Pat's Weekly Diary: 11/15
On Saturday afternoon we met at 4:15 at our usual meeting spot in Metairie. We all piled into our little van that we've been using for many years and headed into the 'Danger Zone' better known as the French Quarter. We had a 6 o'clock start time for a private party on Royal St. We had to prepare ourselves some extra time as we knew going in it was going to be a difficult move with our Porta-Cat equipment. So off we go… promising that as we get into the downtown area we will all hold hands and stick together. And as we thought… it was not a very easy move. We were playing in Gallerie de Galatoire which (if I understand correctly) is the private ballroom of Galatoire's. But in order to get in there we had to block the street right across from the Monteleone to unload in the street. Cab drivers and ride share drivers blowing horns and yelling at us. Then move everything into a tiny foyer then down a hallway into a tiny elevator and up to the second floor. Once we were in it was a fantastic party. It was a birthday party for Joe Gehegan. As we understand a lot of the guests came from around the country for Joe's 80th birthday. So it was mostly an oldies gig. As the night got late there was quite a bit of dancing. A second line band came in at the end to kinda help us close out the night. Turned out to be a great party. Happy birthday Joe. Then getting out of there was the same route in reverse with even more traffic… "hey hey hey give us I minute here. Can't you see we're working". And… safely back to Metairie. Whew!!! Check it out… the Topcats will be at Rock n Bowl on Friday night November 21. Come on out.