VIP LADIES & KIDS SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUB 7TH ANNUAL PARADE SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2010 – 12:00 P.M.

Start: Dorothy’s Lounge, 1528 S. Liberty. Proceed out S. Liberty to Felicity St. Turn left on Felicity St. Out Felicity St. to Simon Bolivar Blvd. Turn right on Simon Bolivar Blvd. Out Simon Bolivar to Jackson Ave. Turn left on Jackson. Proceed out Jackson Ave. to Baronne St. Turn right on Baronne St. Continue out Baronne to Second St. Right turn on Second St. Out Second St. to Dryades St.

Stop: Sportsman Corner, 2433 Dryades St. Out Dryades St. to Danneel St. Turn left on Danneel St. Out Danneel St. to Washington Ave. Turn right on Washington Ave. Out Washington Ave. to S. Saratoga.

Stop: Purple Rain. Continue out Washington Ave. to Loyola. Turn left on Loyola to Foucher St. Left turn on Foucher St. Out Foucher St. to S. Saratoga.

Stop: The Other Place. Turn left on S. Saratoga. Out S. Saratoga to Louisiana Ave. Turn left on Louisiana Ave. Continue out Louisiana Ave. to Feret St. Make a left turn on Feret St. Continue out Feret St. to General Taylor St. Turn right on Gen. Taylor. Continue out Gen Taylor to Magnolia St.

Stop: Silky’s Lounge. Continue out Gen. Taylor to S. Claiborne Ave. Turn right on S. Claiborne Ave. Continue out S. Claiborne Ave. to Washington Ave. Make a left turn onto Washington Ave. Continue out Washington Ave. to S. Rocheblave.

Stop: Tapps II/Foxx Lounge. Continue out Washington Ave.

Disband: Stanley U, 4300 Washington Ave.

The past few weeks have been chaos for Roots of Music. The program moved down the street from its comfortable space at the Cabildo to a one-room auditorium at the U.S. Mint, and instructors had to get more than 100 students ready for six parades. Add the usual headaches — arranging transportation, feeding 100-plus mouths, tutoring — and a grim reality: If program directors can’t scrape together funding within the next few weeks, March looks bleak. In this week’s cover story, I followed Roots of Music as its 2010 class prepared for its Mardi Gras debut, and hopefully not its last.

The free program for at-risk students ages 9 to 14 helps low-income families get their children on the right track. Derrick Tabb (Rebirth Brass Band drummer and CNN Hero) and Allison Reinhardt founded Roots of Music in 2007, and it includes (among other things) free transportation from school (and back home), meals, tutoring (required) and a world-class music education from Tabb and New Orleans musicians like Edward Lee from Soul Rebels Brass Band, as well as Allen Dejan Jr., Shoan Ruffin and Lawrence Rawlins. Oh, and Trombone Shorty and Phil Frazier serve on the board.

Gambit photographer Cheryl Gerber documented the band’s three-step parade prep: rehearsal, dress, and the finale — marching and playing in Carnival 2010. (Hit the jump for the photos.)

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The Saints parade is so two weeks ago. You need to get ready to stand up and get crunk at tomorrow’s parade: THE TREME SIDEWALK STEPPERS (route below). TSS gets my nomination for best parade of the year. Their noteworthy accomplishments include the having the hypest brass band performances of the second line season, working tailor-made leather suits like no other ghetto superstar can, yawning at awe-struck paraders and throwing them the ‘don’t try this at home’ side-eye while dancing with fairy feet afire and tumbling head first under bridges and over potholes, and finishing off with the most FIYAH! finale in the history of second lines - TSS president Charlie Brown climbing atop the roof of Sydney’s Saloon and shredding his $2,000+ designer suit with a razor blade, making soft leather raindrops shower over the crowd. Basically they provide more entertainment in one parade than all the music award shows on TV in the month of January. This commendation is well-earned.

You need not take my word for it though - check out these clips of last year’s parade and see for yourself. Seriously, watching these clips make me wanna grab a trumpet and a blunt, hit it and split it with one of the groupies outside the Blue Nile, then run up to the set of David Simon’s HBO show ‘Treme’ and school those extras on how to sing the second line neighborhood anthem: “6th WARD! 7th WARD, 8th WARD, 9th WARD - THAT’S DOWNTOWN!”

Parade route and more vids after the jump:

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This is how we close out Mardi Gras in the Treme. After Zulu, the Indians, and all the hip hop and R&B acts finish performing under the bridge at Orleans and Claiborne (aka Black Mardi Gras), Rebirth Brass Band convenes at the Treme Cultural Center on St. Philip and Villere and rolls thru the hood for a good ole fashioned second line. Hands down, best way to end Carnival season.

