Krewe of Orpheus

Orpheus is the first super-​Krewe fully open to membership of both genders, which has a direct link to hollywood and the music industry.
Started in part by local hero Harry Connick Jr, there are abundant glimpses of famous people, many of whom, are riding in their first Mardi Gras parade, so they are genuinely excited to play to the crowds.
All Hail Orpheus!

This year didn’t disappoint. Except for the rain and cold… Great Parade, some good throws and a good time at one of the best parades of Mardi Gras.
Amazing Floats (The Train), Numerous Celebrities (loved getting deb-​loons from Ron White), The 610 Stompers and Pussyfooters acting the fools in the Rain… what’s not to love about this Parade.

The Orpheusescapade is my favorite way to bring Mardi Gras to an end– get all dolled up, dance till the wee hours of the morning and sleep away most of Fat Tuesday! I’ve done it before and this year was no exception and made even more fun since our VIP tickets were on the Captain’s Platform (thanks to the good people at the InterContinental Hotel) which meant we had access to a big buffet and open bar and the celebrity riders and Mayor Landrieu were up there with us after they got off their floats. I have to admit, that did up the ante for me this year.
The parade itself is beautiful with some of the most gorgeous and ornate floats of any krewe and the riders are very generous with throws. Dierks Bentley was the big musical celebrity monarch this year and he put on one hell of a great performance at the ball. The cast of NCIS New Orleans rode too and looked like the had a blast. The Krewe of Orpheus never disappoints and I’m always a bit sad that they have a bad track record of getting rained on in their almost 20 year history, and it happened again this year, but they never let a little rain stop their good time! You don’t have to be a krewe member or be be invited by one to attend the ball. Tickets are sold to the general public and run about $ 150 each. You do have to being your own food and drink, but if you’ve never been, you should experience it at least once in your life. It’s an experience you’ll never forget!

This is always my favorite parade. Lundi Gras is always so much fun, a lot more laid back and less crowded than the others. I wish this wasn’t true, but I love seeing celebrities and since Harry Connick Jr started this parade there are plenty that ride. My wife is a huge Mariska Hargitay fan and was giddy when she caught beads from her. They always have such happy and enthusiastic riders.
I caught beads from Brett Michaels who told me I f’ing rocked. Not sure how he got that off my khakis and a polo, maybe he could tell I watched every season of Rock of Love.
The floats are really cool too, especially the train. Overall a great parade that ill always make time for.

Orpheus is a flashy parade, but one that becomes more endearing to me every year. They have great throws, great riders (Mande P!), and great floats. They always book the best bands and the best groups to perform as well. The celebrities vary, but it’s usually a pretty interesting group. Lundi Gras is one of the best days in New Orleans, and this parade is a great way to cap it off or start it up (depending on your Mardi Gras day plans!)

Orpheus was fun. It followed Proteus on a rainy Lundi Gras evening this year.
My daughter didn’t let us stick around for the whole thing, but the portion that we watched was great. Beautiful floats, lots of throws for the kiddo, etc.

5 Stars alone for the Smoky Mary. AW YEAH! Orpheus always has a least a handful of stars who ride the fine-​line between B– and A-​list celebrities. I don’t always get tons of throws from Orpheus, but I still enjoy going out to see this parade every year.

Please note this review is mainly for the Orpheaus Ball (which was my first Mardi Gras ball ever!).
Being a local I have been to many Mardi Gras parades. Orpheus always stands out to me because it is a celebrity filled parade. Since Harry Connick Jr. Founded this multi cultural crew there are always great musicians in the parade as well!
It is unfortunate that by the time Orpheus rolls around on Lundi Gras (that’s the Monday before Mardi Gras/​Fat Tuesday) I am pooped from all the parades (Muses, Endymion, Bacchus etc.). Fortunately this year my cousin (actually family friend but I’m not picky!) invited me to the Orpheaus Ball! I told anyone that would listen to me that I was going to the ball and felt like Cinderella!
Now for all Orpheus ball newbies, I’ve learned that 1) you bring your own food and adult beverages (Rouse’s sandwich platter and chicken drummettes were delish and I brought Sucre, Mckenzie’s and Sweet life king cakes!) so you may want to bring a cooler with wheels-​just be prepared to be in a separate line with the other cooler people 2) wear comfy shoes (thank goodness my cousin told me bc I didn’t last long in my black patent leather open toed platforms) so you can dance all night long, 3) bring a bag for your beads (although this year we scored free bags leftover from the Superbowl!), and 4) make friends with people at other tables so you can watch each other stuff (ladies, bring a small purse for your valuables bc after eating, once the parade is over you won’t be at your table when the music starts!).
It was so amazing when the parade came in and snaked around the convention center! It was like having our own personal parade! It seemed like the people around us all knew people on the floats which made it fun when we recognized our folks and got tons of throws! Got some great pictures and ran into friends like the 610 Stompers! Woohoo!
There were awesome musical acts as one might expect with Harry Connick Jr’s musical friends! The list included Harry Connick Jr., Trombone Shorty (frogging amazing!), Lt. Dan Band (Gary Sinese from CSI NY), etc. the music was rocking and we danced all night! We got there once it opened at 7pm and closed it out at 3am!
Also, there is a waiter that helps make your stay wonderful so pleasure be sure to tip him/​her! Marlon went out of his way to make sure we had a good time! He had OJ ready so we could make mimosas with the champagne! Kudos to the staff at the convention center bc everyone was super friendly and accommodating!
It was a magical night and one I won’t ever forget!
Happy Mardi Gras!

