A TRIBUTE TO DONNA SUMMER featuring Anais St. John

A Tribute to Donna Summer featuring Anais St. John begins at 7PM on Friday, June 16, 2023. Tickets are $20 in advance. There will be food for purchase by Big Boyz BBQ and a cash/credit bar available.

The Rise of the DJ/Disco weekend pays tribute to Donna Summer, who epitomized the musical changes of that period and is regarded as an icon of the Disco era. The tribute features New Orleans artist Anais St. John, an American musician, musical educator and dramatic performer. Originally a mezzo-soprano with the New Orleans Opera, as a solo artist she combines jazz, blues and R&B drawing inspiration from artists like Irma Thomas, Germaine Bazzle, Eartha Kitt and Lola Falana. In 2014, she developed a tribute show to Donna Summer. This year will mark the first time Anais St. John has brought her tribute to Donna Summer to the Gulf Coast.

Bay Saint Louis’ iconic 100 Men Hall concludes its year-long Centennial Year Celebration with its fourth and final event, Rise of the DJ/Disco Weekend, June 16-18, 2023.

The eclectic, three-day event will include a tribute to Donna Summer by Anais St. John, a 10-hour dance marathon with prizes featuring four DJs (DJs Dennis Farve, Jesse Loya, Doug Page, and T. Swan), an outdoor concert with Same Ole Two Step zydeco band free to the community, the unveiling of an 80 x 58” painting commemorating the Rise of the DJ/Disco by John Barnes, and a commemorative, letterpress poster created by Kennedy Prints.

Juneteenth’s Weekend, says Dangermond, will continue to educate the general public about an important era in the 100 Men Hall’s history, the late 70s and early 80s saw a change in music as well as the ownership of the Hall. Dangermond says, “It was the first time the Hall pass from Black to white hands, and it had to do with the passage of the Civil Rights Act as much as a change in music as Disco caused a stir across the country and the way music was consumed by DJs instead of live bands.”