Every year the weekend before Thanksgiving brings us two great free festivals, Cops2 Blues and Oak Street Poboy. This year we saw Jon Cleary do his solo act of old school New Orleans R&B at the Cops 2 Festival on Saturday November 21. Jon provided a high energy set despite the rain or perhaps to reward those who stayed. You can see one of Jon’s young fans below.
Then there is a man making beignets with Jon arriving in the background. We had some delicious catfish with onion sauce, yellow rice, corn on the cobs and a croissant.
The next day brought the Oak Street Poboy Festival. In the morning we volunteered and passed out festival maps at Oak and Carrolton. I also helped sort merch on the second floor at the Maple Leaf. You can see the view from its balcony below.
Then we saw Eric Johanson play some strong blues at the Maple Leaf.
This year the festival gave VIP passes to all the people living within a block of Oak Street as a thank you for the disruption. The gesture was much appreciated as we next went to the GW Fins booth for their lobster poboy. We would have never waited in the block long line. You can also see the multi-person assembly line putting the poboy together, what one looks like and me enjoying one.
Next we went to our neighbors for some wonderful food and music. They set up a stage on the front porch. Another neighbor, Chad Toups, brought his high energy funk band, Noisewater. They played several sets, both day and night.
After that we saw Jon Cleary for the second day in a row. This time he was with his band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. Jon even played guitar for several sings as the sun went down behind the levee.
Finally, after some more Noisewater, I went to the Maple Leaf to hear Joe Krown and Russell Batiste with some guests. It was a full day.
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