My Weekend Vibe : Waiting On Treme

I think there is a law that says if you live down here you have to go to at least one festival in April. I’m going to get mines out of the way today and go somewhere. I’ll be home in more than enough time to get comfortable and watch Treme tonight on HBO. When I first heard about the show I had some concerns about the message it would send about the city and I still do. I love David Simon and The Wire is one of my favorite shows of all time but it wasn’t the greatest endorsement for the city of Baltimore. I don’t think Treme is going to be that gritty since it centers on the lives of musicians. Musicians in New Orleans get access to people and places that the average cat doesn’t. It’s sort of their job to be joy with the pain because if they kept it too real it would scare away most of the people that support them.

Our greatest strength is making the struggle sound and look beautiful. I’m not against that because it’s part of what makes saying you are from New Orleans special. It gives you a unique cool factor. I also don’t believe in sugarcoating how it is to live here either. I don’t want anyone thinking that just because we like to dance to jazz bands and dress up in Mardi Gras Indian costumes that we are happy with poor education and sub standard bullshit. There’s a lot of drama going on between Sundays when the second line starts. There's a lot of people here that are in love with the beautiful part but they haven't taken the time to understand the struggle. I’m looking for balance in the show especially since the setting is after Katrina. I think I can speak for everyone I know personally and tell you there was a lot of pain going on. We may have been dancing but that’s just how we deal with stuff. That might confuse people from normal cities so the show needs to bring that out. We will see how good of a job they did tonight. I’m looking forward to it.


Since this post is about a New Orleans show built around New Orleans musical culture then I might as well post some Hot 8. This is dedicated to my Auntie Anna, Katrina refugee and loyal second line followers for over 20 years. Right now she is in Opelousas, Louisiana trying to drown out zydeco music.