Official Mardi Gras '09 Thread
vinylstalker
397 Posts
Okay, with 2 NOLA threads in a month, it's time for some REAL TAWLK.Who's down with carnival?As a mostly lifelong resident of THE BOOT, I've done MardiGras hundredsof times, uptown parades, nighttime quarter parades, New Roads swamp parades,midcity truck parades, zulu, all a dat.Now, however, I find myself 38 y.o. with a 10 y.o. stepson. My better half, whom is not very well versed in parading, wants me totake her and the tyke down for a day, maybe Sat or Sunday, so the kidcan experience his first M.G. in NOLA.Now, most of my experience involves a flask, a few hits of vitamin A,a cooler on wheels full of beer, and a hell-bent attitude of debauchery. Obviously, I need a plan B.Who has experience on the "family" side of the 'Gras?Who is planning to go, and who wants to meet?
Comments
Choctaw on the West Bank was always my favorite parade, typically the first one we'd go to each year. I remember one time catching so many beands that we were out of grocery bags and I got sent in to my neighbor's real estate office to retrieve my sister's diaper bag. I can recall like it was yesterday me sprinting into the office, dumping everything in the diaper bag on the floor, then sprinting back to the parade to fill the bag up with more beads.
My sister and I would sell all of the beads we caught each year to the older couple across the street from us who were in a truck parade each year. First, we'd have to bunch them up in dozens and then bag them into grosses.
I really wish I still had my doubloons outside of a few from Bacchus that I did manage to keep.
Truck parades are the shit for getting the most trinkets. I can think of times when people I knew in a truck parade saw me in the crowd and literally showered me with beads. My favorite ones were Poseidon on the West Bank and the one that follows Zulu/Rex.
Apart from beads and doubloons, the other items that were hot when I was a kid were plastic cups, spears, tomahawks, and oversized plastic cigars.
You (if you are female) could always get what we called dollar beads which are the longer ones (dollar beads because we could sell them for a dollar a piece) by stopping a Shriner in his go-cart and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
It's best to have a home base somewhere near a parade route. I already mentioned the real estate office. Even better was that each year we would take the Canal Street ferry over from the West Bank, then meet with folks up at this machine shop along the Zulu/Rex parade route. There was always awesome food, and plenty of it, at that machine shop.
When I got to middle school, I played cornet in my school band, and of course we would march in a few parades each year. That is exactly what got me into hip-hop...those drum cadences that were played when we weren't playing actual songs. My favorite bands to catch were always Southern University and St. Aug. Always loved how the line of bass drummers always seemed wider than the space the crowd left for them and dudes were trained to just keep plowing through the crowd no matter what...leaving it up to bystanders to either move out the way or get smacked with a mallet.
In many ways, I've never gone back to NOLA for Mardi Gras because I'm perfectly pleased with my memories of Mardi Gras as is. I don't think for a second that doing "adult Mardi Gras"...whatever that means (actually comes across as tourist Mardi Gras to me)...would do anything to improve my impressions of all things Fat Tuesday related.
I did attend Galveston Mardi Gras a few times as a teenager and actually had a blast there...pretty much the real deal for one night at least. They do a Brazilian Mardi Gras celebration here in Austin but so far no thanks on that.
Oh yeah...the year after Katrina, Big Chief Kevin Goodman and the Flaming Arrows tried to conjure up a Mardi Gras Indian procession here in Austin...but aside from me and about a dozen other people, headz weren't ready for such casting off of all inhibitions.
Oh yeah, king cake. You gotsta be doing king cake parties leading up to Fat Tuesday. I get one for my daughter each year just so she is familiar.
I'm making plans right now to visit NOLA for Jazzfest, but one of these days I probably will have to drag my daughter down there for Mardi Gras so she can see it all for herself.
All my young years at mardi gras were spent at local parades
in BR and the surrounding Acadiana Parishes, so I am looking
for just these kinds of guidelines.
Oh, fo sho. I'm not from the best bank, but I know the deal. We will be SICK of king cake from all of the previous parties leading up to FatTuesday. I would never head to the city without a base camp. Got a friend in the quarter and one uptown with an open door for the weekend.
I would have to say your are missing out. I aint talkin about screaming for
tits on Decatur with a cat-in-the-hat suit on. In my 20's, the posse would get
a caravan going with about 10 folks, a jambox taped to the cooler taped to the red wagon, and just cruise st charles up and carrolton down, meeting folks, drankin, got invited to lots of private parties along the way, good times.
Nothing "tourist" about it.
So, Harvey, what do you suggest?
The trinkets aren't that big of a deal to the kid.
We are looking more for him just to have the general "large"
N.O. MardiGras experience compared to the maybe 2-3,000 people 20-30
float parade he is used to here in BR.
My best MG beads are on permanent display in the kitchen. Jesus, I love that place.
Haha.
Try Carnaval batches.
They got crawfish, po-boys, and turtle soup?
Apples and Oranges, my hominy.
Anyway, yeah, I'm fully familiar with the debachery inherent
in MardiGras.
Was more looking for advice from those that have done it with a kid.
I'm thinking it will actually be worth it to post up on st. charles
a good 3 hours before the first parade, to get good dibs on a spot
on the boulevard. The kid, not to mention the girl, gets a little
tweaky when pushed up on throngs of people. I don't want to go the whole
stepladder with a lawn chair on top deal, but maybe...
Willie, surely you are young enough to
drop the kiznowledge.
Your child does need another child to hang out with though. That's what really made the parades fun for me...be it my sister, my neighborhood friends, or some company kid I only saw twice a year. We'd tear that shit up in every way imaginable for kids that age.
And yeah, to reiterate my previous point...it's hard for me to imagine merely visiting Mardi Gras. Because, as you probably know well enough from being in Red Stick, Mardi Gras is so much more than just the parades themselves. It's all the getting ready for the parades...the food, the music, the costumes, the floats, the days off from school/work, the strategizing, the complete departure from ho-hum Disney American routine.
But yeah, I always consider the primary selling point of Mardi Gras to be the music. JazzFest is just a facsimile approximation of the real deal that goes down during Mardi Gras. Catch a brass band and get your second line on. Can't find one of those, then groove on the school bands. Landry is apparently the one to watch for nowadays. Then there's all the traditional Mardi Gras music...Carnival Time, Mardi Gras Mambo, Big Chief, etc...I have heard those songs thousands upon thousands of times and not ever have I gotten bored of them.
I gotta say no on the ladder perch. They're certainly a mainstay and have their purpose, but how can you stomp on doubloons from up there?
St. Charles is certainly the place to be. Treat it like a day on Mulberry Street just like you used to with your friends, but adjust it a bit for your child and watch the fun ensue.
For family-style Mardi Gras, up until I was about 12 it was always about running around at the parades catching stuff. Especially toys/spears/footballs/special throws. I mean beads were cool, cups were cool, doubloons were alright, but I was all about the special stuff they would throw. Even if the step-son is 10, he'd still like running around catching all these things, right?
Don't do the ladder. It's good for little kids who can't be running around on the ground, but a 10 y/o is perfect for darting in and out of the crowd doing his thing. If you can manage it, hoist the little dude up on your shoulders for a spell: that's when kids get pummeled with stuff.
St. Charles is good, the closer to Napoleon the better. I'd especially hit up some of the more family friendly parades though. My favorites when I was that age were the ones that weren't super-crowded and were during the day-time. With a little kid, daytime weekend parades are where it's at. See here: http://www.nola.com/mardigras/parades/
Iris is so key. Thoth was always my favorite. I used to go back to a friend's house after Thoth and we would both have like 3 spears, 2 swords, 100s of doubloons and beads, I mean we got loaded with shit. Playtime for days. Holy shit it was so much fun...truck parades are key too, right after Rex on MG day. I used to wake up early with my dad, go down to Jackson Ave. to see Zulu and try to catch a coconut, walk back uptown for Rex...when the trucks rolled down afterwards he'd put me up on his shoulders and I'd fill up bags with toys they threw at me...
MG is just as fun nowadays it seems, just in a different way. First real parade of the season was this past Saturday, Krewe Du Vieux . Soooo much fun...rolls through the Marigny a block from my place, saw it loop back up at a balcony on Frenchmen, danced my ass off, drinking and shooting the shit with tons of strangers all around me. I hadn't been at MG in three years, so I almost forgot how amazing a time it is.
For those not familiar -- it's basically the best party in the world - great music, hundreds and hundreds of people drinking, dancing their asses off, being amazingly friendly, just having the best time of their lives. The positive energy on the parade route is mind-boggling.
You wanna really show him a badass MG though? Take him down to Orleans & Claiborne or Dryades & 2nd the morning of Fat Tuesday...
thank you beautiful cougar woman who thought i was hot and gave them to me. i hope we meet again in the next couple weeks...
Harvey, I feel you on the adult/family deal. The girl and I
have some friends with shindigs to hit, and as my parents weren't
partiers by any stretch, I wasn't sure how appropriate they
would be to attend mit kinder. You are right, though.
All of those times when I was
doin the do at MG parties, kids were always zoomin around the
set, and I never saw any problems or anything inappropriate, so
I feel better bringing him along.
Willie, Good looks on Iris. Forgot about that one, and it
seems like a perfect pick for a main parade for the kid.
So, family advice outta the way, on to the real buisness.
Who wants to posse up?
As I said, I got a bathroom connect up and downtown.
I know the city and have a good many friends to check out.
I'm down with the big paper mache chicken head group, if any
of you folks know about them. Supposed to meet them uptown
Sat. Lots of fun with those dudes, they draw a big crowd.
Would love to hook up with any strutters for a RR toast.
Holleur.
Soon, hopefully.
I have, although, for the last 3 years attempted to have a Texas version by playing the best NOLA records, having big grub, and for this year and last, bringing in the Hot 8 Brass Band. I figure if you can't go to the party, bring it to you.
Yes, last year's party was the genuine article...especially with multiple bowls of Gene's gumbo in my tank. Can't wait for this year's version, even if Gene can't make it this time.
But I do have a bit of a suggestion for you regarding the deejaying...
Please don't be afraid to just play the Mardi Gras standards, over and over if need be. I was kinda lost last year wanting to hear what is readily apparent as Mardi Gras music and instead getting fed a bunch of albeit great, but kinda-obscure non-Mardi Gras-related NOLA music.
point taken. we did play more of that stuff last year, but it was usually earlier on. i'll try to save more for prime time.
Even the top 40 rap/r+b station has started to
play "big chief" every couple of hours.
the most important thing is:
if any of you ever have a chance to go to mom's ball, MAKE SURE YOU GO.
holy shit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrptiful/3300369947/in/set-72157614303769342/