Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Zydeco Comes to Richmond

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by

James A. Bacon
in

 

Dopsie3Another reason why I love this town: The Richmond Folk Festival. When my wife and I arrived in downtown Richmond last night, an infectiously fun Dominican merengue band was playing, and I wondered how the final act could possibly top it. I need not have worried — the final act was Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers, a New Orleans legend. Accordionist Dwayne Dopsie is one of the great live musical performers in the United States. For Dopsie, playing the accordion is a physical workout. By the end of the show, he was drenched, literally wringing sweat from his shirt. He and washboard player Paul LaFleur descended from the state into the audience to play the final song and engage in some foot-stomping fun. The Folk Festival is a fantastic event and every Richmonder should support it.

— JAB

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21 responses to “Zydeco Comes to Richmond”

  1. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
    LifeOnTheFallLine

    In before Peter can talk about the Zydeco he heard at Short Pump that was so much better and didn’t have debate about a baseball stadium attached.

  2. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Not true, not true. I think the Folk Festival is great and have been a loyal patron since it began.

    I just hate the rah rah Richmond bullshit. If you have a National Folk Festival on the Mall in DC do you really hear people say, “another reason why I love this town?”

    Can the cheerleading. Just enjoy the good parts.

    1. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
      LifeOnTheFallLine

      You’re right, people should just enjoy a city or town in silence and never, ever talk about it (https://www.baconsrebellion.com/2014/10/petersburgs-renaissance.html). Promoting a city is just for small-town rubes who wish they could be from somewhere cooler (http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/MR900.jpg).

    2. DonR Avatar
      DonR

      No kidding. The cheerleading is counter-productive. How often do you hear people from Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, Roanoke or Fairfax County talk themselves hoarse over how great their cities / counties are? Virtually never. However, the self-centered propaganda from Richmond is unending. I know Jim Bacon will never believe this but it’s this endless self-promotion that makes the rest of Virginia look askance at Richmond. The Washington, DC area doesn’t just have a lot of great entertainment events like The Richmond Folk Festival it also has a log list of home grown artistic talent. From John Phillip Souza to Duke Ellington. From The Mamas and the Papas to The Loving Spoonfill. Root Boy Slim, Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, Jim Morrison, Rare Essence, Trouble Funk and Experience Unlimited are just a few of the musical talents associated with DC.

      SOJA, from Arlington Virginia, is one of the most popular reggae bands in the world at this moment. Bacon, I know you like reggae. Do you also love the town of Arlington for producing SOJA?

      Methinks the lady doth cheerlead too much.

      1. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
        LifeOnTheFallLine

        “Hampton Roads”

        Every time I go home or read The Virginian Pilot.

        “Charlottesville”

        Are you serious? “Blah blah UVA makes us great blah blah Thomas Jefferson is the smartest slave rapist to ever be president blah blah Dave Matthews Band.”

        “Roanoke”

        Where the Hell is that?

        “Fairfax County”

        Did you know that they’re the richest county in the United States? Or at least they used to be? And that Thomas Jefferson Governor’s School is the bestest public school in the country? I do! You know why? Because the people that live there will never shut up about it.

        “DC area”

        These people will literally never stop complaining about how RoVA drags them down. Catch their eye in a diner and they’ll hold forth about how smart and clever they were to build the heart of the federal government across the river. Saddle up in a bar urinal next to one of them and they’ll let you know that they’re the most well educated region in the country and the rest of Virginia are hicks and rubes.

        Everyone thinks either where they’re from or where they end up is the greatest plot of land on Earth (they’re all wrong, unless they’re in New York City). But for some reason when people from Richmond do it it really puts a hair up certain people’s asses. And then they start writing silly things like “Petersburg is great and way better than Richmond” and “the DC area produced Go-Go music, which is totally listenable.”

  3. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Yay, Fall Line and I finally agree about something!

    For what it’s worth, I don’t feel like I’m engaging in boosterism. I just happen to love the town I live in. People in D.C. have great reasons to love their town, too. The difference is, I don’t dis them for it. In fact, I appreciate what D.C. (and Charlottesville and Hampton Roads and other places) have to offer and go visit them and say good things about them when I do.

    1. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
      LifeOnTheFallLine

      Ha! I think we also agree on the deleterious effects of zoning laws on urban housing stock!

    2. DonR Avatar
      DonR

      Both you and Fall Line are comical. Jim – you once wrote an entire article on a Richmond business that was opening in order to sell meat pies. You now write a feature article on a zydeco band (from Louisiana) playing in Richmond at a festival. Your blog is titles, “Reinventing Virginia for the 21st Century” not “Reinventing Richmond for the 21st Century”. If you have time to celebrate meat pie stores and zydeco festivals in Richmond you’d think there might also be time to celebrate SOJA and the Old Crow Medicine Show bands – both from Virginia, although not from Richmond. If you have time to celebrate the opening of a meat pie outlet in Richmond you’d think you’d have time to celebrate the success of software company Appian in Reston, VA.

