New Orleans, circa 2016
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Saints quarterback Drew Brees talks with head coach Sean Payton during a game on Sept. 18, 2016. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
We hear the kids are throwing it back to 2016 and thought it would be fun to play along.
Why it matters: New Orleans has changed a lot — and yet, not so much — in the past 10 years.
The big picture: The trend on social right now is to share photos from 2016, so we dug through the archives.
- Here's what we found.
New Orleans
Flashback: Mitch Landrieu was in his second term as mayor, and Michael Harrison was the police chief. John Bel Edwards was governor.
- The city was having a violent crime spike, including a mass shooting on Bourbon Street and the fatal shooting of former Saints player Will Smith.
- New Orleans was in a legal battle about Confederate monuments after the council voted the year before to take them down. The four monuments were removed in 2017.
- The Times-Picayune and The New Orleans Advocate were separate newspapers. (The Advocate bought the Picayune in 2019, laying off its staff.)
Baton Rouge
North of us, Baton Rouge had a tough year.
- Police officers fatally shot Alton Sterling, sparking days of protests across the country. The city gave his family a $4.5 million settlement in 2021.
- Historic flooding killed 13 people in five parishes, forced thousands to evacuate and caused millions in property damage. Then-President Barack Obama toured the damage.
In November, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton to win his first presidential term.
🎬 Hollywood South was at full throttle.
"NCIS: New Orleans" was filming here. So were "Queen Sugar" and the "Zoo" series on CBS.
- "Deepwater Horizon," "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" and "LBJ" — all made here —premiered.
- Celebs were everywhere — Tom Cruise, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Rob Reiner, Woody Harrelson, Mario Lopez and James Marsden.
- It was also the end for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who sold their French Quarter home in 2016 amid their divorce.
🎶 Music and festivals
- Beyoncé released her "Lemonade" visual album, which was filmed primarily in New Orleans and south Louisiana. She also did the halftime show at the Super Bowl — but not the one that lost power. That was in 2013.
- Voodoo Fest was still happening in City Park.
- Jazz Fest headliners included Dr. John, Frankie Beverly, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
- Essence Fest had Mariah Carey, P Diddy, Kendrick Lamar, Ciara and Oprah.
🕊️ People we mourned
- RIP to Pete Fountain, Prince, David Bowie and Carrie Fisher, who were mourned with second lines.
🏈🏀 Sports
- Tom Benson was alive and well.
- Drew Brees and Sean Payton were the dream team with the Saints.
- And Anthony Davis and his spectacular eyebrows were playing for the Pels. He was traded to the Lakers in 2019.
The bottom line: In 2016, New Orleans was worrying about Bourbon Street safety, hosting half of Hollywood and arguing about its future — which, honestly, still tracks.