Another Super Krewe that rolled right by my business, that kept us full before and after. Fantastic theme, floats, bands and throws

Today is a little day at LOC we like to call Freaky Freaking-​Out Day. We are literally shaking in our rain boots due to the fact that we couldn’t be more excited that we’re six hours away from embarking on a celebration that won’t end until Wednesday morning. Seriously. Freaking-​Out.
But right now isn’t about us. It’s about you.
It’s parade time.
So, you’ve got your purple, green and gold on. You’ve got the ice chest packed. You’ve already picked up the Popeye’s family pack. Now comes the biggest decision of all: Which parade should I go see?
While all the parades are worth a watch, not all krewes were created equal. The not so humble opinions of our Carnival vets’ mixed in with the fresh-​eyed opinions of our newer New Orleanians has resulted in a list of the 10 best parades that’ll roll in the next six days.
Take notice that all these parades roll through uptown (although they all start, end and wind through the city on their own routes). Therefore, if you don’t plan on tracking each parade individually, plan on setting up shop on St. Charles between Louisiana and Napoleon to catch them all.
(Due to space limitations, Unilocal wouldn’t let us post the all 10 descriptions of our top 10 so only the article + 1 description of each top ten parade is posted under its respective review page. Also we know we have a 1 – 10 ranking system, but we’re giving them all 5 stars. Because anything Mardi Gras related receives 5 stars, regardless.)
10) Proteus — (Monday, 5:15pm)
9) Mid-​City — (Sunday, 11:45am)
8) Rex — (Tuesday, 10:00am)
7) Toth — (Sunday, 12:00pm)
6) d’Etat — (Friday 6:30pm)
5) Orpheus (Monday, 6pm) — Combining celebs and parades like no other, this krewe actually has stars in the club. 504 legend Harry Connick Jr. was a cofounder, so hide your… Middle aged wives damnit, men; we were just informed that the younger women still go ga-​ga for this guy. Hopefully male parade goers will have a fighting chance over the attention of your woman this year as it is without Harry and with Bret Michaels damnit, women like musicians too? If anything, let your girl pay attention to the elaborately-​decorated floats and garner her attention with a shot of Patron when the 80’s rocker passes by.
4) Tucks (Sunday, 12pm)
3) Zulu (Tuesday, 8am)
2) Bacchus (Sunday, 5:15, Uptown)
1) Endymion (Saturday, 4:15pm)
«Laissez les bon temps rouler»
— The Freaky Freaking LOCers

This was such a fantastic parade! First of all, they are super generous with throws and the floats are GORGEOUS. The highlight this year for me was definitely seeing Harry Connick Jr. and Cindy Lauper. I was also excited to catch beads from the mayor himself: Mitch Landrieu! I think I was more excited to see him than the actual «celebrities». Ha. I guess I’m a nerd. Orpheus is definitely joining Muses, Tucks, and d’Etat as my «must see» parades of the season.

Orpheus is an excellent parade. Started by New Orleans’ own Harry Connick Jr., this parade has grown into a celebrity laden super-​krewe.
The floats are amazing, especially the signature Smoky Mary, which is a triple (or more) float with an enormous amount of riders. Not only did we see Harry Connick Jr., we got to see Brett Michaels, Mitch Landrieu and Cindy Lauper. It was amazing.
These riders were very generous with throws. They made sure that our entire group had plenty of beads. We had so many in fact, that I even had plenty to wear.
This parade was also very generous with bands, and other marching krewes. I enjoyed getting to see the 610 stompers and the Muff-​A-​Lotta group strutting their stuff.
I highly recommend this parade.

Krewe of Orpheus always throw a great ball called Orpheuscapade. As I started to go there in 2002 they had very good coverbands to rock the place. Then 2007 to 2009 they struggled with good bands and headliners. But 2010 they made a huge comeback with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Smash Mouth. 2011 the had Loverboy and 6 great bands playing covers from the top ten lists over the years. I wonder what will come 2012. I really do hope the hold on to the good paste.
As I was fooling around in my mind I came up with the following:
Alice Cooper would be really fun to this event or the B 52s