(Live) Music to Your Ears
During this time of the year, New Orleans sees many stops from national concert tours. Some notable calendar items? Pop-country girl group Dixie Chicks, German electro visionaries Kraftwerk, harpist Joanna Newsom and singer-songwriter Beck all perform shows here in September. One of your best bets, though, is to see Alabama Shakes (Sept. 22) in a location befitting front woman Brittany Howard – a football fan-sized amphitheater: Champions Square. Howard is an explosive leader for the blues rock band, her voice moving from soulful lower registers to husky falsetto with equal aplomb. The band released Sound & Color to great acclaim in 2015. Corinne Bailey Rae, the singer of “Put Your Records On” fame who recently released The Heart Speaks in Whispers, opens. Information, Champions-Square.com.
Strip, Strip, Hooray!
In its eighth year, the New Orleans Burlesque Festival (Sept. 15-18) celebrates one of the city’s most ubiquitous, homegrown art forms by bringing together local talent and performers from all over the world. There is the annual crowning of the “Queen of Burlesque,” plus workshops, panel discussions and parties. Rita Alexander the Champagne Girl, who headlined the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street in the 1960s, is a special guest. Information, NewOrleansBurlesqueFest.com.
Hair of the Dog
The annual NOLA on Tap Beer Fest celebrates two popular interests: beer and dogs. The Bulldog and the Louisiana SPCA produce the beer festival at City Park’s festival grounds (Sept. 24) that features more than 400 local, national and homebrewed beers; the Homebrewers Beer Judge Certification Program competition and People’s Choice Awards; food; games; dog-friendly fare and more. Information, NolaOnTap.org.
CALENDAR
Month of September. Daiquiri Season, More than 40 bars and restaurants across the city, TalesOfTheCocktail.com/events/daiquiri-season
Sept. 2-4. Louisiana Seafood Festival, City Park Festival Grounds. Information, LouisianaSeafoodFestival.com
Sept. 5. Maroon 5 in concert, Smoothie King Center. Information, SmoothieKingCenter.com
Sept. 9. Kraftwerk in concert, Orpheum Theater. Information, OrpheumNOLA.com
Sept. 9. Le Petit Théâter Curtain Call Ball, Le Petit Théâter and Tableau. Information, LePetitTheatre.com
Sept. 9. Sturgill Simpson in concert, Saenger Theater. Information, SaengerNOLA.com
Sept. 9. Joanna Newsom in concert, Civic Theater. Information, CivicNOLA.com
Sept. 10. Dixie Chicks, Smoothie King Center. Information, SmoothieKingCenter.com
Sept. 9-25. “Let the Good Times Roll,” Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. Information, RivertownTheaters.com
Sept. 12-18. We Live to Eat Restaurant Week. Information, CoolinaryNewOrleans.com
Sept. 14. Dinosaur Jr. in concert, Tipitina’s. Information, Tipitinas.com
Sept. 15. Beck in concert, Saenger Theater. Information, SaengerNOLA.com
Sept. 16. Martini Madness, New Orleans City Park. Information, FriendsOfCityPark.com
Sept. 23-Oct. 2. West Side Story, Jefferson Performing Arts Center. Information, JPAS.org
Sept. 20-25. The Sound of Music, Saenger Theater. Information, SaengerNOLA.com
Sept. 23. LOVE in the Garden, New Orleans Museum of Art’s Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Information, NOMA.org
Sept. 27. James Blake in concert, Orpheum Theater. Information, OrpheumNOLA.com
Sept. 30. Scales & Ales, Aquarium of the Americas. Information, AudubonNatureInstitute.org/Scales-And-Ales