Friday gave us a look at a possible future for Jazz Fest. Will it work?

Objectively, Friday was a very good day at Jazz Fest. The weather was beautiful, the vibe and music was great, and there were enough people there to be make the day feel like an event, but not so many people that it ever felt crowded. None of the main stages—Festival, Shell Gentilly, and Congo Square—looked packed like they do on strong days at the festival, but there were enough people at all three for the final sets to create the feeling that those in attendance were part of something communal. Lionel Richie always seems like a Biloxi casino act, but his audience comfortably filled the grounds to the track.

The only question is whether there were enough people there to make a day like that financially viable. The beer lines were very manageable all day, and a nearly pristine Port-a-let at the end of the day says they weren’t that used. Does a day like that pay the bills? I hope so, because I’d gladly take what looks like a little less star power to get a better experience at Jazz Fest. 

You can see evidence that suggests Festival Productions knows their lineup. The lack of bleachers at the Festival—formerly Acura—Stage says they know they don’t have one that would attract so many people that they’d need another few thousand seats. At the end of the weekend, we’ll have a clearer picture of the lineup’s draw and just what kind of a financial future the festival will need to think through. 

Notes:

- Friday started letting in late and had a few slowdowns as the ticket readers were glitchy.

- After all the anticipation of returning to Jazz Fest, my first set was a reality check. On the Festival Stage, Montreal’s Kizaba played to a largely empty field with the closest fans two or three first downs away. The empty Big Chief pen looked like it had been expanded, but that might have been an optical illusion created by feeling absurdly far from a show that was clearly struggling to connect. 

Fortunately, Kizaba had a very different experience two hours later. He turned the Cultural Exchange Pavilion into a club where people actually dance danced to his electronic, club-friendly take on Congolese music. For 45 minutes, the experience was the opposite of the one he had on the Festival Stage. When he wanted people to sing, they did, even when a shaky vocal mix made it hard to be sure what he was singing. When he wanted them to put their hands up, they did, and he didn’t have to ask them to dance. The set was joyous, and as was clear a couple of hours later when Tuareg guitar hero Bombino played that stage, being face to face with a small, engaged crowd in a tent is clearly motivating. 

- I wish I would have seen more of CeeLo’s tribute to James Brown because he had a spiritual thing going in the last 20 minutes that didn’t quite add up. It sounded like the continuation of a thought he started before I got there, but maybe not. 

I also wish I would have got there sooner so I could hear an actual James Brown tribute. His version of “Sex Machine” did everything you want from the song except stretch it out the way James likely would have. But before it, the band played Sly and the Family Stone’s “Higher,” and he followed “Sex Machine” with “Who’s Going to Save My Soul,” a song he wrote for Gnarls Barkley as a reaction to Brown’s death. After that, he returned to the Gnarls Barkley catalog for “Crazy” and asked the crowd to give their middle fingers to the sky and yell, “Fuck COVID,” which became “Fuck You,” which brought the set to a close. 

Maybe someone who was there for the whole set can tell me if he suggested that every funky thing he did was because of James Brown, so it all was a tribute? Or did the tribute simply get a little sidetracked? 

- This might be a minority opinion, but I enjoyed The Revivalists more playing Boyfriend’s songs than I thought her songs benefitted from being played by The Revivalists. To be fair, a rock band helps her songs get over at a gig like Jazz Fest, but the songs as songs don’t really benefit from additional muscle.

- I’ve tried to dial back the complaints about the Jazz Tent’s booking because it’s so conservative. It feels repetitive, like my grousing about the abysmal sound in the Blues Tent. On the way out, I saw a band that included Jeff Albert, Jonathan Freilich and Dr. Jimbo Walsh playing in someone’s driveway, and it was embarrassing that the closest musicians as talented as them can get to Jazz Fest is a few blocks away.

Saturday’s Highlights 

The Who, Jason Isbell, and Nelly should make Saturday a genuinely busy day at the Jazz Fest. It also includes a true wild card in José Feliciano, who will close the Blues Tent on Saturday. Seriously, who had him on their Jazz Fest draft board? 

Who else are we looking forward to? 

Water Seed - The band has honed its ‘80s-influenced pop funk into songs that can keep up with their showmanship.

(Congo Square, 12:45p)

DrakhaBrakha - This theatrical Ukrainian band from Kyiv crosses genres into what they call “ethno-chaos.” 

(Cultural Exchange, 1:40p)

Mia X - One of the OG No Limit Soldiers.

(Congo Square, 2:15p)

Tank and the Bangas - The band is your smartphone turned into a musical outfit, and they take a big step forward on their new Red Balloon.

(Congo Square, 3:50p)

Asleep at the Wheel - The Austin-based Western swing institution didn’t get a chance to celebrate 50 years Asleep during COVID, but it’s doing so now.

(Sheraton New Orleans Fais-Do-Do, 4:35p)