Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Pretty self-explanatory
johnfoyle
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Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... /801240387

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Jazz festival returns to a full 7-day schedule

Susan Whitall / The Detroit News

Motown superstar Stevie Wonder, who hasn't stopped touring since he went out with "A Wonder Summer's Night" last year, will perform for the first time ever at the fabled New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 1.

Today, the complete musical lineup for the 2008 Jazz & Heritage Festival, which runs April 25-27 and May 1-4, was announced by producer/director Quint Davis. For 39 years, the New Orleans event has been one of the most popular festivals in the world for fans seeking authentic jazz, blues, R&B, country, rock, bluegrass, zydeco, gospel and seemingly every other roots music genre.

This year also marks the first time since 2005 (and Hurricane Katrina) that the festival goes back to being a full seven-day event.

Other headliners include Robert Plant, hot off the Led Zep reunion in November. Plant performs with bluegrass star Alison Krauss (April 25). Detroit's own Bettye LaVette will make an appearance (May 1), as will Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, Al Green and Irma Thomas (all on April 27), Dr. John and Billy Joel (April 26).

There are many more acts on each day, for a complete day-by-day schedule go to the Jazzfest's official Web site, http://www.nojazzfest.com. There you'll also find the official list of New Orleans hotels with special Jazz Fest rates, as well as advance ticket information and VIP package deals.

Tickets for the festival are also available at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling (800) 488-5252.

The festival takes place at the New Orleans fairgrounds, where 11 stages of live music run from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. each day, and more than 100 varieties of food, including gumbo, etoufees, red beans and rice and other New Orleans and Louisiana specialities, are on offer at food stands throughout the fairgrounds.

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or swhitall@detnews.com.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by pophead2k »

Here's nola.com's complete lineup list as well. Looks like Diana is playing weekend two, so the family will likely hang out in N.O. for a week or so. And with EC's penchant for sitting in, there may be a fair number of Elvis sightings around the Fairgrounds that week. If you've never been to the Jazz and Heritage Festival, I can't recommend it enough.

http://blog.nola.com/music/2008/01/jazz ... ineup.html
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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I'm SOOO there
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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I'd recommend it, too. The days are long, though. If you're going for both weekends pace yourself.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by ice nine »

R. Plant & A. Krauss are playing Friday and Allen & Elvis are Sunday. Is there a chance Elvis may get up on stage with Plant & Krauss?
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by migdd »

That would be cool but I'd rather hear Krauss' version of Scarlet Tide, backed by the Imposters.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by jmm »

I think a group rendition of Fortune Teller has to be in the mix
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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Anyone here going?
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/in ... xml&coll=1

The Times- Picayune , New Orleans

Jazzfest is time for us to shine (again)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Ron Thibodeaux

( extract)

Andy Williams might disagree, but as far as I'm concerned, this is the most wonderful time of the year.

The landscape is green again -- the greenest green we'll see all year. The weather is perfect. We've eaten more boiled crawfish in the past month than we'd seen in the previous nine.

We're energetic and enthusiastic and our biggest problem is deciding whether to close out Sunday's Jazzfest schedule by watching Elvis Costello team up with Allen Toussaint at the Gentilly Stage or singing along to "Let's Stay Together" with Al Green at Congo Square.


It's raining in New Orleans-


http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2008/04 ... e_rai.html

Billy Joel's singing in the rain

Posted by Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune April 26, 2008 9:10PM

(extract)

As Billy Joel plowed through "Keeping the Faith" at the Acura Stage, a roadie armed with a squeegee swept standing water off the top of the black grand piano.

That tells you all you need to know about the weather Saturday evening at the Fair Grounds. A hard, steady rain fell throughout Joel's set. "Why, God, why?" shouted a guy standing in the puddle behind me.

