WHEN "THE KILLER" CAME TO TOWN......

Don Legsy is excited, with the opportunity to see a "lifetime dream" artist (I refuse to use the inane 'bucket list' terminology...oops). But first I check out a surprisingly lacklustre Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band run through a set of MOR covers on the Fais Do-Do; it's probably the worst performance I've seen at 'dance central', but Corey was at least wearing reflector shades thus allowing me to practice reflective crowd shots! Big Sam's Funky Nation have also been rescheduled here after being washed out last Saturday. Sam was big, they were sort of funky, but also not very memorable, and Don L departs quickly.

The Royal Southern Brotherhood, with Cyril Neville out front, can be fabulous or flat. Today they blast the Blues Tent crowd into submission with an excellent set of Southern rock. Aaron Neville is next up, but I'm not in the mood for vibrato saturated falsetto warbling; sorry Aaron.

Marc Broussard has got a great band and puts in a fine show of his particular brand of soulful R&B cum Southern rock. He's a good singer and exceptional guitarist, as his his poncho clad sidekick.

I sneak in close to watch Marcia Ball, a regular performer at JazzFest who is incapable of playing badly. Her Louisiana/Texan roots are on display and she rocks hard sitting at her piano. If you want to hear some quality bluesy R&B then have a listen to her last two albums.

Things were warming up. New Orleans based singer/pianist Davell Crawford performs a fabulous tribute to the immortal local legend Fats Domino. I wasn't familiar with Davell but his love for Fats' music was obvious and he led his big band through powerhouse renditions of all the classics. A further unexpected bonus was to see two of FD's band members - Roger Lewis (sax) and Box Fontenot (drums) - on stage and still going strong. Rock'n'roll was alive and well, and about to go through the roof....

Box Fontenot

Roger Lewis

It was time, time for that special moment and the entrance of a legendary LegsyBoy hero. It was JERRY LEE LEWIS time!! It started as a family show, with JLL's sister Linda Gail Lewis and her daughter (i.e. Jerry Lee's niece!) Mary Jean Ferguson performing a few songs.

Linda Gail

Jerry Lee's niece Mary Jean - lucky she's not his cousin!

Thankfully, after 15 minutes the sheep's crook dragged them off to make way for THE KILLER. The great man is very frail, but with Kenny Lovelace (complete with slightly silly dyed hair),

Kenny Lovelace

his devoted guitarist, musical director and inseparable friend of 50 years, beside him, he joyfully ripped his way through a dozen all-time classics. He pounded the keyboard and still managed all the falsetto notes, but physical pyrotechnics were non-existent for obvious reasons. After 30 minutes and having concluded with 'Great Balls Of Fire' he took his leave. We didn't get an hour, we didn't get him in his prime, but we got to see Jerry Lee Lewis, The Killer, do his thing in front of a deliriously appreciative crowd. There will never be another like him, and, whilst Don L is happy to enter into animated discussion, he will always be the true King Of Rock'n'Roll. Over the years, JazzFest has given me some of my most treasured musical moments - this was surely another one of them...MERCY, MERCY, MERCY!

Mercy.....

....Mercy....

...Mercy

Headline act after Jerry Lee was Elton John, so I left for the Gentilly stage and unexpectedly see the most high octane show of the festival. Ty Taylor, the lead singing James Brown/Sammy Davis hybrid of Vintage Trouble, not unreasonably remarks to the massive crowd that "90% of you have probably never heard of us". At show's end there was an avalanche of requests for their lone album. For 90 minutes they delivered the most astonishing display of raw, Motown meets Stax meets soul based rock that Don L has ever witnessed. Taylor was inspired, his powder blue suit drenched in sweat and torn to shreds by flamboyant gyrations.

Ty Taylor - star!!

Great innovation - sign language for hearing impaired

The climax came when he leapt off the stage, bounded over the two crowd control fences and disappeared 20 metres into the crowd before being raised on shoulders to exhort the frenzied crowd to greater heights. The security guards were having apoplexy, the masses loved it, and they were simply magnificent.

Ty's in there somewhere!

Vintage Trouble is now touring Europe as support for AC/DC - the boys in black will have their work cut out matching them. Just magnificent they were, the day surely couldn't get any better, could it?

Well, no, it didn't. Final act after VT was English pop heartthrob Ed Sheeran, another odd piece of programming after the adenaline charged act that preceded him. He came out solo with a bundle of effects pedals and, to be fair, the teens went troppo. For Don L it was no better than the disaster of his AFL Grand Final appearance, but the sea of chicas still loved him and that's what counts. Great crowd today enjoying the blazing sunshine and some memorable shows.

Ed's fans...

...more of 'em...

....and some more

Walking back to the IOU, I take in the unique architecture of New Orleans and reflect on how good things now look.

 As I pass a nearby park there is a crazy street party going on - in the group and holding no less than three 'to go' cups (one litre plastic cups designed to allow patrons to buy their beer etc and legally walk around the streets) of vodka and ice is Juju, IOU's day manager - she was in high spirits!!

Juju (in the background) getting ready to par-tay

Tomorrow, the curtain comes down on JazzFest.