The Foundation Free Fridays series at Tipitina’s continues tonight with one of the busiest bands playing out of the city. Gravy opens.
In a wide-ranging conversation with the New Orleans Suspects’ bassist Reggie Scanlan, we touched on the past, present and future.
The band has just returned from a 10-day tour in Colorado that took them all over the state. The tour culminated in two concerts in the idyllic mountain town of Telluride where they played at the famed Opera House and then performed in picturesque Town Park at the Telluride Jazz Festival. They hit the stage right before fellow New Orleanians, Galactic.
For tonight’s show at Tipitina’s, the band intends to plays some songs that will be new to their local fan base. When asked what we can expect from the show, Scanlan replied, “Just us kickin’ ass!” Their future dates include an appearance at the New Orleans Lakefront Arena opening for jam rockers Widespread Panic. Their relationship with “Panic” will continue on their current tour as they have two after-party gigs booked—following the show in Memphis and the one at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Suspects have also been playing the Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of Little Feat. With that groundbreaking band on indefinite hiatus, the two principals have been touring as a duo. Barrere and Tackett have joined the Suspects on stage several times where they play songs from the Little Feat catalog, and bust out New Orleans classics like “Big Chief” and “Hey Pocky Way.” Scanlan said, “Those guys just love playing the New Orleans stuff.”
