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Mardi Gras 2017

The line-up definitely skews toward people in their 30s and 40s, not teens and 20s. Same as Food & Wine. I imagine the same reason--a demographic that has the money to get blitzed on $8 beers and $10 margaritas but can handle it and not puke in the bushes.

That said, Toby Keith is as close to icon status as it gets in country music these days, and missing member or not, Fifth Harmony is a top pop act.
 
Jason Derulo, Fifth Harmony, and XAmbassadors should draw big crowds, but the rest of the lineup will generator little buzz.

You severely underestimate Toby Keith. He's the one guy on the list I'd expect to play Amway instead of Hard Rock. Don't rule out AAR either. They've packed out Mardi Gras before, and seem to have a big following among Universal fanbois after a couple years of being the favorite band in Bill & Teds.

On the flip side, I know one XAmbassadors song, and I don't see them being any more than an average draw. 21 Pilots would have been the better rock act this year.
 
The line-up definitely skews toward people in their 30s and 40s, not teens and 20s. Same as Food & Wine. I imagine the same reason--a demographic that has the money to get blitzed on $8 beers and $10 margaritas but can handle it and not puke in the bushes.

That said, Toby Keith is as close to icon status as it gets in country music these days, and missing member or not, Fifth Harmony is a top pop act.

They may be big-ish but this is pretty lack luster especially after last year. Almost entirely made up of repeats including Olivia Newton-John who had the worst show I have seen at Universal.
There is absolutely nothing about this lineup that would push me to upgrade my pass. At most I may see 2 of these shows, Collective Soul and All-American Rejects.... maybe UB40 if I'm feeling exceptionally frisky.
 
The line-up definitely skews toward people in their 30s and 40s, not teens and 20s. Same as Food & Wine. I imagine the same reason--a demographic that has the money to get blitzed on $8 beers and $10 margaritas but can handle it and not puke in the bushes.

That said, Toby Keith is as close to icon status as it gets in country music these days, and missing member or not, Fifth Harmony is a top pop act.
I'm sure this is better business for them and it does seem to skew more in the direction of the F&W which is probably the direction they are shooting for with the event now only down to a month.

Personally though, i'll be skipping Mardi Gras for the first time in years due to lack of interest in any act and getting a SW/BGT AP and heading down to BGT for quite a few of their acts.... of course i'll still probably renew my Uni AP due to the 3 months free offer.
 
21 Pilots would have been the better rock act this year.
Twenty One Pilots is out on an arena tour and will be in Tampa on Feb 28th. I imagine Uni tried to get them due to incredibly convenient scheduling, it looks like Fifth Harmony is playing the weekend closest, but TOP wouldn't have been able to play anyway.

They have a concert on the 25th in NC and 26th in SC (then stop in Tampa... they played Amway in July) so they were unavailable to play Mardi Gras even if they wanted to.
 
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The New Orleans Bands line-up revealed - which has them now playing 7-10 days each throughout the event's duration.

Mardi Gras Event Dates

New Orleans Bands

(performing in the French Quarter)

Feb. 4 – Feb. 14

Young Pipeline Brass Band

Feb. 15 – Feb. 21

New Breed Brass Band

Feb. 22 – March 5

Free Agents Brass Band

March 6 – March 15

Naughty Professor Brass Band

March 16 – March 25

Dirty Bourbon River Show
 
Quick thoughts from tonight:

  • New floats look great! Kept the popular ones (Gator, French Quarter, Crewe, and Steamboat) and ditched some of the new ones from recent years (surprisingly even last year's additions).

  • Loved that they're moving away from that one drink punch that was the "feature drink" at the last 15 HHN's and Mardi Gras and now giving options and variety.

  • They handled traffic flow well to get out of the park after the parade ended (leaving from Hollywood).

  • I do think with the event is getting bigger - as this was probably one of the busiest opening nights I've seen/can remember - they may need to expand on the French Courtyard; possibly adding seating. Expand it into Delancey?

  • And a more pesronal one.... Brazillian tourists need to not be at Mardi Gras. People get a little overzealous as it is for the beads. They took it to another level.
 
Quick thoughts from tonight:

  • New floats look great! Kept the popular ones (Gator, French Quarter, Crewe, and Steamboat) and ditched some of the new ones from recent years (surprisingly even last year's additions).

  • Loved that they're moving away from that one drink punch that was the "feature drink" at the last 15 HHN's and Mardi Gras and now giving options and variety.

  • They handled traffic flow well to get out of the park after the parade ended (leaving from Hollywood).

  • I do think with the event is getting bigger - as this was probably one of the busiest opening nights I've seen/can remember - they may need to expand on the French Courtyard; possibly adding seating. Expand it into Delancey?

  • And a more pesronal one.... Brazillian tourists need to not be at Mardi Gras. People get a little overzealous as it is for the beads. They took it to another level.

Agree that the floats look great and loved the parade this year! I load some shots I got at some point...well here are some for now.

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