Anders Osborne may have been playing the guitar as he served as bandleader for this Nawlins All-Stars set, but he wasn’t playing around when it came to the band he assembled for the Sunday night Bacchus Bash at Tipitina’s. Starting with The Radiators guitarist Dave Malone, he added the mighty Meters legend George Porter Jr. on bass, Galactic‘s Stanton Moore on drums, David Torkanowsky on keys with a quick two song sit-in from Ivan Neville, Brad Walker on tenor sax, Steven Lands blowin’ trumpet, and Charlie Halloran on trombone, it was as if the deck was so stacked Osborne couldn’t help but win.
After a quick, fine-tuning intro number of “Let The Good Times Roll”, George Porter brought the deepest of bass licks out on a joyous take on The Meters standard “Hey Pocky A-Way” that shook the foundations of Tip’s so completely it caused Torkanowsky to quip, “Hey George, if New Orleans had a Mt. Rushmore you would definitely be on it!”
Osborne crushed a spectral cover of the Dr. John classic “Walk On Guilded Splinters” that had all the charms of a foggy late-night stroll on the darkest of Bayou shores. The assembled funk all-stars weren’t finished with the Dr. John songbook yet as they transitioned to a rollicking “Iko Iko” that saw Brad Walker spittin’ straight fire on tenor sax and a spirited back and forth guitar lick exchange program between Osborne and Malone front and center on their strats.
Malone took over lead vocals for a quick tour of the dance floor on “Mardi Gras Mambo” before Torkanowsky got a sprawling take on Fats Domino‘s ode “Going To The Mardi Gras”. Following that, the inestimable Ivan Neville popped up behind the keys next to Torkanowsky for a burnin’ down the house take on Dr. John’s “Big Chief” that led directly into “Lil Brother” Ivan and George sharing lead vocal duties on a smoldering version of The Meters classic “Fire On The Bayou”. Steve Lands and his trumpet had themselves a moment while Osborne took the lead on “Meet De Boys On The Battlefront” before the full set Crescent City love-in testimonial turned to a singalong of the standard “Don’t You Just Know It?” in honor of Huey “Piano” Smith, who passed away last week at the age of 89.
George Porter comically worried about the ghost of Earl King jumping out the grave and beating his ass for the butchering he felt he was about to give the classic “Street Parade”, but after calls to the crowd to see where Ivan Neville was proved fruitless, he gave it his all and did just fine. I’m sure King was smiling in his slumber, happy to be remembered! Osborne led the praises on George’s attempts, touting his “velvet pipes” and exclaiming, “You did great!” to a laughing, visibly embarrassed Porter. The club’s namesake song, “Tipitina Tra La La La”, was up next, and the Professor Longhair tune echoed off the venue’s walls for what is surely the millionth time, welcome as always!
Sadly, time was quickly running out on this wild set of standards and All-Stars, but there was time left to celebrate that, once again, as A.L. Johnson said, “It’s Carnival Time.” Osborne and the gang left the stage with a nod to Big Chief Bourdeax on the way out the door.
Watch a teaser of the show’s nugs.net webcast below. For more livestreams via nugs.net, head here.
Anders Osborne – “Let the Good Times Roll”, “Hey Pocky A-Way” (The Meters) – 2/19/23
Setlist: Anders Osborne | Tipitina’s | New Orleans, LA | 2/19/23
Set: Let the Good Times Roll, Hey Pocky A-Way (The Meters), I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Dr.John), Iko Iko (Dr.John), Mardi Gras Mambo (The Hawkettes), Going To The Mardi Gras (Fats Domino), Big Chief (Dr.John), Meet De Boys On The Battlefront (The Wild Tchoupitoulas), Don’t You Just Know It? (Huey “Piano” Smith), Street Parade (Earl King), Tipitina Tra La La La (Professor Longhair), It’s Carnival Time (A.L. Johnson)
The post Anders Osborne Leads A Parade Of New Orleans All-Stars At Tipitina’s [Review/Photos/Video] appeared first on L4LM.
