Music & Mudbugs: CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival 2018 – Video & Audio

Words by: Adam Firtel

CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival :: 03.24.18
Pompano Amphitheater Park :: Pompano Beach, FL

South Floridians celebrated the onset of spring this past weekend with what has become an annual tradition, the 5th Annual CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival, which took place on the grounds of The Pompano Beach Amphitheater in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Under sunny skies and with the scent of crawfish and other New Orleans delicacies boiling in the background, festivalgoers were treated to an inspired day of musical performances by The Struts, Anders Osborne, Maggie Koerner, Bonerama, Southern Avenue, Dash Rip Rock, The Trongone Band and more. Festival organizer and New Orleans native, Don Matthews, who now resides in South Florida, has treated CrawDebauchery attendees over the years to such acts as The Revivalists, Galactic, Raw Oyster Cult, The Hip Abduction, Soul Rebels and so many others. In addition to an outstanding music lineup, CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival also featured a food court of outstanding New Orleans cuisine, including two tons of live crawfish flown in fresh and boiled on sight.

Performing on The Abita Stage, soul-steeped young Memphis quintet Southern Avenue performed a high energy, soul-laden set with music from their self-titled debut album on Stax Records. Southern Avenue encompasses Memphis-born, church-bred sisters Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson, respectively a soulful, charismatic singer and a subtle powerful drummer; guitarist Ori Naftaly, an Israeli-born blues disciple who first came to America as an acclaimed solo artist; Gage Markey on bass; and keyboardist Jeremy Powell. “What Did I Do” which is currently in rotation on SiriusXM’s Jam On channel and a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady” were just a few of the highlights prior to the band closing with their anthem, “Don’t Give Up.”

[Southern Avenue – What Did I Do]

[Southern Avenue – Rock Steady]

[Southern Avenue – Full Set Audio]

“Unlike anything you’ve ever heard before” is the best way to describe the 20-year-old powerhouse touring band from New Orleans known as Bonerama. Featuring the trio of Mark Mullins, Craig Klein and Greg Hicks on trombone, the guitar stylings of Bert Cotton, Matt Perrine on “dancing” sousaphone and Walt Lundy on drums, the band took the audience on a trip to New Orleans, complete with a second line parade, white hankies and festive umbrellas. Aside from playing some NOLA classics, the band paid tribute to recently deceased Mr. Okra with the song of the same name off their new release Hot Like Fire, while also inviting Mannie Fresh to lead the festivities on “Less Is More.” The band that has been changing the way you think about trombone for 20 years closed their set with performances of Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean” and The Meters’ “Cabbage Alley.”

[Bonerama with Mannie Fresh – Highs & Lows]

[Bonerama – Full Set Audio]

American singer-songwriter, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana and currently residing in New Orleans, vocalist Maggie Koerner has certainly become a CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival staple. Having performed at several previous incarnations of this annual springtime event, Maggie’s voice is stunning, her material is honest to the bone, and she is a rare, true, artist. She opened her set with her new song “Shadows” before moving into material such as “Love Drug” and “I Love You, I Do.” The soulful “Cayute Woman” was poignant, while one of the more moving moments of the day occurred when Maggie performed “If I Die” after taking a few moments of silence to acknowledge the Parkland shooting, which took place only a few miles away from the festival site.

[Maggie Koerner – Cayute Woman]

[Maggie Koerner – If I Die]

[Maggie Koerner – Full Set Audio]

Musical treasure and rocker Anders Osborne closed the day on The Big Easy Stage with his band in tow and with The Bonerama Horns waiting in the wings. Opening with the grungy “Had My Reasons,” Anders and his quartet, featuring Carl Dufrene Jr. on bass, then moved onto “Sarah Anne” and “Peace” before having the Bonerama Horns join in on the fun for the final portion of his set, which included “Kings & Peasants,” “Wind,” “5 Bullets,” “Fools Gold” and “Different Drum.”

[Anders Osborne – Had My Reasons]

[Anders Osborne w/ Bonerama Horns – Wind – 5 Bullets]

[Anders Osborne – Full Set Audio]

As if that wasn’t enough of a day, The Funky Biscuit played host to The CrawDebauchery After Party and featured trombone band extraordinaire, Bonerama, who performed earlier in the day at the festival. Enjoy this clip of Bonerama performing The Allman Brothers’ classic “Whipping Post” with special guest Davis Rogan on keys:

Video and audio provided by Cheesehead Productions in association with Daniel Nolan. Images provided by Jon Bukowski.