Dead Sweetheart's Ball

The Carousel Lounge has become my new go-to live music venue. It's close to where I live, there's no downtown parking hassle and the shows end at midnight (1 a.m. on Saturday), which means you can usually beat the drunkest of the drunks home.

After a marathon writing day, I wound up at the Carousel last night for the Dead Sweetheart's Ball. Hosted by Ricky Broussard from veteran roots-rockers Two Hoots & A Holler, the show was themed around cover songs where one or more lovers wind up dead. Other performers included the Hummingbirds and Roger Wallace. They played everything from George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" to Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" to Julie Brown's "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun." Best of all, there was a "tote board" near the stage where someone kept tally of all the people who died in the songs. Upon departing 15 minutes prior to closing time, I think the body count was somewhere near 75.