Earlier this year, the great Cajun band BeauSoleil (pronounced Bo-so-LAY) came to Davenport for a performance at the Redstone Room at the River Music Experience. I had seen BeauSoleil a number of years ago in Des Moines and I really enjoyed their rollicking authentic Cajun music. When I found out they were coming to Davenport, I immediately got tickets. I didn't know if Cindy would like that kind of music, since most of the singing is in French, but I find Cajun music to be infectiously fun.
We met up at the Redstone Room with my long-distance, yet local friend, Burt Gearhart, and his wife, Marilyn, who were nice enough to save us a couple seats at a table near the side of the stage. And we're glad they did. The place was packed when we got there and there were more people coming in. The crowd was decidedly older, but boisterous. There weren't many BeauSoleil "rookies" in the crowd.
BeauSoleil is headed by multi-instrumentalist Michael Doucet (background right) and his guitar playing brother, David (foreground right). The band is based out of Lafayette, LA, right smack dab in the heart of Lousiana Cajun country. Started in 1975, BeauSoleil specializes in traditional and original Cajun root-music - the kind you'd expect to hear if you walked into a bar in any one of the small Louisiana towns on a Saturday night. The Grammy award winning band has been touring since the mid-80's. In addition to the Doucet brothers, BeauSoleil also features Jimmy Breaux on accordian, Mitch Reed on fiddle and bass, Tommy Alesi on drums, and even though he wasn't with the band that evening in Davenport, Billy Ware on percussion.
BeauSoleil's performance was announced as starting at 8 p.m., but as the Redstone Room has a habit of doing, they neglect to mention there will be an opening act. Instead of BeauSoleil taking the stage, a 50-something troubadour by the name of Tony Cavitt who billed himself as "Tennessee, the Nashville Cat" came out with his guitar. Cavitt had been playing around the Quad City area for a while and I don't know if he's a permanent resident of the area or if he was just hanging out for a few weeks.
He told stories about his upbringing where his mother was a longtime bartender at "the only bar in the Nashville airport." Because of that, she became friends with a number of entertainers who would invariably be sitting on the bar waiting for a delayed flight. I actually thought his stories were more compelling than his music.
And because the Redstone Room neglected to say that there would be a warm-up act before BeauSoleil, a lot of the older people in the crowd were vocally upset that someone OTHER than BeauSoleil was on stage at 8 p.m. Actually, it was kind of comical because Cindy and I knew there would be an opening act that evening - it was the Redstone Room's "m.o." to do so and not tell people there would be an opening act.
Still, one lady seated near us, probably well into her 60's, couldn't contain her disgust between Cavitt/Tennessee's songs. "It's 8:30! Where's BeauSoleil?! They said the show started at 8! I expected BeauSoleil to take the stage then, not this bum," she would yell.
After Cavitt/Tennessee's performance ended shortly before 8:40, it wasn't any more than about 20 minutes before BeauSoleil took the stage. Fronted by the wild-haired Michael Doucet (bald top of the head, white hair sticking straight out on the sides) - who looks more like a college professor than an accomplished musician - they launched into one of the many fast-paced good time numbers they're known for. Michael Doucet said after the first song, "If you're not familiar with us, we're a Louisiana band known for taking songs in English and singing them in French."
At one point, Michael Doucet said, "This is dance music. You can get up and dance if you want." And the small dance floor in front of the stage was filled with a bunch of people kicking up their heels. There were some good dancers, too, including the lady who was verbally disgusted when Tony Cavitt was playing earlier.
BeauSoleil continued playing until about 10:45. I like Cajun music, although I don't crave it like some people who attended that evening. In fact, a lot of Cajun music sounds alike. But, BeauSoleil has released 22 albums and 5 compilation albums since 1977. So somebody must think it doesn't all sound the same. Still, you can't get past how Cajun music makes one feel really good. And BeauSoleil is quite possibly the best Cajun band in the world today.
It was a fun evening hanging with Burt and Marilyn, and listening to BeauSoleil. It had been about 20 years since I'd last heard them live and I hope it isn't another 20 years before I see them again.
Will, when I was in Baton Rouge a few years back, a guy I worked with took me to a Cajun bar where he played "Cajun triangle" in the house band. It was great fun, great music and the food was excellent, too. That was the first time I ever tasted étouffée, but not the last!
Posted by: Joel Barnum | May 20, 2009 at 07:30 PM
it was a great show, and i was honored to be asked to open for BeauSoliel. surprised i didn't hear the lady "yell" her disgust between my songs. from the stage, you can pretty much hear everything in the room, so i'm kinda doubting it happened like this says it did. also, i have a great recording of the show done by the Redstone sound engineer, and, while i can hear many remarks between songs,to save my life, i cannot hear a single disparaging remark made before, during OR after any of my songs. in fact, the crowd was very good to me that night and the response was great. anyone that would like to hear the show, let me know at [email protected] and i will be glad to send you an email attachment copy of my show and you can see for yourself that the crowd was more than favorable toward my performance. don't know what show this guy was at, but, here's the proof if you want it.
one more thing that needs correcting regarding this 'review':
the Redstone Room advertised this show in print, on-line, posters, and radio in the Quad City Area for several weeks prior and made note of me opening the show every time. those that didn't know i was opening obviously weren't paying a lot of attention. probably too busy yelling their disgust,,,
-"Tennessee" Tony Cavitt
Posted by: Tony Cavitt | June 05, 2013 at 08:38 PM