Crawfish Fest returns after two years off, bringing spirit of Louisiana music scene to NJ

JAY LUSTIG

Singer Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph with Galactic trumpeter Eric Gordon and drummer Stanton Moore at The Crawfish Fest at The Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, May 31.

It may be a Crawfish Fest record: Drummer Stanton Moore performed in all four main stage sets at the first full day of this year’s Crawfish Fest, May 31 at The Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta. His band Galactic headlined at 5 p.m., after he and his Stanton Moore Trio presented a set of their own at 1 p.m. But he also sat in for the song “Chilcock” with Bonerama (who performed between Galactic and The Stanton Moore Trio) and for one seemingly impromptu song with show-opener Maggie Koerner.

JAY LUSTIG

Maggie Koerner at Crawfish Fest.

“You wanna play a song? Just kidding,” said the roots-rock singer-songwriter, after spotting Moore watching her set. But he took her up on her offer.

As usual, many of this year’s Crawfish Fest performers are touring musicians based in New Orleans. Also, as usual, many of them knew each other, which added to the event’s good vibes. Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, who sang with Galactic, called members of Bonerama (four of whose members joined Galactic for one song during their set) “family.”

Louisiana native Michael Arnone has been presenting weekend-long Crawfish Fests (featuring Louisiana food as well as Louisiana music) annually in New Jersey since 1989, though there were no events in 2023 and 2024. This year’s return to Augusta did not have ideal weather: Though things improved on Sunday, Saturday was unseasonably cool, with some occasional rain. But the day was still a good reminder of why this event has come to mean so much to New Jerseyans, over the years.

Crawfish Fest has two stages, so I moved back and forth between them a bit in order to catch at least some of each set; I wound up seeing at least a few songs of seven of the day’s eight acts. (I’m not counting two more who played at night, for campers only.)

Galactic formed more than 30 years ago and has worked with many different lead vocalists over the years. Joseph didn’t join the band for the whole set; she sometimes left the stage during their funky instrumentals. But when she did sang, she often applied her powerful voice to anthems such as “Making It Better,” “Where I Belong” (“Times can be good and they can be bad/Either way, I’m going to make the best of the time I still have,” she pledged) and a cover of the Allen Toussaint-written Pointer Sisters hit “Yes We Can Can.”

JAY LUSTIG

The Stanton Moore Trio (from left, Joe Ashlar, Peter Harris and Stanton Moore)

Bonerama — named that because “bone” is a nickname for the trombone, and the group has four trombonists in its lineup, as well as guitar, drums and tuba — demonstrated its ability to come up with intricate and ingenious new arrangements for classic-rock material like The Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” and Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times.” Preceding them, Moore’s trio (also featuring keyboardist Joe Ashlar and bassist Peter Harris) presented a set of jazz instrumentals that displayed plenty of virtuosity, but really seemed better suited for a small club than a vast field like the one at Crawfish Fest’s main stage. (Ashlar also returned to the stage later to join Galactic for a couple of songs.)

Koerner, who opened the show on the main stage, has been around for more than a decade now — she actually sang with Galactic extensively in 2013 and 2014, and has also worked with David Shaw of The Revivalists — and seems to have everything needed for more of a mainstream breakthrough: A booming voice, a dynamic band, a good stage presence and a strong batch of original songs.

She has released several albums, and has a GoFundMe campaign for her next one. Introducing a new song that will be on it, “Mississippi,” she said “I’ve never recorded an album that I’m so proud of.”

JAY LUSTIG

David “Rockin’ Dopsie Jr.” Rubin at Crawfish Fest.

On the festival’s smaller stage — a covered but open-air space — I caught some of the burly electric blues-rock of Eddie 9V and the propulsive acoustic Cajun dance music of Amis du Teche. But the standout, for me, was Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters.

Alton Jay “Rockin’ Dopsie” Rubin was a major force in zydeco music who died in 1993, at the age of 61. His band The Zydeco Twisters are now led by his son, David “Rockin’ Dopsie Jr.” Rubin, and features Rockin’ Dopsie Jr.’s brothers as well. They play a high-energy, infectious blend of zydeco and New Orleans R&B standards; their set at Crawfish Fest moved at a feverish pace from “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” to “Something You Got,” “Who Shot the La La?,” “Ooh Poo Pah Doo,” “Blue Monday” and so on.

You may remember that Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. and his Zydeco Twisters band of the time played on “That Was Your Mother,” from Paul Simon’s 1986 Graceland album. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. was in the band, and played his percussive washboard instrument on the recording. (Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. was an accordionist, but Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. plays washboard in addition to singing).

The band played “That Was Your Mother” at this year’s Crawfish Fest. And it seemed appropriate, as its middle-aged narrator sings about going to Louisiana as a traveling salesman when he was younger, and enjoying the zydeco music there — and, in the present, still going out to hear authentic zydeco music by Clifton Chenier at The Lone Star Cafe in New York. Chenier died in 1987, but if he hadn’t, he probably would have wound up at Crawfish Fest, too.

I didn’t attend on June 1, but have included some videos from that day, below.

Tickets are not yet available, but next year’s Crawfish Fest is scheduled for May 29-31. For updates, visit crawfishfest.com.

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