The best quote that I’ve seen recently regarding these two supposedly wicked spots is this, “New Orleans has evolved into the sybaritic (fond of pleasure or self-indulgent), Dionysian (the Greek god of theatre, wine and overall lechery) capital of America, perhaps the world. Las Vegas performs in Amateur Hour by comparison.” I think these two sentences, which were written by Timothy O’Grady and appeared in the Condé Nast Traveler of November 2019 are a marvel of creativity and wit. Explanatory comments in brackets are mine.  

The article itself is titled At Full Blast and boasts a subhead that says, “New Orleans is a city of obstinate revelry and artful excess, a flavor-packed hub that’s forever renewing itself.”

WHAT’S WITH THESE STREET NAMES?

O’Grady notes that, “There are many things about New Orleans that are unlike anywhere else, the street names among them. I found myself between PIETY AND DESIRE. (I can’t imagine any streets in New York – crazy and as this city can be at times – ever given names like this.)

Then he goes on to rattle off a few more: a wealthy Creole who loved dice games and fanciful street names came up with these beauties, namely: CRAPS, ABUNDANCE, TREASURE, RUE D’AMOUR and HOPE. (Can you imagine applying for a job and saying, “My address? Oh yes, I live at 4895 Craps Street.) Not to worry. At some point there were 75 streets in New Orleans that were renamed.

WHAT’S WITH THE MUSIC SCENE?

The author goes on to describe the music scene in New Orleans. A talented musician named Jay Pennington describes it this way. “If you want a career in music, go to New York or Los Angeles. But if you want to live the music and play it until you die, come to New Orleans. It’s open, tolerant, appreciative and affordable. It may be the last interesting city in America where it’s possible to be a bohemian.”

WHY IS LIFE HERE A MASKED BALL?

O’Grady has an interesting take on New Orleans that he describes as “a place of unrelenting visual delight where even the houses wear jewelry; of joy and revelry, with a festival it seems, every week. LIFE IS NOT A GRIND HERE or even a cabaret, I’d say that it’s more a masked ball.”

He quotes a friend of 25 years who tells him that, “Our Creole Carnival is a thing of masks. When I was little my parents dressed me as Toulouse-Lautrec. You’d see someone get out of a car in a pharaoh costume. You lived for it. Behind a mask you can be yourself.”

WHY DO EXPATS LOVE NEW ORLEANS?

Ben Jaffe, the son of Preservation Hall’s founders, Allan and Sandra Jaffe, says that, “When my parents came to the French Quarter in 1961, it looked like Paris in the ‘20s to them. It was liberating. The foundation of music here is the funeral. African Americans for more than century, have been paying into neighborhood Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs so they’ll have a good sendoff when they die. In the front line are the steppers and club officials, then family and a marching band. And after that the second line, composed of everyone who wants to join in.”

“Once the body is buried, the drums roll, the tempo picks up, and the music becomes joyful. It honors the dead and provides relief for the living. They eat red beans and rice and catfish and they dance. The second line parades have become such an expression of joy that they happen now on Sundays whether somebody has died or not!”

WHAT HAPPENED TO LAS VEGAS?

I planned to compare it to New Orleans but I’ve lost interest. Don’t misunderstand: I like Vegas. There are the slots, the shows, strolls on the Strip, scenery in the Canyon – but #1 is definitely NOLA. No contest.  

Shaun Nelson-Henrick