Frenchmen Street mainstay, the Spotted Cat Music Club, plans to reopen this weekend for the first time in over a year.
The New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings, a jazz band frequently featured at the Spotted Cat before the pandemic, are scheduled to perform at 6 p.m. on Friday. They are followed by Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen Street Allstars at 8 p.m.
On Saturdays, the Spotted Cat hosts four shows: Panorama Jazz Band at 2 p.m., Russell Welch’s Hot Quartet at 4 p.m., Michael Watson & the Alchemy at 6 p.m. and Meschiya Lake & the Little Big Horns at 8 p.m.
The first night of the relaxed phase 3 restrictions finds limited music and a final call (!) For alcohol
“Our staff, as well as our family of musicians, have failed to entertain our many fans, both locally and around the world,” a message posted on the club’s website said.
“With the local restrictions lifted (sort of), it’s time for us to make our comeback. If this last year has taught us anything, it’s that everything changes and people have a way of coming together to adapt to new circumstances. The cat is no different. … We adapt to our time with the way we run our establishment.
To comply with current coronavirus restrictions, ticket sales for each show are limited to groups of two or more at socially distant tables. An individual ticket costs $ 20 plus a service charge, available through an Eventbrite link at spottedcatmusicclub.com.
No dancing is allowed and closing time is 11 p.m. per New Orleans public health regulations. Table service will be provided.
CNN presents Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon airing from Spotted Cat’s Yard on New Years Eve, Monday, December 31, 2018 (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“It is with much thought that we are able to provide a safe space to bring music back to our stage and provide work for those who have been without it for too long,” the club statement said.
The return of the Spotted Cat, the club where CNN anchors Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin repeatedly hosted drunken New Year’s Eve shows, is another sign that New Orleans nightlife is coming to life, albeit at earlier hours.
Kermit Ruffins got out of his huge black van at the corner of avenue AP Tureaud and rue Nord Dorgenois, ready to rest…
The neighboring Favela Chic, occupying the corner space that previously housed Café Brasil, was the first club on Frenchmen Street to feature indoor music since the COVID-19 shutdown a year ago. On March 12, the first day of New Orleans’ phase 3 coronavirus restrictions easing, Tyler Hotti & the Cooling Agents performed inside Favela Chic, but without their brass section.
Other clubs in the French entertainment district are still closed, but the street has not been entirely silent.
The Yard on Frenchmen, just off Esplanade Avenue behind the Engine 9 fire station, regularly hosts marching bands in its courtyard.
Bands performed on the sidewalk outside the closed Frenchmen Street Art Market, as dba sells take out drinks across the street.
Musicians also play outside the Royal Frenchmen Hotel & Bar, which hosts nightly concerts with a ticket office in its courtyard.
Dat Dog hot dog restaurant featured solo pianists and other musicians on its balcony.
In February, Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, one of the oldest clubs on Frenchmen Street, began hosting live performances on Sunday evenings without an audience on the platform. StageIt.com. This series continues Sunday at 7 p.m. with trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and his quintet.
Elsewhere, concert halls are slowly coming back to life.
With Forbidden Dancing, New Orleans Music Fans Find New Ways To Sway
The Bullet’s Sports Bar in the 7th Ward began welcoming trumpeter Kermit Ruffins on Tuesday evenings and the Original Pinettes Brass Band on Friday.
Last weekend, two of New Orleans ‘biggest clubs, Tipitina’s Uptown and the Howlin’ Wolf in the Warehouse District, put on their first shows to the public since the start of the pandemic. Participation was limited to 75 people, in accordance with current city regulations.
The music continues at Tipitina’s Friday with two sold-out, limited-capacity performances by keyboardist Jon Cleary and the Absolute Gentlemen Trio. A trio led by guitarist and singer Walter “Wolfman” Washington will perform at 7 and 9:30 pm Saturday; a limited number of tickets are still available.
The Howlin ‘Wolf booked the Rebirth Brass Band on Friday and the Hot 8 Brass Band on Sunday, as it does every weekend through May.
Thursday April 1, the Howlin ‘Wolf relaunches its weekly series “Comedy Gumbeaux”.
Tipitina’s officially reopened with two sold-out Ivan Neville shows on March 19. These were the first shows from the famous venue in a year to which…
New Orleans’ busiest music venue since the fall is the Broadside, the 13,000 square foot outdoor entertainment venue located across Toulouse Street from the Broad Theater.
Open since October, the Broadside has always featured top local bands. All 150 authorized participants sit outside in socially distant Adirondack-style chairs.
This weekend the club has the Soul Brass Band on Saturday at 2 p.m. followed by a joint performance with drummer Herlin Riley and percussionist Mike Dillon at 5 p.m. Soul band Lulu & the Broadsides perform at the Broadside on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
