A bit of New Orleans Mardi Gras in S. F.
It’s an unseasonably warm afternoon in the Mission District, and the only sign that something special is about to happen is a young man assembling a giant sousaphone in front of the Elbo Room.
Sam Rocha, the sousaphone player, has never attended a San Francisco Mardi Gras parade. But he has a good idea what to expect.
“Basically, San Francisco just getting its New Orleans on,” Rocha said.
Over the next hour, that proves to be almost exactly what is happening. Dozens of people begin to drift in front of the Elbo Room. Parents from Noe Valley hoist toddlers on their shoulders to get a better view of the steampunk clown musicians and the dancers wearing neon- colored wigs, face paint and little else.
Jason Perkins, one of the event organizers, scurries around in a powder- blue Sgt. Pepper suit to greet people. He says the Parish Entertainment Group began organizing the annual Mardi Gras parade five years ago to give San Francisco an authentic New Orleans experience.
“We wanted to do an actual Mardi Gras event that mirrored what you’d see in a genuine parade,” Perkins says. He notes that the parade used to take place in Hayes Valley, but gentrification has taken away some of the neighborhood’s charm.
“It doesn’t quite feel so San Francisco anymore,” Perkins says.
The scene in front of the Elbo Room feels very San Francisco. A gentleman on roller skates with leather armbands and a golden beard skates restlessly through the crowd. A man in a butcher’s apron passes around a bowl with a group of clowns from the Trash-Kan Marchink Band.
One of the clowns, “Smudge,” says that this is his second year participating in the parade. He jokes that he looks forward to networking with other marchers. But for now, he and the rest of the crowd are just waiting.
Suddenly, from up the street, comes the sound of trumpets and trombones. MJ’s Brass Boppers band marches toward the Elbo Room, led by two men in immaculate white suits and purple fedoras, who bob in rhythm to the music. When they reach the Elbo Room, the crowd forms a circle and claps as the band goes through several jazzy numbers.
The Boppers eventually continue down Valencia, heading toward the Chapel. The crowd finally pushes into the street, heading in the opposite direction.
Ayanna Ivery, who is watching the parade, says it’s awesome to see so many people from different backgrounds joining together in the street. It definitely beats the Mardi Gras parade she saw last year in San Jose, which was spoiled by a heavy police presence.
As if on cue, a police officer jogs to the front of the parade to talk with Perkins. After a brief conference, he drops back to follow the parade, joined by at least a dozen other police officers. A promoter associated with the event named Pamela later explains that because the parade used to take place on side streets, they never bothered with permits or notifying the police ahead of time. This year the parade started in front of the Mission Police Station, so there was little chance of tiptoeing past undetected.
As the parade winds its way through the streets, passersby stop and stare. Some join the marchers, while others cheer them on from storefronts and windows. Not every moment on the parade route is cheerful. As the parade turns onto Woodward Street, the marchers pass through a small homeless encampment. Later, a reveler tosses beads at a dazed- looking homeless man under the overpass.
The parade comes to an end at the Brick & Mortar Music Hall, where the musicians do one last rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” After a few minutes of cheering, the police finally shoo the marchers back onto the sidewalk to let traffic resume on Mission Street. The 49- Van Ness bus passes by and revelers hoot and wave at the passengers, who do not seem amused at the delay in their commute.
Although there’s a show at Brick & Mortar featuring rappers Lyrics Born and Gift of Gab, and the Stanford marching band, most of the crowd is already dispersing. It’s not even 6 p. m.
A brass player with enormous sideburns says that the parade was a good party, but that it has nothing on the New Orleans Mardi Gras experience. It’s a sentiment echoed by a couple other musicians. A woman in a gold lamé cape and corset who goes by the moniker the Mermaid Atlantis disagrees, saying that she loved the parade.
“I enjoy the permission to play, and I adore San Francisco for giving us a venue for an event that may be more in line with New Orleans than here,” she says.
Perkins is disappointed by the turnout, which is only about half as large as last year. But not everyone is a critic: Ralph Boethling, the gold-bearded roller skater, is glad the parade gave him an opportunity to celebrate something.
“I’m between jobs and it’s like screw it — sometimes you just got to take opportunities to do stuff like this,” Boethling says.