Second Lineage

Second Lineage

- Geraldine Wyckof

When the second line season ends in June each year, enthusiasts of the city’s social aid and pleasure clubs’ annual anniversary parades often find Sunday afternoons a bit empty. So it is with much eagerness that the members of the organizations, the brass band musicians who bring on the street beat and the parade followers greet the arrival of the beginning of a brand new season. As has long been a tradition, the Valley of Silent Men Social Aid & Pleasure Club maintained its position as being first up on the second line schedule, parading on Sunday, August 27 in celebration of its 32nd anniversary.

As much as these parades have changed through the decades, many aspects have remained the same. An early fan once said he could still hear the power and the tonal qualities of old-time ensembles like the Eureka and Tuxedo brass bands in the horns of the present crop of musicians who now rule the streets. “Just the shoes are different,” he said, laughing on looking at the street scene. The parades, which originally were all-day affairs, are now just four hours long and the “season” that once ended by Christmas presently extends past Father’s Day. The police had been known to raise holy hell blowing their sirens and inching up behind the last second liners to push them along. Now, since Big Chief Tootie Montana demanded in the City Council Chambers, “This has got to stop!” in reference to similar treatment of the Mardi Gras Indians, the NOPD does its job of protecting and serving the “lines.”