If it is the last Thursday of the year it must be time to grab my runnin’ mate Doctor Ray and head to downtown H-Town for some ‘Better Than Ezra’ at the House of Blues!   Three years running now we’ve made this pre-New Year’s gig and it is just a flat out party time fun experience.  BTE always puts on a good show. This New Orleans outfit has aged well and they’ve continued to be a survivor surviving the 90’s bands alt-rock collapse.

The rush I experience from the crowd down front is always a hoot, too.  It is a time when the city seems to try and escape a year and travel to another year like it is some kind of emotional hurdle, with BTE offering a “let’s party-its okay” kind of feel to it.   My pic moments were great with 2 gems, “Burned” and “Misunderstood” blazing the way for the euphoria to begin.

These guys, Kevin Griffin on lead vocals and guitar, Tom “The Voice of BTE” Drummond on bass,  Michael Jerome on drums, and James Arthur Payne (keys on tour support), tour non-stop to a cultish type of following.  To be still alive and kickin’ and in charge of their own futures in today’s music biz since 1988 is impressive.  The band recently released an EP ‘Death Valley’ which is a rocked up modernized set of LSU tailgaiting songs made mostly popular by the ‘Golden Band from Tigerland’   Since LSU is sky high right now and in the BCS Championship, the timing was a back door home run for BTE.  When they kicked off the encore with the “LSU Fight Song” it got a huge roar.

The band itself seems to have a good buzz on and is getting better and better at doin’ some impromtu cover songs that really fill the bill in this drunken party venue.  Some that surfaced in one fashion or another were “White Wedding”, “I Wanna Be Sedated”, and encore firecracker “It’s the End of the World as We know It (And I Feel Fine)” adding to the end of the year feel I mentioned earlier.  By the way, for some reason these cats bring out the “let’s get hammered” women crowd like no other band I’ve seen.   Not a bad thing gents.

Just as important as the party vibe these men bring to the stage, they also bring good things to the community which they’ve been doing for years. The Better Than Ezra Foundation ( http://www.btefoundation.org)  had gained 501c3 non profit status and established the current mission to commit funding towards the recovery and renewal of the structural and cultural heritage of New Orleans and Southern Louisiana.  Bravo. The Foundation has raised close to a million dollars for various causes in and around Nawlins since Katrina.  Speaking of the Big Easy, BTE switches gears and has become promoters of Mardi Gras boogie time with ‘The Krewe of Rocckus 3 -Day Mardi Gras’ blow out.  For travel packages and full details go to : http://www.kreweofrocckus.com/eng/.   They won’t steer ya wrong!

Another added bonus each visit is the opening acts BTE brings along.  This year was no exception when ‘Dash Rip Rock’ blasted their way thru a super charged set that got the crowd more than hot ‘n sweaty for BTE!  They are Nawlins based, too and will be on my look for list down the road.   BTE Jammin’ the walls down to a packed house with 23 songs was super bad ass.  Priceless ones also for me were the James cover of “Laid”, “Juicy” with a tease of “Double Dutch Bus”, of course “King of New Orleans,  rock solid “Good”,  and “Desperately Wanting”!   Judging by the spent and smilin’ crowd they were all desperately wanting the night to never end.  In closing, BTE is not a band bent on cashing in on the nostalgia of the 90’s era, but more so reminding us of how unpredictable and fun a night out on the town can be.  Try it sometime and mark the calendars for late 2012…………….Happy Healthy New Year to all!