MUSIC 

There have been opportunities to hear music everywhere we go. Whether it be just a small street band that fills that area with their sound that you enjoy walking by and makes your walk just a little more fun or a large band that you have been walking towards to get a glimpse of while your heart beats faster in anticipation until you reach the noise and feel the beat and sound bouncing off your chest.  It is extremely difficult to describe just one encounter with music that I have enjoyed. The one that I have chosen in our time here is early in the trip. We are all to meet in front of the Cathedral. This day we have chosen to get up earlier so we aren't rushed and have some time to meander around. It is a chilly morning with the sun shining bright. There is a slight breeze and the smell of morning dew is all around us. We are browsing at the colorful art and every once and a while we can hear some warming up of a trumpet or trombone. We walk by the statue of Andrew Jackson and we hear it again. We go to see who is making that tease of a sound and take a seat by the band and they are seated and talking. Every few minutes they will take a pause and blow out a couple of notes. As we are watching the band, a young family with two beautiful young daughters in matching outfits starts running at the band. The band scrambles together to appease the little girl’s excitement. They belt a tune that turns everyone's heads. It is early and there hasn't been any bands set up or playing music yet so this sound is welcomed. The girls stop dead in their tracks as if they were scared or stopped by an invisible wall of that loud first note and they begin to run again like their senses caught up with them and realized they were getting what they wanted which was to hear the music and dance. Mom and Dad catch up with them and they watch proudly as their two little girls dance with joy in hustle and bustle of the French Quarter. The band loves watching them dance and the girls love listening to their music. Their relationship is oddly entrancing and I cannot look away. The band is playing their version of "Take me back to New Orleans." We all stand around in a half circle around the band. Everyone is swaying, clapping or tapping their feet with the beat. The girls are near their parents grinning from ear to ear in delight. One could get lost for hours listening to them belt out each tune. The quarter is a unique place to listen to music I noticed as the sound bounced off of each building giving us a almost like an amphitheater for the sound to bounce off of and echo all around us.

I have always enjoyed listening to music. Street performers especially, there is nothing better than live music in a group of strangers. Hearing the music flow through the people and watching the people dance or sing while you do the same is hard to put into words. It's harmless fun. There is nothing better than watching someone having more or an equal amount of fun as you while you are both having the time of your life. I also enjoy dancing in a group of non-judgmental strangers. Like strangers who are also just there to have a good time and don't care what you are doing. Another opportunity I was very thankful for was Frenchman Street. I loved to learn that this place was for the locals unlike somewhere like Bourbon Street which the Frenchman Street performers cannot stand. Looking back on the time I had on Bourbon versus Frenchman, Frenchman Street was much more intimate and enjoyable. Frenchman was like a hidden gem that was booming with live music. I wanted to see everyone who was playing as it seems like there were different heart beats of noise coming out of every establishment, so we took our time walking the streets as a lot of the places had their windows open. It was fantastic. It was a little cold and rainy but that did not stop us. The music filled the streets and we could stand there watching for hours. Each note hit our senses with an enthralling trance. I immediately wish we could have something even close to this back home. I may not know the words but the beat and instruments keep my attention easily. As we walk from bar or restaurant to another we can stop on the street and listen or go and get a table which it nice to have options. We make our way from the art gallery and walk back towards the Toulouse street car as we are walking we hear a beautiful sound of a cover band, we end up at BB Kings and it is just the right temperature the they keep all the windows and doors open. We set up shop at the bar and just feel, listen and dance the night away. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad we stumbled upon it. On the way back for the night we being to debate as to why Peoria does not have anything compared to New Orleans as far as Music or Art. I am not quite sure why but I assume it is because in comparison New Orleans is much more monumentally historical and a city of firsts. Their history goes way back and that can be heard in their music and seen in their art which can cause a huge difference in interest. Not only that they are in a much warmer and beautiful part of the United States making it more desirable to visit. I really enjoyed the music and am so glad I got the opportunity to visit and hear all the different kinds.