The Voodoo Experience happens every year around Halloween. I’ve been there a few times, although there’s a lot to choose from on that weekend, usually The Bridge School Benefits in California, The Fest in Gainesville, and Vegoose in Las Vegas (which has since been canceled, probably due to all of the competition, although this year also included the Phish 8 Festival in Las Vegas).

Story and photos by John Davisson

This year I returned to Voodoo for the first time in 5 years, at a new location, but with a great lineup that marked the finale of the 2009 large festival season.

New Orleans is a fairly easy destination from Gainesville as it is only an 8 hour drive, if you don’t want to hear the hardcore sounds at the Fest. New Orleans itself is a fairly pleasant place to visit; they’re still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina so it is not as crowded, and the people are not as rushed as people in many other large cities that host major festivals. Like the New Orleans Jazz fest, the Voodoo Experience bill includes some of the bands that have made their home in New Orleans, as well as a nice melting pot of national bands. It’s a musical jambalaya. There are also nightly shows around town after the festival, although I’m usually too tired for that.

Because of work, I flew into New Orleans Friday morning and drove straight to the festival, where there was plenty of parking.  I made my way into the grounds as early as I could. I was still tired and spent the first couple of hours familiarizing myself with the layout, getting some New Orleans food, and planning the evening. Unfortunately rain was predicted for the first evening. Many of the major festivals this year experienced rain. All Points West was a mudfest, Lollapalooza had some rain the first day, Wanee Festival had rain the second day, and Austin City Limits had some rain the second day. Rain always slows me down, mostly because of my camera gear, which prefers a dry environment. Hopefully next year will be drier.

I had only ever seen Eminem at the Warped Tour and I wanted to check out his set from a nice vantage point, so I made my way into the crowd at the Voodoo Stage early for The Vettes, a band from New Orleans. They were good, a nice bar band on its way up that mixed some originals and covers. The lady on lead vocals performed rather than just running through the set.

Next up was Janelle Monae, a set I was really looking forward to. I managed to catch her several times this year and she always had an engaging set that kept my attention. I believe she’s from St. Louis, and she has worked with the people in Outkast; there is a hiphop edge but actually more of a rock and soul vibe. She uses real musicians (there is a dj) and the sound is full. I thought her set was a bit short, but entertaining anyway although it had many of the same elements I had already seen this year. She really puts on a performance and it will be interesting to see how her music grows and evolves over the next few years.

After an announcement that the rain was coming and might delay some sets, the Silversun Pickups were next on the Voodoo Stage (on time) and I had a nice position on the rail for the day, but they failed to really capture my attention although they are a decent band. I think I just prefer them in a club.

Eminem came out last and the crowd was definitely ready for him. He started his set in a black hoodie, but spent most of the set with either a red or white t-shirt and baseball cap. Despite the buzz about his set, I found it to be really lackluster. His musicians and rappers were uninspiring, average and just kinda there. His songs are catchy (although I think Dr Dre could make even me sound interesting) and I recognized most of them although there was little variety to the presentation. The part I found more interesting, was how many bodyguards and handlers he had with him. I get the feeling they were there to protect the corporate cash cow from himself and add an air of danger to the set.

I ended the day wet, tired and hoping the next day, Halloween, would be better. It was. Better, and drier.

The first act I was going to see was K’Naan on the Voodoo Stage, but he had to cancel so instead I got Dan Dyer as a replacement. He’s from Austin and I’d seen him there before. He was fine, but again, better in a club. I then moved to the second stage for a set by Mates of State, who always play a nice set, with several songs I recognize from seeing them several times.

Then it was back to the Voodoo Stage for Mute Math, a New Orleans band that has built up a rabid following because of their energetic live shows. The singer was doing somersaults over his keyboards during the set and pretty much tore up his keyboards and mike stand by the end of the set. The drummer had a new take on crowd surfing as he had some fans hold his bass drum over their heads while he stood atop it.

After the Mute Math set I grabbed a nice spot in the crowd to await the headlining set by KISS. Between sets I was able to rest a bit and store up some energy for the set by Wolfmother, which I figured would encourage a fairly rough crowd. I was right. There were too many crowd surfers, one of which clobbered me in the back of the head. I learned quickly that I would be safer with my back to the band, watching out for incoming crowd surfers so I could protect myself. It was an interesting variety of surfers, ranging from the usual college types to a guy in a gorilla suit, a girl who forgot to wear panties under her skirt, and a girl desperately clutching her bikini top to her as she was propelled to the security pit.

