With bellies full and wallets lightened, we take a cab out to the Fairgrounds. Skies are threatening as we get our tickets for the three days at $60 per day. Credit rejected. Great. Luckily my backup debit card works until I can convince BOA that I'm the real JK spending my own money in Nola. The problem with buying all tickets at once is that you then must NOT LOSE the tickets, in my case not an easy task. Johnny Gumbo, on the other hand, purchased his tickets in advance and saved $5 per ticket! That is UNBELIEVABLE!
We are inside, catching the final couple songs from Nairah Shakoor at Gentilly, over to Fas Do Do for the Hadley J.Castille Family (where Best In Show parades by- inside joke), then sliding over to Congo Square for some Jon Batiste, before making our way over to the Blues Tent for Eric Lindell. Old Fest acquaintances Mark/Lisa from Jersey and Kenny/Kippy from Cali are there along with new friends (please forgive me, guys, I'm a bad name rememberer; promise to insert if we meet up- or email me at johnnykmusic@yahoo.com) (update: Frank/Kim, thanks, guys} from Denver, with whom we rode in from the airport on the Garland Express. We grab a couple Piano Shirt people walking by and force a photo with Gumbo. "Hey, you know there are hundreds of these shirts around here?" Yes, buddy, that's the POINT! Gumbo is also taking some heat because it's really an accordian shirt, but we don't care! I'm screwing up the camera again and losing lots of the pics. I need a tech person, this is too stressful.
Celebrity sighting of the day: John Goodman at Congo Square.
Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers sound great from our vantage point on the sandy racetrack, where an energetic 6-year old entertains us by throwing himself repeatedly into the sand. More Piano Shirt photos. Allen Toussaint is up next at Acura, but Gumbo and the PHS want food first. No way for me so I go for beers. WTF, they've disappeared! So I carry the 4 ice-cold beers back and forth between the food booths and the Acura Stage trying to locate 3 big guys stuffing their faces with meat pies. No luck. Phone calls go unanswered. Finally, a message that they are back at the food booths. Nice job, here are your lukewarm beers. Toussaint is in top form as usual with a great band and backup singers. Freelancing time. I'm off to see what the Pfister Sisters are up to at the Economy Hall Tent, but I'm a bit disappointed after a couple numbers and cross over to scout out the Grandstand where Kora Konnection is playing some very cool African music. Great place to kind of relax for a bit, too. Called The Reet to update. The Plan is to meet up with Gumbo at #19 along the track at Gentilly to finish the day off with the Gypsy Kings, with whom I'm not familiar, but heard that the Fest has been trying to get them here for years. They live up to the hype. Fantastic! The big crowd loves them and they seem to appreciate it. And Best In Show suddenly appears as well. Doesn't get any better! Hot, sweaty Latin rhythms. They close with a tremendous version of Volare! Perfect.
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