While Led Zeppelin may have all but taken the Stairway to Heaven, the English rock legends' frontman continues to have a very productive afterlife. In the new millenium, Robert Plant has worked with bluegrass legend Allison Krauss and the Band of Joy to rave reviews. Now, he's teamed up with a new combo known as the Sensational Shape Shifters. They're planning to bring their sound to American shores, and will land at Mahalia Jackson Theater on July 17.

They say timing is everything, and in one divine coincidence, on a random Tuesday in December of 1956, the timing was right for the jam session of the century to be laid to track. In the storefront studio of Sun Records in Memphis, four of rock n’ roll’s founding fathers assembled for an hours long free-form and impromptu play date where they recorded renditions of their favorite songs of gospel, rock, rockabilly and R&B.  

It’s Carnival season, and there are walking and rolling krewes from Uptown to the Vieux Carre! Once you’ve paraded and gathered your beads, catch live music, theater, and more across the Big Easy. Happy Birthday to Chris Severin! The local musician and educator makes 55 today. Now, more Friday night happenings.

The latest Broadway in New Orleans offering trades Brecht for brass. Fortunately, brass is pretty popular in these parts, and audiences don’t mind trading depth of story for a chance to get in on the fun. By the conclusion of Jersey Boys’ opening night, the crowd at the Mahalia Jackson Theater was literally dancing.

Today, New Orleans is gearing up to celebrate the life of the late Uncle Lionel Batiste in grand second line style, just like we know he would want it. And it won't be the last time he's sent off like a New Orleans icon. Today, the family released details of the funeral arrangements for the Tremé Brass Band bass drummer and New Orleans legend, who died Sunday after a battle with cancer.

Wild applause greeted the New Orleans Opera Association this week as the company performed a scene from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's career-capping rumination on enlightenment, “The Magic Flute.” The principals' voices filled the room with power that seemed to be gathered through bargaining with mermaids who long to be human. The chorus enunciated the clunky German cadences with precision. And, they all wore jeans.

The Dirty Dozen Brass band pioneered the evolution of second line music into a stage show, seamlessly meshing and elevating jazz, funk, and the rhythm of the streets. Their music is a soundtrack to the city.

The Saints' Super season is poised to penetrate its last remaining artform. A stage play about a group of fictionalized members of Who Dat Nation is coming to the Mahalia Jackson Theater at the beginning of September. Put together by a pair of Houma theater devotees, the story embodies what the Saints really mean to this city: drinking at a neighborhood bar, tailgating, and saying ridiculous stuff. Maybe it'll help shake off the queasy feeling left by last night's preseason loss.