Galactic performed with a number of special guests like Trombone Shorty, Papa Mali, June Yamagishi, John Gros, The Revivalists’ Dave Shaw and members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band this past Saturday at Tipitina’s in New Orleans. The band gathered these friends together for the night’s special “Bring the Houseman Home” benefit concert, which aimed to bring their old singer, Theryl “Houseman” DeClouet, back to New Orleans. The renowned Louisiana soul singer was forced to abandon his hometown in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and has since been exiled to Chicago.

Galactic opened the show with some help from Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill on “Karate” from their 2012 album Carnivale Electricos. Next, the band was joined by Kirk Joseph, Roger Lewis and Gregory Davis of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for a take on the Rolling Stones’ “I Used to Love Her (But It’s All Over Now)” (now a staple of the New Orleans brass scene), followed by a rendition their song “Santa Cruz,” which also featured Trombone Shorty on trumpet.

The moment everyone had been waiting for came early as the Houseman himself took the stage for “Something’s Wrong With This Picture,” a track from their debut album, 1996’s Coolin’ Off. The band was then joined by Papa Grows Funk’s June Yamagishi, John Gros and Jason Mingledorff for The Meters’ “Just Kissed My Baby.”

Singers Dave Shaw of The Revivalists and Maggie Koener replaced the Houseman on vocals for “Hey Na Na,” and Shaw stuck around for the next tune, “Heart of Steel.” Papa Mali then hopped on guitar for “Ooh Nah Nay” before MyNameIsJohnMichael’s John Michael Rouchell came out for “Out In The Street” and “Does It Really Make a Difference.” The set came to a close with Houseman once again taking the stage for “Bittersweet” and “Never Called You Crazy” before going into an encore finale of The Meters classic “Africa.”