Music in the Marigny

The city and Mimi's reached an agreement to bring live music back to the Marigny bar.

In a story that is largely about noise, it's appropriate that Mimi's in the Marigny quietly got a Mayoralty Permit late last week that allows it to present live music. The bar's lawyer, Justin Schmidt, successfully demonstrated to City Hall that Mimi's had continuously been a live entertainment venue long enough to be grandfathered in. 

That doesn't signal a return to things as they were. According to a statement by Soul Sister, long-time host of the Saturday night "Hustle" dance party, Mimi's agreed not to present DJs. "Mimi also stressed that 'DJs' are no longer allowed, per the new rule," she wrote. Instead, Soul Sister will keep "Hustle" at its new home at the Hi-Ho Lounge.

It's disappointing to read that the neighbors plan to “fight this, in some way,” not because it's wrong to fight noise but because there isn't anything to fight yet. According to blog post at Noise Nola:

It is the role of city government to intervene and protect good neighbors who are being harmed by the intentional flouting of laws and regulations established to create a functioning community. Mimi’s seeks a live entertainment permit in an area which strictly forbids it.

It's not clear how Mimi's is flouting regulation or doing something forbidden if the city agrees to it. 

The habit of demonizing the neighbors has been one of the many sad parts of this story since some of them were in their houses before Mimi's was a live music venue, and Lorelei Cropley is a live music person. I've known her for years from seeing each other at concerts, and I recently saw her during Anders Osborne's aggressively loud set during Gleason Gras. Still, a wait-and-see posture seems more appropriate.