When an electrical fire cut Rock 'n' Bowl's power during Jazz Fest, Cowboy Mouth unplugged

On Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s biggest night of the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival season, just as Cowboy Mouth was set to rock a big crowd, the plug got pulled on the show. Literally.

An outdoor connector that links the Entergy power line from a pole on Dublin Street to Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s electrical grid caught fire just after 10 p.m. on May 5.

A second power line from a pole on Earhart Boulevard also supplies Rock ‘n’ Bowl with electricity, so the venue still had some juice.

But the power supply to the stage, the air-conditioning, bowling lanes, TVs, much of the venue’s lighting, its computer systems and cash registers, was gone.

“It was a fiasco,” Rock ‘n’ Bowl owner John Blancher said.

But thanks to Cowboy Mouth’s ability to adjust on the fly, the night was at least partially salvaged.

Before the electricity went out, local ‘90s alt-rock band Peabody played the night's first set. Afterward, Cowboy Mouth manager Stephen Klein asked Blancher if the bowling alley’s TVs could be turned off during Cowboy Mouth’s show.

Sure, Blancher said.

A few minutes later, around 10:15 p.m., Blancher was seated on the elevated chair that allows him to survey the room when he saw the TVs shut off. He figured one of his staffers was acting on the band’s instructions.

But then a security guard rushed up to Blancher: something was on fire outside. That's what shut down the TVs and much more.

After determining the source of the problem, Blancher made an announcement to the crowd and put in an emergency call to Entergy.

When the Entergy technicians arrived, they determined that additional parts were needed to repair the burned-out connector. It would take at least an hour to get those parts.

And when those parts arrived and the repair was being made, power to the building would have to be shut off entirely, necessitating a full evacuation.

Meanwhile, more than 700 fans were already inside, with more coming in.

“It was a full house,” Blancher said. “It would have been a sold-out show. It was the biggest crowd I’ve had during Jazz Fest. It was easily going to be my best night.”

Hoping to prevent the night from being a total loss, all involved improvised. The bar switched to cash-only. The band shifted gears.

Armed with a guitar run through a partially functioning PA system and a kick drum, drummer Fred LeBlanc staged an impromptu solo show, with his bandmates helping out on backing vocals, for the better part of an hour.

He played until the Entergy crew returned with the replacement parts and shut off Rock 'n' Bowl's power entirely to make the repairs.

The LeBlanc-led performance wasn’t what anyone had planned, but it worked.

“Fred pulled it off like no one else could have,” Blancher said. “He’s just raw rock ‘n’ roll. He’s hard to beat. He’s such a force up there. He saved the night.”

Anyone who asked for a refund received one, but many fans were happy with the unique show they witnessed.

“It was a nightmare but we got through it,” Blancher said. The band still made money, “it just wasn’t as good as it was going to be.”

Stephen Klein, Cowboy Mouth’s manager, said in a statement, “Thanks to everyone who showed up and sorry we could not perform our rock ‘n’ roll revival, but circumstances were beyond our control. Nevertheless, I’d say that we gave it a pretty fair shake, doing our best to make sure the spirit of a Cowboy Mouth show could be (somewhat) enjoyed by all.”

With a new Entergy connection, Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s Saturday night show with Bonerama and Kermit Ruffins proceeded without incident. Blancher doesn’t expect any electrical problems going forward.

All interior wiring was replaced when the building was converted to a bowling alley in 2009. But the outside Entergy connector that caught fire likely dated to the building’s construction in 1971.

“It’s new now,” Blancher said.

So in effect, the episode amounted to an unscheduled electrical upgrade?

Given a choice, he noted, “I would have scheduled it at another time.”