The Beat Goes On

Louie Fontaine brings his music and his machine to the former Handsome Willy’s.

- Stacey Leigh Bridewell

For years Saints fans have known the former Handsome Willy’s as a great place for drinks and eats close to the Dome with happy hour specials and DJ nights. However, as of last September, the venue has taken on new ownership and is now called Fontaine Palace. While much of the same laid-back neighborhood atmosphere remains, it has two new additions that are sure to generate a lot of excitement: Louie Fontaine and the Beat Machine.

Louie is a musician, nightclub owner, hotelier, one-time politician, and inventor from Copenhagen with an entrepreneurial green thumb. His fabulous Beat Machine, the largest mechanical drum machine in the world, is perhaps his crowning achievement and is settling into its new home at Fontaine Palace. It is a 15-foot wide, 10-foot high mechanical behemoth made of air tubes, drum parts, old chemical drums and 600 pounds of iron. It has a 2.5-horsepower motor that uses air pressure to manipulate 24 arms which can be programmed to play any song on the spot. Give it a Google and see for yourself. It’s sure to become a New Orleans must-see.