JAY BLAKESBERG
The Funky Meters are co-headlining this year’s edition of the annual Crawfish Fest.
The lineup of the 27th annual Crawfish Fest, which takes place June 3-5 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, is full of stalwarts of the New Orleans music scene, and many of them, including The Funky Meters (featuring original Meters members Art Neville and George Porter Jr.), Marcia Ball and Papa Mali, have played the festival before.
“Bonerama’s coming back: We have Bonerama every two years,” said organizer Michael Arnone. “Cowboy Mouth we haven’t had for four or five years. It’s not like we have a huge pool of New Orleans acts, so we rotate those, and try to get some new ones, too.”
New Jersey’s own roots-rock band From Good Homes will be playing the festival, too, for the second time in a row.
“They fit,” said Arnone, a Baton Rouge native who still lives in Louisiana but spends a month or so in New Jersey each year, working at the festival site. “They’re not from Louisiana, they’re from right down the street in Sparta. But it works. Their crowd loves us; we love their crowd.”
Stay the whole weekend and you’ll hear an incredibly broad range of Louisiana styles, from the Mardi Gras Indian funk of Cha Wa to the accordion-fueled zydeco and Cajun music of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, and The Revelers. On-site camping is available, too, for those who want to arrive Friday night and stay over Saturday night; six bands will play for campers and VIPs only on those nights.
For many people, of course, the authentic Louisiana food — boiled crawfish, jambalaya, crawfish bread, alligator sausage and so on — is just as much or maybe even more of an attraction than the music. New this year is a Food and Trade Expo, where festival-goers can take a break from the music and check out some Louisiana-themed products.
“I think that’s where the festival is headed,” said Arnone. “It’s so expensive to advertise in New York and New Jersey. This way, (companies) can actually talk to the people who love Louisiana.”
For information, visit crawfishfest.com.
Here are the schedules for the event’s four stages. Asterisks (*) denote sets open to campers and VIPs (King Crawfish Krewe ticketholders) only.
MARCIA BALL
JUNE 3
PAVILION STAGE
5 p.m.: Zydeco Revelators *
7 p.m.: Flow Tribe *
9 p.m.: Bonerama *
JUNE 4
MAIN STAGE
11:30 a.m.: Amanda Shaw
1 p.m.: Papa Mali
2:30 p.m.: Brass-a-Holics
5 p.m.: From Good Homes
PAVILION STAGE
11:30 a.m.: Quimby Mountain Band
1 p.m.: Cha Wa
3 p.m.: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes
5:15 p.m.: Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen
9 p.m.: Big Sam’s Funky Nation *
DANCE HALL
11 a.m.: Cajun/Zydeco dance lessons
12:15 p.m.: David Greely Trio
2:45 p.m.: The Revelers
5:30 p.m.: Amanda Shaw
8 p.m.: Mike Zito and the Wheel *
10:30 p.m.: Naughty Professor *
WORKSHOP STAGE
11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Face painting
12:15 p.m.: The Atlanta Café Band (workshop and performance)
2:45 p.m.: Jon Cleary
JUNE 5
MAIN STAGE
11:30 a.m.: Marcia Ball
1 p.m.: Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas
2:30 p.m.: Cowboy Mouth
5 p.m.: The Funky Meters
PAVILION STAGE
11:30 a.m.: Alexis P. Suter and the Ministers of Sound
1 p.m.: King James and the Special Men
3 p.m.: Samantha Fish
5:15 p.m.: Marcia Ball
DANCE HALL
11 a.m.: Cajun/Zydeco Dance Lessons
12:15 p.m.: David Greely Trio
2:45 p.m.: The Revelers
5:30 p.m.: Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas
WORKSHOP STAGE
11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Face painting
1 p.m.: Marcia Ball (workshop)
2:45 p.m.: George Porter Jr.
