New Orleans City Hall must learn to respond to music needs. The city is struggling—and has struggled for as long as OffBeat has been around—to learn all about why music, and the people who create it—are important to the city. The powers-that-be seem to be trying, but may still not understand all the intricacies and hardships involved in presenting music, and for musicians to continue to survive when there’s literally no place to play. It’s hard enough in non-COVID times to make a decent living as a musician, and during the pandemic, it’s been pretty much impossible. Thus: livestreams, outside venues, porch concerts and the like.

The city has required anyone who presents a “porch concert” to purchase a permit, and the numbers of attendees has been limited; this was set up of course, to try to prevent the spread of COVID last year, when the threat of the virus spread was much more likely. Jack Bosma, a local business owner, put together a porch concert to help local musicians to earn some sorely-needed tip money, but did not purchase a permit. Here’s what happened.

Bosma’s porch concert—that featured Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes—was shut down 15 minutes after the performance began, because the NOPD said that a neighbor called to complain about noise. Since Mr. Bosma did not have a permit, the NOPD reasoned that the concert could no longer continue. But the complaining call was not made because of issues related to COVID; it was noise-related. Perhaps the NOPD would have allowed the show to continue had Mr. Bosma had a permit. Once the complaint was lodged, though, NOPD had a duty to ask for a permit, which is reasonable, because requiring a permit for these types of events is what’s currently on the books. By the way, these permits were only set up after the spread of COVDI became an issue.

More problems like this will obviously continue to happen if the city does not eliminate or revise the permit, which, by the way, apparently has restrictions that are quite burdensome for some good souls who just want to help local musicians make some tips, and thus survive the lack of paid gigs—with no thought of making money for themselves, only the musicians.

Now that we’re in safer territory, the porch concert permit requirements should be eliminated or revised significantly. Audience size, social distancing, and all kinds of other variables need to be reassessed to reflect the current state of affairs. Porch concerts are by their nature outside, and thus a lot safer for everyone under current COVID protocols. Moreover, the only people making money at these events are the musicians, who desperately need the income.

Also, according to attorney Ashlye Keaton, since these porch concerts are not ticketed (like a music venue or a festival), they fall under First Amendment protection, just as buskers are free to perform in public spaces like the French Quarter. So, since the virus is coming under control, and more people are vaccinated, why do we still need the permits for a porch concert?

Here are Mr. Bosma’s observations:

1. Limiting attendance to only 25 persons, seated and masked is at all times is simply not doable. These concerts are outdoors and health authorities have already noted that outdoor activities are safer than indoors. Keep in mind bars are now at 100% capacity inside, and Bourbon Street is packed daily with maskless people drinking, dancing and socializing. Surely enforcement of COVID protocols and enforcement should be focused on that rather than safer and smaller neighborhood events.
2. Musicians need to be masked at all times including wind blown instruments (with a hole in the mask). These musicians have generally been socializing, practicing and playing gigs together for a long time, even during COVID. Therefore they are somewhat like family or friends pods.
3. I completely agree with noise ordinances. These shows are generally from 6-9PM so they are done well before general city noise ordinances of 10PM-7:00AM. Regardless, the decibel levels of these shows do not exceed City of New Orleans noise ordinances.
4. Liquor is never sold at these shows.
5. There is not an entrance fee / cover charge for any of these events. Musicians play for tips only.
6. Neighbors have strongly supported these events and continue to support them. People bring their kids, their friends and their dogs out creating a beautiful and safe community event.
7. Finally the City of New Orleans has always been neighborhood- and community-driven with street parties, second lines, porch concerts and other gatherings. Clearly the past year has required some serious restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We have always encouraged everyone to social distance, wear masks and gather in small friend and family pods and this had been the case for the past year. As more of us get vaccinated and the positivity rates continue to decrease I feel it’s time for the city to relax many of the current restrictions being imposed on porch concerts. Having a full year of experience in hosting these concerts I will gladly consult with relevant city authorities to create a new, fair and more currently appropriate, set of rules for these events.

We applaud Mr. Bosma’s delineation of the permitting issue, and his obvious support of local music and musicians,. But we’d highly recommend that City Hall create a position for someone who can be the point person in City Hall for issues like these.

New Orleans is now in a great position to modernize and streamline its relationships with musicians, street performers, as well as the businesses that are affected by the playing of live music, and to make intelligent choices that will benefit all. Where is our “night mayor”?