Krewe du Vieux: A C.R.U.D.E. Awakening
“Oh! I have a dickhead leather mask!” Marie says. And then she fishes out a photograph of Carol and Fred from Pennsylvania, a couple they met at a St. Paddy’s Day parade, brought home, and dressed up. The picture shows Carol and Fred, each wearing a big dick on their head, smiling politely.
“That’s the thing about Krewe du Vieux,” Marie says. “You tend to have a whole closet or room in your home full of costumes. Where the hell do you put this shit?” She traipses upstairs past some cats to show off the costume room, opening every door and drawer. “See this? This is costumes. This is costumes. This is costumes—they’re everywhere! I gotta see if I can find that penis mask. I love that penis mask.”
...
Read the complete writeup on Marie and KdV in OffBeat magazine
“That’s the thing about Krewe du Vieux,” Marie says. “You tend to have a whole closet or room in your home full of costumes. Where the hell do you put this shit?” She traipses upstairs past some cats to show off the costume room, opening every door and drawer. “See this? This is costumes. This is costumes. This is costumes—they’re everywhere! I gotta see if I can find that penis mask. I love that penis mask.”
...
Read the complete writeup on Marie and KdV in OffBeat magazine
Past Krewe du Vieux parade themes:
Where the Vile Things Are (2014) Comes Early (2013) Crimes Against Nature (2012) 25 Years Wasted (2011) All Fired Up (2010) Stimulus Package (2009) Magical Misery Tour (2008) Habitat for Insanity (2007) C'est Levee (2006) WWKDVD (2005) Quest For Immorality (2004) Off the Record (2003) Depraved New World (2002) 2001: A Space Fallacy (2001) The Idiots & The Oddities (2000) Urban Myths (1999) Souled Down the River(1998) Goes Deep (1997) Achieves Decade-ence (1996) Unnaturally New Orleans (1995) The Ballot of New Orleans (1994) Posthumorously Yours (1993) Rights the News (1992) |
|
The Krewe oral history
|
|
|
|
|
|
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KREWE OF C.R.U.D.E.

by Ray "Plaine" Kern
I formed C.R.U.D.E. in order to join the Krewe of Clones, KdV's predecessor. This was done in the Fall of 1983 for the Clone Parade in 1984. The theme for the Clones parade that year was "Barbie and Ken go to the Worlds Fair". C.R.U.D.E.'s theme was "Barbie's generic relatives - The New Orleans Doll-ings". We all dressed in generic yellow with a UPC code on the back and black lettering indicating either "boy doll" or "girl doll". It was the debut of our generic doubloon. We also had a yellow pick-up truck, labeled "pick up truck". I think we had around 40-42 members. Dues were $10.

The following year, 1985, the Clones paraded with the theme "Celebrity Tragedy" and C.R.U.D.E. did "Hollywood Habits - The Drugs of the Stars" where we all dressed as various controlled substances and paraphernalia. We had grown to 67 members. Dues jumped to $15.

In 1986, New Orleans was the site of Superbowl XX. The Clones parade was scheduled to appear the night before the Superbowl, but was canceled by the City Administration. The official reason give was it was done for safety reasons, but everyone felt the City did not want to be embarrassed by the Clone parade. The Krewe of C.R.U.D.E. that Saturday night marched anyway in the French Quarter by joining forces (or farces) with the Pair-A-Dice Tumblers, Krewe of Kosmic Debris, and members from the Seeds of Decline and perhaps a few other Clone rejects. The theme of our "Tumble" was "The Stupor Bowl". I have no idea how many of us were on the streets that night. It seemed like a usual Tumble size at that time - about 50-60.