DTA packs in the high-powered talent for the Fall 2010 season. For 27 years, Downtown Alive! has united community and culture to create a weekly tradition and celebration in downtown Lafayette every fall and spring. The fall 2010 season kicks off Sept. 10, offering, once again, great entertainment in the form of free, family-friendly, smoke-free, outdoor concerts.
Sponsored by Cox Communications, Lafayette Coca-Cola, Lets Be Totally Clea, and Tech Drugs Pharmacy, DTA! features performances by Grammy-nominated, renowned and up and coming musicians representing a variety of genres ranging from Cajun, swamp pop, blues, rock, Latin and more. The fall season also includes special events throughout, kicking off Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, painting downtown red for the UL Homecoming Pep Rally and celebrating the holidays with the lighting of the official City Christmas Tree at the last DTA! of the season on Thanksgiving Eve.
Fall 2010 Season Schedule:
Sept. 10: Feu Follet (Cajun - Parc International)
Feufollet is the present of Cajun music. Once idolized at an early age for their musicianship and performing all over the world as a youthful emblem of Acadiana's cultural resurgence, the members of Feufollet have, in the meantime, grown into the music as young adults. While Feufollet remains central to neo-traditionalism, their latest albums push the envelope, leading the way once again as Cajun music extends itself into a new century. www.feufollet.net
Sept. 17: Nik L Beer (Variety Parc International)
For more than 30 years, Nik-L Beer has been delighting audiences across Louisiana. Drawing on diverse musical experiences, this 8-piece band belts out Golden Oldies, hard-driving zydeco, blue-eyed soul, Motown, country, 80s funk, swamp pop, two-stepping Cajun, a cappella and Mardi Gras music. www.niklbeer.com
Sept. 24: Cowboy Mouth (Rock - Parc International)
The term 'Cowboy Mouth' has been used in the poetry of Shakespeare and Bob Dylan; usually meaning "One with a loud and raucous voice," it describes the band well. With over 2,000 concerts under their belt and many years of reviews lauding their live show, this New Orleans-based rock band has become a powerhouse live act whose high energy performances have been seen and heard by millions of fans worldwide for nearly 20 years. www.cowboymouth.com
Oct. 1: Viváz (Latin - Parc Sans Souci)
At once explosive, exciting, mesmerizing and exotic, the New Orleans band Viváz fuses Latin jazz, salsa and Caribbean rhythms, getting everyone on their feet and dancing. The band comprises musicians from different countries including Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Dominican Republic and the United States. A highly original sound is achieved by these energetic musicians, who combine traditional Latin music styles with innovative ideas. With their Hot Tropical and Latin Jazz sounds, Viváz is able to create a musical dimension of rhythm and vivaciousness throughout their shows. This atmosphere has always been a draw for hundreds of followers and dancers that enjoy those wild and lively musical and rhythmic descargas that the band is known for creating every time. www.vivazlatinband.com/
Oct. 8: Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Kickoff (Parc International**)
Lost Bayou Ramblers** (Cajun)Cedric Watson & Friends (Zydeco)
The Lost Bayou Ramblers have toured through much of the United States, including performances at the International Country Music Conference in Nashville, the National Folk Festival, the Lowell Folk Festival, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens' Chile Pepper Fiesta and the New Orleans Jazz Fest and historic Preservation Hall. The Ramblers have performed internationally in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and their most recent releases, the Grammy-nominated Live: a la Blue Moon (Swallow Records) and Vermilionaire (Bayou Perdu Records) are receiving critical acclaim across North America and Europe. www.lostbayouramblers.com
Cedric Watson revives the old Creole fiddling styles of Canray Fontenot and Bebe Carrier, injecting a healthy dose of his own personality and ingenuity, and bringing them to an ever-broadening audience. He has played across the United States as well as in France, Nova Scotia, Haiti and Spain, and would like next to go to West Africa and other parts of the French Caribbean. He has a keen interest in connecting Louisiana Creole music back to its homelands.Cedric's creative style and obvious joy in playing make him an engaging and exciting performer. Moving with ease between fiddle and accordion, his natural playfulness on stage makes him fun to watch. www.cedricwatson.com
Oct. 15: Henry Gray (Blues - Parc International)
