As a partner event, Microsoft hosted a party at the House of Blues. No, not just the House of Blues. The whole friggin' block on which the House of Blues resides.

It was fairly crowded. I enjoyed some good ole cooking (mashed sweet potatoes, cornbread) and while enjoying this reggae band a lady came up and asked me a question about local talent Dr. John. "What?" She repeated, "Would you like to go upstairs and meet Dr. John?"

Suuuuuure!

So the local crowd control took a column of us party-goers through the crowd and then we waited to go in by 2's and 3's. My time came: got a free signed CD, had a picture taken with Dr. John and a couple of other folks, and got to shake the man's hand and say some nice things to him.

The exit for this ends up stage right of where Smashmouth is about to start playing. Pretty good view! I decided to stay and watch the entire Smashmouth set. They're a great live band and the crowd was great, too.

Then after that I got to see Dr. John doing his thing on a 2nd stage.

I briefly hit the streets, but this time when I put my foot on Bourbon and looked at the leering, shuffling crowd, I decided to turn back and go to the room. The previous night's downtown wandering was good enough to last me a while.