An Open Letter to the Lafayette CAJUNDOME Worker Who Cleaned Up Our Mess at the Jelly Roll Concert

Dear CAJUNDOME Worker,

I owe you an apology.

Now, technically, it wasn’t my fault, but I feel like I could have prevented the mess that became your problem Friday night (Sep. 13) at the Jelly Roll concert.

You see, I was there tagging along with my buddies Jude Walker and Michael Dot Scott from 97.3 The Dawg. What a lot of folks don’t realize is that our radio stations are only a few feet apart, and honestly, our listeners aren’t all that different—especially when it comes to a guy like Jelly Roll. He’s got what some would call crossover appeal, ya know: started with hip hop, now doing country, and just being his likable genuine self. He didn’t change his music so much; he just sort of swapped out some instruments and arrangements here and there. And you know what? He’s one of the biggest names out there because of it.

I’ve got this friend, Bootleg Kev—another radio and DJ buddy—who was one of the first to tell Jelly Roll he should give country music a go back when he was at a station in Tampa, FL many years ago. That’s a solid claim to fame if you ask me, and I definitely wanted to bring that mutual connection up to Jelly if I happened to run into him at the show.

Anyway, fast forward to the night of the concert. The CAJUNDOME was sold out, buzzing with excitement, and there I was, chilling backstage, getting to chat with the man of the hour himself. I have to say, Jelly Roll is exactly as advertised: the coolest, most down-to-earth fella you could meet. But if you’re already a fan, you probably didn’t need me to tell you that.

So there we are, making casual small talk when Jelly Roll, almost sheepishly, asks if we wouldn’t mind taking a seat. The man just wanted to hang out and shoot the breeze with us. We settled into this little living room couch setup, and for the next 45 minutes to an hour, it felt like we were on someone’s screen porch, swapping stories and just hanging out.

Jelly Roll talked about everything: how he and his brothers loved going to SEC football games (even when their Tennessee Volunteers weren’t playing), how much he loved New Orleans (where he got that infamous cross tattoo under his eye), and how being in Lafayette made him feel right at home, especially after touring places like Seattle, L.A., and the West Coast.

And then it happened. As Jelly Roll went to set his water bottle down, the table decided it had had enough and completely collapsed. A candle went flying, and wax splashed everywhere—on Jelly’s custom jacket from the Anaheim Ducks, the drapery behind him, and the carpet below. Check the video for the moment of disaster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jelly Roll (@jellyroll615)

My hand even made a cameo in the Lafayette edition of the “Daily Roll,” as I made a poor attempt to intervene, but by then, the damage was done. It was like watching an avalanche in slow motion.

So while it wasn’t technically “my” mess, my half-hearted effort to stop things from crumbling did nothing to save the day. The wax was everywhere. And while the show itself was amazing and Jelly Roll genuinely loved Lafayette, the real hero of the night was you, the CAJUNDOME worker who had to clean up that waxy disaster.

To you, my friend, consider this my heartfelt apology. You’re the real MVP.

Sincerely,
The guy who almost saved the day… but didn’t.