Captain Fred’s Discount Skin Surgery – Happy Hour – It’s New Orleans
If you get skin cancer in New Orleans there s a good chance your dermatologist will send you to see Dr John fan, Dr Keith LeBlanc. Unllike Dr John, Dr Keith is an actual doctor. He s a dermatologist s dermatologist who specializes in removing skin cancer, which of course is, technically, skin surgery. Can you imagine Dr John calling a record, “Dr John s Record ” Dopey, right That s what Grant and the assembled brains trust think when they meet Keith over a pitcher of cocktails and come up with a more enticing name for Keith s skin surgery center than The Skin Surgery Centre even with its exotic r e spelling. We see a lot of impressive artistic skin treatments on Happy Hour but some of the finest adorns the body of exotic beauty and singer Gal Holiday, front person for the eponymous Gal Holiday and the Hony Tonk Revue. We knew going into this that Gal s real name was Vanessa Maccabee Niemann even the Happy Hour crack research team can find that out on Facebook but in typical Happy Hour style we find out plenty more unexpected and fascinating stories about Gal H. Here s two tidbits her dad is the reason you can t take liquids on planes, and a mysterious UFO sighting has turned her dad into a world expert on UFO s. While we re talking about couplets of information, Gal H sings two songs on this show, one amazing acapella rendition of a song off the HT Revue s new album, Last to Leave, and a Johnny Cash treat with Andrew Duhon providing guitar accompaniment. Yolanda Butler, half of the catering team known as “Two Girls and a Spoon,” has just about done it all. From working at the Whitney Bank to driving trucks in Germany, and spending more time in the US Army fighting off unwanted suitors than fighting terrorists. Although she drove trucks up and down the Autobahn, one of Yolanda s trickiest navigations was turning her long time friendship with her buddy Darrin into a romance and marriage. When they re not renaming surgery “centres”, the Happy Hour team, for no extra charge, are happy to play psychologist with Yolanda. Skin surgery and friends having sex aside, the biggest breakthrough in the history of Happy Hour can be pinpointed to the exact minute in this show. It s the minute that Happy Hour Music Director Christian Unruh reveals his side project. It s a product called Hangover Destroyer. And, yes, kind of like “Skin Surgery Centre,” does skin surgery, Hangover Destroyer literally destroys hangovers. Somehow in between booking music guests for Happy Hour and being an entertainment attorney, Christian has found time to get loaded up on booze enough times to propel him to delve into the science of researchers at UCLA to develop a hangover cure based on all natural Japanese herbs that is now proven to work. It comes in a neat little 1 ounce pack and taken before or while you re drinking will prevent a hangover. Say Adios to Casa Borrega. Host Hugo Montero says goodbye to the Happy Hour team at the end of this show. It s been a fun 12 months and time for a change of atmosphere. Happy Hour is moving Uptown to Wayfare on Freret Street. All the photos on this page were taken by a fish s best friend, the bead wearing Douglas Engel.