Voodoo Music Festival

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The Second Annual Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans went off this Saturday night. The festival featured a wide range of musical acts that included mid-level acts like Guster, The Getaway People, Black Eyed Peas, the hometown bands like Cowboy Mouth and Galactica, and even controversial artists Eminem. For the most part though the festival seemed to draw it’s “star power” from a group of bands that hit their musical primes, at least as far as album sales go, in the mid 90’s. Bands like Cypress Hill, Blues Traveler, 311, Live, Counting Crows, and the festival closer Stone Temple Pilots.

The festival featured three different stages, two stages close together that alternated acts, and a stage further away that were playing at the same time as one of the two main stages. This wouldn’t have been a huge problem if there wasn’t only one small bridge connecting the two areas, actually there were two bridges but the concert staff failed to let everyone know that so when one act would end around 15,000 people or so would attempt to cross the bridge at the same time to go see the other bands perform, this resulted in long waits and once you got to the other stage you had already missed half of the bands set, not a good thing. As a result I only managed to see a handful of the bands present.

When our group arrived at the festival, the band that was getting ready to play was The Getaway People. It was still very early in the day so the place wasn’t exactly packed so we walked up to the front of the stage and waited for the band to take the stage. Prior to seeing them live I had only heard one of their songs and thought it was decent, nothing too great. However once the band took the stage I immediately started to like them. Their music is pretty much everywhere on the musical landscape ranging anywhere from reggae to soul to rock, and they pull it off nicely. The band ripped through their set, usually while smoking a cigarette or nursing a cold one, and joked with the crowd and amongst themselves. The band finished their set with a surprisingly dead on cover of AC/DC’s “Back in Black.”

Blues Traveler was the next band we were able to see perform…unfortunately. The band didn’t really impress me much, even though I have a few of their albums, they just didn’t come off very well live, mostly it was too much “jamming” that did it for me, not every song needs a 2 minute long harmonica solo Mr. Popper.

Up next for us was a slow trek back to the main stages, to see everyone’s favorite rapper Eminem. We arrived just as his set was supposed to start, but apparently Marshall Mathers does not own a watch as he decided to show up around 35 minutes late. In the meantime the crowd got restless and began launching empty water bottles at each other, which was fun until some moron’s decided to throw full water bottles around. When Marshall finally took the stage he went through, most of the new material on his album, in between songs demanding to know where his liquor was and encourageing the girls on their boyfriends shoulders to show him their tits and for ever one else to flip him off. Probably the funniest thing I saw all night was when Em and his crew made fun of the Backstreet Boys and N’SYNC, by breaking out into some synchronized dance moves as the Real Slim Shady made up alternative lyrics to one of the boy groups songs.

After that we had a choice to make should we make our way back to the other stage to see Live and later Counting Crows, or stay at the main stage and see 311 and then get a better view of Stone Temple Pilots. We chose the later and suffered through a 311 set that made up for all the songs sounding the same, with the energy that they played with. After 311 finished up me and my group made our way to the front of the stage were we sat for 2 and half hours waiting to see Stone Temple Pilots, while we waited we could listen to Cowboy Mouth who were tearing stuff up on the stage opposite us, after them was Rahzel, the human beat box, who was decent, but at that time people were just ready for STP. After Rahzel finished up more people made their way to the main stage for STP.

Unlike the other bands that played STP had plenty of time to set up the stage how they wanted it with their own lighting and directly behind the drum kit a giant star that had videos and other images projected onto it. As the stage filled with fog a familiar voice came over the p.a. system, it was the song "Wet My Bed" from the bands debut CD "Core" as it got towards the end of the track, a lone figure came out of the fog and to the front of the stage. It was front man Scott Weiland, dressed in black slacks, an un-buttoned dress shirt, and a huge curly black wig tied with a bandanna, Weiland sang into a mega phone along with the song. As the track ended the lights flashed and the rest of the band was own stage and the band flew into "Vasoline" the crowd surged forward and screamed along with the band.

As the set moved along Weiland removed the shirt and wig to reveal his newly shaved head. The band ran through both new and old material, occasionally taking time in between songs to interact with the crowd, before plowing forward. If memory serves me correctly, which it probably won't considering all the crowd surfers kicking me in the head and the excessive amount of weed smoked near me, the band played in no particular order "Down", "Interstate Love Song", "Plush", "Unglued", "Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart", current single "No Way Out" and probably a few others that I can't remember. The band left the stage for a couple of minutes while the crowd chanted STP over and over, when the band returned Weiland standing above the drum kit, with a mask covering his face, and elbow length gloves on, once again barking into a mega phone this time it was the familiar intro of "Dead and Bloated" which the band ripped through and followed that up with another song from core "Wicked Garden" towards the end of the song Weiland stood up in the middle of the stage wrapped the American flag he was carrying around his waist and removed his pants, and finished the song dressed in nothing more than that. The band really made the concert for me and made it extra intense by avoiding some of their "softer" material and just going with the pure hard rock. A great ending to a great festival that I definitely can't wait to go to next year.


