By Kaiya Morrison

Senior Writer

For the first year since Hurricane Katrina, the Voodoo Experience was held on the same location in New Orleans City Park as the prior year, which allowed for a heightened level of organization. The three day festival went off without a hitch - well, almost. Here are some of the highlights if you weren’t able to attend.

Friday, October 24

The lay-of-the-land for the Voodoo Experience was the same as last year, but with a few major differences. As usual the six-stage layout was split into three sections; Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival, but each area had a few minor changes that made a major impact.

Upon entering the festival to an immediate right was the Le Carnival area, which consisted of the NooMoon stage and the Bingo! Parlor. While the NooMoon stage was pretty much exactly the same as last year, the Bingo Parlor received an amazing upgrade.

The tent was circus-style, which allowed for a more comfortable viewing experience than last year. Fans were able to watch performances from outside of the tent as easily as they could from inside. Plus, the video monitors showing the live feed of the performances were much larger. 

Passing Le Carnival area to the left was Le Flambeau, which included the WWOZ / Southern Comfort Stage and the Preservation Jazz Hall Tent. While the WWOZ stage was in the same location, the Preservation Jazz Hall Tent was moved this year to a more prominent spot near the stadium. The larger tent and more visible location altered the entire flow of the festival by keeping everything more centralized towards the back area of the park and less spread out.

Le Ritual, which is where the mainstream acts performed and includes the Playstation / Billboard stage and the Voodoo Stage, was exactly the same, except the two stages were flip-flopped from last year. The reason for this was because the artist area and press tent had been moved to the stadium, which was much more comfortable for anyone working the event.

Speaking of working the event, there was more national media in attendance this year than ever. The Village Voice, Fuse, Rolling Stone, Paste, and Spin were just some of the major players covering the festival. That’s not to exclude all of the industry magazines, European publications, and local press from all over the nation who sent people out as well.

The increased media attention speaks well for the Voodoo Experience. It’s apparent the independently owned festival is on its way up in the eyes of the nation, and all of that attention is sure to help with the continued New Orleans revitalization efforts that will be ongoing for many years to come.

Now as for the performances, they were all spectacular, except for one major let down. If you asked the average festival goer who they were there to see that day, 9 out of 10 would have said Stone Temple Pilots. Unfortunately, they failed to deliver anything spectacular.

Vocally, Scott Weiland did not pack a punch. Rather, he fizzled a little. Then, there was a bit of an issue with their backing track toward the middle-end of the show, it started skipping. They played it off well, but it was just another indication that this performance was not one of their best.

The good news, however, is this seemed to be an off night and not an indication of performance quality for the entire tour. Fans who have seen STP since the reunion and prior to Voodoo said the performance they saw was ten times better.

Saturday, October 25

This was the day that did not fail to deliver. Every show was amazing, but there was one small little problem.

Lil Wayne was set to perform at 4:20 p.m. on the Voodoo Stage, but showed up late and began around thirty minutes late. Rather than shortening the set, the festival was forced to cut the sound and turn his mic off mid song when he set the entire schedule back, and Thievery Corporation, Mars Volta, Ghostland Observatory and Nine Inch Nails went on late because of it.

The delay did not seem to affect any of the acts. They were all amazing and quit possibly the highlight of the weekend.

Mars Volta vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala was more personable and engaging with the crowd than anyone expected. At one point he jumped off the stage and into the photographers pit. He stuck his face right into cameras, unbuttoned the shirt of one photographer, and then jumped up on the barricade and sang while fans pawed at his thin torso.

Following Mars Volta on the Playstation / Billboard stage was the Austin electronic rock duo, Ghostland Observatory. Possibly one of the most visually stunning shows ever, Ghostland Observatory brought with them an intense lasers light show. It was the perfect performance to build up the crowd for the headliner, Nine Inch Nails.

Performing in New Orleans for the first time since they were booked for Voodoo Fest in 2005, Nine Inch Nails was the highlight of the entire weekend. Not only did Trent Reznor sound amazing, but the set list was perfectly built and featured songs from the entire NIN catalogue.

 

Sunday, October 26

Disappointment set in quickly when fans learned that N.E.R.D. had canceled at the last minute and would not be performing that day. Because of the cancelation, Lupe Fiasco was moved to a later time in the day, and fans quickly forgot their grievances.

At one point during the set Lupe Fiasco paused to speak of his support for Obama. This was not an isolated incident. The entire weekend performers such as Erykah Badu, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails and many more rallied for the presidential candidate.

When it comes to support, however, the local boys and gal in Cowboy Mouth showed the crowd their support for our state and what the spirit of Louisiana is all about. Performing right before REM, lead vocalist and drummer Fred LeBlanc whipped fans into a frenzy and promoted friendship when he asked the audience to “turn to the person next to you, whether you know them or not, and give them a hung and shake their hand.� It was a love fest, and everyone ate it up.

The crowd for REM slowly built as it took time for fans to make their way from the opposite end of the at the Bingo! Parlour. Performing at 6:30 was the Butthole Surfers, who recently reunited for their current tour. 

Once the Butthole Surfers ended, everyone headed to catch the rest of the REM show. But the party did not end when they left the stage at 9 p.m. Rather, performances continued till 11 p.m. and the party kept going backstage in the artist tent.

City Park may now be clear of music fans and rockstars, but the spirit of the successful weekend will live on until it’s time to do it all again next year.