Downtown suddenly happening

• By JOHN WIRT
• Advocate entertainment writer
• Published: Dec 30, 2005

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• %20Something%20miraculous%20happened%20to%20downtown%20Baton%20Rouge%20in%20the%20past%20several%20months.%20A%20city%20that%20closed%20at%205%20p.m.%20suddenly%20got%20a%20nightlife.

  %20When%20the%20sun%20sets%20on%20the%20adjacent%20Mississippi%20River,%20people%20go%20out%20to%20new%20clubs%20and%20restaurants.%20They%20attend%20an%20outdoor%20concert%20series%20in%20droves%20and%20patronize%20the%20newly%20opened%20Shaw%20Center" target="_new"> Digg

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When the sun sets on the adjacent Mississippi River, people go out to new clubs and restaurants. They attend an outdoor concert series in droves and patronize the newly opened Shaw Center for the Arts.

Upon opening in March, the multi-purpose Shaw Center became an instant downtown landmark. The center's galleries and performance spaces include the Manship Theatre, an intimate, 325-seat facility suitable for music and theater. The Manship Theatre presents a variety of music events, everything from Baton Rouge's own Grammy-winning blues singer and actor, Chris Thomas King, to chamber music, comedy troupes and a piano prodigy.

A few steps from the Shaw Center, Third Street's Roux House, one of downtown's new nightspots, features local rock such as the Chris LeBlanc Band and Mike Zito, a piano bar with Rusty Yates and occasional jazz.

A few blocks from Roux House, Red Star is downtown's home of indie rock. National, local and regional bands perform at the Laurel Street bar and music club. The venue also stages "ironic" karaoke nights.

New Orleans band Paradise Vendors made a return visit to Red Star on a recent Saturday night. Diminutive, ironic singer Jeanne Stallworth danced like a well-coordinated madwoman while her reserved bandmates played spacey, lively rock. Tracks on the group's latest CD, "Candy," could be an imaginary jam with the Ventures and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

That same Saturday at Third Street restaurant and weekend music spot, Avoyelles On The River, a band called the British Invasion paid homage to the long-haired English boys who conquered the American record charts in the 1960s. The British Invasion, a group of local music veterans, previously presented an on-stage re-creation of the entire Beatles White album. The band is preparing a new stunt for later this year.

Avoyelles On The River, despite its occasional rock or blues band, is more often a jazz house. Performers include local vocalists Mary Beth Broussard, the Frank Sinatra-inspired Ned Fasullo and the Andy Pizzo Project.

Jazz also fills the Argosy Casino atrium, which features local musicians four times a week. The casino also presents concerts by national acts, recent attractions including country star Tracy Byrd and '50s singing star Brenda Lee.

Casino Rouge, which is just seconds away from downtown, keeps its own busy concert schedule. The Rouge schedule stars such local and regional favorites as Van Broussard, Lil' Alfred and Warren Storm, all classic south Louisiana swamp-pop acts. When any of them strike up "Mathilda," that beloved, Cajun-French flavored south-Louisiana anthem about lost love, you can be sure the dance floor will be jammed.