      You micro-boosterism for Richmond coupled with your macro-silence about the rest of the state is what Peter and I call into question.

      1. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
        LifeOnTheFallLine

        Are you just dedicated to proving my point about people getting a hair up their ass correct as thoroughly as possible? I mean, I appreciate the help, I do, but it’s okay to take it down a notch. Because it reads like you’re taking this personal (“There’s all this great stuff happening where I live and you never talk about it!”).

        Talking the personal is what Jim does, or did you miss all his dispatches from when he went to San Francisco (or was it Seattle, both?)? Or all the digital ink he spilled talking about the increase in Henrico’s meal tax? Or when he extrapolated from the absence of parents at his kid’s school’s open house that kids are failing because their parents don’t care?

        Did you have the same problem with those as you do with this?

    3. DonR Avatar
      DonR

      Also, you seem to have lost a lot of posts from BaconsRebellion’s past. I assume this was part of the fallout from the spam cleanup and captcha implementation. My post about Virginia NFL players is no longer available apparently. Perhaps you can recall the picture that accompanied that post. It was Richmond native Russell Wilson. There are plenty of NFL players from Northern Virginia playing right now. I could have used Eddie Royal’s picture for example. Or, I could have used photos of any of the Washington, DC natives playing in the NFL (such as Vernon Davis and Josh Cribbs). I could have even added players from Maryland’s DC suburbs and crowed about how much I love DC. But I didn’t. Because this is supposed to be a blog about Virginia.

      Bands play in bars all across the Commonwealth – every weekend. Restaurants open all across the commonwealth. A new South American chicken restaurant just opened in Great Falls. Maybe I should write a feature article about their delicious roast chicken and ramble on about how much I LOVE NOVA!!!!

      When you use tiny everyday events to declare your love for Richmond three things happen:

      1. People wonder if there are any substantial reasons to like Richmond or if minor events are all that are available.

      2. People wonder if your commentary about Virginia is biased by a Regional prejudice.

      3. People will correctly accuse you of boosterism.

      1. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        NOVA is for all practical purposes a giant version of Herico and Chesterfield…basically suburbs latched onto a city host… like this:

        http://youtu.be/brpt2M_heMM

  4. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    well..I for one will NOT pile-on…. for Jim finding something “cultural” to say good things about!

    just for the record – NoVa has never struck me as a place with a distinct character – like Richmond or Cville or even Hampton has.

    NoVa is chock-a-block with govt and govt contractor workers…whose “culture” appetite is mostly met by the National park Service of all entities, at Wolftrap… the whole area could collapse in a stinking heap and not be really missed…by Virginia (except for the money).

    😉

    I’m not even sure where a guy like Dwayne Dopsie would find a compatible venue to play in NoVa …..perhaps that’s why he was in Richmond!

    😉

    1. DonR Avatar
      DonR

      Poor LarryG – so many words, so few thoughts.

      Richmond is a city, NoVa is a region. Try, dear Lord, to remember that. If you want to compare NoVa to something compare it to Central Virginia. If you’d like to compare cities try the Washington, DC area vs the Richmond area.

      “I’m not even sure where a guy like Dwayne Dopsie would find a compatible venue to play in NoVa …..perhaps that’s why he was in Richmond!”

      It should have taken you approximately 45 seconds on an internet search engine to find this:

      http://www.birchmere.com/calendar/

      Perhaps you should devote less time to constructing smiley faces in your comments and more time to researching facts.

      You would have also found the Cellar Door in DC, the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, etc.

      In fact, Pure Prairie League played at The Tally Ho on Saturday night. GOD I LOVE NOVA!!!!!

      1. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        The Birchmere? that’s a PARKING LOT! that’s the essence of NoVa for sure!

        EVERYTHING in NoVa is a road or a parking lot or a Mall!

        and you had to go to DC to find a TRUE compatible venue!

        GOOD LORD.. you MADE my point!

        😉

        NoVa is what happens when a redneck suburb gets inundated with government workers looking for Levittown!

        1. DonR Avatar
          DonR

          LarryG channels his inner Richmonder and looks down his elitist nose at The Birchmere. “It’s a parking lot!” cries the elitist. Actually, it’s a large building surrounded by multi-family housing abutting a walkable, bicycle friendly trail called 4 Mile Run. By the way, Whizbang – here is a statement from the Richmond Folk Festival’s own web site, “Parking at the festival is easy. Multiple parking lots are available downtown.” Too funny. Then he demonstrates his deep lack of knowledge by wondering why the city of Washington, DC is a better corollary for the city of Richmond than the suburbs of Washington, DC. Only in the minds of the ill-informed are state boundaries more important to people living in a metropolitan area than the metropolitan area itself.