Joel, too, had some questions for the Almighty. More than once, he shook his fist and glared at the foreboding sky. "Is that the best you got?" he shouted at one point. "C'mon, bring it on."
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by johnfoyle »

Oh, dear........

http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2008/04 ... azzfe.html

Skies open up Sunday at Jazzfest

Posted by Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune April 27, 2008 3:03PM

Anyone who hoped that the rain clouds had exhausted themselves Saturday afternoon now knows otherwise. The skies over the Fair Grounds opened up just before 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon with a downpour of Biblical proportions.

Crowds rushed into the tents. Trumpeter Gregg Stafford kicked off his 3 o'clock set inside a jam-packed Economy Hall Tent. Huge cheers greeted a spry set that included "Milneburg Joys. Audience members in front of the stage broke out umbrellas -- for second-lining, not because of the weather." This moment brings back memories," Jones said of the rain. "It's almost like deja vu"

Earlier in the same tent, trumpeter Leroy Jones and a band that included Craig Klein on trombone and Gerald French on drums delivered a tidy, well-executed set of traditional jazz. Jones beamed as he sang "Dinah," a song from the 1920s that he treated as if he had written it last week.

The Jazzfest grounds were already soggy -- though in better shape than I thought they'd be -- before Sunday's rainstorms arrived. Fortunately the Jazzfest and Fair Grounds grounds crews will have three days to rehabilitate the site before the gates open again on Thursday.

But it looks to be rough going for the rest of Sunday. If there is no lightning in the area, the music should go on as planned, leading up to closing sets from Tim McGraw, Al Green, Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, Cassandra Wilson and more.


Nice shoes, however, are doomed today at the Fair Grounds.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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http://www.sunherald.com/306/story/518859.html

27 April '08

The crowds that are usually jammed in almost hip-to-hip for each day's closing acts at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival were much smaller on Sunday.

A second day of heavy rain did the thinning, leaving muddy, soggy, but apparently happy groups in front of the festival stages for the final acts.

The grounds, which were surprisingly dry Sunday morning with only puddles in the low areas, were finally waterlogged after the day's downpour. People traipsed through ankle deep puddles and sank in mud to their shoetops. Dark splatters of mud decorated everyone's calves.

"What's to mind," said Nancy Jones, 46, of Scranton, Pa., who was attending her fifth Jazz Fest. "It's much cooler than usual, much less crowded, and the music and food is just as great."

A deep puddle separated the crowd watching Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. At the festival's other major stage, the crowd had no trouble making the switch from Irma Thomas, billed as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans," to country music star Tim McGraw.

"We're partaking in the full smorgasbord," said Oliver Brown, 32, of Dallas.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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scielle
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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jmm
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by jmm »

First the show it was great.

My memory of what they played: opened with PL&U, much of RIR (On Your Way Down, Nearer To You, Tears, Tears And More Tears, The Sharpest Thorn, Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?, The River In Reverse, Broken Promise Land, Wonder Woman) selections from Momo (Harry Worth, My Three Sons - made the woman sitting behind us cry, Stella Hurt, No Hiding Place), new version of Everyday I write the Book, Clownstrike, Bedlam, Alison, Watching the Detectives, High Fidelity, Pump it Up, Brickyard Blues, A Certain Girl, Fourtune Teller, Yes We Can Can, Two very nice new Allen songs, Femme Fatale and closed with When the Saints Go Marching In

It POURED rain for the set before they came on but stopped just before and only rained a little towards the end. At the end one of the locals said "that was one of the highlights of the weekend and I don't even have to feel guilty for choosing to see Elvis over a local since it was Allen too!"

I got to speak to EC himself for >30 minutes in a varied and interesting conversation at the airport before flying back.

Will write more from my notes soon
Last edited by jmm on Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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bump
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by And No Coffee Table »

Thanks for the report. This blog says one of the new Allen songs was called "It's A New Orleans Thing," and this one adds "Yes We Can Can" to the list of songs performed.

