2019
AP: My favorite memories of Frenchmen were when it was four, five in the morning and totally empty. Totally empty, or just a few stragglers floating down the street.
I worked at 13 for five years, and I played here at the Cat for about five years. I used to love all the different people that would come in here—all the different walks of life—in the quiet times. We’d be on Frenchmen til four or five in the morning then head to Molly’s or the Abbey. Sometimes Big Daddy’s; those were the bad nights.
.. I mean, they weren’t bad nights, just bad decision nights. Like, ‘Why did I do that!? It’s 10am now!’
I miss when Mannie Fresh used to come into 13. He was the nicest guy. So sweet. He used to come in fairly often, get a drink and food. And when they were doing the Workaholics thing—they were filming it over at Bamboula’s—Adam Levine and the cast of Workaholics were all coming in. There was this string of celebrities constantly hanging out at 13.
I’ve seen a lot of cool things happen here. I miss the fire-dancers; they’d always be where Dat Dog is now. It was just a big empty lot, and people used to go down there and spin fire, play music, just put on a performance. Pretty much every night.
Sarah [McCoy] and I were in this 10-piece band and we were supposed to be playing behind the fire-eaters, but it never ended up happening. We had a lot of rehearsals, played one show at the Red House, and then it was done. Some people just put a guerilla show over at the Red House, by the way. They broke in. Shut off the cameras somehow. There were three bands.
Anyways, I miss working on the street but I don’t miss what it’s turned into. It’s the new Bourbon Street. It’s starting to get the smell.
[Below: Alyssa, left, and Sarah in a video Noe Cugny and I did for OffBeat some years back. Fun interview, with Sal and Dizzy as well. Damn, I miss seeing this band at the Cat.]
