On the eve of the Saints’ first ever Super Bowl appearance, New Orleans’ funkmeisters Galactic brought a bit of the French Quarter to New York City this past Friday night, packing people into the spacious Terminal 5 for a wild night of Mardi Gras-tinged reveling. A guest laden night, Galactic received tremendous infusions of energy from Corey Henry, an ebullient trombonist who served as the de facto ringleader for the night. Henry hardly limited himself to the stage, halfway through the show, he took to the jampacked floor, which parted in Biblical fashion and allowed him to stroll over and play from atop one of the bars. Cyril Neville lent his voice to the predominantly instrumental band, his years of experience bringing even more of the Bayou to NYC.

No such criticism could be leveled to Clark and keyboardist Trevor Garrod’s sit-in with Galactic. Following the advice of PT Barnum, the collaboration gave the people what they wanted. In the days leading up to the show, the fans got to register their votes as to what songs they wanted to see as part of a combined effort. After a fine version of Marvin Gaye/The Band’s “Don’t Do It,” a song that makes the occasional appearance at TLG shows, Garrod tore the house down on a lengthy take on The Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’” At Tea Leaf shows, Garrod will occasionally emerge from behind his keyboards and get the crowd going with some endearingly neo-coordinated jumps and exhortations. For the Stones cover, Garrod tapped into some unknown spring of energy, took center stage and belted out the song like a bona fide rock star. It was undoubtedly one of the cooler rock star moments Garrod’s had in New York City.

Due to weather conditions, Galactic postponed their Saturday night show in Washington DC, which kept them in New York long enough to at Brooklyn Bowl for a post-Super Bowl throwdown. If the gleeful response Henry received to his “Who Dat” chant on Friday night was an indication, I can only imagine the enthusiastic reaction it brought during last night’s victory celebration.

SO WHAT DID WE LEARN from The Who's performance at the Super Bowl? 1) The Who Sell Out wasn't irony; it was foreshadowing. 2) Roger Daltrey can no longer belt out "Baba O'Riley" like he did 35 years ago . . . or any other song for that matter. 3) Who medleys are unssatisfying. 4) CBS knew not to put a fake crowd near Pete Townshend. 5) None of the above was as surreal as Grizzly Bear scoring a Volkswagen ad that features Stevie Wonder playing Slug Bug with Tracy Jordan.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: Super Bowl 45 Halftime show = Billy Joel.

I HAD ALWAYS BEEN UNDER the impression that when anyone plays or sings Frank Sinatra's version of "My Way" in a bar, that meant that there would be no more fun to be had in the establishment. Old men were welcome to sit at the bar and nurse their whiskeys but all other fun loving folk should disperse and find other places to seek frivolity. In the Philippines though, singing "My Way" - and not the Sid Vicious version - apparently starts riots. Who knew? Don't believe me: read here.