mardi gras indians

just in case you didnt know, or if you've never been. new orleans is wild. there are so many types of freaks and geeks that live in the city, in the marigny, uptown, on the west bank, and all over the "greater new orleans area". and mardi gras is, historically, one of those times that everybody comes together to get wild, have a good time, and just throw it down.


























one such group is the mardi gras indians. in short, these guys are total badasses, who have alter egos that are just plain funky. they're chants have influenced bands like the meters, and the brass bands that come out of the city. the indiansf have names like tootie montana, quarter moon, monk boudreaux, and big chief bo dollis, they're groups or "tribes" have names like the creole wild west, the fi-yi-yi, the golden nation, the uptown rulers, and the wild tchopitoulas.

i wanted to go look for them last year, you have to look for them on mardi gras day because, unlike the big parades, they go through backstreets and have no planned route. i didn't get to see them last mardi gras, but i got to go see their practice at handa wanda's when i was in town for new years.

today, i was on the bike today and saw a brazilian drum group and stopped to watch them play some vaguely new orleansy rhythms and breaks. it was as close as i'm gonna get this year to those funky indian second line beats.

lets go get em (stream)

fire water (download)