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Singer-songwriter Andrew Duhon shares the best live music in his hometown New Orleans, from acoustic sets at The Tigermen Den to candlelit piano acts at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar.
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New Orleans, with its famous “Big Easy” vibe, fabulous food and exhilarating live music scene, might just be America’s biggest party – and not only during its iconic Mardi Gras celebration. Its eclectic neighbourhoods straddling the snaking Mississippi River are home to a year-round bevy of musical acts, spanning styles from funk to blues to the New Orleans-bred genres of jazz, Cajun-infused zydeco and hip-hop subset Bounce.
The SpeciaList
Singer-songwriter Andrew Duhon was raised in the Metairie suburb of New Orleans, started doing open mics in the big city when he was in his early teens and now tours the nation to perform his troubadour-style folk and blues. His 4th studio album will be released in 2024.
We asked Andrew Duhon, a NOLA-based singer-songwriter, to help us find his hometown’s best live music venues. “This isn’t just any other city that we’re living in,” said Duhon. “This is a special place to wander around, and the stories are everywhere, through every aged wooden French-style door that opens up into a beautiful courtyard in the French Quarter.”
But with so many stories – and venues – to choose from, Duhon, who performs all over the country with his folk and blues trio, gravitates towards places that “feel” like New Orleans. “To stand on the corner at a place like BJ’s in the Bywater and talk to the local folk,” he said. “Half of them you might recognise and be familiar with and the other half, you’re going to be friends in five minutes and enjoy a show inside.”
Duhon remains especially influenced by the city itself, which he believes unconsciously inspires every NOLA-based creative and lives in its best music venues. “I can come home and feel that sense of history in a room like that and a welcoming back. I think that is truly unique to New Orleans.”
Here are eight of Andrew Duhon’s favourite spots to catch live music acts in New Orleans.
Tipitina’s in Uptown is a classic New Orleans musical experience that draws both national and up-and-coming New Orleans-based acts (Credit: William Morgan/Alamy)
1. Best large venue that stages national acts: Tipitina’s
“The first place that comes to mind is Tipitina’s,” said Duhon, citing the rustic juke joint that has been one of New Orleans’ most revered music venues since it opened in 1977. “It was named after a song by [iconic New Orleans pianist] Professor Longhair. So even the name is of New Orleans.”
Tipitina’s is found in Uptown New Orleans and hosts an immense variety of excellent NOLA acts like bounce artist Big Freedia and a jam-packed calendar of Mardi Gras programming. “They will have nationally touring acts come through,” said Duhon. “They’re a big enough room to have that sort of thing happen. But there’s also plenty local stuff going on there. And it feels like New Orleans at Tipitina’s, you know, it’s not a sterile room. It’s very special inside and the music that they have is special, too.”
Website: https://tipitinas.com/
Address: 501 Napoleon Ave, New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 895-8477
Instagram: @tipitinas
Duhon’s pick for dinner and entertainment is the Maple Leaf Bar, which is next door to Jacques-Imo’s restaurant serving “real Nawlins” cuisine (Credit: William Morgan/Alamy)
2. Best for making a night of it: the Maple Leaf Bar
For visitors planning a whole evening in New Orleans, Duhon recommends the funky watering hole the Maple Leaf Bar, also Uptown, which has hosted live acts since 1974.
Tip
When you’re in town, tune into WWOZ New Orleans 90.7 FM. “Let’s say I’m coming home off the road, and I want to go see a show,” said Duhon. “They’re community operated. Every DJ is a volunteer. They all love it. And they all have that same energy of just having their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in New Orleans.” Duhon also recommends the Louisiana Music Factory record shop on Frenchmen Street. “Another perfect resource if you wanted to pick yourself up some New Orleans records,” he said. “Or even just pop in and get to talking about what’s going on locally. Those guys would love to chat about it.”
“It’s a little smaller, less nationally touring acts getting through there,” said Duhon of the music club, housed in a bi-level 19th-Century frame town home. “But it was home to many of the forefathers of New Orleans music [who] used to play there, and it remains a great venue.”
The Maple Leaf Bar’s acts offer hot sets in genres including funk, blues, zydeco, R&B and jazz, and while the bar is most known for providing a platform for up-and-coming local artists, it also welcomes the occasional, surprise drop-in sesh by household name musicians, like legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen and NOLA native jazz musician Jon Batiste.
“It’s also next door to an excellent restaurant for New Orleans food which is called Jacque-Imo’s,” said Duhon. “So, you can make a perfect little night of it. You book yourself table at Jacque-Imo’s, get yourself something to eat, and then go see a funk band next door. I mean, what’s not to love?” Duhon recommends the alligator cheesecake: “Seems like a must.”
