Fats Domino makes post-Katrina debut

NEW ORLEANS -- Friends and fans of Fats Domino were emotional as the 79-year-old rock legend took the stage before a sold-out crowd of hundreds in a New Orleans nightclub Saturday, marking Domino's first public performance since before Hurricane Katrina.

"He's been through so much, like a lot of us. It was great to see him out there. It really was," said Art Neville, one of the four original Neville Brothers, just moments after Domino performed a string of hits, including "I'm Ready," "Ain't That a Shame," "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Valley of Tears."

Dressed in a snappy white jacket and his signature white cap, Domino was crisp and energetic as he sang and played the first hit of the night, "I'm Walkin'," and the crowd jumped and screamed when he belted out "Blueberry Hill" a few minutes later.

Still, Domino, who suffers from performance anxiety, was not without his moments of nervousness. About three or four songs in, he got up from the piano and started to leave the stage but was gently coaxed back on by Eric Paulsen, a friend and New Orleans-area television news anchor.

The band, which included Domino's longtime friend and musical partner saxophonist Herbert Hardesty, didn't miss a beat. They began playing "Blue Monday," to which Domino sat back down at the piano and began singing. Domino and Hardesty have been playing together since the mid-1940s.

In all, Domino and company performed about a dozen hits.

"It was emotional. There were a lot of people crying, people close to him," said Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, who said he wouldn't have missed Domino's performance for anything. "It wasn't that the music was living again for us. It wasn't about us. It was about Fats. Fats himself got to experience it again."

Domino last performed in public on Memorial Day 2005 at a casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Three months later, he lost his home, his pianos, his gold and platinum records and much of the city he loves during Katrina. He was rescued by boat from his flooded home after the storm struck.

Aug. 29, 2005.