Crawfish Boil 2015 Recap

          Saturday March 14 was the 8^th Annual DGA Family and Friends Crawfish boil and we are happy to report that it was a smashing success. In the mid-afternoon, the sun broke through after days of rain in south Louisiana. Winos and Tacos once again served as a great location. There was abundant alcohol, crawfish, and we polished off six dozen cupcakes (Benson’s son Ieuan had at least 3). Unfortunately Jamie was at trial and couldn’t make it home in time. Her husband Ryan, however, ably carried on in her absence, watching NCAA basketball at the bar, as he always does.

It's back again. 

          The boil began with Doug’s introductory address on this year’s theme: Do You Know What it Means. DGA favorite Davis Rogan (who fulfilled a longstanding promise to Doug and brought his lovely wife Stephanie to the show) then played his own version of the Louis Armstrong classic, Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans. He followed with a set mixing some of his songs from his new CD (So Long) as well as some classic Davis songs (Hurricane, New Ninth Ward). At one point during the show, the DGA employees as well as their spouses came up on stage and served as the background singers for the song, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Rogan. Mostly they just had to chant “Mr. Rogan, Mr. Rogan” on queue. Doug and Mary exhibited a great amount of enthusiasm. The video of the performance will be available on a future blog post.

All the crawfish... 

          After loading up on more crawfish, jambalaya, and tacos, the boil kept plugging along. Up next was the Philadelphia based Dirk Quinn Band. Dirk proved himself a talented and inventive guitarist. The band imaginatively fused funk and jazz and entertained a whole lot of people along the way. At one point, Mark Levron, Davis’s longtime trumpet player, joined in. Mark’s willingness to jump in and play epitomized what we all love about the boil- people coming together to share a sense of friendship and camaraderie. The Dirk Quinn Band was first instrumental band ever to the play at the boil and they gave us a great show.

Benny Turner knows how to put on a show

          We ended with Benny Turner and the Real Blues featuring Sam Joyner. Benny was the big surprise of last year’s boil. We brought him in knowing that he had the resume of a top flight blues musician and he blew us all away. He sang, he mingled with the crowd, and offered a performance that none of us had ever seen before. We knew we had to have him back again. And this year, Benny managed to do it all again. It’s difficult to render Benny’s performance into words. He brings an infectious spirit and enthusiasm. He not only feeds off the energy of the crowd, he elevates it.

          At around five o’clock or so, the music had finished and the crowd began to disperse. Guests left with bellies full of food and the souls bolstered by some truly wonderful music. And the best part? We get to do it all again next year.