C.J. Chenier's Zydeco Turns Lafayette Into Party Central

I almost laughed out loud Saturday night when I saw the red suit C.J. Chenier's bass player was wearing. Dude looked like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to be Ronald McDonald or Santa Claus. The rub board player looked like he came straight off the set of "Deliverance." The drummer had the scruffiest goatee I've seen since I shaved off most of my beard a few years ago just to see what I'd look like as a beatnik. And the guitarist, who wore a goofy leather cap, looked like a nerdy hipster. But to tell you the truth, they seemed like the kind of cats I'd like to hang with ... especially after I heard them play.

A few songs into the concert, Chenier strolled out wearing Mac Daddy shades and a tan Long Rider coat. He picked up his flute and launched into a jazzy tune on which he sounded like a cross between Yusef Lateef and Hubert Laws. Cool, man. But that was the last time Chenier touched his flute and he never did pick up his saxophone.

It's probably just as well because Chenier came to party. He played his accordion like it was on fire. But he used that heat to turn the Long Center for the Perfoming Arts into one of the warmest concert atmospheres I've seen in a long time. Chenier made the audience laugh with his big smile and with funny tunes like "Bow-legged Woman" and "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)." And I don't know many other musicians who could turn a room full of 60- and 70-year-olds into dancing fools — I thought the lady next to me was going to break a hip when the band played "Caledonia." But Chenier knows that old folks need a break, so he turned their dancing into swaying on lovely ballads such as "I'm Coming Home" and "Richest Man."

I had a great time ... even caught some beads and I didn't even have to lift my shirt. And on Monday I'm going shopping for a red suit and a rub board. Fat Tuesday's coming and I want to be ready.