Website: https://www.mapleleafbar.com/
Address: 8316 Oak Street, New Orleans, LA 70118
Phone: (504) 866-9359
Instagram: @mapleleafnola
Chickie Wah Wah on Canal Street offers a laid-back cocktail room and listening experience (Credit: William Morgan/Alamy)
3. Best listening room : Chickie Wah Wah
For the discerning music lover who wants nothing more than to sit down and listen in a chill space with a cocktail in their hand, Duhon recommends heading to Chickie Wah Wah, an unassuming white brick cottage on the Canal Street streetcar line offering a constant line up of great musical acts. “The owner passed away a few years back and there was word that it might go away,” said Duhon. “But since then, I’m glad to report that new owners – all of them just understanding and loving New Orleans – are doing good things with that room. And I think it’s a great spot to catch a show.”
Chickie Wah Wah’s intimate space is a magnet for a New Orleans-style blend of musical styles. “They’ll do the singer-songwriter type things, you know, broad in that sense,” said Duhon, who enjoys performing at Chickie Wah Wah when he’s in town. “It can be anything from country to rock and roll to local Cajun music, but, you know, something that you can sit and listen to.”
Website: https://chickiewahwah.com
Address: 2828 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70119
Phone: (504) 541-2050
Instagram: @chickiewahwahnola
Le Bon Temps Roule on Magazine Street is a friendly dive with food, billiards and a wide mix of musical acts (Credit: William Morgan/Getty Images)
4. Best dive bar with eclectic line up: Le Bon Temps Roule
If a dive bar immediately conjures up images of a barely functioning jukebox, allow your horizons to be broadened with a visit to Le Bon Temps Roule – or Le Bon Temps, as it’s affectionately called by locals.
Celebrating Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras is a thrilling time to visit New Orleans. “It’s its own kind of revelry, with many ways to go about it,” said Duhon. “From now until Fat Tuesday there’ll be parades every weekend, which can be enjoyed from the sidewalk side or the neutral ground side or up on a ladder with children.” Aside from Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, Duhon also recommends The R Bar and Anna’s as “excellent Mardi Gras hangs”. But he warns: “To be clear, the bars themselves are a fine place to get a drink, but the hang is happening on the street – and showing up to one of these spots without a costume might leave you feeling underdressed.”
“It’s a dive bar with a live music room in the back,” explained Duhon. “It’s dark and woody and yeah, it feels like New Orleans in there.”
Le Bon Temps Roule is nestled on a corner of Magazine Street, housed in a historic late 19th-Century building painted an eye-catching red. Visitors can relax with a game of billiards as they take in the vast array of acts, from soul to hip hop DJ sets, or enjoy a hearty pub menu of burgers and sandwiches, washed down with a Bloody Mary, the house cocktail.
“It’s a great room,” said Duhon. “Not too big. It’s a dive venue and lovely. They’ll do brass bands in the back; everything from country to brass.”
Website: https://lbtrnola.com/
Address: 4801 Magazine Street, New Orleans LA 70115
Phone: (504) 897-3448
Instagram: @lebontempsroulenola
One of Duhon’s favourite ways to experience the NOLA music scene is wandering from venue to venue on Frenchmen Street and Saint Claude Avenue (Credit: William Morgan/Alamy)
5. Best for wandering from venue to venue with a drink in your hand: Frenchmen Street and Saint Claude Avenue
If certain venues “feel” like New Orleans, there are two streets – or corridors, in NOLA-speak – that encapsulate the vibe for Duhon. “Maybe you just picked up a cocktail from one room, but you want to go to the next,” he said. “You can bring that cocktail along to the next room if you like. You can walk with your drink in New Orleans.”
Duhon’s favourite music venue-lined corridors are Frenchmen Street and Saint Claude Avenue. “When I was a kid figuring out my songwriter thing, Frenchmen Street felt pure,” Duhon reminisced. “It felt like the tourists hadn’t found [it] yet.” Duhon concedes that gentrification is sneaking into the corridor, but the stalwarts remain. “The ones that come to mind are DBA, Snug Harbor [Jazz Bistro] and The Spotted Cat Music Club,” he said. “DBA can be a mixed bag; everything from rock to jazz. Snug Harbor is strictly jazz. [There’s a] seated area around a small stage, very intimate, quiet, a place where you can really tuck in and listen… and across the street, the Spotted Cat is a whole different take on jazz. That’s a small room where there aren’t seats; you’re just shoulder to shoulder with the locals and a beer in your hand and on the stage is probably somebody crooning some jazz tunes, Dixieland.”
