“Fiyo on the Bayou” - The Neville Brothers
A story I’ve told many times involves a work Christmas party Terri and I attended in December 1982. It goes something like this…
I was relocated to New Orleans in August ‘82 to be part of the opening team at the Sheraton New Orleans. We were a young, highly motivated, smart team of hospitality professionals. NOLA was a new city and culture for us. Terri and I tried to fit in right away by taking it all in; food, music, partying. In December my boss (who will remain anonymous) demanded that his entire team attend the HFTP (hospitality financial & technology professional) Christmas party aboard the riverboat “President”. It was sure to be a stuffy affair with suit & tie required. My colleagues and I did not want to attend, but when the boss says go, you go. We were told a band was playing that night and that we would be in a private room upstairs behind the stage. What band? I didn’t care. Some group of brothers. I was unimpressed.
“Feel good music, I've been told. Good for the body, and it's good for your soul”
Sometime during the tedious dinner the band started to play… and my feet started to move… my head started to bob… It was instant! I looked at Terri and my colleagues and said “who the hell is this”. We got up to peer down from behind the stage. The funkiest band I had ever heard had the entire crowd on the dance floor in a frenzy. We look at each other and agreed the work party was over and the real party was just about to start. We made are way down to the floor and took in the Neville Brothers for the rest of the night. The suit jackets came of and by the end of the night the tie was around my forehead.
We saw the Neville Brothers again and again throughout our short three years in New Orleans. Every time a family member or friend would come to visit, we’d drag them down to Tipitina’s at the corner of Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas. They all came away fans just like us. The Neville’s music became part of our DNA like the rest of that fabulous city. I feel there needs to be a SkyDog Adventure to the Crescent City real soon.
