An all-star krewe of musicians from the Big Easy and beyond came together on Friday, May 4th at New Orleans, LA’s historic Civic Theatre for a tribute to the music and legacy of two giants in the NOLA music world who passed away in 2019, Art Neville and Dr. John, with the latest edition of Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper.
Following the debut of this “to heroes, by heroes” project at the sold-out Denver Comes Alive in January 2020 and a series of pandemic-related postponements in the ensuing two years, Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper finally made its way home to New Orleans during Jazz Fest 2022. In 2023, the core of that talented outfit regrouped at the century-old Civic Theatre for another unforgettable night of Crescent City music and culture.
Both Art Neville (also known as “Poppa Funk”) and Dr. John (who performed under the moniker “Dr. John The Night Tripper”) exerted notable influence on musicians and music fans in the Big Easy and beyond. Art Neville, a three-time Grammy Award winner, was a founding member of the quintessential New Orleans funk band, The Meters, was a co-founder of The Neville Brothers, and later served in the Meters spin-off act, The funky METERS. He was a foundational player in New Orleans who went on to record with many of the top rock, pop, and soul artists of his era.
Six-time Grammy winner Malcolm “Mac” John Rebennack Jr., a.k.a. Dr. John, is one of the most recognizable characters ever to emerge from the New Orleans music scene. Heavily influenced by the theatrics and aesthetic of his early mentor, Professor Longhair, Rebennack adopted a flamboyant style on stage that stuck with him for the entirety of his career. Following a stint in Los Angeles in the mid-’60s as a member of the famed studio band known as the Wrecking Crew, Rebennack returned to New Orleans, took on the “Dr. John The Night Tripper” persona, and launched a legendary solo career centered around the combination of NOLA funk, psychedelic rock, and jazz.
The lineup for Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper during Jazz Fest 2023, presented by Live For Live Music and GMP Live, underscored Art Neville and Dr. John’s foundational contributions to the famously vibrant music culture of New Orleans. Living legend George Porter Jr., Art Neville’s longtime friend and collaborator in The Meters, as well as Art’s son, guitarist Ian Neville (Dumpstaphunk), and his nephew, keyboardist/vocalist Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk), served as direct links to the Meters/Neville Brothers lineage, while modern-day staples like Dumpstaphunk’s Nick Daniels III (guitar, bass, vocals), Lettuce horns Ryan Zoidis (saxophones) and Eric “Benny” Bloom (trumpet), drummer Alvin Ford Jr. (Pretty Lights, formerly Dumpstaphunk), and guest vocalist Erica Falls embodied the ripples of Neville and Rebennack’s legacy in contemporary funk.
Singer/pianist Jon Cleary, yet another longtime fixture of the New Orleans music world, joined in midway through the show and stayed for the remainder. In between songs, he reflected on his earliest days in New Orleans as a young musician, when he would do his best not to sound like Dr. John so as not to risk being cast in his iconic shadow. At the Civic Theatre on the second Friday of Jazz Fest 2023, however, he admitted that he was thrilled to dive head-first into his Rebennack-focused role in the celebration.
Throughout the night, this loaded lineup of master musicians highlighted not just the individual repertoires of Dr. John and Art Neville but the many points at which they intersected. Many of the Dr. John selections on the setlist came from 1973’s In The Right Place and 1974’s Desitively Bonnaroo, both of which were recorded with Art Neville and The Meters as Rebennack’s backing band. Songs like “Lights Out”—written by Dr. John and originally recorded in 1958 by Jerry Byrne with a young Art Neville on keys—traced the intertwined paths of Poppa Funk and The Night Tripper back through multiple generations, while enduring Carnival anthem “Mardi Gras Mambo”—famously recorded by The Hawketts in 1954 with a pre-Meters Neville on piano and vocals—showed how deeply embedded these men and their work have remained in the culture of the city.
Related: Tracing The Genetic Code Of New Orleans Funk Music
By the time signature Meters/Neville Brothers number “Fire On The Bayou” closed the show, virtually every voice packed into the Civic Theatre was chanting along, echoing the beating heart of New Orleans embodied by the timeless music of Art Neville and Dr. John. On the bayou and beyond, their fire still burns brightly. Long live Poppa Funk and The Night Tripper.
Below, check out a selection of crowd-shot videos from the 2023 Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper show at the Civic Theatre as well as a gallery of photos from the night via photographer Nosferatune.
Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper – “Quitters Never Win” (Dr. John) – 5/5/23
[Video: Karen Dugan]
Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper ft. Jon Cleary – “Qualified” (Dr. John) – 5/5/23
[Video: Karen Dugan]
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Setlist: Poppa Funk & The Night Tripper | Civic Theatre | New Orleans, LA | 5/5/23
Set: Fire & Brimstone (The Neville Brothers via Link Wray), I Been Hoodood (Dr. John), I Walk On Guilded Splinters (Dr. John), Quitters Never Win (Dr. John), Hey Pocky A-Way (The Meters), Cha Dooky Doo (Art Neville), Qualified (Dr. John), Let’s Make A Better World (Earl King via Dr. John), Mos’ Scocious (Dr. John), Such A Night (Dr. John), Lights Out (Dr. John), Cabbage Alley (The Meters), Mardi Gras Mambo (The Hawketts), It Ain’t No Use (The Meters), Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John), Mojo Hannah (Neville Brothers), Fire on the Bayou
