Late night with Galactic – photo by Rob Chapman

The day began with our normal ritual, beignets and beer while sitting in the Gospel tent, scanning the day’s lineup and getting in the Spirit. From there, we split up to cover as much of the day’s lineup as possible, over 50 acts on 10 stages. There was the low growl of Coco Robichaux’s Tabasco soaked voice in the Blues tent, Mia Borders drew in the crowds at the Gentilly stage, with her set of originals and a few choice, setting the bar high for that stage for the rest of the day. Later there was New Orleans’ own Subdudes, followed by Mumford and Sons who drew one of the largest crowds of the day. Riding high on their recent successes, they clearly enjoyed their first day in New Orleans and first appearance at Jazzfest. Closing the Gentilly stage was the Avett Brothers , bringing their high energy, keeping fans on their feet throughout their set.

And The closing act at the Acura stage was where you got as close as once can these days to Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant with his the Band of Joy was in great voice, still with a vibrant stage presence, pacing the stage clutching his mic stand and singing with clear joy. The set was a mix of songs from their new album, Patty Griffin’s voice blended beautifully with Plant’s, providing a gorgeous harmony as he belted out songs from his last album with Alison Krauss, and a lot of Led Zep songs, closing the set leading with the crowd through “Gallows Pole” and encoring with “Hangman.”

Missed Jeff Beck to see Mumford and Sons, had to choose between seasoned locals like John Mooney, John Cleary, the Happy Talk Band, and the subdudes, and never had a chance to dance in the dust at Fais Do-Do stage, but we always say “Judge your JazzFest not by what bands you saw, but what you had to miss to see them.”

There seemed to be a changing of the guard this year at Jazzfest. People seem to think of festers as 40 or 50 something white folks. But, at least for this one day, a much younger and diverse crowd ruled as 20 and 30-somethings voted with their feet and mobbed the Gentilly and Congo Stages for bands such as Avett, Mumford and Wyclef John while the Acura stage had plenty of room to move around for Beck and Page – If you looked carefully you could actually see the fairgrounds tip slightly towards the river.

Any Jazz Fest veteran could find a few reasons to complain; from the extra perks for the premium-paying crowd (like the re-angling of the Gentilly stage), the sound bleed between stages, the continued inhospitality of the Blues Tent, but the bottom line, Jazz Fest won yesterday. Even the crankiest of us have to admit it was glorious and it worked – The line-up was solid and diverse, it went off on schedule, the weather was perfect, there were minimal lines at the porta-pottys. It sure was exactly what all of us have been waiting all winter for.

Later that night Band of Joy members Buddy Harris and Patti Griffin headlined a show with the venerable Preservation Hall Jazz Band blending their alt-county and folk with the Hall’s traditional jazz. The tiny 50-seat venue rocked even harder when he brought out his “good friend and band leader” and Robert Plant squeezed onto the stage, and rocked the house with a Bo Diddley medley.

And at the Masonic Temple, The Radiators played their first of five “close to final” gigs, grooving the mass of devoted Fishheads they’ve collected over the past 33 years. This venue is one we’d love to see other acts at – seats, good sight lines, plenty of room to dance. And red beans and rice.

Galactic also played their first late night set at Tips (always one of the highlights of Fest); ending at 5:30 am and joined by members of Dumpstaphunk Ivan Neville, Tony Hall, and Ian Neville. It had all the trappings of a Galactic show with a mix of old favorites, a few tunes from Ya Ka May (with Cyril Neville and Corey Henry) and a traditional closing of “quiet please” It was pleasantly under packed as always the special guests included some surprises like three generations of Nevilles on stage at once (Cyril, Ivan & Ian), and the young female drummer, Mickey G?, who more than held her own on Stanton Moore’s kit.

One down, six to go.