Our evening with Marc

Festival International is going on this weekend in Lafayette. Tonight several friends and I went downtown to the festival to hear Marc Broussard play. For those of you not familiar with Lafayette, "Festival International de Louisiane is an annual visual and performing arts festival celebrating the French cultural heritage of southern Louisiana--primarily a combination of French, African, Caribbean and Hispanic influences. The largest outdoor, FREE Francophone event in the U.S., the Festival places special emphasis on highlighting the connections between Acadiana and the Francophone world. Each year performing, visual and culinary artists from Europe, Africa, Canada, the Caribbean and the Americas are invited to share their talents with Louisiana artists, residents and visitors." It coincides with the second week of Jazz Fest in New Orleans and both festivals are major draws both locally as well as internationally.

Most of the music is international in flavor, with a liberal sprinkling of Louisiana culture to boot. Marc Broussard is a local boy who's gaining popularity nationally and it was a chance to see him perform for free, so who cares if I'll never be able to wake up in the morning! Let's go to the concert! I will at this time conclude my very polite and mature report on the festival and lapse into my usual voice as I describe...

My Concert Pet Peeves
These are some of the things that peeved me just a bit as my companions and I attempted to enjoy the concert:

1. People who think that they can just push their way through a tightly packed crowd while pretending to be polite by saying, "excuse me" as they barrel their way through. UGH!! I did not go two hours early and listen to some woman yodeling in a foreign tongue so that I could get a good spot, just to give up that spot to YOU!

2. People who try to talk on their cellphones during the concert. If you have to scream into your phone, it's probably too loud for you to be on your phone in the first place! And droning on about how the concert is great to whomever is on the other end of the line does NOTHING for the people around you who are STILL trying to enjoy this great concert!

3. People (usually the same people as discussed in #1) who go back and forth from their place to somewhere else and then just expect you to let them push their way back in front of you! If you do secure a spot, especially a good spot--do us all a favor and STAY THERE!!!

4. People who scream during a guitar solo. The whole point of the solo, and indeed the entire concert, is for us to enjoy the musicians and their performance. With you screaming your fool head off in my ear the entire time the riff is being played, how do either you or I enjoy the solo???

And one concert-related pet peeve:
5. People who leave nasty little "do not park here" notes on your car when there is no legal reason for the warning. The street is public access and unless I'm blocking your driveway or parking in a clearly parked, "do not park" zone, back off!!

Ok, I believe that will suffice for now. It really was a good concert. I have more thoughts on the subject, but we'll have to discuss those personally! I've posted some pics of the concert and our group. I hope you enjoy! The festival is all weekend, so I'm sure there's more to come!

The main stage at Festival International de Louisiane