For more than a decade, the Tipitina’s Foundation, the charitable arm of the historic music club at 501 Napoleon Ave., has helped put instruments in New Orleans schools while providing internships, music workshops, and technology training to local musicians and music students.
When the hot months arrive each summer, the foundation extends those services to music fans through the Foundation Free Fridays program, which offers no-cover shows featuring local artists every Friday from June 10 through Sept. 2, a time when gigs around town are less plentiful. As a lagniappe, proceeds from concessions and donations during Foundation Free Fridays directly benefit the foundation, helping it continue its mission of protecting and preserving Louisiana’s musical culture throughout the year.
Tip’s remains an Uptown beacon for the R&B and funk-swaddled legacies of Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers, and Dr. John.
Of course, the club itself has been supporting a similar mission since a group of diehard Professor Longhair fans first opened its doors back in 1977 with the goal of giving their idol a place to perform in his sunset years. Housed in a relatively bare bones, two-floor converted warehouse whose rafters are outfitted with a painting of the club’s aforementioned patron saint on one side and decades of old concert posters on the other, Tip’s remains an Uptown beacon for the R&B and funk-swaddled legacies of Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers and Dr. John, all of whom have performed there regularly.
Free Movie Mondays: A New Addition
This summer, the foundation is adding one more free program to its roster of events — a free, Monday night movie series at the newly restored Orpheum Theater, which Tip’s owners Roland and Mary von Kurnitowski bought and reopened last year. Like the Foundation Free Fridays at Tip’s, all concession sales and donations during the Foundation Free Mondays series support the foundation.
The Friday Tip’s shows’ doors are at 9, with music starting at 10 p.m.; on Mondays, the Orpheum flicks roll at 7 p.m. Take a gander at what’s coming up for the rest of the summer (plus info on the Orpheum’s $6 Tuesday movie program and a few one-off weekend film showings) below.
Foundation Free Fridays at Tipitina’s
Doors are at 9 p.m. and shows start at 10 p.m.; all concessions proceeds go to the Foundation, so get your eat and drink on!
- July 1: Brass-a-Holics + N’awlins Johnnys
- July 8: Mike Dillon, Funk Monkey and Sexual Thunder
- July 15: Papa Mali + Colin Lake
- July 22: Walter Wolfman Washington & The Roadmasters
- July 29: The Low End Theory Players Present: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest
- Aug. 5: IKO Allstars (Feat. Papa Mali, Billy Iuso, Reggie Scanlan, Cr Gruver, Johnny Vidacovich & Michael Fouquier)
- Aug. 12: Gal Holiday and the Honkey Tonk Revue + Hill Country Hounds + Idlewild String Confederation
- Aug. 19: Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes + Water Seed
- Aug. 26: John “Papa” Gros Band + Daria & The Hip Drops
- Sept. 2: Big Sam’s Funky Nation + The Crooked Vines
Foundation Free Mondays and other movies movies at the Orpheum Theater
All Monday shows start at 7 p.m. Tuesday showtimes vary, but all cost just $6. There are also a few select screenings with special dates and times. All Monday night film concession proceeds benefit Tipitina’s Foundation.
Free Monday Shows and Select Tuesday Shows at 7 p.m.
- Monday, July 11: Jaws
- Monday, July 18: Singing In the Rain
- Monday, July 25: A Streetcar Named Desire
- Monday, Aug. 1: Mamma Mia!
- Monday, Aug. 8: West Side Story
- Monday, Aug. 15: An American in Paris
- Monday, Aug. 23: Mary Poppins
- Tuesday, Aug. 9: Caddyshack
- Tuesday, Aug. 16: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Tuesday, Aug. 23: Raiders of the Lost Ark
$6 Tuesday Shows
- Tuesday, July 12, 7 p.m.: Star Wars – The Force Awakens
- Tuesday, July 26, 9 p.m.: Cocktail
- Tuesday, Aug. 2, 7 p.m.: The Dark Knight
One-Time Screenings
- Saturday, July 30, 7 p.m.: Saturday Night Fever, $6
- Sunday, July 31, 1 p.m.: Frozen, FREE
- Sunday, July 31, 3:30 p.m.: Minions, FREE
