Tank and the Bangas got comfortable at New Orleans, LA’s Toulouse Theatre earlier this month for a three-night hometown run as part of Live For Live Music and GMP Live’s 2024 Fest by Nite series during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. While many of the nighttime shows going on around the city during the 11-day stretch leaned into the “Jazz” and “Heritage” portions of the umbrella event’s name, Tank and the Bangas’ Toulouse Theatre run was thoroughly steeped the third portion of that name—”New Orleans”—though perhaps a different, more contemporary take on that idea than out-of-towners may be used to.

Since graduating from New Orleans open mics to national prominence with their winning entry in the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, Tank and the Bangas have continued to expand their profile as one of the most thrilling, unpredictable, and sonically diverse bands on the planet. Frontwoman Tarriona “Tank” Ball‘s spoken word storytelling and joyously expressive delivery lend an enchanting ambiance to the band’s music, which melts down elements of jazz, hip-hop, soul, rock, R&B, funk, and more into a unique elixir for the ears, heart, and soul.

For their three-show, hometown stint during Jazz Fest 2024, Tank and the Bangas drew the crowd toward different chapters of their story each night with setlists focused on the band’s three albums: Think Tank (2013) on night one, Green Balloon (2019) on night two, and Red Balloon (2022) on night three. In addition to dressing the part (Green Balloon night saw Tank and company decked out in emerald threads, while the wardrobe went rouge on Red Balloon night), they tapped supporting acts with notable connections to the band’s journey for each show.

The run’s opening night doubled as a lineup announcement party for Jam Cruise 21, which will feature Tank and the Bangas’ return to the high seas for the first time in five years, but that wasn’t the only element connecting the evening to earlier days. Prior to a performance comprised entirely of songs from Think Tank, DJ Zeus warmed up the crowd with a supporting set. The combination of Think Tank material and DJ Zeus is notable in Bangaville: As Zeus, real name Felipe Perrier, has previously noted, he served as the DJ for the Think Tank album release party at Tipitina’s more than a decade ago.

On night two, local hip-hop upstart Alfred Banks—who also maintains a duo project, SaxKixAve, with former Tank and the Bangas saxophonist Albert Allenback—opened the night, keeping things in the family. It was all green once the headliners took the stage as Tank led the group through selections from Green Balloon including “Spaceships”, “Ants”, “Hot Air Balloon”, “Smoke.Netflix.Chill”, “Lazy Daze”, “I Don’t Get High”, “Happy Town”, “Nice Things”, “Colors Change”, and “Dope Girl Magic”. To close out the performance, Tank and the Bangas opted to deviate from the album-specific theme and offer one up to the Crescent City with a moving rendition of “New Orleans”, a hybrid poem/song/meditation/ethereal love letter to contemporary life in the Big Easy.

To kick off the final night of their Toulouse Theatre run during Jazz Fest, opener HaSizzle, affectionately known as the “King of Bounce,” got asses shaking on the dance floor with his high-energy brand of New Orleans bounce music. Beyond highlighting the unique bounce music thread in the city’s musical tapestry, HaSizzle’s appearance—fresh off his debut at the Jazz Fest Fair Grounds the week prior—marked another personal connection for the headliners: As he explained in a post after the show, he and Tank were childhood friends and classmates, and have been lucky enough to watch each other blow up in recent years.

Related: Anderson .Paak, Tank And The Bangas, More Spread NOLA Joy At Expedia Global Jam [Photos/Videos]

Below, view the full setlists for each of the three Tank and the Bangas shows at Toulouse Theatre during New Orleans Jazz Fest and check out nightly photo galleries from the run via photographer Ingrid Nacole. For a full list of upcoming Tank and the Bangas tour dates, head here.

Setlist: Tank and the Bangas | Toulouse Theatre | New Orleans, LA | 5/2/24

Set: Intro, Boxes and Squares, WalMart, The Ass, Oh Heart, Human, Rollercoaster, Ripperton Love, Eggs Over Easy, Themeparks, The Brady’s, Rhythm of Life

Note: All songs performed came from Tank and the Bangas’ 2013 album, Think Tank.

Setlist: Tank and the Bangas | Toulouse Theatre | New Orleans, LA | 5/3/24

Set: Spaceships, Ants, Hot Air Balloon, Smoke.Netflix.Chill, Lazy Daze A, I Don’t Get High A, Happy Town, Nice Things, Colors Change, Dope Girl Magic, New Orleans

Note: All songs performed except “New Orleans” came from Tank and the Bangas’ 2019 album, Green Balloon.

Setlist: Tank and the Bangas | Toulouse Theatre | New Orleans, LA | 5/4/24

Night 3 Red Balloon, Why Try, Fluff, Who’s in Charge, Mr. Bluebell, Anxiety, Communion in My Cup, Stolen Fruit, Easy Goes It (features Lalah Hathaway on the album), Oak Tree, Jellyfish, Black Folk, To Be Real [1]

[1] with HaSizzle
Note: All songs performed except “Fluff” and “To Be Real” came from Tank and the Bangas’ 2022 album, Red Balloon.