And the best way to start Fat Tuesday IMO: the Skeleton Krewe at the Backstreet Cultural Museum. Deets after the jump:

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We have this man to thank for the Rebirth Brass Band - Phil Frazier, a New Orleans original. Check out the 2:30 mark below for the funky tuba sounds.

Photo by Chris Romero

Every Sunday in my fair hamlet, children from o’er the land come to play in the ramshakle streets of the town square and make a parade. Secret societies host these bacchanals where musical troupes perform and colorful characters dance in a herb-fueled, Hennessey- saturated fairytale dreamscape.

Below are scenes from the reverie, brought to you by the Province of ‘Only In New Orleans’. CAUTION: if you don’t reside here, you may experience episodes in which you wake up at night, run to your window with your laptop streaming parade clips and scream at your town: “BE MORE LIKE THIS!”

One-arm Kev. This dude does more before 6am with one arm than I do all day.

@ 4 minute mark: PETA has these fur coat wearing sistas on their ‘Do Not Disturb’ list.

FOUND: Bin Laden! Hiding (not really) in Bagdad, Louisiana

Lil’ Lion buckjump.

There’s also group calisthenics for burning off those three hot sausage sandwiches you bought off the back of the man’s truck. And for the advanced level workout, see the 2:30 mark for New Orleans-style pole dancing.

Second line downtown today. Come live the fantasy. Route and times here.

10TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARADE SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010 – NOON

“When it comes 2 da best… we’re still on TOP!”

PARADE ROUTE

Start: Toni-B and Toot House, 1521 Forstall and N. Claiborne. Out Forstall to St. Claude. Right on St. Claude to “Cross the Canal”

Stop: Toddler’s University,, 4121 St. Claude Ave. Up St. Claude.

Stop: “Good Fellas,” Desire and St. Claude. Continue up St. Claude.

Stop: Sporty Barbershop, 2435 St. Claude Ave. Out St. Claude Ave. to Elysian Fields Ave. Right on Elysian Fields.

Stop: Sports Vue, 1701 Elysian Fields. Proceed down Elysian Fields to N. Miro. Left on N. Miro to Aubry St.

Stop: Seal’s Class Act, 2169 Aubry. Take a left onto St. Bernard Ave.

Disband: The Other Place, 1224 St. Bernard Avenue.

2010 Queen – “Mae-Mae”

2010 King – “Micie

My grandmomma Nina always stressed the power of dance. She’d say things like “I’m gonna dance on his grave” about someone she had beef with. Or “I’ll dance at your wedding if you go outside and bring the laundry in.” With her, dancing was always a power move, either a gift or a threat, never just rumpshaking for the sake of rumpshaking. I thought about her while watching the Ladies and Men of Unity dancing thru the New Orleans streets during Sunday’s pre-game second line parade. The club members, the crowd, the band - everyone was in Black and gold dancing furiously and chanting for the Saints. It was pure African motherland ritual, the Bamboula tradition our people maintained in the extraordinary face of 400+ years of forced labor, savage brutality, and emotional and mental abuse. If a whole race of people can come through intact after four centuries of hardship and dreams deferred, why not a team victory after a mere 47 years of patient waiting? These folks danced hard enough on Sunday to raise the dead, pound the imminent Saints victory into the street-paved primordial swampland and send the Viking’s season to its final resting place.

THIS, my people, is how you dance on someone’s grave. Nina Cotton would approve.

Sunday, January 24, 2010 11:45 sharp - 4pm

START: Rock Bottom Lounge 3801 Tchoupitoulas Street. Out Tchoupitoulas to Amelia St. left on Amelia to Magazine Street right on Magazine St. to Louisiana Ave. (left ) on Louisiana Ave. to St. Charles (right) on St. Charles to Washington Ave. left on Washington Ave. to Dryades St., right on Dryades St.

STOP: Sportsman Corner. Out Second Street to Danneel St. (Left).

STOP: Bean Brothers out Danneel St. to Fourth St. (RIGHT) on Fourth to South Saratoga. (LEFT) on South Saratoga.

STOP: Purple Rain. Out Washington Ave. to Danneel. (RIGHT) on Danneel to Louisiana Ave. (RIGHT) on Louisiana Ave.

STOP: Sandpiper Lounge. Back out Louisiana Ave. to Loyola Street. (UTURN) on Louisiana. Proceed out Louisiana. .

STOP: Ole & Nu Style at Louisiana and Tchoupitoulas. (RIGHT) on Tchoupitoulas, back to Rock Bottom.

D I S B A N D