L'Angelus Family Band
Bach Lunch
Parc Sans Souci
Lafayette, Louisiana
Friday, October 12, 2012
L'Angelus Family Band
These kids rock! Period. The twenty-somethings don't just sing. They’re more like the Cirque du Soleil meets Motown. They dance, shimmy and sway on stage with infectious energy and play the daylights out of guitar, base, drums, and fiddle/swamp pop saxophone.
They play Louisiana roots music – Cajun, zydeco, swamp pop, rhythm n blues, and cover pop songs like Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" as if bouncily poured through a New Orleans snow cone.
Born and raised in nearby Breaux Bridge, LA, the four Rees siblings got their musical baptism when the family moved to, of all places, North Dakota. They began singing along with their mom Linda, whose voice soared in the choir at Catholic masses, and later when she began singing in local coffee houses.
Their dad knew talent when he heard it. Fiddles, drums, guitars and saxophones filled Christmas stockings. In 2002, before you could say Road Band, “Linda Lou and the Lucky 4” started to tour county fairs and coffee houses the Midwest and Southeast USA. Fast forward. The family now lives in Nashville and tours regularly.
The siblings, now in their 20s, take turns singing lead vocals. Katie, (27) plays guitar, Paige (26) plays bass, Johnny, (25) is the drummer and Stephen (23) plays fiddle, saxophone, pennywhistle, and harmonica
I’d never heard of L’Angelus (say Lawn-jay-loose), a name that reflects their Catholic upbringing and the spiritual nature of two of their CDs. They’ve performed in Ireland, at big festivals like Gator By The Bay in San Diego, the Texas Rice Festival, and scores of Catholic-oriented venues across the country. One look at this video and you won’t confuse them with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
VIDEOS: http://ptatlarge.typepad.com/ptatlarge/2012/10/langelus-family-band-rocks-bach-lunch-videos.html
Partial Set List (I'd have listed more if I hadn't taken a break to dance.)
Cover of Van Morrison's “Brown Eyed Girl”, Johnny Rees, drummer on vocals
Iko, Iko (a New Orleans classic) Paige, Katie, Steven
Assorted Cajun waltzes
"Genevieve", a gritty swamp pop song written by Dennis Norris, lead singer for “Randy and the Rockets”i= in the 1950s, sung by Steven
“Les P'tits Yeux Noirs” (Little Dark Eyes) a classic Cajun waltz
"Saints Go Marching In" by the youngest members of the family playing miniature trumpets and trombone (see video)
“Rice and Gravy” Katie,Steven, Paige vocals
L'Angelus is joined for one song by their mom Linda, who took her kids on the road in 2002. The band is now based in Nashville, check out their schedule, if they appear near you, get tickets!
Two moms who'd been sitting on the stage steps with their kids approached the stage to see Paige. "My daughter has wanted to meet to you since the first time she saw you when she was three years old. She loved the way you flipped your hair (see photo of Paige behind her mom above) when you whipped your head around and has been practicing it ever since.”
Imagine how you feel meeting one of your idols when you're five years old. The little girl is in heaven.
Watch drummer Johnny Rees's fancy drumstick twirling flourishes on the second video "Genevieve"; pt with Paige and Katie.
Lafayette Bach Lunch
Celebrating 22 years, Bach Lunch is a free lunch hour series featuring different musicians performing from noon to 1 p.m. on Fridays during the spring and fall, sponsored by the Lafayette Science Museum, The Lafayette Consolidated Government, Acadiana Bottling Company, Inc., and KRVS-F.M. Lunches are available for purchase from popular area restaurants. The series is held at Parc Sans Souci in downtown Lafayette at the corner of Polk, Congress and Vermilion Streets. For more information, call 337-291-5544 or visit www.lnhmpmuseum.org.
I keep saying this, but this seems to be another one of those "only in Louisiana" affairs, in this case the “Bach Lunch” at noon every Friday in downtown Lafayette. Music and food are the Yin and Yang of Southwest Louisiana. Intertwined with those are the people who make the music, dance to the music, listen to music, and may have been conceived to the sound of it. My Lafayette friends Bernard and Rubia told me this is a "not to be missed" event. Their track record on suggestions is nonpareil. I go. Their record is intact.
I find a place to park downtown at 11:30 AM, spot two moms and five kids with backpacks and blankets marching purposefully down the street. There's only one place they could be going.
Parc Sans Souci is already filling up with people plunking down blankets and camp chairs. As usual, the little islands of shade under trees are first to fill up. This is Friday, a school day, but either a couple hundred kids are playing hooky or the schools have organized one giant field trip. "Did you do that all by yourself?" A dad says to his three-year-old kid who has just released a camp chair from its carrying case. Around here learning how to dance, appreciate music, and mingle with hundreds of others around food or music focused events is next in line with learning the ABCs.
Based on the title of this event, and hailing from from New England, I expected to see a string quartet leading the proceedings. Uh,Uhh. A long line has formed to purchase a "box lunch" from any of several local eateries. Oh, Bach…music, I get it now! Music and food, why am I not surprised.
The park is filling up with business types taking a long lunch, young parents with their kids, retirees, posses of teenagers, and a good helping of the dancers our who are in Lafayette for the annual Festival Acadiens et Creole.
By noon as L'Angelus hits the stage, the Parc Sans Souci is crowded, By 12:15, it’s rockin’. At 1:00 PM sharp, the concert finishes. By 1:15, the place resumes its lazy work day demeanor.
The fountain is always a draw to kids; the Parc Sans Souci Stage is visible through the water in center photo.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Spot on.....this is a fabulous group. I have seen them in various settings, always fantastic. Will tell you several intersting stories about them the next time I see you.
Posted by: May Louise White | October 20, 2012 at 02:43 PM
From what Bernard told me, they're a unique family, I look forward to those stories! Thank you.
Posted by: Paul A. Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large | October 20, 2012 at 02:51 PM
Thanks, Paul. L'Angelus is one of my favorite groups!
Posted by: Allyson Mayeux | October 20, 2012 at 03:38 PM