In the wake of Katrina, Mardi Gras gets serious

Laissez le bon . . .

. . . oh, you know the rest of it – Mardi Gras bash adds heft, and a helping hand

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
February 23, 2006

San Diego's Mardi Gras festival had its humble roots in the old Gaslamp, a tough downtown neighborhood that rarely drew out-of-town visitors.

Today, the Gaslamp Quarter draws tourists shopping at Horton Plaza and hipsters headed for velvet-rope clubs. Case in point: The Gaslamp Quarter-based music festival Street Scene grew so huge the confines of a burgeoning downtown could not house the sprawling event, forcing a move to Qualcomm Stadium last year.

Now, the Gaslamp Quarter Association's Mardi Gras celebration – traditionally a beer-and-beads affair trying to draw a young demographic downtown – is getting serious about booking high-quality bands and widening the audience attending the event.

Jimmy Parker, the Gaslamp Quarter Association's executive director, spent many years on the road as stage manager for bands as varied as Stone Temple Pilots and the Temptations. One of his primary goals today is fashioning the Mardi Gras celebration after the smaller, more diverse Street Scene of a decade ago.

“I had long conversations with (Street Scene promoter) Rob Hagey talking about talent and the old Street Scene,” said Parker, who continues to work on Street Scene periodically. “That's where we both came from. It's about getting bands like the Truckee Brothers. Who knows? They may sign with Capitol tomorrow and be the biggest thing we've ever seen. That's the idea behind creating this local stage.”

The San Diego-based Truckee Brothers are among the bands playing the K Street Gaslamp Stage for Tuesday's Mardi Gras, a stage dedicated to local acts featuring Reeve Oliver, Dirty Sweet and Lady Dottie and the Diamonds. Gone are the cheesy cover bands.

“In the past it was more out-of-town bands, and the focus really wasn't on the bands (at all),” said Cady Truckee. “I think they're trying to give Mardi Gras more of a Street Scene flavor, especially because Street Scene isn't downtown anymore.”

Along with a shift in focus toward more substantial music acts, this year's Mardi Gras also serves as a reminder of last year's tragic events surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”) marks the last day before the period of atonement called Lent in the Catholic Church. It's a time to let loose and have a good time. Given this year's events, Mardi Gras has a more serious undertone. It's still time to let the good times roll, but also to help people in need.

So as the country turns its eyes back to New Orleans during the Mardi Gras season, the Gaslamp Quarter Association realized it was time to import a little New Orleans culture.

The 2006 version of Mardi Gras will include a partnership with the world-famous New Orleans music venue Tipitina's. In wake of Katrina, the Tipitina's Foundation works as a nonprofit organization providing displaced musicians with replacement instruments.

Four New Orleans bands – the Frappe Brass Band, the Wild Apache Mardi Gras Indians, the 504 Brass Band and (former Dirty Dozen Brass Band sousaphonist) Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove – will perform at the Fourth Avenue Tipitina Stage, with all proceeds from that stage going to the foundation.

“I think the right word for us is 'responsibility,'” said Parker. The Gaslamp Quarter's “Mardi Gras celebration has been going for 14 years. So even without Katrina, there's a responsibility if you're throwing a Mardi Gras to throw it in the right spirit. It is Fat Tuesday. It is the beginning of Lent. It's a party to laugh at your sins and your foibles, because the next day is very serious based on the Christian calendar.

“It's stepped up a little bit when you have a Katrina and people dying and ways of life being completely changed. We looked at just having buckets at the door. We looked at partnering with business owners in the French Quarter. And then we found Tipitina's, and it really appealed to everyone involved and spoke to a long-term relationship. We wanted to bring the culture of New Orleans, and especially help out the displaced musicians who lost their livelihoods.

“Musicians are like anyone else: You have to support your family, you have bills. A lot of the people in the music business, they've never been ones to say 'give me a hand.' They want to do their art. They want to work. From the roadie all the way to the promoter, those are hardworking people. When it's taken away, that hurts them more than the money.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.


2006 MARDI GRAS AND CARNAVAL SCHEDULE
Brazil Carnaval 2006 (Saturday 8:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.): Bands include SambaDá featuring vocalist Dahndá da Hora, the Super Sonic Samba School, Mindinho and Capoeira Brasil plus special guest Marcos Santos. Best costume and door prize winners receive roundtrip airfare to Brazil. At 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown; $25 advance / $30 door; (619) 231-4343.

Gaslamp Quarter Mardi Gras 2006 (Tuesday 7 p.m. to midnight): Five stages of Mardi Gras entertainment headlined by KC and the Sunshine Band, Reeve Oliver, Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove and DJ Miss Lisa. Strolling musicians, dancers and the Ladies of Lips will perform. Masquerade Parade with floats begins at 8:30 p.m.

In the Gaslamp Quarter downtown; $15 advance / $20 door; (619) 233-5227.


STAGES AT MARDI GRAS 2006:
G Street Party Stage (DJ Marc Thrasher between sets):

7:30 p.m. – N.R.G.

9 p.m. – Polyester and the Platforms

10:30 p.m. – KC and the Sunshine Band

K Street Gaslamp Stage (DJ Scott Martin between sets):

7 p.m. – Dirty Sweet

8:20 p.m. – Lady Dottie and the Diamonds

9:40 p.m. – The Truckee Brothers

11 p.m. – Reeve Oliver

Fourth Avenue Tipitina's Stage (DJ Mac between sets):

7 p.m. – Frappe Brass Band

8:15 p.m. – Wild Apache Mardi Gras Indians

9:30 p.m. – The 504 Brass Band

11 p.m. – Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove

E Street Club Stage:

7 p.m. – DJs Erick Diaz and Adam Salter

9 p.m. – Scooter & Lavelle

10:30 p.m. – Miss Lisa

The Ladies of Lips will have their own stage at Fourth and G streets.