Did the Crescent City Horns play on any of the Momofuku songs?
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by MOJO »

Sounds like a great show! Damn, they need tour AGAIN.. Maybe Live Nation can pick up the bill...
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by jmm »

Yes We Can Can was in the show for sure - my mistake

The horns and AT were not on stage for any of the Momo songs except My Three Sons and they didn't play on that one as I remember. EC actually asked AT to stay on stage for the song
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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http://evilopinion.com/?p=61

April 30th, 2008

Tony Fernandez
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(extract)

The next day, we were headed home when I saw a very tall, lanky man waiting for the flight from New Orleans to O’Hare Airport. The man thought that he recognized me as a fellow musician, but wasn’t disappointed when I said hello to Pete Thomas, drummer with the Attractions, and Elvis’ current group, the Imposters. There was another man sitting with Mr. Thomas, and he looked like Elvis in his “Mighty Like A Rose” period – long hair, thick mustache and beard. It was Steve Nieve, keyboardist extraordinaire. I got into a very nice conversation with Mr. Thomas; the musicians and their assistants were headed to Ottawa to prepare for the start of their tour opening for The Police. I told them that I tried to see them as often as possible, but I wasn’t going to waste time watching a short set of Elvis and then the Police come out to play all of their old hits for large sums of money. I told them that I would much rather see EC and the band as headliners, preferably in a smaller arena.
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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johnfoyle wrote:http://evilopinion.com/?p=61

April 30th, 2008

Tony Fernandez
blogs -

(extract)

I told them that I tried to see them as often as possible, but I wasn’t going to waste time watching a short set of Elvis and then the Police come out to play all of their old hits for large sums of money. I told them that I would much rather see EC and the band as headliners, preferably in a smaller arena.
To which they replied....
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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scielle
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

Post by scielle »

Diana played NOLA last night -

Midway through the show there was literally not a cloud in the sky. Krall mentioned that her husband Elvis Costello had performed on the same stage just last week in the rain. She bid New Orleans to give him a kiss on her behalf, since she hasn't seen him in so long [...] Krall complimented the local cuisine and said she was excited to have brought her twin sons along with her on her New Orleans visit.

http://blog.nola.com/living/2008/05/kra ... lly_s.html

Image
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Re: Elvis, Allen play New Orleans April 27 '08

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OK, finally a little more about the time I got to spend with EC in the NOLA airport the day after the Jazzfest show with AT et al.

I'll try not to go on at length to avoid the friends rolling their eyes looks I've received in the last few weeks ala "Let Me Tell You About Her" or it / the conversation in this case. Also somehow No Hiding Place seems like a warning not to go on too much. None of my "quotes" below should be taken as such they are what I remember and that certainly isn't 100% accurate.

We started with the fact that my wife and I had been to the Spectacle taping with Tony Bennett. EC seemed quite interested in feedback on this front. He said he's still settling in and is looking forward to seeing how it edits down into a show. We talked about Diana being surprised on her blackberry when Tony was calling her to the stage. He said "at least it was clear it hadn't been set up, but you know with the boys that really is our line back and they were getting sick". He told us how terrified he was when he did the TV show with the Count Basie Orch and Tony back in the day that they showed a clip from during the show. He said the key to Spectacle will be getting good guests and the present plan is to film 13 episodes. He liked the suggestion that it might become a TV and Pop version of Piano Jazz and responded "I could do a lot worse"

This led the conversation to musical connections like those he was highlighting with Tony. He said "the jazz artists are very good at building on each other and giving credit but it doesn't happen as fluidly in rock n roll". I told him that I heard a bit of Hey Bulldog, that they had played back in May, in Stella Hurt. He gazed off for a few seconds like he was listening and then said "I can see why you might say that with the part that Steve plays." We specifically talked about Femme Fatale in the NOLA set. He seemed to doubt my estimate that at least 50% of the crowd wouldn't have known the song but "really liked the idea if it was true since they might look into the Velvets". This was a song they learned for Spectacle and decided to keep in the set. "That is the kind of connection that is great to make."

