Fantastic Voyage
By Geraldine Wyckoff
JULY 13, 1998:
I was sitting with a friend at Kerry Irish Pub when a guy I've often seen at
music clubs started raving about the "Music Bus." He just went on and on about
how much fun he was having while taking the shuttle around the city and hitting
all the nightspots. I certainly had seen the bus -- it's hard to miss the white
van splashed with the colorful logos of the sponsoring clubs. And the glow of
the thing's flashing orange exit light often shines on the wall in front of
Donna's Bar & Grill or Tip's French Quarter. I admitted, however, that I
didn't exactly know how the whole system worked.
"Hey, why don't you come on it tonight; the first time out is
free," he said. A phone call later, we were off, circling the city onboard the
17-passenger bus with co-owner Keith Zimmerman behind the wheel.
The formal name of the company that provides the bus is Rendezvous
New Orleans Music Tours (RNOMT), a business founded by co-owner Steve Novak. It
began offering "self-guided" tours to visitors, providing them with an
attractive guide book on the local music clubs as well as maps and discount
coupons.
Zimmerman says the problem with the local music scene was that
visitors had difficulty getting to the spots or were wary of venturing out on
their own. As anyone who rides in cabs knows, trying to take in more than one
music club via taxi can be an expensive proposition. Thus, providing
transportation with a music-savvy driver behind the wheel was the way to go.
"You see flyers for swamp tours, plantation tours and ghost tours,"
says Zimmerman, "but there hasn't been an established industry for music
tours." Though many visitors want to hear authentic New Orleans music -- be it
jazz, blues, zydeco, Cajun, rock -- Zimmerman believes they simply weren't
asking the right questions of the right people to find what they were looking
for.
"We guarantee to find them some music, and they are not going to
get stuck paying a pretty penny to just go to one place," says Zimmerman.
Novak, meanwhile, says he can "find good music on any given night."
He remembers a Mississippi woman traveling alone who had her heart
set on sitting in and singing with a band. As it happened, there were no "open
mike" gigs the night she was in town. Novak was disappointed for her but
dropped her off at Dos Jefes, a friendly neighborhood club Uptown on
Tchoupitoulas Street. (It's hardly a spot a visitor would find on her own.)
When Novak went back to pick her up, he discovered she had stood before the
combo and sang.
"Her dream was fulfilled," says Novak with a sense of pride. He
also fondly remembers an out-of-town couple who went to the weekly fais do-do
at Tipitina's. "The woman came out, her cheeks flushed, saying, 'That's the
first time my husband has danced with me in 15 years.' The tour lets you shed
your old skin and act like a New Orleanian."
The Music Bus begins its journey at 9 p.m. every night starting at
the Maple Leaf and makes a continuous loop of the clubs -- dropping off and
picking up along the way -- until 2 a.m. on weeknights and 3 a.m. on weekends.
The route continues Uptown heading to Carrollton Station, Mid-City Lanes,
Acadian Brew Pub, Donna's, Margaritaville, Tip's French Quarter, Vic's Kangaroo
Cafe, the Howlin' Wolf, Tipitina's Uptown, Le Bon Temps Roule (by request) and
Dos Jefes. The entire trip takes approximately an hour-and-a-half, and the
shuttle has an onboard phone so passengers can find out its location at any
given time.
Another element is that locals also are welcome to become members
of the club-hopping bus set. For $15 a month, they can ride the shuttle --
every night if they want -- by catching it at one of the sponsoring clubs.
(Initial charges are first and last months' fee plus a $10 administration
charge.)
Though not too much was going on the night I was on the bus, I had
a great time nonetheless. I was especially pleased to find trumpeter Wendell
Brunious at Dos Jefes. The freedom of stopping in everywhere was a treat that
I, as a carless Quarterite, savored. Besides driving, Zimmerman was also a
jovial host who was well-armed with information that clearly didn't all come
from books. He's a real New Orleans music fan.
Even if you own a car, you can still appreciate the Music Bus.
People from, say, Metairie, could leave their car Uptown and head to the
Quarter without having to worry about parking. For singles, it would be a fun
(and safe) way of going out alone -- but not really alone. They'd be
among other like-minded, music-loving people. Of course, taking the bus
eliminates the danger of drunken driving as well.

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