NEW ORLEANS– It has been a quiet year on Frenchmen Street. A year with boarded up bars and no music, until tonight.
“We need the music back badly. That’s what brings people here. The arts,” Vaughn Mordenti said.
Mordenti is a musician and he is excited that music is back.
“To be able to do it after a year of being taken out of it, this is wonderful,” he said.
Bringing music back will help bring the city back.
“As far as the economy, it brings tax money for the city. It gives revenue to continue to make the city better,” Mordenti said.
The Spotted Cat Music Club is the first to have live music again. Tickets were pre-sold and both shows tonight are already sold out.
“That way we will be able to manage how many people are going in and out,” Brad Clement at Spotted Cat said.
Clement said he’ll be at the door doing crowd control. They’ll be following all guidelines set by the State Fire Marshal.
“It has been a long year. Somebody needed to jump in on the street and be first. We will take it slowly and proceed with caution,” he said.
When inside the shows—guests must sit at their tables with their own party. The tables are spaced out and masks must be worn when not actively drinking.
“No dancing yet unfortunately,” Clement said.
Having live music back on Frenchmen Street is the first step.
“It is something we do here. We open this city up and we bring you the best,” Mordenti said.
The pandemic may have caused the music to stop for awhile, but in New Orleans you can’t stop the feeling.
“It will feel a little different, but the room itself has the feel of New Orleans,” Clement said.
The New Orleans Cotton Mouth Kings hit the stage at 6 p.m. followed by the Dominic Grillo and The Frenchmen Street All Stars at 8 p.m. To book tickets for future shows, go online.