The people walking by looked pretty confused.

It was still well before Halloween, and yet, standing outside the Joy Theater on Canal Street

were dozens of revelers dressed in some kind of satanic worship attire.

It takes a lot to surprise the people of New Orleans.

But in their defense, this scene was kind of hard to make sense of.

It wasn't a Marty Grau party or a debutante ball or a post-Jazzfest concert.

It was something entirely different and in many ways better.

It was Bab.

We want to welcome back to the stage.

The Hell Choir.

Make some noise for the Hell Choir!

Bab, spelled B-A-A-B, is very simple.

It's a Satanic Abba cover band.

Yes, Abba is in the Swedish pop group from the late 70s, early 80s.

Bab dresses in satanic attire, and their fans follow suit. They have dancers on

stage to do some kind of themed performance that's interwoven with the show, and they play

Abba songs.

So after the show, I was chatting with my friend Helen, and I brought up the topic of this

podcast. Perhaps prompted by the theme of the evening, Helen mentioned that she was related to one of

the Salem witches. She was a direct descendant, in fact, and the accused witch's name was Anne

Puteator. For more information, Helen said I should speak to her mother.

I'd met her mom before and always remembered this very cool and distinctive streak of white hair that shoots down one side of her part.

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