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This is another in a series on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. Druids and Nyx followed the same route, one after the other and both went up Napoleon Avenue to St. Charles and on toCanal Street. They were night parades.
Druids was first organized in 1921. They now follow the satirical themes of the early days. The identity of the king is never made public. Nyx is only in its second year and is the newest parade in the New Orleans area. It also follows a satirical theme. Nyx is a female krewe.
This is another in a series on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. Pontchartrain and Choctaw followed the same route, one after the other and both went up Napoleon Avenue to St. Charles and on to Canal Street. We watched this one on St. Charles. They were day parades.
It was the 38th year for Pontchartrain and the theme was “who are you afraid of.” You were supoosed to guees the topic of fear for each float. Choctaw is almost 80 years old. The theme this year was “avenues of America.”
This is another in a series on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. This begins the big parades with Oshun and Cleopatra. It is a night parade held on January 25. One followed the other and both went up Napoleon Avenue to St. Charles and on to Canal Street. We watched this one on St. Charles. Later we moved to Napoleon or Magazine for better participation.
Oshun started in Orleans parish 17 years ago. This year’s theme was children are our future. Oshun was the goddess of love, wealth, and fountains for the African people of Brazil, Haiti, and Cuba. Cleopatra started on the West Bank in 1972 and this was the first year it did the traditional Uptown New Orleans route. It is a women’s krewe. The theme this year was Cleopatra’s 40 enchanting years.
This is the second in a series on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. The first major parade of the New Orleans carnival season is Krewe du Vieux. The theme for 2013 was Krewe du Vieux Comes Early! There web site proclaims, “The Krewe du Vieux is a non-profit organization dedicated to the historical and traditional concept of a Mardi Gras parade as a venue for individual creative expression and satirical comment. It is unique among all Mardi Gras parades in the city because it alone carries on the old traditions of Carnival celebrations, by using decorated mule-drawn floats with satirical themes, accompanied by costumed revelers dancing in the streets to the sounds of jazzy street musicians.” The Krewe du Vieux was founded in 1987 from the ashes of the storied Krewe of Clones.
Satire is the key theme here. Much of it is very sexually explicit. I will not display the more extreme floats on that topic here but know that they were great. There was also a lot of satire against the local paper, the Times Picayune, for dropping to three days a week, the NFL and Roger Goodell for penalizing the New Orleans Saints, and Governor Bobby Jindal for being a general jerk working to destroy the education system, among other things. It is also the only major parade to go through the Marigny and the French Quarter. We saw it twice. First we watched in the Marigny near its start and then on Decatur Street in the French Quarter on its return.
This begins a series of posts on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. The first event of Mardi Gras is now the street car ride of the Phunny Phorty Phellows (PPP). As their web site writes, The first version of thee group started in 1878. “The new group followed the Rex parade with their agreement. The first appearance of the PPP was a surprise to the public, and though modest in comparison with future displays, it created a sensation. Fantastic themes depicted by bizarre floats and grotesque maskers thrilled the public after the more pretentious parade headed by the King of Carnival and a live Boeuf Gras corralled on a rolling platform.”
“The modern organization was revived in 1981 by a small group of friends and Mardi Gras enthusiasts. It has continued without interruption to the present day. The PPP paraded with the Krewe of Clones from 1981 until 1986. In 1982 we also began a tradition of riding the streetcar line (in a streetcar) and proclaiming the arrival of the Carnival season on Twelfth Night.”
The PPP starts at the Willow Street streetcar barn right near my home. So we went over there to see them off. Here is what we saw. At the bottom is a painting I did based a several of the photos.
I did a post recently on New Orleans Second Lines. It covered The Perfect Gentlemen Social & Pleasure Club along with Men of Unity & The Original Steppers, Cross the Canal Steppers (CTC), and Pigeon Town Steppers. In that post I also commented on the recent Mother’s Day tragedy so I will not repeat those thoughts except to say that I am glad the Second Lines continue. New Orleans is a city where parades are often a participatory event. Second lines are a prime example. On many Sunday afternoons there is a Social Aid and Pleasure Club Second Line parade.
On June 1 the Original Big 7 Social and Pleasure Club redid the Second Line they started on Mother’s Day. Here is another post, New Orleans Second Lines Continue, on the Divine Ladies Social Aid and Pleasure Club and the Unbreakable Men Social Aid and Pleasure ClubSecond Line.
The Original Big 7 started on Elysian Fields, worked its way over St. Bernard through the neighborhood. Then it went a ways on St. Bernard through the 7th Ward. Below are some pictures. First, you can see the start coming out of a house on Elysian Fields.
Then there was progress down Elysian Fields and through the streets over to St. Bernard.
At the spot near the shooting on Frenchmen and North Villere, there was a pause and some additional dancing. Here is a video on that stop and more.
Then it went a ways on St. Bernard, stopping at 1301, and on through the 7th Ward.
