A MONTH OF MUSIC
A sleepy summer finally gives way to a New Orleans music calendar exploding with touring acts – just a month before we were looking for something to do, now an average weeknight presents several, often conflicting, options. The recently opened Civic Theater includes Passion Pit and The Joy Formidable on Oct. 11 among its prime bookings. Also on Canal Street, Diana Ross performs at the renovated Saenger Theatre on Oct. 30. Champions Square isn’t just for tailgating; Sigur Ros plays there on Oct. 3 and fun. on Oct. 5. One Eyed Jacks hosts the buzzed-about HAIM on Oct. 6, Jessie Ware stops at House of Blues on Oct. 21 and Republic has James Blake on Oct. 30. The month’s arena shows include folk rockers Lumineers on Oct. 16 at the UNO Lakefront Arena and neo-crooner Michael Buble, above, at the New Orleans Arena on Oct. 22. If you don’t have concert fatigue by the end of the month, there’s Voodoo Experience the first weekend of November.
Vampires and ‘Desire’
The 2013-’14 seasons for New Orleans Opera and the New Orleans Ballet Association open this month. Perfect for a city frequently linked with those creatures of the night, Marschner’s The Vampire (Der Vampyr) opens Oct. 11. NOBA also honors New Orleans with its season opener, Scottish Ballet’s dance adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. Information, NewOrleansOpera.org and NobaDance.com.
Cinema Celebration
This year’s New Orleans Film Festival has New Orleans-produced films opening and closing the festival. Twelve Years a Slave, Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s autobiography, is the opening night screening, which McQueen is expected to attend. The festival closes with Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker, Lily Keber’s documentary about the eccentric New Orleans piano player. In the interim the festival features local, national and international feature, documentary, animated and short films screened at various locations. Information, NewOrleansFilmSociety.org.
Oct. 3-5. The Ponderosa Stomp festival, various locations. Information, PonderosaStomp.com
Oct. 4. D.L. Hughley and Eddie Griffin, Saenger Theatre. Information, SaengerNola.com
Oct. 4-6. Gretna Heritage Festival, Downtown Gretna. Information, GretnaFest.com
Oct. 5. Art for Arts’ Sake, Warehouse District and Magazine Street. Information, cacno.org
Oct. 7. Broadway at NOCCA presents Jane Krakowski. Information, BroadwayNola.com
Oct. 11-26. Oktoberfest, Rivertown. Information, DeutschesHaus.org
Oct. 11-13. Louisiana Seafood Festival, City Park Festival Grounds. LouisianaSeafoodFestival.com
Oct. 12. Japan Festival, New Orleans Museum of Art. Information, noma.org
Oct. 12. A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Saenger Theatre. Information, SaengerNola.com
Oct. 13. Celebracion Latina, Audubon Zoo. Information, AudubonInstitute.org/Celebracion-Latina
Oct. 13. Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Saenger Theatre. Information, SaengerNola.com
Oct. 15-27. The Book of Mormon, Saenger Theatre. Information, SaengerNola.com
Oct. 19. Anba Dlo Vi Halloween Festival, New Orleans Healing Center. Information, NewOrleansHealingCenter.org
Oct. 18-19, 25-26. Boo at the Zoo, Audubon Zoo. Information, AudubonInstitute.org/Boo-Zoo
Oct. 18-20. Tremé Culture Fest, various locations in Tremé. Information, TremeCultureFest.com
Oct. 19. Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, Lafayette Square. Information, JazzAndHeritage.org/Blues-Fest
Oct. 26. Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra presents “Psycho: A Symphonic Night at the Movies.” Information, LPOMusic.com
Oct. 26. O What a Night Gala, Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Information, OgdenMuseum.org
Oct. 30. New Orleans Pelicans season opener versus the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Arena. Information, nba.com/Pelicans
