NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Second lines and celebrations of life. They are a cornerstone of the New Orleans culture but are celebrity second lines becoming too much?
DJ Soul Sister posed this question on her Facebook page Tuesday morning.
She said she attended the Prince second line at the Ooh Poo Pah Doo Bar Monday night and “it was one of the most incredible scenes I’ve experienced and felt out on my city’s streets. I’m so glad I went.”
But she has “mixed feelings.”
News With A Twist host LBJ also has mixed feelings. He says, “growing up for a time in Treme, the ritual/celebration of second lines were/are almost sacred to my heart.”
The second lines he remembers the most were done for loved ones, neighbors, and musicians.
“It’s become almost automatic for anyone popular makes me a bit sad, but I also am a bit happy that we can celebrate anyone’s life in that way,” he wrote, commenting on DJ Soul Sister’s original post.
LBJ continued with a story: “One of the most touching [celebrates of life] I’ve seen happened a few years ago right outside the cemetery on Canal Blvd. One dude with an umbrella, one small band in front of the hearse, and only a couple of cars. But I’m telling you that dude was tearing it up for whoever was being laid to rest. I pulled over, and my eyes began to well up. He was celebrating the life of a loved one.”
In 2016 thousands have taken to the streets to dance for David Bowie, Will Smith, and now Prince. The action is entirely New Orleans but is the message being lost.
“I remembered thinking to myself as I was dancing down the street with the other thousands of folks that Prince himself would have had a hell of a time. And, for me, that is the best thought of all. Long live Prince. Long live New Orleans,” DJ Soul Sister wrote ending her post.
What do you think? Share your thoughts on WGNO’s Facebook page.