          Finally, Larry finalizes his application for inclusion in the Snob Society of Virginia by declaring NoVa a “redneck suburb”.

          Larry, despite living in Fredricksburg, you are the perfect spokesman for the Virginia elite. Condescending, ill-informed and logically incoherent.

          1. larryg Avatar
            larryg

            “Actually, it’s a large building surrounded by multi-family housing abutting a walkable, bicycle friendly trail called 4 Mile Run. ”

            surrounded by a LARGE parking lot for the car-centric … and abuts something it did not create at all but govt did…

            “By the way, Whizbang – here is a statement from the Richmond Folk Festival’s own web site, “Parking at the festival is easy. Multiple parking lots are available downtown.”

            yup…used for MULTIPLE different purposes as opposed to the NoVa style Birchmere!

            “Too funny. Then he demonstrates his deep lack of knowledge by wondering why the city of Washington, DC is a better corollary for the city of Richmond than the suburbs of Washington, DC. Only in the minds of the ill-informed are state boundaries more important to people living in a metropolitan area than the metropolitan area itself.”

            NoVa is the Henrico/Chesterfield of DC… simple as that – NoVa has no distinct identity other than a car monster..

            “Finally, Larry finalizes his application for inclusion in the Snob Society of Virginia by declaring NoVa a “redneck suburb”.”

            it’s TRUE DonR – you KNOW IT! want me to name off the place names up there?

            “Larry, despite living in Fredricksburg, you are the perfect spokesman for the Virginia elite. Condescending, ill-informed and logically incoherent.”

            typical NOVA “talk” – blah blah blah blah and furthermore BLAH!

            NOVA sucks DonR unless you live like an elitist on an estate near Great Falls and dress down with an F-150 to pretend you’re really a redneck who can’t afford an Escalade!

            tsk tsk… tweaking you is TOO EASY!

      2. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
        LifeOnTheFallLine

        Your opening salvo is rich who asked us to ponder if you hear people from Charlotesville, Roanoke and Hampton Roads (the last one is a region, so little thoughts!) talk about how great where they’re from is, and then talked about all the great musicians from the DC area.

        “If you’d like to compare cities try the Washington, DC area vs the Richmond area.”

        If you want to compare CITIES try these two AREAS…are you serious?

        1. DonR Avatar
          DonR

          Metropolitan Statistical AREA – In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area.

          Like the legal city of Richmond and the surrounding suburbs.

          Like the legal city of Washington, DC and the surrounding suburbs.

          This isn’t all that hard.

  5. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    As an outsider my impression is that the city of Richmond (as opposed to the VA government) has many potential assets but not many effective advocates. I congratulate Bacon for being an advocate for the City when many would give up on it as too much trouble. Bacon has got a lot of things right – one being the importance to a region of the vitality of its urban core.

  6. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    The problem with Richmond is that it is truncated. You have the CHamber of Commerce and Venture Richmond elite which makes it easy for the big companies like MeadWestVaco, Dominion and Altria ot bankroll the (non-controversial) folk festival.

    But you have elites strongly split about a Children’s Hospital and the new ball stadium. You have the Bill Goodwin’s and the Ukrops and the VCVU crowd all jockeying.

    You have an authentic grounds-up arts crowd (and always have had) that makes the place funky and interesting.

    And you have the monied arts crowd (VMFA and the new contemporary arts museum) that is bankrolled by the usual suspects.

    Among Richmond’s big problems are that it has a crappy school system, an OK transit system that the suburbs refuse to support, and somewhat dysfunction mayor’s office and lots of poverty that only now is being addressed.

    And you still have the attitude.

  7. DonR Avatar
    DonR

    “NoVa is the Henrico/Chesterfield of DC… simple as that – NoVa has no distinct identity other than a car monster.”

    NoVa is a suburb of a city. That city is Washington, DC.

    Henrico / Chesterfield are suburbs of a city. That city is Richmond.

    So far, so good?

    So, when you wrote, “and you had to go to DC to find a TRUE compatible venue!” that was pretty silly. Jim Bacon went from his suburban home to the adjacent city of Richmond to partake in a folk festival. You asked me about venues where a zydeco band could play. I provided two names in the suburbs and one in the city. Somehow, the location in the city baffled you.

    Why do you find a comparison between the City of Richmond and the City of Washington so hard to fathom?

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