The Daze Between

Monday April 27, 2009

This afternoon we all met at noon and had lunch at the hotel bistro and then went on a river cruise down the Mississippi. We saw the best of the city (The French Quarter) and the less attractive industrial areas. From my obseervations, the city seems to have come back to something approaching normality. You can see that there is more traffic in the streets of the Ninth Ward.

In the evening most of the group headed off to the basketball at the stadium near the Superdome. I go shopping at the Louisiana Music Factory for more New Orleans material. My suitcase is starting to look small. I hear a little of the Piano Night at the House of Blues through the side door but decide to do some work and have another early night (two in a row is a record).

Tuesday April 28, 2009

This morning Ken, Lise and I picked up our Harleys at Eaglerider on Canal. Ken opted for the Road King I took the Heritage Softail Classic. When we arrive we have no plan. I thought we could go up to Lafayette to have lunch with CC Adcock but he is stil in town. The gent doing the rental suggests Biloxi and we decide to do that and Abita Springs.

A quick ride up and down the street gets us used to the running boards and gear lever, the seating position and and the controls. At 10.00am we follow directions to the I-90 and are soon heading out of town towards the Gulf Coast, somewhere I have never been before.

I have to say that the Harleys look and sound great. They are a classic machine and no other manufacturer has been able to successfully copy the design (though some have come close). The bikes come with inbuilt charisma and credibility. Having said that, riding a Harley  is a bit like sitting on a tractor – very agricultural. Instruments are sparse. There is no tachometer – as someone once said to me, they rev so slowly they do not need a tacho they need a lamp post counter. The gears clunk into place on the massive engine and it shakes a lot until you get moving a bit quicker and put it into sixth gear, which is effectively an overdrive. Out on the highway it is smooth and effortless.

As we ride out through the suburbs it is apparent that people have come back and it is certainly busier than last year. Soon we are heading near the caost and past holiday shacks on stilts. There is not too much evidence left here of Katrina.

It is nice to take a minor road and not an interstate; the traffic is not heavy and we can relax. We reach Biloxi after a run along the beach road with sand drifting onto the road. The Hard Rock Casino looms and Ken says we should stop there for lunch, which we do. Imagine a massive Hard Rock Cafe and you have the general idea. We join the Players Club, get a card and get the buffet for half price – US$6.94 each. Ken discovers some Chinese food and we load up.

The run into New Orleans is across The Causeway – 29 miles across the middle of Lake Ponchartrain. We take in terms to lead and at times ride side by side, just like in Easy Rider. It is a great experience.

We arrive back at the hotel at around 7.00pm, park the bikes, freshen up and head off to the Ponderosa Stomp at The House Of Blues. Somehow I manage to mix up times and miss Otis Clay – the one act Pierre Baroni told me to catch. (I hide from him). I do see James ‘Blood’ Ulmer, Texas Johnny Brown, Dale Hawkins with James Burton, The Remains and a fantastic hour from Howard Tate.

Wednesday April 28, 2009

It’s a relaxing day today. A late start after the Stomp. I go to the conference at The Cabildo on Jackson Square and attend the session with Peter Guralnick interviewing Dan Penn and Rick Hall (from Fame and Muscle Shoals). A fascinating hour of discussion.

Afterwards, I meet Tim near the Music Factory and we go to the Canal Place Cinemas to buy tickets to The Promised Land tomorrow night. Then we sit and record some comentary for Off The Record which I spend the next few hours recording, encoding and sending.

I decide to get to The Ponderosa Stomp around 10.30pm and grab a pizza on the corner nearby. Dan Penn and Bobby Emmons give a history lesson in Southern Soul. Wanda Jackson is as dynamic as she was a couple of years ago when she was in Australia. Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney are reunited as a quasi-Flamin’ Groovies with A-Bones and put in a great hour that reminds us how under-rated the Groovies were. I am too tired to stay and catch ? & The Mysterians, although I know they will be great. Pierre Baronni, I am sure will berate me for missing them.