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A few images from the Gospel tent yesterday.

The patriarch of The Smooth Family






Otis Wimberley Jnr, from The Wimberley Family.




Even the crew were gettin' down ...




The Gospel Tent is one of several tents spread around the N'Awlins fairgrounds. You're actually protected from the weather, which, as we know, in this town can be quite severe. While The Wimberley Family Gospel Singers were on stage, Those watching Stevie Wonder - on the Acura stage, the largest of the 11 concurrent stages - were well and truly pissed down upon.

It's now the next morning, and the day is not looking at all pretty. Jimmy Buffet is the final headline act for the day; Irvin Mayfield will be in the Jazz Tent, which is where I may end up camping for the day.

These are all straight from the camera, no PP save resizing. Gospel gallery is here

gstark wrote: Those watching Stevie Wonder - on the Acura stage, the largest of the 11 concurrent stages - were well and truly pissed down upon.

And the believers were protected by God ?

gstark wrote: Jimmy Buffet is the final headline act for the day;

Wow, would love to be over there for Jimmy. Sounds as good now as he did in the 70's.

Jealous. (apart from the weather)

deadgoose wrote:

gstark wrote: Jimmy Buffet is the final headline act for the day;

Wow, would love to be over there for Jimmy. Sounds as good now as he did in the 70's.

Jealous. (apart from the weather)

As much as I love Jimmy, I loathe massive crowds. I feel uncomfortable, I just don't like major events. I make exceptions, those principally being F1GsP, and Jazzfest. The crowds going in to the fairgrounds are huge, and the lines for the shuttle, leaving from outside the Sheraton on Canal St, stretch beyond and around the corner.

On Friday, I was in the Gospel tent as Stevie finished, and the crowds dispersing were not unlike the departure from the F1 in Melbourne, except there's only three exit gates, and no trams to the city to quickly disperse the people. And there's no reserved seating at the Acura stage either. We're talking about an area about half the size of Sydney's Domain - think free Symphony in the Park during the Festival of Sydney - and lots of people. One quarter of the interior of a horse racing track!

And it rained very heavily on Saturday morning: it was pissing down.

So, I'm over discomfort, large crowds, mass events. I'd much rather see people in small, intimate venues, which, in all honesty, will often bring out a far better performance from them than a large mass event will do. I camped in nthe jazz tent yesterday, and was surprised at the number of people that crammed into there. It too was way too crowded for my liking, but a large glass of SoCo helped me to just deal with it.

I left around the time Jimmy was starting, and still had to join a queue for a cab; that was still a 20 minute wait, even at that early stage. An hour later, and who knows how long that wait might have been?