I have fond memories of New Orleans, even though I wouldn’t want to live in the state of LA. It’s too hot and humid. It’s a cool place to visit though. I was in NOLA for a week in June of 2018 for a professional conference hosted at a major hotel chain on Canal St. It was the same year of NOLA’s 300th b-day earlier in May. Thus, the city was already in party mode. The unrelated conference also happened to fall in the very same week of the NOLA Pride Parade, the 1st time I had ever attended a gay pride parade – and by default, too! I remember all the bright colors and fabulous costumes. The parade marched through Canal St., right in front of my hotel. We then followed the parade on foot as it wound through the French Quarter and passed by Bourbon St. It was an absolute blast! I had never been to Mardi Gras before, so that's probably the closest I'll ever come to it. However, it was before the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” came out later in 2018, or else I would’ve been aware to visit and photograph Freddie’s fav’ hotel, the Royal Orleans (today’s Omni Royal Orleans) in the French Quarter. Per Phoebe’s 1st book. Freddie loved NOLA. I can totally see him reveling in the atmosphere. Katydyd5, you mentioned the cemeteries. I’ve been a fan of playwright Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” since high school, where I played the part of Stella in a scene for drama class. In the play, the tragic heroine, Blanche DuBois, rode a streetcar named Desire, then transferred to a streetcar named Cemeteries to visit her sister, Stella, who lived in New Orleans. It foreshadowed Blanche's ultimate demise. One night, after my conference, because there was actually no streetcar named Desire in existence, I rode the streetcar named “Cemeteries” instead that travelled northwest on Canal St. and terminated at - well, the cemeteries! It was very, very eerie to see the above-ground marble vaults and tombs at dusk. The cemeteries were referred to as the “Cities of the Dead.” For those who aren’t aware, because NOLA falls below sea level and the water table is high, graves have to be constructed above the ground. Previous floods had unearthed graves. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel when it got dark!
BTW, happy 71st b-day, Roger Taylor! Last year, on the 27th, the day after his b-day on July 26th (The band had a 2-day break after the Houston concert on the 24th.), I'll never forget how we in the audience sang happy 70th b-day to Roger when Queen played at my metropolis. I still have the video. I recall last year how many of us shared our awesome concert experiences of the North American leg of "The Rhapsody Tour!"
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Wow JoT, what a great experience. That video is equivalent to a brick of gold, and I’m not referring to selling it, I mean to have been a part of that, and having a video of everyone singing happy birthday,,,,,,,was he surprised? Or just took it in stride?
@Lsgp03, I never uploaded my cell phone video to YouTube, but others have from the concert. You can catch it on YouTube. Roger was moved, but it was hardly unexpected. You see, Brian May's b-day is July 19. The audience sang to HIM on the same tour a week earlier when the band played at The Forum in Los Angeles (I had seen it on YouTube.).
Happy birthday to Roger Taylor! Just as they did for Brian's birthday, Tyler Warren and Neil Fairclough from Q+AL did a song for Roger. This time they chose "Rock It (Prime Jive) from The Game. Really fun, energetic tune...their rendition was great. I'm sure this has been all over FB, but for those of you who haven't seen it yet...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_7IB5hrSg4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_7IB5hrSg4
Rainbow, Thanks for the upload Roger is my favorite Queen I have a thing for drummers. Have you ever noticed a drummer can’t set still they have to be tapping on something. He used to be blonde and hot now he is silver and still hot. He was beautiful in the 70s they all were .A drummer sometimes isn’t noticed as much as the rest of the band but I have to say out of all the bands Roger and Tommy Lee from Motely Crüe sure were.I hope work is looking up for you and thinks are brighter take care.
Something unique about our good ole Roger drumming relives stress hormones in the body and it burns twice as many calories as any other instrument played in a band. Our Roger will live to be 100 yah!!!!!!
Lsgp, thanks for correcting my misunderstanding when I thought you said the food had changed since Katrina. I knew the city was still in flux ,but I'm glad to hear the food remains spectacular.
Jo, I loved learning that you played Stella in a drama class! Your love of the arts obviously started early Did you pursue that any further? I'm sure the NO Pride Parade would be similar to Mardi Gras. They do know how to party there! One of the first events we went to after moving to Sulphur was Calcasieu Parish Days. It was a celebration of the history of Calcasieu Parish (county) and we figured it was a good way to get to know our new city. My son was 3 and absolutely loved the parade. It was the first time we had experienced beads and trinkets being thrown from floats. Later I remember searching for a hot dog for him to eat with none to be found. That's when we were introduced to "fair food" LA style. We ended up with heaping plates of crawfish, corn on the cob and potatoes. My 3-year-old dug into the crawfish. BTW, I said before that I can make a good shrimp etoufee. Correction, it's a crawfish etoufee. I can get frozen crawfish in my local grocery store. Certainly not as good as fresh, but it works.
Rainbow, thanks for the Warren/Fairclough link. They are both so talented. I had not seen the link, though birthday tributes to Roger were all over FB. I still have hopes that the band can all tour again next summer.