He was very interested in who else we'd seen at Jazzfest as he'd only arrived in time to prepare for the set with Allen et al. He was particularly interested in how much we liked the set from Big Sam's Funky Nation. Sam had given him their new CD titled Peace, Love and Understanding and he'd yet to listen to it. The mix they played of traditionally based funk built around trombone but fused with hip hop really was exciting. EC said "yeah, I think that's where some great stuff is happening these days". we also talked in particular about James Cotten and his band, Buckwheat Zydeco and Robert Plant / Alison Krauss with T-Bone among others.

RP / AK w/ TB was certainly a highlight of a great set of shows in the 3 days. I related that RP introduced one song with something like "When I was 12 and first starting to learn to sing there were a couple of songs that I just had to learn. Most of them, I later came to understand, came from NOLA. I can't pass up the opportunity to sing the one that was top of that list by you're native son Allen Toussiant here today" and than launching into Fortune Teller. EC said he'd heard that story, from AT who was in the wings at the time and very touched.

We then talked about the relative merits of the RP/AK version vs. the EC/AT & I, CCH version that he played the night before. I told him I preferred the his but he argued for RP/AK, we both agreed that the differences in the interpretation reinforce what a great song it is. I told him that although I didn't really expect it in that setting I still would have loved to hear her do Scarlet Tide. He said - not the right venue, and the same was true with him not doing Ascension Day in his set. He really would have liked to but it just didn't fit. Besides Jazzfest he highly recommended Merlefest and especially Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

However he was very happy Pete had suggested that they close the set with When the Saints Go Marching in. He'd never played it before and said it was the perfect end. He also talked about how he'd always been disappointed with playing Everyday IWtB since the initial tour with the back-up singers. Because of how they recorded it he never felt they could get it quite right. He said it was only in the rehearsals in the last couple of weeks that they came upon the new way of doing it and he was really happy with it now (after what 20 years!). He "really likes how the new stuff is sounding live" and intended to fill out the 50 minute Police opening shows by "starting and ending with something they know and the rest is mine". He said that he had resisted the opening slots but tried it out with the Dylan shows and liked that the audience "didn't really know his stuff and he could play what he wanted". We talked about those shows and in particular how Bedlam was such a different song during them.

He talked about how much fun it is to play with AT and the extended band. How he liked the two new songs AT played. He actually apologized for how bad his voice was at the Tower of London show last year when we told him we were there. Said he caught a cold and was really struggling. I told him how after he let go in Fortune Teller that night his voiced seemed to get out of the way and he responded "it's a great song to sing"

We talked about Momofuku at length. He wasn't to happy to hear that my vinyl copy arrived before the release date but it did mean that I'd heard it. He said "nobody is selling records these days and we have to find a new way to make it work". he was happy to hear that I enjoyed that old visceral feeling of opening the album. He said " they were able to record it so quickly because the folks in the session just clicked (and it just as easily might not have worked". He gave credit to the fact that the people in the studio ranged in age from 53 to 23 and the "young folks were full of new ideas about how to just try things and they all threw themselves into it". He smiled at my speculation that he sat down to write My 3 Sons after the magic numbers show with Rosanne Cash last year. He said "it's a good story but that's not how it happened". He talked about how great Rosanne is and how much he enjoys working with her

I asked when the new stuff recorded with T-Bone will be coming out. He smiled and said "don’t believe what you read on the internet even if I wrote it”. While he wouldn't confirm a release he did seem to indicate that a fall tour with T-Bone once he's finished with RP & AK might be a possibility. I guess we'll need to keep an eye out for more on The Coward Bros!

I feel like I've already gone on too long and will close except to add that he couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating. He closed by thanking us for the support through the years. Quite a thrill
Last edited by jmm on Sat Mar 12, 2011 7:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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