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Sunday, 10.26.08
 Trombone Shorty - Voodoo |
A quick cup of coffee and I was on my way back to the festival for the final day. I received lots of curious looks as I literally ran from the Voodoo Fest entrance to the WWOZ Stage. I didn't want to miss one note of Chali 2na reunited with Ozomatli. Ozomatli's infectious dance grooves have never let me down and it was great to see Chali grinning as he waited onstage for his turn to tear it up. He, of course, did not disappoint. The crowd erupted when Chali took the stage and I am happy to say that he sounded awesome. He is one of the smoothest performers, and he can control the motion of a crowd with a single hand movement and a smile. There were a few times that I noticed the timing between Chali and the band was off. It was easy to look past though, and didn't really detract from the set. Everyone onstage seemed as happy as the audience, and Ozomatli ended the show proclaiming their love for the city and all she stands for with their own rendition of the classic "Let the Good Times Roll."
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were the next highlight of the day. The Dap-Kings are incredible and I love the way they pay homage to the old soul and funk entertainers by starting the show off without the lead singer, almost as if to get the audience warmed up. Jones has perfected her stage performance and as I watched her, images of long lost legends danced through my head. I smiled the entire duration of her show. Everyone else seemed to be feeling the same thing, especially the young man Sharon called onstage to serenade and the group of girls that she later invited up to dance with her. Jones' set ended all too soon, and we were all left staring at the stage as the classy Dap-Kings bid us all farewell.
Once again before I knew it, darkness fell on Voodoo Fest. Our nighttime entertainment was led by a young man who is definitely one of the driving forces in modern-day New Orleans: Trombone Shorty and his band Orleans Ave. With a potent blend of jazz, dance, hip-hop, funk and whatever else NOLA can ooze out, this man knows what he wants out of the music world and he knows how to work a crowd. Musically, he puts on a great show. Lyrically though, he doesn't always impress. Maybe it's because I want him to just play his horn (which he does so well) and not sing crossover pop songs. All of a sudden in the middle of his set, Shorty announced that ever infamous rapper Juvenile would be joining him. It was a very interesting moment but once again a representation of the music of New Orleans, which feeds off all the vibes of the city. The two songs he did were better than I would have imagined but not necessarily something I would want to hear again. Any rapper sounds better with a live band, especially one from New Orleans! I left before it was over to see one of the big headliners of the weekend.
Like anyone with a radio, I heard lots of R.E.M. growing up and the songs lodged themselves in my brain. However, even knowing the songs didn't cover up the fact that the overall energy of the band was sedated. They definitely tried to put their hearts into it but it just didn't work out too well. Most of the audience around me seemed very disengaged and somewhat let down. But you don't come to NOLA for big name radio stars, you come for the local heroes, the random sit-ins, the legendary late nights, the food, the people, the city itself. And rest assured, the glory of the Big Easy is burning bright, just waiting for you to come visit in a few months for Jazz Fest.
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