This legendary blues piano player and singer has been playing for more than seven decades with a multitude of iconic artists including Robert Lockwood, Jr., the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Koko Taylor among many others. He has more than 60 recording projects to his credit including recordings for the legendary Chess Records label, and is credited with helping to create the distinctive sound of the Chicago blues piano. For his great accomplishments in music, he has received four W. C. Handy nominations, been awarded the National Heritage Fellowship Award by the National Endowment of the Arts and received a Grammy nomination for his work on TelArc Records' 1998 release A Tribute to Howlin' Wolf. Some of his most recognizable recordings are "Times Are Getting' Hard," "Live in Paris" and "Watch Yourself." Gray was recently honored with the critic's poll 2010 Living Blues Award, "Most Outstanding Musician (Keyboard)." www.henrygray.com
Oct. 22: Louisiana Red (Covers/Variety Parc Sans Souci)
Delivering classic covers and Top 40 favorites since 1972, Louisiana Red is a veteran band with a solid repertoire to send you down memory lane while incorporating a taste of contemporary music. Their performances include some Cajun and zydeco music as well. Louisiana Red is Burt Bernard, bass and vocals; Barry Trosclair, drums and vocals; Glenn DeLaune, guitar and vocals; Victoria Richard, vocals; and Robert Burton, keyboard and vocals. Each musician has performed on tour with top acts covering the U.S. and Canada. www.LouisianaRed.com
Oct. 29: Black Bayou Construkt - "Halloween Show" (Indie, Psyouthern Folk - Parc Sans Souci)
Comprising some of Louisiana's greatest modern talents, Black Bayou Construkt is lead by the world-class visionary songwriting of writer/musician Dege Legg and backed by the instrumental magic of Joe Gary (Wayne Toups, Spank the Monkey), Chad Viator (Roddie Romero Band, Arbor Vitae), Chad Willis (Michael Juan Nunez Band), Sean Keating (Deadboy & the Elephantmen), and Esther Tyree (The Wild Flowers). Black Bayou Construkt draws inspiration from the traditionally organic sounds of the past and blends it with the aesthetic nuances of the modern area. With songs that range from ethereal, piano-driven ballads to dual-slide guitar barn burners, Black Bayou Construkt traffics in a surreal world where their live jam explorations can lead from the Mississippi Delta to Arabian deserts at sunset. www.myspace.com/blackbayouconstruktion
Nov. 9: Lil' Band O' Gold (Southern Louisiana Music- Parc Sans Souci)
Lil' Band o' Gold features some of the most influential musicians to ever have emerged from Acadiana. The outfit was assembled by vocalist and guitarist CC Adcock, who searched the swamps and flatlands of South Louisiana to form a band of his childhood heroes. Each member of Lil Band o Gold is a master of a separate style, both diverse and exciting and collectively they comprise a mix of unsurpassed talents. Having recorded and toured with the likes of Robert Plant and Fats Domino amongst countless others, Lil' Band are one of the rare formations of legendary musicians who actually live up to the moniker Supergroup' including: CC Adcock, Warren Storm, Steve Riley, David Egan, Dickie Landry, Dave Ranson, Pat Breaux, Richard Comeaux, John Troutman. http://www.myspace.com/lilbandogold
Nov. 12: The Canes (Americana Parc Sans Souci)
When seasoned Louisiana musicians with diverse musical backgrounds come together, The Canes is the result. Their Americana, folk rock and acoustic rhythms offer a unique mix with a Louisiana flare that will have you moving along to the beat. Musicians include: Seth Touchet (acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonica), Larry Amy (bass guitar, vocals) Greg Walls (drums) and Eric Adcock (piano accordion, hammond b-3 organ) and Roddie Romero (slide guitar, guitar, accordion) from the Grammy Nominated Roddie Romero and The Hub City All-Stars. www.myspace.com/thecaneslafayettela
Nov. 19: The Viatones (60's Rock Parc Sans Souci
Blayze Viator (age 23), grew up in Nashville, Tenn. and formed what would slowly evolve into The Viatones back in 1998. Over a period of 9 years, the band performed regularly at nearly every premiere venue in Nashville, and released two full-length albums. In 2007 and 2009, The Viatones performed at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring Music Festival, opening for Kings of Leon, Flaming Lips, and Old Crow Medicine Show. Viator wound up back in Louisiana in 2009, continuing what he started with some of Lafayette's finest musicians.
www.myspace.com/theviatones
Nov. 24: High Performance (Zydeco Parc Sans Souci) Lighting of the Official City Christmas Tree & Toys for Tots
The musicians are pretty much the same guys, all talented veterans with ties to other groups, but who like to get together under the High Performance name and offer up their brand of super-charged retro music. The mainstays of the group are Steve Riley, Kevin Dugas, Jamey Bearby, Jason Bergeron, Richard Comeaux, and Brazos Huval. Guest artists include a couple of additional members of the Dugas family - brother Michael and papa Nolan - along with Scott Ardoin and Paul "Bird" Delafose. High Performance.
DTA! begins at 5:30 p.m. with food and beverage concessions musical performances from 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Concession sales help keep DTA! free, so please leave your ice chests at home with your pets. For more information, visit www.downtownlafayette.org.
Downtown Alive! is produced by Downtown Lafayette in cooperation with Lafayette Consolidated Government.