Going to be down in New Orleans in a couple weeks for a working vacation(I'm working, bringing the family down so they can have a vacation). 
We're staying just outside the French Quarter, and I definitely want to check out some live music in the evenings after work. I've found a few links online, but do any of you have some specific suggestions of music clubs/venues we need to check out while we're down there? We'll be in town Sunday night through Saturday morning.
How old are the kids?
If you tire of the city, the swamp/gator tours are fun.
My wife and sister (and I) enjoyed The Plantation Tours. The famous one is Oak Alley but we liked the Laura Plantation, a Creole Plantation better and it is just a couple miles away from Oak Alley.
Bourbon St. is the famous place for music but even better and just outside The Quarter is Frenchman St. Here you will find some better local music.
Here is what others have to say about Frenchman St vs Bourbon St.
Visit both The Spotted Cat and The Blue Nile
About 5 years back, on a 10 visit to NOLA for 10 days surrounding Mardi Gras, I had more fun in Blue Nile than anywhere else. Tacos from the food trucks at 3am were a foggy but memorable highlight.
It is touristy and it is bad for you but I highly recommend a plate of Chargilled Oysters from Dragos
My best advise, start listening to WWOZ.org now via website or app to start to get a real flavor for what is going on while you are there and to get your self into a NOLA frame of mind.
July in New Orleans? It's gonna be hot, like Africa hot.
I have a sailboat racing buddy who live in NOLA. After Catrina he bought a B&B in The Quarter. He has since sold it but back when he lived down there he played 3 nights a week with the house band at The Bayou Club on Bourbon St. The band "T' Canaille" is a relatively authentic Creole band with some Zydeco and rock.
When I was last there, we took the accordion player sailboat racing for his first time. Great guys.
Fun stuff, stop down and try your own hand at the washboard and the spoons.
In this video my buddy is in the black hat working the spoons and the washboard.
As a perfect expample of you never know what you might get in NO, this friend of mine who seem like a goofy guy in the bars is actually a respected pillar of the community during the daytime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_9yG8p86YQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytig9VggxKk
I'll go ahead and second the Drago's suggestion. Cafe Du Monde is also touristy, but it deserves the great rep. Walking the quarter while it wakes up is really pleasant. Angeli has great pizza. NOLA Motorsports Park is nearby. They have a road course, autocross pad and a kart track with kart rentals. The Audubon Zoo and aquarium are both really well done. Street cars are an easy way to get a nice tour of the city for very little money.
Bourbon street is mild these days. I was just there a few Saturdays ago and with the exception of one set of boobs (which I went out of my way to specifically view), it was incredibly mild. 10 years ago it would have been 500 pairs of tits in your face without even asking for it. Mmmm... I miss those days. 
Frenchman is pretty new as a popular hangout. Much of it was not heavily damaged by Katrina and therefore got a boost when the old French Quarter was under repair.
Don't discount Charles St. It has some touristy but fun places. Of course, French Market is a must.
Thanks for the suggestions! SWMBO & kids(teenagers) pretty much have their days planned while I'm at work, but I'll see how close we are to Frenchman.
Doing a brief search near the hotel I found the Funk Pirate, Howl at the Moon, Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse, Club 300 Jazz Restaurant, and The Circle Bar - anyone have any experience with those places?
The Funky Pirate features Big Al Carson, who I never miss when I am in New Orleans. Not really kid-friendly, but a great show nonetheless. I mean, for a house band at a bar with a two drink minimum. But seriously, I love the big guy and have seen him probably 20 times.
Grab a burger at the Port-o-Call on Esplanade. Literally a life-changing experience.
Grab a cab out to Jacque Imos for dinner with the family. Tourists are discovering this amazing place, but it still has some of the best food anywhere.
curtis73 wrote: Bourbon street is mild these days. I was just there a few Saturdays ago and with the exception of one set of boobs (which I went out of my way to specifically view), it was incredibly mild. 10 years ago it would have been 500 pairs of tits in your face without even asking for it. Mmmm... I miss those days.
You must have went on the laziest Saturday in history. I was down there last week and saw hundreds...
Yeah Frenchmen is fairly safe for the kiddos, as is the Quarter so far as you avoid Bourbon.
If your wife likes shopping Magazine St is always nice. Pay for the trolly tickets and avoid the traffic headaches.
The NOLA museum of art is very nice as well. Take a trip through the grave yards is always fun.
Let me know when you will be in town and if I can I will drive over and buy you a beer.
The food is awesome, dont take side streets, keep your wallet in your front pocket, enjoy.
Any of the clubs have open jams on week nights? I'm planning on bringing a bass down anyway.
I should add that I don't eat any seafood, or drink(at all, for either) so I'll be a bit out of my element down there.
At least I like the heat & humidity...
WWOZ's website should lead you to jam nights.
Bring a coffee can for tips and set up on a corner in The Quarter or join on someone already set up.
If you like heat and humidity, you'll be in heaven.
