A Look Back at NOLA 2014 and Wrestlemania 30
March 27th, 2015 by chocko
It’s almost that time of year again for pro-wrestling biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania which will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California in a couple days. Last year, around this time Chocko and the some members of the crew traveled to the beautiful city of New Orleans, Louisiana for Wrestlemania XXX. The following photos are from that weekend of wrestling, stuffing our faces with Southern fried eats and treats, record shopping, wandering the streets and looking to rumble.
We were lucky to snag a hotel on Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter. We were surrounded by loud bars with Aerosmith cover bands blaring out into the street and drunken wrestling fans cosplaying as their favorite heroes in the ring. I saw about 3 Macho Man’s and half a dozen Hulk Hogans withing a 2 block radius. The area was also hustling and bustling with street performers and artists such as Cubs The Poet who can freestyle a poem on an old typewriter like nobody’s business.
The French Market located a few blocks from Jackson Square features a farmers market and vendors that sell all sorts of things such as antiques, art, plants and music. I bought a CD titled “The Roots Of American Music: New Orleans” which featured songs by Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Domino. The vendor was super friendly and shared some stories about NOLA which is a city rich in music history. He pointed out a laundromat not too far from the French Market on 840 N Rampart St which was once the home of J&M Studios. It is a musical landmark and perhaps the birthplace of rock & roll which housed sessions by legends such as Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles!
MOTHER’S RESTAURANT (left) and PARKWAY BAKERY and TAVERN (right)
THE GRILL (540 CHARTRES STREET)
When it comes to food, NOLA is no joke. Pictured above are some of the fine establishments we visited. Mother’s Restaurant (top left) features good eats including their world’s best baked ham, gumbo and various goodness. I went for the jambalaya which hit the spot. Mother’s is located on 401 Poydras and definitely worth the wait to get in. Friendly staff too. Pictured on the top right is half of a Poor Boy, soda and bag of Voodoo chips from Parkway Bakery and Tavern. They’re located on the corner of Hagan and Toulouse overlooking Bayou St. John. The Parkway Surf and Turf is highly recommended! Also pictured above is The Grill (540 Chartres Street) located in the French Quarter which has delicious, greasy breakfast food and a work crew that will put a smile on your face. Recommended for eggs, bacon, grits, hash browns, you know the deal.
LOUISIANA MUSIC FACTORY (421 FRENCHMEN STREET)
EUCLID RECORDS (3401 CHARTRES STREET)
SKULLY’Z RECORDZ (907 BOURBON STREET)
I was able to get some record shopping done and focused on three shops. First stop after browsing around The French Market was The Louisiana Music Factory. I was blown away by the jazz and blues selection here…a lot of local flavor! Aisles of CDs, used CDs, records, books and DVDs will kept me busy. If you only go to one record store in New Orleans, Louisiana Music Factory is the place! I bought a bunch of CDs including one titled “We Got A Party!” featuring The Best Of Ron Records. Great stuff on there featuring music recorded in New Orleans 1958-1962 by the likes of Professor Longhair, Irma Thomas and Eddie Lang. They host a lot of in store concerts, so check out their website for updates. Last year I visited the Euclid Records location in St. Louis and was psyched to see their location in NOLA. I think they just moved into their present location and were still settling in. Despite the rough edges, it was a fun time browsing through the records and CDs. The closest record store to the hotel was Skully’z Recordz. It’s a tiny shop but it packs a mean punch. I picked out a lost soul classic from 1973, “In Between Tears” by Irma Thomas aka The Soul Queen of New Orleans. It’s a great looking and sounding restored and remastered release which was mostly written and produced by Jerry Williams, Jr. aka Swamp Dogg.
LAFAYETTE CEMETERY NO. 1
SCULPTURE GARDEN
Across from the fancy Commander’s Palace Restaurant on Washington Ave. in the Uptown/Garment District is Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. (1833). Anne Rice used to live around the corner and I’m sure wandered the tombs for inspiration. If creepy crypts aren’t your thing another fun and free destination to check out is the Besthoff Sculpture Garden which is an outdoor area inside City Park which features 64 sculptures.
The street art and graffiti game is strong in New Orleans. I stumbles upon walls on my long walk from Louisiana Music Factory to Euclid Records mostly walking along Chartres Street. It was only a mile, but it felt a lot longer. I noticed one piece under plexiglass and stickers. A Banksy?
We stopped by The Destrehan Plantation which is the closest plantation from New Orleans. The guided tour is definitely the way to go. It features a tour of the building established in 1787 and you get to see a document signed by Thomas Jefferson. A lot of history to soak in! We stuck around for a carpentry demonstration which almost put me to sleep. For the movie buffs: scenes from the movies “Interview With The Vampire” and “Twelve Years A Slave” were filmed at The Destrehan Plantation.
The Prytania Theater (5339 Prytania St) is a beautiful single screen theater which was built in 1914 and we happened to be in town for a local film festival FilmOrama. We saw the documentary “Finding Vivian Maier” an excellent movie about the discovery of an unknown photographer’s undeveloped rolls of film from a lifetime of taking photos and documenting life in the city. You have to see it. I loved the movie.
Oh yes, the reason the trip to N.O. was made…wrestling! So, pictured above are the steps leading to not the Silverdome, but the Superdome where Wrestlemania 30 was gonna go down! On the right is a fan dressed up as Papa Shango. I think he put a spell on me that made me want to eat my body weight in fried chicken at Brothers Food Mart. Good stuff!
One of the most memorable matches of the night and undeniably the biggest shocker of the evening came when The Undertaker lost to Brock Lesnar. The Beast vs. The Streak ended with a silent crowd, totally dumbfounded while the huge numbers 21-1 were displayed on the screens above the ring along with the faces of shocked fans. We all thought The Undertaker was unbeatable, but looks like he’s seen better days. Pictured below is the crowd favorite and underdog Daniel Bryan winning the Championship in front of a hyped up crowd…Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes chants were heard all over the French Quarter that night.
More wrestling cosplay outside the Superdome! I get it the dude on the left is supposed to be C.M. Punk, A.J. Lee in the middle and a Million Dollar Woman (Tina DiBiase?) to the right but who’s the guy with the glittery suit supposed to be? Is he supposed to be Blowfly? I don’t know.
We also were in attendance at the RAW taping at The Smoothie King Center which was just a short walk from the French Quarter as was the Dome. It was a great night of wrestling…The Yes Movement was red hot, saw Cesaro after his impressive victory in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and in retrospect, the bittersweet last appearance of The Ultimate Warrior. That’s it for now…see you at the next Wrestlemania.
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Tags: bourbon street, chocko, euclid records, graffiti, louisiana music factory, new orleans, nola, prytania theater, record stores, skully'z recordz, street art, wrestlemania, wrestling, wwe
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