Irma and Marcia at the Blues and BBQ festival

The Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival kicked off in terrific style with excellent sets by music legends Marcia Ball and Irma Thomas. Marcia's mix of rock and roll, swamp blues and boogie woogie went down a storm with the big crowd in Lafayette Square. Always an exciting performer, Marcia began with 'Natural Ball' and she kept things simmering with songs such as 'Red Beans Cooking', 'Shine Bright', 'Got To Find Somebody', 'Same Old Blues' and 'I Can't Trust My Heart', ending with the emotional 'Louisiana 1927'. Marcia is 75 now and her voice is beginning to get just a tiny bit ragged, but she's a superb pianist and a dynamic performer.

A great start but the next act, the Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas, took things to an even higher level. Her band the Professionals are just that and gave Irma superb backing as she ran through many of her great recordings, including 'Don't Mess With My Man', recorded, amazingly, as long ago as 1959. Other favourites included 'Ruler Of My Heart', 'Two Winters Long', 'It's Raining', 'Breakaway ', the poignant self penned 'Wish Someone Would Care' and 'Time Is On My Side ', which she sang with cover artists the Rolling Stones at Jazzfest this year. There was a duet with Marcia Ball on 'Sing It', which they recorded with Tracey Nelson in 1988. And a couple of newer songs, including 'Let It Be Me' from 2009 and 'Even Now', a fantastic song that she recorded with Walter 'Wolfman' Washington and which I remember brought the house down at Jazzfest last year. Irma is 83 but her voice is as good as ever and her warm personality shines through. I have so many great memories of seeing her at her Lions Den club over the years and it was great to see her doing a full set of her own material. She is pretty well the last link with the great days of New Orleans R and B and long may she prosper.