Flight Service wrote: Yeah Frenchmen is fairly safe for the kiddos, as is the Quarter so far as you avoid Bourbon. If your wife likes shopping Magazine St is always nice. Pay for the trolly tickets and avoid the traffic headaches. The NOLA museum of art is very nice as well. Take a trip through the grave yards is always fun.
All of this. Plus try to hit up Camila Grill. I also love Port O Call. Little bar with great burgers.
The river boat ride from Canal street to Audubon zoo is fun and reasonably brief. I assume the zoo still has a swamp exhibit. Get a snowball and some food uptown then take the St. Charles streetcar back to canal. Make time to get a mufaletta, some zapps chips and barqs from Central grocery by the french market.
If you want to get away from the touristy restaurants, Magazine street, just south of St. Charles st., in the garden district has some great more locals restaurants. As flight service said too there is some good shopping too. I always will try and take a day and just walk through the garden district but I'm also a lover of classic architecture so it's right up my alley.
Only bad thing is this time of year is full of pop-up showers so just be prepared for that and it will be hot and humid.
The redfish bite nice this time of year. I have fished with Joe's Landing, Barataria LA. Joe has goodboats and guides. My favorite guide there is China he has put my frinds and me onto some nice fish.
http://www.joeslanding.com/
I was down in NOLA 7 years ago and ate at a place called Coop's that was recommended to me. The food was fantastic and was the type of place locals went to.
bmw88rider wrote: If you want to get away from the touristy restaurants, Magazine street, just south of St. Charles st., in the garden district has some great more locals restaurants. As flight service said too there is some good shopping too. I always will try and take a day and just walk through the garden district but I'm also a lover of classic architecture so it's right up my alley. Only bad thing is this time of year is full of pop-up showers so just be prepared for that and it will be hot and humid.
Pop up hell!
More like a side swipe from out of know where, but the cool thing is they are gone just about as quickly. Ahh the joys of living on the gulf.
After a few trips there with my wife that went to Tulane these are some of my favorite places.
Preservation Hall in the quarter for Jazz, hole in the wall, small place with great classic N.O. jazz.
Cafe Beignet, a few locations. The one by the Cathedral next door to the police station is handy. Not as crowded as Cafe du Monde and maybe better Beignets.
Cochon Butcher for everything pig, you said you don't like fish, this gastro pub behind the Cochon restaurant will make your head spin.
The Bombay Club for great drinks (or water) in a lounge type place with Sinatra type live music.
Court of two Sisters for a great but pricy brunch on Sundays.
Don't take any bets about whether some guy "knows where you got your shoes at."
Mike wrote: Don't take any bets about whether some guy "knows where you got your shoes at."
Answer: on the streets of New Orleans.
I can't believe no one has said this but Commander's Palace for Turtle Soup.
To. Die. For!
Beware of Bourbon street, 9 shot the other day
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — One person remained in critical condition Monday after a weekend gunfight on Bourbon Street, the historic thoroughfare of nightspots that is a major destination for visitors in tourist-loving New Orleans.
Police said nine people were hit when shots rang out at about 2:45 a.m. Sunday. Five remained hospitalized at LSU Hospital. In addition to the critical patient, four were stable.
Victims' identities and hometowns have not been made public but police said some were not from New Orleans.
Images captured from a surveillance camera above a bar showed people running down the street in the chaos of the shooting. Police placed several views of the shootout online asking for the public's help in identifying the two shooters.
The violence happened as New Orleans prepares for a major summer tourist event: The annual Essence Festival opens Thursday and runs through the Fourth of July weekend.
"This Essence Festival, we're using an overtime package of about $300,000 to make sure there's more police officers here in the French Quarter area," police chief Ronal Serpas said Sunday. "There will be plenty of police officers visible during Essence and July Fourth."
What sparked the shooting remained unclear. "What happened was two young men got angry at each other and shot at each other," Serpas said.
The scene on Bourbon Street on Monday was business as usual, with music blaring from bars as tourists strolled, drinks in hand.
On Sunday, visitor Justin Sigalos of Chicago, stood at the scene of the shooting, looking at the blood-stained sidewalk, saying he would not let the violence keep him from visiting again.
"Just understand that things happen and you've got to do your best to avoid putting yourself in that kind of situation," he said.
It was the third major shooting on Bourbon Street in the last three years.
On the Saturday before Mardi Gras, four people were treated at a hospital after a shooting. During Halloween in 2011, one person was killed and seven others were injured after gunmen opened fire on each other.
Blaine Dorr, 70, has lived in the French Quarter since 1964 and on Bourbon Street since 1993, and while crime has always been a concern, he said he's never seen the kind of brazen violence that's taken place in his neighborhood the past few years.
"It's frustrating," Dorr said, standing outside his home about a block from where Sunday's shooting occurred. "They don't care about the consequences. They don't care about going to jail. They don't care about taking somebody's life or losing their own. They just don't care, and what do you do with that?"
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