Jo, I loved learning that you played Stella in a drama class! Your love of the arts obviously started early Did you pursue that any further? I'm sure the NO Pride Parade would be similar to Mardi Gras. They do know how to party there! One of the first events we went to after moving to Sulphur was Calcasieu Parish Days. It was a celebration of the history of Calcasieu Parish (county) and we figured it was a good way to get to know our new city. My son was 3 and absolutely loved the parade. It was the first time we had experienced beads and trinkets being thrown from floats. Later I remember searching for a hot dog for him to eat with none to be found. That's when we were introduced to "fair food" LA style. We ended up with heaping plates of crawfish, corn on the cob and potatoes. My 3-year-old dug into the crawfish. BTW, I said before that I can make a good shrimp etoufee. Correction, it's a crawfish etoufee. I can get frozen crawfish in my local grocery store. Certainly not as good as fresh, but it works.
Rainbow, thanks for the Warren/Fairclough link. They are both so talented. I had not seen the link, though birthday tributes to Roger were all over FB. I still have hopes that the band can all tour again next summer.
Amidds, not sure where your plans stand at this point and I'm sure you've seen this, but thought I'd share.
http://www.freddie-tours.com/?fbclid=IwAR28ilej6kVGgc3lUz4FPcI1BYTj5asogF_VdtPeRhaCfWsAt1uCsaVOwP8
http://www.freddie-tours.com/?fbclid=IwAR28ilej6kVGgc3lUz4FPcI1BYTj5asogF_VdtPeRhaCfWsAt1uCsaVOwP8
Katy - I actually follow them on IG. Haven't booked anything due to the European ban on US travel but, this is on my list along with a couple of other things if we get to go. Gotta admit, I'm not really holding out much hope at this point. I will remain positive though and re-book for next year if we can't go this year!! Of course, the flight I have booked to/from Orlando for that trip probably won't be cancelled so I'm trying to figure out what we can do there while social distancing. *sigh*
I assume everyone saw Thor and Lee's book update??? Few errors to correct and then hopefully to print! It would be awesome if the books were shipped by Freddie's bday!
NOLA talk has been interesting. I went a few years ago and we took tours through the cemeteries and the Garden District, did a lot of partying on Bourbon Street, etc. Can't remember the month but is was hot and steamy!!! Would love to go back but, maybe in the winter months!
I assume everyone saw Thor and Lee's book update??? Few errors to correct and then hopefully to print! It would be awesome if the books were shipped by Freddie's bday!
NOLA talk has been interesting. I went a few years ago and we took tours through the cemeteries and the Garden District, did a lot of partying on Bourbon Street, etc. Can't remember the month but is was hot and steamy!!! Would love to go back but, maybe in the winter months!
I guess I am one of the few that didn’t love NO, I went a few times for a national conference there and it just wasn’t for me. Bourbon street was smelly and dirty, and we could not go out and jog/walk around the conference center due to crime. I did have a few awesome meals though, so that was nice!
I enjoyed the songs from Tyler and Neil celebrating the recent birthdays. Those guys are incredible talented. I would say their version of Prime Jive was almost better than the original! I follow them on IG and Tyler put on a concert every week during the Covid shutdown, just him and a guitar doing songs and it was really good. Plus, he did them and requested donations to a particular charity each week, which was so thoughtful.
I enjoyed the songs from Tyler and Neil celebrating the recent birthdays. Those guys are incredible talented. I would say their version of Prime Jive was almost better than the original! I follow them on IG and Tyler put on a concert every week during the Covid shutdown, just him and a guitar doing songs and it was really good. Plus, he did them and requested donations to a particular charity each week, which was so thoughtful.
Thanks for the Freddie-Tours link, hope to hit all that area in next few years.
Katydyd...Thanks for the link to the site that offers the tours. I was surprised to read that the Freddie Tour company just started this year. In the "News" section on that site, there is an article (in French) about the tours in the newspaper "24 Heures". I copied and pasted that article into Google Translate with some strange results. From what I can gather, Freddie's apartment is up for sale??? This was the last part of the translated article: :)
"Everything is under construction",
according to a specialist who
indicates "that the sale will be
complicated unless you fall
on a wealthy person, who
would have a real crush."
"Everything is under construction",
according to a specialist who
indicates "that the sale will be
complicated unless you fall
on a wealthy person, who
would have a real crush."
My Human Zoo, I felt the same as you after my last weekend food trip to the French Quarter. It was post Katrina. But it was the best of times when I lived there in the 70’s and part of the 80’s.
During the time of Queen tour 1978 and also the disco era. NOLA was an amazing place to live during that time.
During the time of Queen tour 1978 and also the disco era. NOLA was an amazing place to live during that time.
Glad to know I’m not the only one, Lspg! I should say, I’m not a fan of cities in general, I find them confining and just too messy and crowded. I can be there for a day or maybe two, but I just get that crawly feeling of needing to get out. The traffic and beeping of horns, people pushing by, that kind of thing really bother me. Growing up in a very small town made me that way, I’m sure. I like lots of grass, trees, and space around me!
MHZ, I’ve never NOT lived in the big city suburbs but I have reached a point in my life that I cannot stand the city. I just want a quiet life in the country, or at most, just a big town....but not a city.