New Orleans showed Love!
I'm on the bus recalling our stop in New Orleans while Cuttz works on editing some footage, Decora drives, and others get some much needed rest. The air in New Orleans was thick with heat and judging by the wetness of our clothes we were all slowly melting under the sun. After leaving the hotel without the information we'd hoped for we headed towards our host house. There we met Jocelyn. We'd been put on to her through Keifu from N.C. We'd received word that our goal of assisting in the construction of houses would not work out. However, we still had a performance to handle over at the Lion's Den and Jocelyn was the one that hooked us up with it. She works at a local Hooka bar and works with Fusicology. An online org that helps in the promotion of artists throughout the country and soon overseas as well. Be sure to check them out at Fusicology.com. We were all looking forward to a spot where we could take some showers and cool off. We all called off a spot in the shower (1st, 3rd, 5th...) and while one was in the shower others either napped or worked on their computers. I took a much needed nap because "Mr. Grumpy Wumpy" (the man in my head that gets angry when I'm hungry and or sleepy).
After we rested and showered up we searched for something to eat. We couldn't find many spots that served anything other than Po'Boys (Subs, Hoogies) but we finally found a spot that had some good ole greasy seafood. Lee's Seafood...not the cleanest of places but they sure make some good ole spicy cajun comida. After the food we headed back to the place to prep for our performance that night at the Dragon's Den. When we arrived there was some confusion in regards to where we were going to perform. Some said we had to set up our equipment upstairs and others said we had to set up downstairs. Of course we didn't want to haul equipment upstairs to merely bring it back downstairs. So we sat to discuss it with the event "promoter". After 20 minutes of discussing we realized that the promoter was very confused because he kept saying "If you guys want to do it downstairs then fine but we usually do it upstairs". All of us took turns stating that it had nothing to do with us wanting to perform downstairs we just needed to know where we had to set up. An additional 15 minutes after we decided to just set up downstairs and get ourselves going. He kept saying "Fine if ya want to set up downstairs"...so we did lol. After we set up the host got on and mentioned the event and its purpose along with one by one calling up the local performers that one going up before us. The likes of "One Eyed Willie", Cleopatra, Hieroglyphics, Truth and more did their thing on stage.
Afterward we went on and did a set that we'd been working on for a while. Set went great and we sold a bunch of shirts and CD's that we hoped would get us to the next spot. It wasn't much but it was just enough to get some gas in the bus and get us moving to the next spot. While we were packing up and heading out some happy intoxicated folks decided that we were their friends for the next half hour. Except for one...for some reason she hated the bus. She kept "air slapping" the bus and yelling "F#$% the bus". Actually maybe she liked us and just hated the bus lol. So some of the drunk males offered to race J-man. J-man accepted and neglected to mention that he'd beaten all of us and ran track in High School. He of course beat them all and we got some footage of the race to show our kids one day. The heat was suffocating and our clothes had become glued to our bodies. We all got on the bus (Jocelyn had come to check us out and now was navigating us back) and headed home.
The next day we get ourselves ready and headed towards the 9thWard. An air of sadness entered our souls as we drove in to the area that had received the most destruction. We drove up to where the levees had breached. From there we could see the destruction. There was still some debris in the area. Homes that once stood now only have a set of stairs and grass the grows tall with the pain of those that are no longer there. At times the silence in the area was piercing. All that could be heard was the sound of hammers and power tools in the distance. Those that can afford it are rebuilding and giving hope for a better tomorrow. Taking a look at the "new levees" we could see that the Marine Corps didn't really do much to make anything better. Instead of making the levees stronger with distinct materials and more powerful as they are in other parts of the world...they made them a few feet higher. It's not a levee...it's a cement wall that's a little higher than the previous one. In fact, the money that was meant to be used to build up the levee was relocated and used to build the border wall via the Rio Grande. Jocelyn had mentioned to us that the 9th ward should not have been populated anyway. It's next to a canal! Normally communities are not built next to a canal because of the possible danger of flooding. As we drove by and saw what seemed to be ghost towns we could see the places where children once ran. The places where families once convened and the where voices could once be heard. They could still be there...
We performed that night at Sweet Loraine's, held it down and headed back to our sauna (hot living room). Graham had disapeared so we had to search for him through New Orleans...we stopped at a bar to order some food that tasted like the cook has a personal vendetta against us. Graham some how appeared next to us, kept quiet and then disappeared again. We called him a couple of times and then somehow found him in New Orleans sitting down and talking with a pianist that was a bit too curious about who was in the bus lol. He kept gazing inside the bus until we pulled away. Graham got in the bus and fell asleep. All I could think of was "Not all who wander are lost".
-Latin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment