Thursday of the second weekend is probably my favorite day of Jazz Fest. The crowds are the smallest of any of the 7 days, the lines are manageable, all the stages are approachable. The line up is usually heavily weighted with local acts and you have a whole week of music under your belt so you are less stressed about missing something. You get the chance to just do Jazz Fest slow and take it all in. And New Orleans continues to show you they just roll different here. There’s crowds of school kids, all in their school uniform or at least matching t-shirts. Did your elementary school have field trips to music festivals?

A whole new group of friends comes into town. Our second weekend krewe had straggled in over the last few days and was assembled to storm the gates at 11 am. We had a few Jazz Fest virgins in tow so we prepped them as best as we could. Nothing really grabbed me so I decided to check out the new batch of crafts. For those of you who don’t know, the craft show at jazz fest is world class.

The line up seemed weak but that just means that you have to go out and discover or re-discover some new bands. I decided that even though I had tried Johnny Sketch at least 10 times in the past, I would give them another try this year. I am happy to report that I liked them a little more, but it still isn’t my cup of tea so I picked up a crawfish strudel and went to visit Kirk Joseph at Congo. His chops and warmth came through immediately and although I’ve never been baptized by Kirk (when he puts your head into the sousaphone and blows a bit), it felt like hanging out with family just the same.

I rushed over to Steve Riley to get a few early dances in, but got there 15 minutes before he started, so I headed over to Eagle and Hawk, nothing special, but was better than watching people change a stage over for Mr. Riley and there was random hula hooping on stage. So back to Fais Do Do where I danced some zydeco and got in a waltz. To me the Fais Do Do stage is what sets Jazz Fest apart from other festivals. The dancers, their spirit and their outfits can’t help but make you smile. The lack of rain over the past week is a blessing for most Fest-goers but means the dance “floor” at the Fais Do Do is a dust bowl and the air quality is a bit lacking. I have always said that your festival experience will never be complete without learning to zydeco dance – trust me, it is more fun and easier than you realize. Sadly, it seems like there are fewer and fewer zydeco bands each year.

Lucinda Williams at the Acura stage disappointed as she did not seem happy to see us. Luckily, trumpeter Christian Scott was just around the corner in the Jazz Tent. Love his eerie heavy sound. Caught a few songs from his albums with collaborator and guitarist Matthew Stevens. Mid set he called up “anyone with a horn” to come up on stage for a Herbie Hancock song and was joined by 3 sax players. Telling the crowd the inspiration for one of his songs was his girlfriend Isadora, he called her up on stage, and dropping down on one knee, he proposed. How many times does this happen each Jazz Fest, on and off the stage? Who knows but 15 years ago it happened to me.

Next, I headed over to the Bingo Show at Gentilly. The New Orleans Bingo Show is something altogether different. It is part circus, part musical, part performance art, and if you see the show at a club, they actually play bingo. Anyway, Clint Maedgen is the driving force behind Bingo and he is a musical genius. Aside from playing sax and singing for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, he plays guitar, keys, theremin, coke bottles, pots and pans, and found objects. Ronnie Number, Da Turk and Trixie Minx played their usual parts, and the stage was filled out by the burlesque performers from Fleur De Tease. I planned on leaving, but felt that something as creative and diverse as that needed to be supported. When Clint broke into “There Is a Light” my wait was rewarded in full and then some.

From Bingo, I circled the track to get to Acura for Galactic. They played a great set in which they were joined by Mike D on percussion and Corey Glover (Living Colour) on vocals. As is often the case with Galactic shows, the house was brought down by a mind blowing drum solo by Stanton Moore who pulled the snare off his kit and marched it to the front of the stage where he was joined by his all of his bandmates except Ben Ellman who held out things for him to bang on including Jeff Raines’s guitar. I thought it strange Ben wasn’t involved until I realized he was riding Jeff’s wa wa pedal. Almost every time I see Galactic, I find myself picking out a different member as the band’s weak link, and just when I’m sure I have it figured it out, that very member goes off with a great solo or something and I have to start picking on someone else – I never learn.

I left Galactic to check out Locos Por Juana, but just as I got there, they broke out into a reggae song so I turned to Economy Hall for a few gentle tunes from Mark Braud. I then stopped into the Gospel tent for Lisa Knowles and was blown away by her passion, her voice and the community that she created in that Gospel Tent. I have no idea what a dance of “two steps to the left, two steps to the right, back up and jump” has to do with Jesus, but it was fun for us all.

Planning to see Michele Shocked late night but caught the end of her set just in case. The crowd that was left loved her but many had left already irritated with too much talking and complaining and not enough music. I found her stories, her politics and her stage presence delightful.

To finish, I decided to give Cindy Lauper a try, but after “She Bop” and half a BB King tune, I ran away as fast as I could. Maceo Parker tore up the Congo Stage but wasn’t what I wanted. Tried Wilco but after a song or two, I wasn’t feeling it. So I turned to Ruthie Foster in the Blues Tent. I thought, “Why should I see Ruthie Foster again, I know she played one of my favorite sets ever at Jazz Fest, but I see her a few times a year, I don’t have to see here again.” Well, I should learn to tell myself to shut up! Her infectious smile, great disposition, solid band and incredible voice raised the roof off of the blues tent again. Shows how much I know!