Since I first wrote this post, there was a terrible shooting at a Second Line on Mother's Day. Many people were injured but, so far, there are no fatalities. None appear likely. I am pleased to hear that the organizers are planning to reschedule the event. They will do it, both in honor of all mother's, as their Second Line has been on Mother's Day, and to honor the victims of the shooting. They will also dedicate it as a march against gun violence. There is no reason the act of an individual coward should stop these important cultural events in New Orleans any more that other acts of violence should stop what was occurring at the time, whether it be a politician meeting with her community or a marathon. I missed the Second Line on Mother's Day but plan to join the rescheduled event.
I am also pleased to read (see Celebrating in Spite of the Risk) that since the shooting, the New Orleans mayor and the police chief have repeatedly and emphatically divorced the shooting from the occasion that it ruined. They have called the parades a crucial part of the city’s culture and even a bulwark against its violence, an argument the article notes that marchers have been making for years. The shooter is now in custody, along with several people who harbored him after the shooting. They were found based on information provided by members of the community that is hurt the most by these acts. Below is what I first wrote. I look forward to particpating in my next Second Line.
New Orleans is a city where parades are often a participatory event. Second Lines are the prime example. The "main line" or "first line" is the main section of the parade that includes members of the club with the parading permit as well as the brass band. The club dancers are separated from the crowd by walkers holding ropes. Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music and dance or walk along are called the "Second Line." There are more formal Second Lines held by Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs. On many Sunday afternoons, there is a Social Aid and Pleasure Club Second Line parade. In addition, many music events will have an informal second line.
As a child in New Orleans in the 1950s I expereinced another form of Second Line, the post-burial celebration honoring a person's life. About once or twice a month in the late afternoon, a black jazz funeral procession solemnly moved on foot down the middle of Lowerline Street and passed our house, with a small brass band playing hymns on its way to the Carrolton Cemetery. On the way back, the mourners would celebrate the person’s life and the expectation they were off to a better place. The band played more lively numbers and neighbors would join in to dance or walk along. At the time, I did not know how special this was and just accepted this participation as part of our city life.
We have gone to three of the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Second Lines this year and hope to do more. Here are photos from these three. They are a great part of the city’s culture and a good way to see its neighborhoods. These parades generally last four hours or more with stops along the way. Vendors offer food and drinks at the stops. Others drag wagons with drinks to sell along the route.
The first Second Line we went to was led by The Perfect Gentlemen Social & Pleasure Club along with Men of Unity & The Original Steppers on a sunny January 19. It was downtown, starting at Canal and Rampart Street. Then it went up Rampart to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Along the way a group with maroon suits joined in. It took a right on MLK to Simon Bolivar and turned right on Simon Bolivar. The first stop was at the Hot Spot Barber Shop where a group with orange feathers joined it. We only took part in the beginning of this one but we did the complete route of the next two. You can click on any picture to enlarge it.
The next Second Line was led by the Cross the Canal Steppers (CTC) on February 24. It started on Elysian Fields Ave and went down St. Claude Avenue stopping at HiHo lounge. We picked it up just before it went across the St. Claude Ave. Bridge over Industrial Canal into the Lower Ninth Ward. The condition of Lower Ninth was improved over what I saw in '06 and '07 but there was still much work to be done. Most of the wreckage was cleared out. There were now many empty lots but some new construction of raised houses. These new houses are surrounded by empty lots, so they also seemed in the country in an area that was more densely lived in before. The CTC ended at 5119 St. Claude Ave. Mickey B's Bar. This was still in the Lower Ninth. We walked across the bridge back to our car.
The third Second Line was in our neighborhood and started on Oak Street. It was led by the Pigeon Town Steppers and supported by the Stooges Brass Band on Easter, March 31. This is their traditional day. It started at the Maple Leaf Bar, a few blocks from where I live. Then it went away from the river through the Pigeon Town neighborhood, stopping at Walter's Lounge, then on to Holly Grove, and beyond to return to Pigeon Town, ending at Sista Sista Lounge. Other stops along with way included the Broadway Lounge and the E&C Lounge. Along the way they went by Carrolton Cemetery and very near where I lived in the 1950s. The cemetery served as our primary playground and was also the destination point for the funerals I wrote about above.
This is another in a series on Mardi Gras 2013 in New Orleans. Hermes, D’Etat, and Morpheus followed similar routes, one after the other and both went up Napoleon Avenue to St. Charles and on to Canal Street. They were night parades. The rest of the series wil follow in July and August.
Hermes was founded in 1937 and has paraded longer than any other night parading krewe in New Orleans’ Carnival. Held every year at 6:00 p.m. the Friday before Shrove Tuesday, this year parade rolled on February 8, 2013. Gambit Weekly’s Carnival critic, Rex Duke, has awarded Hermes with Best Night Parade and Best Overall Parade in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012. It was another great one this and they were very generous with their special throws. You can see some the door way at a friend's party in the last picture
The Krewe of d'Etat was founded in 1996 and first did their night parade in 1998. This year they had 22 floats. Their leader is called the Dictator and his identity is never revealed.Morpheus was founded in 2000 and has 500 members. This year they offered 20 floats with theme, Friday Night at the Movies.
