The Krewe of Freret had their annual Mardi Gras street parade on Saturday, February 22 following their usual Uptown route. At the conclusion of their route, they threw the fifth annual Shorty Gras. The play on Mardi Gras is the Krewe’s annual ball and music festival at Mardi Gras World, the 300,000 square foot building where Mardi Gras floats are built all year long. Musical guests for this year were Khris Royal, Ja Rule, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Soul Rebels, New Breed Brass Band, and special guests Big Boi and Juvenile.
The Krewe of Freret has paraded for 50 years and is currently made up of 500 co-ed members. The Krewe’s mission is to unify young professionals, support local industries, and revitalize the Freret neighborhood. Many of its members are local vendors, artists, and entertainers.
At 5:00 p.m., DJ Khris Royal brought his beats to the stage. The producer, saxophonist, and bandleader is a New Orleans native and graduate of New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). He got the crowd going by mixing some tunes and hyping everyone up with his hip-hop and electronic music. Khris’s own band, Dark Matter, embodies a sound between funk and jazz fusion. In addition, Royal is the horn player in George Porter Jr. & the Runnin’ Pardners and a touring member of the rock/reggae band, Rebelution.
Next up was the New Breed Brass Band. The group of talented gentlemen came together in 2013. Their sound is the perfect fusion between second line, jazz, funk, and hip-hop. The band leader Jenard Andrews is the son of great trumpeter James Andrews, and his uncle is Trombone Shorty. The group brought their rhythmic versatility to the stage as the crowd jammed along to their funky brass sounds.
Around 6:45 p.m., the New Orleans based band Cardinal Sons performed. The group is composed of three brothers: John, Joe, and Dave who all found their musical identity while growing up in Mississippi. The quirky trio produces indie rock with folk and pop influences. The band played at the first ever Shorty Gras and returned for their second performance at this year’s event.
Music ensemble Soul Rebels took to the stage at 8:00 p.m. Soul Rebels are an eight-piece brass band that gives a classic brass sound to genres like soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop music. The group gets together to play nearly 300 shows a year and has been on dozens of television networks, featured in movies, and performed at countless festivals. The smooth rhythms and brassy trumpet lines brought life to the room and kept the Mardi Gras festive spirits alive as the night went on.
Local legend Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue were next to perform for the night. The performance featured rapper and Outkast member Big Boi and local rapper Juvenile. Troy Andrews, better known by Trombone Shorty is a musician and trombone player born and raised in New Orleans. His career started at just four years old when he performed at Jazz Fest with Bo Diddley; and led to him being hired by Lenny Kravitz to join him on tour in his teenage years. He even has his own float in the Krewe of Freret Parade. He absolutely lived up to the hype as he effortlessly showcased his trombone playing skills.
The finale performance of the night was Ja Rule, who came dressed in all black, sporting his home of New York city across his t-shirt. Rule found his way into the hip-hop music scene in the early 90’s and found success with hits like “Always on Time” (feat. Ashanti) and “Put It on Me” (feat. Lil’ Mo and Vita). Rule engaged the crowd with his dancing and infectious happy energy. He was all smiles during his performance as he brought Shorty Gras 2025 to an end.
We really enjoyed our time at Shorty Gras after a day of parades. We are looking forward to who next year’s special musical guests will be.