Then it was time for the hottest band in the land, KISS. I was extremely curious what they might do different for Halloween night. Would they dress normal, play without make-up, or wear different make-up? Nope, none of the above. It was pretty much the same set they played in Tampa, except they did not have hydraulic lifts on stage for “Rock and Roll all Nite.”

Gene Simmons spit blood and then flew to the top of the lighting rig, Paul Stanley rode a cable over the crowd to a second stage at the soundboard, and Tommy Thayer’s guitar fired off sparks during one of his solos, Eric Singer’s drumkit did have a hydraulic lift, and there was plenty of pyro. It was the perfect set for Halloween, and ended with a fireworks display over the stage.

The third day was my favorite day, even though here was no band I felt compelled to grab a nice spot for, or maybe because of that.

I started my day Brand New, a kinda indie, kinda screamo band that seems to have a good following (they were on the Voodoo stage with a decent crowd of mostly younger people). I couldn’t understand why they wore knit caps during their set on a warm day in New Orleans, although somebody said they were from Jersey (as if that explains it).

Next up was a nice country set, much better to my seasoned ears than indie music. Eric Church needed crutches to make his way to his stool on stage, but he still played an energetic set, even anchored to his stool. I recognized several songs from the radio and will definitely cach him again someday. Shooter Jennings also played a nice set of Outlaw Country Rock on the same stage (a third stage called the Soco Stage, which was not nearly as crowded as the other stage, possible because there was a lot of mud left over from the rain). Shooter alternated between guitar and keyboards, and had a guitarist who put a lot of energy into his playing.

Between my country sets, I caught some Irish-Celtic roots music on the second stage by the legendary Pogues. Great drinking music, even though I rarely drink. For some reason Shane McGowan was not on the stage during the first 3 songs (another singer handled the vocals, with no explanation given). The reason became clear on the fourth song as Shane stumbled on stage for the fourth song with a beer in his hand and probably a lot more in his body. He must have missed his stage cue and I later heard that the band was not happy with his behavior. There were even rumors that they were fighting, although I didn’t see it as I went to the Bingo Parlor stage (inside a tent) to catch a burlesque show by Fleur de Tease, which was entertaining and a nice change from the serious music happening elsewhere.

After the burlesque, I caught the end of a JJ Grey and Mofro set on the Soco Stage and then returned to the Bingo Parlor stage for some nice swing/old-timey music courtesy of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They put on a nice show and the music was full-tilt, but it is so hard to describe. All I can say is check them out, you’ll be happy you did.

The last day was set to end with two headliners on the two main stages. The Flaming Lips were first and every photographer at the Voodoo Experience showed up to go into the photo pit for that one. The show started with the giant bubble that Wayne Coyne uses to walk on the crowd, and included the usual confetti drop, streamer guns, etc that the Flaming Lips are known for.

The third song by the Flaming Lips had a nice surprise (or was it?). When I saw them at the Sasquatch! Festival two years ago, they had several naked (and I mean totally naked) girls run onstage during one of the songs. They did this at several shows during that time frame, but seem to have discontinued it. They still had the costumed fans on either side of the stage. One costumed girl decided it was her time to take off her costume and her dress and run up to Wayne totally naked. He had fun with it, although the roadie acted like it was unplanned and escorted her away a couple of times. She ended up back in costume for the rest of the set. Her parents must be so proud of her.

Lenny Kravitz closed down the Voodoo Stage with a hits-filled set that was well-received. I was very tired and could have easily left after Lenny, but I decided to hike all the way across the festival to catch the Meat Puppets in the Bingo Parlor Tent. It turned out to be my best decision of the weekend. The Meat Puppets were on fire and the set featured nice lighting which made for my best photos of the festival. Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum sang a song with them and Dave Schools of Widespread Panic was watching from the wings with a big grin on his face.

Bassist and guitarist Cris and Curt Kirkwood are back together again and the chemistry is still there. Cris was bobbing and bouncing all over the stage, thumping out mighty rhythms on his bass while Curt quietly attended to his guitar, flinging out some of the most delicious riffs the world has ever witnessed (my favorite is his chicken-pickin’ riffs although they are all quite tasty). To call it a jaw-dropping set would be putting it mildly. As far as I’m concerned this was THE headlining set of Voodoo Experience 2009. I gotta get their new album.

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