MORE MARDI GRAS
Hillcrest Mardi Gras (Tuesday 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.): Candye Kane, Cash'd Out and the Lips girls will perform, sponsored by the GSDBA Charitable Foundation and the Hillcrest Business Association.

On University Avenue between Third and Fourth avenues; $15-$75; (619) 491-0400; 21 and up.

Mardi Gras Sidebar: Q&A with Christine Portella

Celebrating a 'passion for life'

February 23, 2006

A native of Brazil's party central, Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian Promotions' Christine Portella grew up reveling in the Carnaval spirit.

For the past 14 years, she and her business partner, Steve Spencer, have produced San Diego's Brazil Carnaval. This year's Carnaval is set for 4th & B Saturday night.

Portella took a few minutes to share her views on Carnaval, Mardi Gras and our ability to celebrate life after misfortune.

Question: Do you remember what it was like growing up in Rio and experiencing Carnaval every year?

Answer: I was born in Rio. I was raised in both countries (the United States and Brazil). My first eight years were here in the U.S. When I was 8, I moved back to Brazil. So my first language is English and I had never even heard Portuguese prior to moving back to Brazil.

It was a drastic change for an 8-year-old. When we moved, it was February during Carnaval. I remember walking in the streets and holding my little sister's hand. All the people in the streets – dancing and singing all day long – I thought my mom had gone crazy bringing us back there.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from your Carnavals in Rio?

A: A passion for life is such a fundamental (part) of the culture, that I could never pinpoint one favorite. Every single Carnaval that I have been to down there has been an amazing event.

Q: A big theme this year in Fat Tuesday parties is celebrating life after tragedy, specifically the ordeal New Orleans had to endure with Hurricane Katrina. People in Rio probably have to deal with poverty and tragedy on a daily basis. Can you talk about the idea of letting loose for a day in regards to living in Rio and how that applies to this year's celebrations?

A: Again, there is such a passion for life in Brazil. There is a lot of poverty. I'm not proud of this, but it's shocking how much of the country can't read, much less write. We can go on and on about the political, economic and social issues that Brazil is going through. But, regardless, the spirit of Carnaval is celebrated throughout the year.

– CHRIS NIXON

Minus 5: McCaughey shoots off about Gun Album

His aim is true
Scott McCaughey is an indie renaissance man, playing in multiple bands

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
February 23, 2006

Talking with Scott McCaughey on the phone is a lot like listening to his albums: friendly and pleasant, yet muddled with circuitous logic and odd imagery.

Take, for example, the new album with one of his many projects, the Minus 5. The band nicknamed its eponymous 2006 release “The Gun Album,” and for good reason. The cover features a 9mm handgun, the CD depicts a diagram of a disassembled gun, and three of the 13 tracks mention guns in the lyrics and title.

The quartermaster bakes a radio / The traitor's a ragdoll in the tornado / The funnel fades to gray / With hand upon the bible who's to say? sings McCaughey on “This Rifle Called Goodbye,” the first track greeting listeners on the album. Rife with surreal absurdity, the strangely dark lyrics play a nice counterpoint to the band's sugary pop hooks.

Here's what McCaughey said from his home in Portland, Ore., about the gun theme: “I hate guns. I absolutely hate them. So it's a weird thing for me to have a gun on the cover. But it seemed to make perfect sense to me at the time.”

“I use the gun thing as an image that goes through the record,” continued McCaughey, laughing at himself a little as he tries to explain the gun theme. “It's very antithetical to what I stand for and what I am into, but it kept turning up. It seemed representative of all the (stuff) in my life.”

His response is odd and charming, like the collection of jangly pop tunes contained on the album. The strumming retro sound comes honestly. McCaughey (pronounced McCoy) again uses his friend and longtime collaborator Peter Buck on the new Minus 5 disc. Buck is famous for creating his own retro pop sound. He returns the favor by using McCaughey as a sideman when recording with his band, R.E.M.

“I've learned so much about ideas for arranging and production (from R.E.M.),” said McCaughey about his time with R.E.M. “Working with those guys, I've picked up so much from all of them. Watching how Michael (Stipe) constructs melodies and works on lyrics is inspiring, watching Mike (Mills) go in at 2 in the morning. I've learned a lot about how he plays keyboards and organ especially. Peter (Buck) – just watching the consistency of how he goes out there. He's so precise on every take.”

McCaughey reached notoriety in indie circles with his band the Young Fresh Fellows, but has gone on to join or create Tuatara (with Buck), the Squirrels, the Lowebeats, the New Strychinies and also serve as “the fifth member” of R.E.M. since 1994.

With a substantial amount of indie cred built up, the new disc features two tracks recorded in Chicago with Wilco, along with guest appearances by John Wesley Harding, Kelly Hogan, Morgan Fisher (Mott the Hoople), Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger/Long Winters), and Colin Meloy and John Moen (the Decemberists).

The Minus 5 will perform in support of “The Gun Album” at the Belly Up Tavern with Robyn Hitchcock, where the band will backup Hitchcock and he'll join them onstage for a few tunes.

"It will be a workout, said McCaughey. "I'm guessing we'll be onstage 2 1/2 hours or close to it. Peter and I have done that quite a few times: Tuatara/Mark Eitzel/Minus 5/Tuatara/Minus 5/Cedell Davis. We've done some long ones when we're playing with all the bands. And the R.E.M. shows are always two-plus hours too, so it's cool. I don't mind. I enjoy it."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.