Entry No. 87 — the New Orleans file — filed under: listening room
Chickie Wah Wah
The name comes off a 1956 Bobby Marchan single written by Huey "Piano" Smith — Marchan being one of New Orleans' earliest drag performers and, decades later, a figure in the rise of Cash Money — which tells you roughly where the room's sympathies sit. It's a small bar on a stretch of Canal Street in Mid-City that gets driven past rather than walked, and it opens strictly around bookings: doors an hour before the set, nothing on the calendar means nothing at the door. There's no kitchen, though food trucks and pop-ups park outside on a lot of show nights, and there's a 20-car lot behind the building, which on Canal Street is close to a luxury. Gambit readers have voted it the city's best small venue; the fall calendar runs from Cha Wa and Herlin Riley to Chris Smither and Channel One Sound System, plus a Sunday residency the New Orleans Jazz Vipers carry over from the old Donna's Bar and Grill.
→ Three more underground music & performance in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
The club is named for a 1956 Ace single by Bobby Marchan, written by Huey "Piano" Smith, whose band the Clowns Marchan sang with; Gerri Hall cut a "Little Chickie Wah Wah" two years later. Marchan started as a female impersonator in his teens, ran a drag troupe called the Powder Box Revue, worked the Dew Drop Inn and Club Tijuana, and in the 1990s was involved in the formation of Cash Money Records. The club calls both men its patron saints and means it: Lionel Milton painted their portraits for the wall, and copies of both 45s hang beside them.
Dale Triguero opened Chickie Wah Wah in 2006 on a stretch of Canal Street in Mid-City that gets driven past rather than walked. He died in July 2021 at 68, the club went up for sale the following spring, and in 2022 a group of promoters with ties to Tipitina's and the Civic Theatre bought it — by their own account, to stop Mid-City's only real music club becoming a parking garage or a law office. They reopened that December after a renovation that took Triguero's listening-room idea literally: the kitchen came out to open up the room, the stage grew, a new sound system went in, and signs went up asking people to listen or take the conversation outside, where alley speakers carry the music.
No kitchen is why food trucks and pop-ups park outside on show nights, and the bar does cocktails, craft beer and wine. Roughly twenty spaces sit in the lot behind the building, which on Canal Street counts as a luxury. Jon Cleary is treated as part of the fabric and plays solo piano on Wednesdays; the Donna's Bar and Grill residency borrows the name of the N. Rampart brass-band room Donna and Charlie Sims ran from 1993 to 2010. During Jazz Fest the club stages its own Fest-O-Matic series — 32 shows over 12 nights in 2026 — in the hours after the Fair Grounds shuts at 7.
What it's like
There is nothing to wander into: the room opens an hour before the set and only when something is booked, so the calendar comes first. Take the lot behind the building — about twenty spaces, first come, 5pm to 2am — or ride the Canal streetcar, which runs past the door from the Quarter and is the better call if you intend to drink. Buy through TicketWeb in advance; whatever is left sells at the door, and a lost confirmation is fixed by showing ID at the entrance. Age limits move show by show, 18+ or 21+, so read the listing. Inside is one room, a stage and a bar, no reserved seating, and the good sightlines go to whoever turned up at doors. The signs asking for quiet during the music are not decorative — the room is small enough that one loud table is everybody's problem.
The move: Sunday, September 13: buy two TicketWeb tickets for the New Orleans Jazz Vipers' Donna's Bar and Grill residency, 7pm show so doors are at 6. Get there at doors, take the lot behind the building, grab a spot near the stage before the room fills, and eat off whatever truck is parked outside. It's 18+, and the streetcar drops you a block away if you'd rather not drive home.
📍 Before you go Only open when a show is booked — check the calendar first; doors open one hour before showtime. Tickets through TicketWeb on their site or at the door on show nights; if you lose your confirmation, show ID at the entrance. Shows are 18+ or 21+ depending on the booking, so check the listing. No food served in-house, though trucks and pop-ups often set up. Roughly 20 spaces in the lot behind the venue, first-come, 5pm–2am, plus street parking; the Canal streetcar runs right past it from the Quarter. Phone is voicemail only — (504) 541-2050 — email [email protected] for anything real.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2828 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Broadside — Seven-tenths of a mile up N. Broad, an open-air lot with a 4K screen and two stages — do the outdoor film early and the indoor listening room after, or swap the order.
- Mystic Krewe Pinball Parlor — Also on N. Broad, inside the Broad Theater and open until around 10 — a loud, hands-on hour is a good contrast before a room where the signs ask you to shut up.
- Domino Sound Record Shack — Ten minutes away on Bayou Road, with a 10:30am–2pm window most days: dig through the dub and West African crates in the afternoon, then land on Canal Street for doors.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
Is it open tonight?
Only if something is booked. The calendar at chickiewahwah.com is the entire schedule; no listing means no doors, and there's no walk-in bar trade to fall back on. When there is a show, doors open exactly one hour before the set.
How do I buy tickets, and can I just turn up?
Advance tickets go through TicketWeb via the venue's own site, and whatever hasn't sold is available at the door on show nights. The phone line, (504) 541-2050, is voicemail only — email [email protected] if something is actually wrong with an order.
Where do I park?
There's a lot behind the building with roughly twenty spaces, first-come, open 5pm–2am daily, plus street parking on and around Canal. The Canal streetcar runs right past from the French Quarter, which is the sensible option if the evening involves the bar.
Are shows all-ages, and is there food?
No and no. Bookings are either 18+ or 21+ depending on the act, so check the individual listing. There's no kitchen — it was pulled out in the 2022 renovation to open up the room — but food trucks and pop-ups frequently set up outside on show nights.
Any seasonal quirks worth knowing?
Two. Jazz Fest is the club's biggest stretch: it runs its own Fest-O-Matic series in the late slots after the Fair Grounds closes at 7pm — 32 shows over 12 nights in 2026. Mardi Gras is the quiet one, since it isn't on a parade route except Endymion, which it turns into a street party of its own.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · wwoz.org
📷 We made a card for this one on Instagram →
last checked: 2026-08-26