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Apr112008
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25th Anniversary French Quarter Festival |
I took the day off of work today to go to the French Quarter Festival. I got downtown at about 11, Dad gave me a ride there on his way to the office. For the three day event, I rented a EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS lens, a beautiful piece of glass. I had no desire to carry multiple lenses and the stages are small enough that you don’t need much reach. The weather was quite nice today in spite of gloomy forecasts. Unfortunately for me, I was expecting clouds and rain all day so I left my hat in the car. It cleared up soon after and I got a lot more sun than I would have liked.The first act I went to see today was the “Connie Jones and The French Quarter Festival Allstars” featuring Pete Fountain. Mr. Fountain isn’t getting any younger but he can still play that clarinet with the best of them. I got close to the stage at the beginning of the act and shot some pictures and then walked around for something to eat. I ended up getting a combo plate from the Muriel’s booth.Following that I made my way over to the old U.S. Mint to see Jonno and Bayou Deville. I was not familiar with this band but Dad spoke highly of them last week so I thought I’d check them out. They play Cajun music and they’re pretty damn good at it. They had a sizable crowd for the performance.After watching that act for about 90 minutes I walked back to Jackson Square for Ellis Marsalis. He performed this afternoon as a quartet, with the same musicians as I’ve seen previously at Snug Harbor. As usual, they put on a great set. It would have been a lot easier to get good pictures had they not put a microphone in front of Ellis’s face right after the show started.I watched some street performers for a little while before walking back to the mint for Vivaz at 5:15. I sat down with some gumbo and a coke before the set started. They were a few minutes late to fix some sound troubles. I saw Vivaz at Jazz Fest last year and was impressed. With Otra mostly AWOL, Vivaz is one of the best latin bands in town.I got a call from Dad shortly before six offering me a ride home. It was a tad early but I didn’t think another hour was worth the hassle of getting a cab so I accepted.This evening I sorted through the pictures I took today. I was quite pleased with my handiwork today. Obviously I have a lot yet to learn but I am getting better. The awesome lens I had to use certainly contributed as well. Later on I watched some of the Tulane Houston game on TV, which they lost 3-4. Battlestar Galactica was also on tonight.