One night last week in New Orleans, Percy Harrison set up a cheap keyboard and amp at the far end of Bourbon Street, in front of a corner shop, way past the burlesque clubs and Hurricane-in-a-fishbowl tourist traps.
He closed his eyes, leaned back and crooned everything from Adele to Prince, singing “Purple Rain” as drops began to fall. He has a voice that should make him a star, and he was playing for tips on the street of America’s most music-enriched city.
The periodic rivalry between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints will resume Sunday two miles from Bourbon Street, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.