"It's time to get out you handkerchief or a napkin, or a shirt, or anything white." Grammy winning soul singer Irma Thomas tells the crowd. "If you're not from here we're going to teach you a New Orleans tradition -- time to second line."This was the annual Mother's Day Irma Thomas concert at the Audubon Zoo. I already gave a link a couple days ago to a site with information on what second lining is all about, so I won't go into that again. I will go into this -- Irma showed why she is a crowd favorite as she took request and visited with the crowd. Favorites like "It's Raining in My Heart" got the crowd excited. But when the beat starts and she belows out the beginning of a old standard medly, "I just got over" the second line starts and white waving hankies filled the crowd.
True New Orleans stuff.
In the background on the stage, is an aspiring young twelve-year-old, who asked for the opportunity to sing with the "Soul Queen of New Orleans." She proved a good understudy, but Irma had to give extra lessons on how to wave the hanky and put the backfield in motion.
--steve buser
3 comments:
I enjoyed this post. The photo and the narrative are interesting.
I wanted to thank you for your visits to my blog. Thanks.
I like this photo! This post (and the related one) are a interesting insight into what is uniquely NOLA.
Its pretty lively city isn't it? Would love to see it myself one day.
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