BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet

We played the Kate on a very wet Sunday night. It was our third appearance there and as always, the audience was great and so were the staff.   We played a fairly well-rounded set list, mainly to listeners, as there isn’t much room at the Kate to dance.  It was a good show, and afterwards we sold and signed CDs.  It’s always great to see our fans. I hope it’s not 4 more years until we play there again!

We’ve played the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet Mardi Gras show many times. It’s put on by Church Wentworth, who also produces the Ninigret Park Labor Day Festival. It was the 26th year of the Mardi Gras show, and the place was rocking! We played a rousing dance set, and we were followed by Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, old friends and great musicians.  

We played the Turning Point on Friday, 2/9.  If you’re not familiar with the place, it’s downstairs from a restaurant, housed in a rather small bar.  John McAvoy, the owner, is quite a character, and he always treats us great.  The place holds 78 max, and I believe there were 85 there! Some day I’d like to see what Piermont looks like in the daylight! We’ve never been able do that.   The audience was very receptive, no dancing allowed (no room), and we played a pretty good ‘sit down set.’ We look forward to our next appearance there!

It was great returning to Sellersville Theatre! I cannot say how many times we have played there, but I can say that the audience is always great. Not too many danced, so we played more listening type songs, getting used to our new accordion player, Chad Huval. As always, we had dinner next door at the Washington Hotel.  It’s always a good experience there, too: great food and great staff. Playing the Sellersville Theatre was a good start to this short Mardi Gras 2018 tour.

The MIM is a very special place: it’s like, in the words of Aaron Neville, the Louvre for musicians. It’s unbelievable how many instruments are collected there.   To perform at MIM is also a special deal.  The sound is really, really good, and the audiences are great.  All in all, bands are treated quite well there, and the after the show Meet and Greet with the audience is always rewarding. For someone who isn’t from the Phoenix area, it seems strange that the museum is so far out of town, but I’m told that it won’t be in the future.  The building is huge and well maintained, just like the instruments inside. We met people from Breaux Bridge and people who have been to Louisiana many times.  We also met people who have tried for years to hear the banned and were able.  I don’t think anyone was disappointed.

First show of 2018.   I decided to attemp the blog again.  Last year was a total bust, but I’ll try harder.   This year we have a new agency, The Roots Agency, so there may (or may not) be lots to write about. The Tucson show was amazing: 600+ dancing Tucsonians.  We have always had a great following in Tucson.  And the El Casino is an old friend, in terms of places we’ve played. The first time we played there, before the roof blew off, was in the late 1980s, with Canray Fontenot and Bois Sec Ardoin.  The really cool thing about the El Casino was that there was a secret bar behind the main stage.  This was our dressing room.  In the secret bar a Norteno band playing.  Also tequila shots were 25 cents.  When we got up to play, Can and Bois were pretty well lit; we found out Michael was pretty much, too.  It was a memorable set: Canray decided to sit in.  Michael slipped, fell, but never missed a beat.  It was quite a show. The ‘new’ El Casino is working on getting its old grandeur, and