The week’s highlights include a homegrown rap star’s arena-size homecoming and a Cajun singer’s 40th anniversary milestone.
ROB49
SATURDAY, SMOOTHIE KING CENTER
New Orleans’ own Robert “Rob49” Thomas started rapping for real in 2020. Since then, his career has trended steadily upward. In 2022, he performed at the BUKU Music & Art Project outside Mardi Gras World, at Lil Wayne’s Lil WeezyAna Fest and at halftime of the Pelicans’ home opener. He also launched his multi-artist Vulture Island Experience at the Fillmore.
In 2023, he notched his second gold single, “Mama,” featuring Tay B and Skilla Baby, and appeared alongside 21 Savage on the platinum-certified Travis Scott hit “Topia Twins.”
By 2024, he had moved his Vulture Island Experience to the Smoothie King Center. On Saturday, Rob49 returns to the arena for the 2026 Vulture Island Experience. Special guests include Sexyy Red, Glorilla, G Herbo, Loe Shimmy, YK Niece, YTB Fatt, Cash Cobain and YFN Lucci.
At press time, remaining face-value tickets started at $101.
BRUCE DAIGREPONT 40TH ANNIVERSARY
SUNDAY, TIPITINA’S
In 1986, Cajun singer, accordionist and songwriter Bruce Daigrepont moved his weekly Sunday evening fais do-do from the Maple Leaf Bar to Tipitina’s. It’s still there, even though he now stages his Cajun dance party monthly instead of weekly.
He’s that rare Cajun music bandleader who has spent his entire life in the New Orleans area, not southwest Louisiana. Drawing on his family’s heritage in Avoyelles Parish, he has written a body of original compositions sung in Cajun French; some have become standards for Cajun-inspired bands around the world.
Cajun musician and songwriter Bruce Daigrepont poses before he performs at Tipitina’s in New Orleans, Sunday, May 31, 2026.
He’s done his fair share of touring but always makes it home for his Tipitina’s gig. On Sunday, Daigrepont celebrates the residency’s 40th anniversary with special guests Amanda Shaw, Roddie Romero and Jourdan Thibodeaux. The show, as always, starts at 5:15 p.m. And tickets, as usual, are $15 plus fees.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY SHOWS
THURSDAY
Noah Young is best known in New Orleans as the bassist in jazz-funk band Naughty Professor. But he also leads his own project, the Noah Young Quartet, which showcases his original jazz-fusion compositions. The Noah Young Quartet, featuring Young on bass, Max Bronstein on guitar, Alfred Jordan Jr. on drums and Sam Kuslan on piano, plays two shows at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro on Thursday. Tickets are $30 for the 7:30 p.m. show or $15 for the 9:30 p.m. show.
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-chas are featured for the weekly Zydeco Night at Rock ‘N’ Bowl ($17).
Quail P is a singer who draws on soul, R&B and hip-hop, sometimes setting his voice against sparse guitar riffs. His “In My Own Lane Tour” stops at Chickie Wah Wah on Thursday, with Anella opening the show at 9 p.m. ($18).
R&B singer Yebba earned a best traditional R&B performance Grammy for her “How Deep Is Your Love” collaboration with New Orleans’ PJ Morton. She’s also collaborated with Drake, Sam Smith and Mark Ronson. Her second full-length album, “Jean,” came out in March. Tickets for her House of Blues show, should any remain, start at $44.
FRIDAY
British Blues Hall of Fame guitarist Matt Schofield plugs in at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market. Tickets start at $36.
Since 1978, New Orleans modern jazz ensemble Astral Project has set the standard for group interplay and improvisation. Saxophonist Tony Dagradi, guitarist Steve Masakowski, bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich are in demand for other collaborations, so they don’t play together as Astral Project often. But they’ll log two shows, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., at Snug Harbor on Friday. Tickets are $40.
The 20th season of Tipitina’s summer-long “Free Fridays” series continues with The Quickening and Sam Price & the True Believers. Showtime is 9 p.m.; there is no cover.
The New Orleans Mystics do rhythm & blues at Rock ‘N’ Bowl ($17).
SATURDAY
Water Seed, the ambitious, New Orleans-based R&B/funk/rock/hip-hop hybrid, lands at Chickie Wah Wah at 9 p.m. ($15).
Contemporary Cajun band the Lost Bayou Ramblers headlines Tipitina’s. Crush Diamond opens the show at 9 p.m. ($20).
Vocalist A.J. Hynes, of the Seratones, shows off her range with a free 4:30 p.m. happy hour set at Snug Harbor. Later on Saturday, Snug Harbor presents David Torkanowsky, the founding keyboardist of modern jazz ensemble Astral Project and a prolific player and accompanist across multiple genres of New Orleans music, and his all-stars at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 plus fees.
Big in the 90s plays Weezer’s classic Blue Album at the Broadside ($15).
Horn-heavy party band The Boogiemen grooves at Rock ‘N’ Bowl ($17).
SUNDAY
Mississippi-born rapper Big K.R.I.T. pulls into the House of Blues as part of his “The World Is a Parking Lot Tour” ($37).
Big K.R.I.T. performs during ONE Musicfest 2015 at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood on Saturday, September 12, 2015, in Atlanta.
Singer and guitarist Shawan Rice leads a trio consisting of bassist Donald Ramsey and drummer Terrence Houston for a free happy hour show at 4:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor. Later, trombonist Charlie Halloran & the Tropicales synthesize Afro-Caribbean rhythms, classic Latin jazz, and modern New Orleans grooves at Snug Harbor as part of a monthlong Sunday night residency. Tickets are $30 for the 7:30 p.m. show, $15 for the 9:30 p.m. show.
TUESDAY
Veteran New Orleans modern/smooth jazz saxophonist Clarence Johnson III stages a tribute to Sonny Rollins, the titan of modern jazz saxophone improvisation who died in May, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor ($30).
Singer-songwriter Kevin Morby, touring in support of his new “Little Wide Open” album, headlines Tipitina’s. Liam Kazar opens the show at 9 p.m. ($31).
Contributed photo — Big Sandy, the lead singer of the throwback rockabilly/swing band Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys.
WEDNESDAY
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys peddle American roots music — Western swing, rockabilly, traditional country — rendered with upright bass, pedal steel, acoustic and electric guitars and bare-bones drums. The musicians’ slicked-back hair, mode of dress and vintage instruments evoke the 1950s. But the Fly-Rite Boys come across less like a nostalgia act than a band that literally time-traveled. Sandy sings in a smooth, sweet-tempered tenor that brings the band’s story-songs to life as they fill up dance floors. Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys perform Wednesday at Rock ‘N’ Bowl ($20).
British synth-pop band The Human League scored a smash in the early 1980s with “Don’t You Want Me.” Hear that and other hits when The Human League is joined by Soft Cell and Alison Moyet at the Saenger Theatre. Tickets start at $60.
Andre Bohren, the classically trained pianist who plays drums with Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes and several other projects, plays a free happy hour show at 5 p.m. at Snug Harbor. Later on Wednesday, saxophonist Zahria Sims leads the Uptown Jazz Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ($45).
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