Though I am not trying to milk the journalistic cow that is Hurricane Katrina, another event that might show the interesting effects of Katrina is nearly upon us – Jazz Fest.
This year showed, by far, the most crowded Mardi Gras that I have ever seen, and I have lived in the city for a good 18 years. The conclusion this presented was that even though Lakeview and the Ninth Ward still sat like abandoned prisons, as the now-ugly staples of New Orleans society that most want to ignore, people were ready to get out and have a good time.
To delve into an event a bit further in the past and more closely related to Jazz Fest, the normally multi-day Voodoo Music Festival was held for one day in New Orleans last year. Having also attended Voodoo Fest, I can say it was nothing like the crowds of Mardi Gras. It almost seemed that most of the crowd was made up of the press. Otherwise the grass looked barren. The obvious conclusion here is that Voodoo Fest was held in October, a mere two months after Katrina hit. It was still a great press phenomenon, but the residents of the city were not yet ready to enjoy a day of music when their houses still sat with feet of stagnant water.
Now, I do not think that Jazz Fest is going to be anything like Voodoo Fest, mostly because the latter took place right after Katrina and also catered toward a younger crowd, while the high schools and colleges of the city still were gone and the ones that did exist were desolate.
Surely press will make up a large part of the Jazz Fest crowd, but with artists such as Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and (sigh) Bob Dylan, the grassy fields will be packed with fans, not just from New Orleans but from around the country.
I hate to overstate the obvious, but Jazz Fest is going to be yet another extremely important day in the history of New Orleans’ recovery from Katrina. To insist on people attending the festival would not be, in any way, helpful to the city’s recovery, and that is not my intention. Instead, the natural outcome of the festival will give a great indication of how the residents of the city feel.
The probability that Jazz Fest is going to draw a large crowd is extremely high – especially with artists loved by college students, such as Dave Matthews Band and Bob Dylan, along with artists more popular among an older crowd, such as Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen and, again, Bob Dylan.
The one hole in the theory that Jazz Fest will be a good indication of how New Orleans is recovering – and trust me, it is still recovering – is the fact that this is one of the most impressive lineups that Jazz Fest has ever seen. The boom of tourism that it is sure to cause will certainly help the city a great deal, but it also might be a bit of a farce in that most people still have not completely recovered.
My point, simply put, is that Jazz Fest will be packed, and it will probably be a great time. It is going to be remembered as an extremely important couple of weekends in the aftermath of Katrina, but it does not change that fact that thousands of people have not recovered from the hurricane.
So go enjoy Jazz Fest, watch Elvis Costello play “Alison” and The Boss belt out “Born in the USA” and sit through Dylan’s indecipherable, nasally voice imagining how much fun it would have been to see him twenty years ago. But do not forget Katrina. Do not forget the dead, and do not forget the struggling.
I am not attempting to put guilt in anyone’s heart for attending Jazz Fest. I will be there alongside all of you, enjoying some of the greatest music in existence. But do not forget that the city even now still has a long way to go.
It’s going to be a great couple of weekends.
 
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