New Orleans Jazzfest 2013 Opens

The young Texas blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. closed his set at New Orleans Jazz Fest Friday (April 26, 2013) evening with "Bright Lights," from the EP of the same name.

Clark's diverse late-2012 album "Blak and Blu" hit the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and wound up on several best-of-the year lists -- also, not for nothing, he moved from last year's Blues Tent slot to the penultimate set on the Gentilly Stage, the area around which was packed for his performance. MORE HERE

Headliners on New Orleans Jazz Fest's two marquee stages - Acura and Gentilly - are, as a rule, marquee names with plenty of experience in the big time under their belts. A nice counterpoint to that polish is often the one or two younger rock 'n' roll acts booked to close out Gentilly each year, who infuse the stage with a different, maybe fresher kind of energy. On Friday (April 26, 2013), that act was Band of Horses (video above). MORE HERE