Last year the Superfly folks one upped themselves with the addition of an additional tent at Bonnaroo called Somethin’ Else which brought a “downtown New York City jazz club” to Manchester - and by all accounts they nailed it. This year Somethin’ Else has been reinvented as a venue dedicated to celebrating the music on New Orleans. Here’s some info on what’s in store at the ‘Roo:

[Pic via Row Jimmy]

Somethin’ Else - New Orleans will be modeled after some of the city’s most distinctive and beloved music clubs, such as Preservation Hall, Tipitina’s and the Maple Leaf. Regional cuisine will also be featured in order to fully capture the essence of this special city. A donation will be collected upon entrance, with all proceeds going directly to support local New Orleans charities.

In addition to raising money for these charities, Somethin’ Else - New Orleans, in partnership with the Center for Rural Strategies, will expose many incredible New Orleans artists to a large base of passionate music fans and community-minded individuals. It will be Bonnaroo’s way of giving back to and promoting the culture of New Orleans, encouraging people to visit and support the city.

Here’s who’s been lined up so far to bring sounds of the Big Easy to Tennessee…

Porter - Batiste - Stoltz, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Henry Butler and the Game Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Anders Osborne, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Morning 40 Federation.

What the over/under on the number of Cissy Struts these bands bust into?

Austin, Texas may very well be the greatest city in the world. I can’t speak to the city’s infrastructure, its public transportation, its race relations, its garbage pick-up or its political competency, but when there’s unrelated piles of vomit splashed all over famed 6th Street at closing time, you get my vote. That’s a city that knows how to deliver that glorious metaphorical reacharound.

Oh, yes, the city also hosts the best-organized festival out there, bar none. Austin City Limits today kicked off three sunny days of solid performances, the musicians and the weather each hot-as-fuck in their own right. On Day One we managed to catch at least two songs if not the whole set of 16 different acts, enjoying eight straight hours of pure, unadulterated audio sodomy before heading back to the madness of 6th Street (and my buddy’s bachelor party). And the real crazy part? I still feel like I missed everything. Craisins.

Photo by Danfun

Day One may have not have been the best of the three days on paper, but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to picture a better or brighter day than the one that just kicked my exhausted ass all around Zilker Park. Del McCoury and His Talented Sperm — three-fifths of the band shares the surname — ushered in a day of shit-eating grins, and the afternoon and evening that unfolded will be tough to top.

So read on after the jump for a full recap of the day’s events, complete with an extensive photo gallery from Danfun and myself…

Midnight passed, and my only truly hip co-worker turned to me and said, “Where are we going tonight after the holiday party ends?”

I’d been planning on returning to the loving embrace of my couch, the combination of mild drunkenness and all-out exhaustion settling in this Friday evening. But this co-worker and JazzFest veteran was in from out of town, and I knew I should show her a good time around the city — ya know, offer her a taste of what Manhattan had to share on a nightly basis. “I’ve got a present for you,” I said. “Big Sam’s Funky Nation is playing two sets tonight.” Her face lit up immediately.

Until that day I’d actually never even heard of Big Sam Williams, the former trombone player for Dirty Dozen Brass Band. But after his kickassingly raucous two-set show at the Knitting Factory on Friday night, I’ll see him and whatever citizens of his nation he brings along every time he comes to town. It’s kinda late to be throwing your name into the Favorite Show of the Year category, but Big Sam made a serious dark-horse bid for that title this weekend.  

If you ever feel like having fun — not move-around-and-smile fun, but full-on-dance-party-dripping-with-sweat fun — then make it a point to see Big Sam’s Funky Nation whenever you can. Between his oft-comedic emcee stylings, his incredibly talented band of players and his penchant for cool teases (he smoothly segued from a New Orleans standard > a No Diggity tease and a Big Sam tune > Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy), the night was full of hilarious and well-played surprises. I mean, give me a Hey Pocky Way and a Shake Everything You Got after 2 am and you’ve got a fan for life…

Big Sam’s obviously got some admirers within the music community too, inspiring some great musicians to come out and play with him that night. In addition to some regulars (like his sax-man and number two Calvin Johnson), Big Sam trotted out his Dirty Dozen brother Jamie McLean on guitar, free agent drummer Adam Deitch, Nori Narioka on bass, Cochemea “Cheme” Gastelum on sax and some other accomplished folks I can’t name. And I’m not sure if it’s a band rule that everyone has to smile the entire time or whether it’s just that fucking fun to play in his band, but I was staring at Cheshire grins and pearly white teeth all night.

Shit, I may have to head down to JazzFest just for a return engagement. 

Related audio: Check out this link for the Big Sam Funky Nation Jukebox (stream samples of the BSFN album Birth of A Nation); and click here to download Big Sam’s set from The Funkbox in Baltimore on 7/16/05 from etree.