazz Festpollooza. Once again, its great for those bands-but not my taste.”
“I am 48 and not into progressive/alternative music: I prefer traditional N.O. music: R&B, jazz plus zydeco and some Cajun. New Orleans does not promote newer artists simply because there is too much to go around. Other cities, Seattle, for example does not have a musical tradition to maintain so promoting newer bands happens by default.”
“Thanks to my teenagers and Dave Letterman, etc. even an old fart like me can keep conversant in some of the new bands. I don’t get out to the clubs much these days. Since my youth, the city has seen its musical life grow and become re-invented. No doubt that signing groups like Better Than Ezra will help greatly. Hopefully, over-exposure and homogenization won’t be the end result.”
“New Orleans’ culture breeds bands like Better Than Ezra and Evil Nurse Sheila!. They are bright kids with a lot to talk about, and they do it loud. I’ve heard BTE and ENS, and was impressed.”
“New Orleans will never be a Seattle. Recording interest has been steadily on the rise over the last 3-4 years, and it will probably continue its sluggish pace. Nobody is really looking extra hard at New Orleans due to these two bands signing. I think that if the Cutting Edge Conference is run OK this year, it would do more for local music. ”
“ENS, Lump, Nut, and Weedeater are the best bands in the city. They deserve and warrant just as much record label interest as do A.G.B., Nut, the Royal Pendletons, Burnversion, and so on. They’re the true DIY, hardworking, innovative bands. Watch out, there’s quite a grass roots DIY scene happening to let the world know about what’s “really” happening in New Orleans via the WWW and Internet (I’m glad you guys at OffBeat are on the bandwagon).”
Local bands are establishing themselves on the ‘net, and as with everything on the World Wide Web the number is increasing dramatically. As Mark Meister reported in OffBeat’s June issue, Bent Media, Inc. has devoted some space on the ‘net, the “Psychic Dancehall” (http://www.bentmedia.com/bentmedia/bentmusic), to provide the world with a taste of Lump, A.G.B., Evil Nurse Sheila!, The Royal Pendletons, M.O.T.O., Weedeater, Nut, and Gimp. Things have been a bit slow-going, and as of late July only Lump had a significant space, complete with photos of the band, clips of five tracks off Lump’s Sloppy Atrocities record, a few links to other Lump and New Orleans music pages, and the “Hack-O-Matic” random rock criticism generator. A.G.B.’s page has a band photo and fields that allow users to “send your luv letters” to the band, but not much else.
Ironically the New Orleans band with the most extensive Web space as of yet is the Radiators, who have nothing as techno-geeky as Evil Nurse Sheila!’s “Litany of the Cosmic Circuit.’ Paul Toracinta’s Radiators Home Page (http://conan.ids.net/-bluzman/radhmpg.html) has photos of band members (a brief autobiography by Ed Volker is in place; other band members’ bios are on the way), a catalog of Rads records, contact information for Croaker Records so users can buy records and other merchandise, and a song list and lyrics for all the tracks on the Rad’s forthcoming New Dark Ages.
Another veteran band, the Neville Brothers, have also made it on the ‘net. George Gerhold, a Nevs fan from Washington, D.C., put an unofficial home page up for the band at Yatcom (http:/www.yatcom.com/neworl/entertai/music/nevilles/neville.html) with a lengthy history of the band, bios of Art, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril, and a complete discography of records made by the band as a whole and as individual members.