On Saint Claude Avenue, Duhon likes [indie music room] Hi-Ho Lounge; metal, punk and underground band venue Siberia; Allways Lounge [cabaret]; alternative music spot Saturn Bar and Sweet Lorraine’s [jazz club]. “I think either Frenchmen or Saint Claude are great options,” said Duhon. “I wouldn’t even have to look at a calendar… I could go to either one of those corridors and feel like I’m going to find something cool… A walk-in beverage, a couple of friends, or not. Make a couple of friends! That’s New Orleans, you know?”
Locals don’t go to Bourbon Street. But if they did, here’s where they’d end up. (Credit: John Elk III/Alamy)
6. The Best of Bourbon Street (from a local’s POV): Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar
When discussing Bourbon Street – the most iconic stretch in New Orleans’ gorgeous yet heavily-touristed French Quarter – Duhon quickly supplied: “Locals don’t go to Bourbon Street.” However, he does like Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar – a piano bar housed in an early 18th-Century slate-roofed blacksmith’s shop believed to be the first building to be used as a bar in the United States.
“You start on Canal Street, and you walk down Bourbon and it’s a party, it’s a party, it’s a party,” said Duhon. “About three blocks after that party starts to recede, there’s one bar left, just about three or four blocks. They do have a candlelit piano in the back so occasionally you will find music in there. But it is a place where locals will go to have a drink. It’s a great place for Mardi Gras day to convene.”
Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop – believed to have been used as a pirates’ and smugglers’ den in the 1700s – has survived several fires and is widely believed to be haunted. “But that’s a special spot,” said Duhon. “It existed long before electricity so it kind of feels like they’re trying to keep that up. It’s very dark in there with candles and whatnot.”
Website: http://www.lafittesblacksmithshop.com/Homepage.html
Address: 941 Bourbon Street, New Orleans LA 70116
Phone: (504) 593-9761
Instagram: @lafittesblacksmithshopbar
Preservation Hall near Bourbon Street is the home of New Orleans jazz history as well as the Pres Hall Band, which plays nightly shows (Credit: BHammond/Alamy)
7. Best Place to Feel the Ghosts of New Orleans Jazz History: Preservation Hall
To continue communing with New Orleans spirits, head a little further afield of Bourbon Street and find Preservation Hall in the French Quarter – Duhon’s pick for a place where you can feel the ghosts of NOLA musicians past.
“Haunted would be the wrong word,” said Duhon. “I would say [it’s] probably the place where you can most feel that history… it’s the one place I would say near Bourbon Street that is unadulterated by the tourism. [It’s] the home of New Orleans jazz.”
Preservation Hall has hosted nightly jazz shows since 1961, and is home to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. “All of the guys in that band, the Pres Hall Band, their life’s work is New Orleans jazz,” said Duhon. “And Preservation Hall is where it’s preserved, as the name suggests, but if you’re looking for a best place to feel the history, that’s the spot. And they have, like, three shows a night. It’s very good.”
Website: https://www.preservationhall.com/
Address: 726 Saint Peter Street, New Orleans, LA 70116
Phone: (504) 522-2841
Instagram: @preservationhall
The Tigermen Den is the youngest venue on Duhon’s whistlestop tour of NOLA live music venues, but it’s no less steeped in local music history (Credit: William Morgan/Alamy)
8. Best New(ish) Venue: The Tigermen Den
Duhon loves his tried-and-true NOLA’s iconic music venues, but every now and then, he makes a discovery in his own hometown. “Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to see a group of songwriters each take a set at a place called The Tigermen Den,” said Duhon. “A corner building that I didn’t know was a venue, but [I walked] through the gate and into this beautiful little patio where the owner of the building was serving cocktails.”
The Tigermen Den in the Bywater, housed in a former Creole dry goods store dating back to 1830, has been used as a music venue since 2011 and now also functions as a community cultural centre. But Duhon believes the musical ghosts of New Orleans are busily at play. “Inside it was like walking into a building from 100 years ago,” he said. “And we all just sat in a room and listened to people with guitars sing their songs, one after the other. And it was beautiful.” Duhon paused to add: “It felt like New Orleans.”
Website: https://www.thetigermenden.com/
Address: 3113 Royal Street, New Orleans LA 70117
Phone: (504) 230-0131
Instagram: @the_tigermen_den
BBC Travel’s The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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