Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a ubiquitous good time full of parades, beads, good music. From brass bands in the streets, to electronic music in packed nightclubs, any flavor and style can be found in the city known for live music. Sunday night saw a dichotomy to reach from classic flavors of Jazz to the future of Bass Music taking over The Maison on Frenchmen Street. The energetic offbeats of Jazz downstairs made a counterpoint to the precise rhythms of electronic music coming from the top floor of the venue to give a varied night which forced the feet to move.

     While Fishbone played downstairs, I had the chance to sit down and talk to Texas native Run DMT about his sounds and styles. The interview can be heard on soundcloud, or Saturday night on 91.1 FM KLSU’s The Bassment. The revelous energy of the streets flowed into the maison as the dance floor filled to the brim with a mostly young crowd covered in beads, toys, and costumes eccentric to create one of the wildest nights of dancing my far-traveling eyes have ever borne witness to. Dancing around the spectrum of Bass Music, Run DMT pulled on originals and classics which flowed like water creating hardly a pause in the intensely high-energy set.

     Following Run DMT’s excellent performance, Louisiana’s High Top Kicks took the stage to keep the night rolling. While only Gabriel Saint of the High Top Kicks duo was present, he was more than capable of keeping the packed crowd dancing into the wee hours of the morning. Pulling from the deep libraries of the duo, Gabriel slammed out crowd pleasers that made for my favorite High Top Kicks show to date. Unlike Run DMT’s quick high-energy transitions, Gabriel opted for more long builds to create ups and downs as the night raged on.

     Although Bourbon Street is the name that tourists know coming to The Big Easy, Frenchmen Street is the true gem of the city. Mardi Gras and Carnivale in New Orleans features so many things to do in just a few short days, the concerts are some of the best shows that a year in New Orleans hosts.

Run DMT-

High Top Kicks-