KISS, the Black Keys, Jimmy Buffett to play free concerts in New Orleans during NCAA Final Four

Posted on by

Keith Spera | The Times-Picayune

Danny Bourque

Veteran hard rock group Kiss will kick off “The Big Dance Concert Series” on Friday, March 30. The band last performed in New Orleans during the 2009 Voodoo Experience in City Park. Expect a set heavy on such favorites as “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night,” “Detroit Rock City” and “Calling Dr. Love.”

The Black Keys, performing on Saturday March 31, are a natural choice: The NCAA is using the band’s “Gold on the Ceiling” as the theme music for the March Madness television promotional campaign. The Keys, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, traffic in a raucous style of blues-derived rock ‘n’ roll. The success of the band’s current “El Camino” album confirmed the Keys’ transition from underground sensation to mainstream attraction, as did a recent appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone and a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In recent years Buffett, a native of the Gulf Coast with close ties to New Orleans, has mostly limited his local performances to hugely popular appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell, as well as impromptu sets at clubs and the occasional tailgate party. The mayor of “Margaritaville” is a passionate fan of the New Orleans Saints who often attends playoff games and turns up in the locker room. He’ll perform at Woldenberg on Sunday, April 1.

The “Big Dance” concerts are slated to take place in the same general area of Woldenberg Park where Caesars Entertainment, the parent corporation of Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, staged a free Mary J. Blige and Gavin DeGraw concert on March 1. Exact attendance figures have not been released for that show, but crowd estimates ranged up to 10,000 and higher.

At times, pedestrian traffic bottle-necked at access points to the concert grounds, which had been partially cordoned off with temporary fencing and barricades. Because many fans set up portable, collapsible chairs, moving around the center of congested field was difficult.

If the weather is good for NCAA weekend, a crowd at least as big as that for Blige may descend on Woldenberg Park for each of the free “Big Dance” shows.

Other events that weekend include the Final Four Fan Fest, an interactive basketball center at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.