	Steamer Trunk \| home stuff about me \| album reviews \| PS2 game reviews \| pictures \| web watch \| getting in touch Rilo Kiley - Take Offs and Landings \| Slipknot - Iowa \| Ozma - Rock and Roll Part Three \| Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs \| Lit - Atomic \| Garbage - Beautifulgarbage \| The Strokes - Is This It \| Live - V \| Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls \| Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American \| Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket \| Weezer - The Green Album \| Alkaline Trio From Here to Infirmary \| Alkaline Trio - Hell Yes \| American Hi-Fi \| Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines \| Aerosmith - Just Push Play \| Dave Matthews Band - Everyday \| Blue Meanies - Post Wave \| Weston - The Massed Albert Sounds \| U2 - All That You Cant Leave Behind \| Green Day - Warning \| Offspring - Conspiracy of One \| Everclear - Songs from an American Movie Vol. 2 \| Radiohead - Kid A \| Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water \| Smashing Pumkins - Machina II \| Superdrag - In The Valley Of Dying Stars \| Voodoo Music Festival Voodoo Music Festival The Second Annual Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans went off this Saturday night. The festival featured a wide range of musical acts that included mid-level acts like Guster, The Getaway People, Black Eyed Peas, the hometown bands like Cowboy Mouth and Galactica, and even controversial artists Eminem. For the most part though the festival seemed to draw it’s “star power” from a group of bands that hit their musical primes, at least as far as album sales go, in the mid 90’s. Bands like Cypress Hill, Blues Traveler, 311, Live, Counting Crows, and the festival closer Stone Temple Pilots. The festival featured three different stages, two stages close together that alternated acts, and a stage further away that were playing at the same time as one of the two main stages. This wouldn’t have been a huge problem if there wasn’t only one small bridge connecting the two areas, actually there were two bridges but the concert staff failed to let everyone know that so when one act would end around 15,000 people or so would attempt to cross the bridge at the same time to go see the other bands perform, this resulted in long waits and once you got to the other stage you had already missed half of the bands set, not a good thing. As a result I only managed to see a handful of the bands present. When our group arrived at the festival, the band that was getting ready to play was The Getaway People. It was still very early in the day so the place wasn’t exactly packed so we walked up to the front of the stage and waited for the band to take the stage. Prior to seeing them live I had only heard one of their songs and thought it was decent, nothing too great. However once the band took the stage I immediately started to like them. Their music is pretty much everywhere on the musical landscape ranging anywhere from reggae to soul to rock, and they pull it off nicely. The band ripped through their set, usually while smoking a cigarette or nursing a cold one, and joked with the crowd and amongst themselves. The band finished their set with a surprisingly dead on cover of AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” Blues Traveler was the next band we were able to see perform…unfortunately. The band didn’t really impress me much, even though I have a few of their albums, they just didn’t come off very well live, mostly it was too much “jamming” that did it for me, not every song needs a 2 minute long harmonica solo Mr. Popper. Up next for us was a slow trek back to the main stages, to see everyone’s favorite rapper Eminem. We arrived just as his set was supposed to start, but apparently Marshall Mathers does not own a watch as he decided to show up around 35 minutes late. In the meantime the crowd got restless and began launching empty water bottles at each other, which was fun until some moron’s decided to throw full water bottles around. When Marshall finally took the stage he went through, most of the new material on his album, in between songs demanding to know where his liquor was and encourageing the girls on their boyfriends shoulders to show him their tits and for ever one else to flip him off. Probably the funniest thing I saw all night was when Em and his crew made fun of the Backstreet Boys and N’SYNC, by breaking out into some synchronized dance moves as the Real Slim Shady made up alternative lyrics to one of the boy groups songs. After that we had a choice to make should we make our way back to the other stage to see Live and later Counting Crows, or stay at the main stage and see 311 and then get a better view of Stone Temple Pilots. We chose the later and suffered through a 311 set that made up for all the songs sounding the same, with the energy that they played with. After 311 finished up me and my group made our way to the front of the stage were we sat for 2 and half hours waiting to see Stone Temple Pilots, while we waited we could listen to Cowboy Mouth who were tearing stuff up on the stage opposite us, after them was Rahzel, the human beat box, who was decent, but at that time people were just ready for STP. After Rahzel finished up more people made their way to the main stage for STP. Unlike the other bands that played STP had plenty of time to set up the stage how they wanted it with their own lighting and directly behind the drum kit a giant star that had videos and other images projected onto it. As the stage filled with fog a familiar voice came over the p.a. system, it was the song "Wet My Bed" from the bands debut CD "Core" as it got towards the end of the track, a lone figure came out of the fog and to the front of the stage. It was front man Scott Weiland, dressed in black slacks, an un-buttoned dress shirt, and a huge curly black wig tied with a bandanna, Weiland sang into a mega phone along with the song. As the track ended the lights flashed and the rest of the band was own stage and the band flew into "Vasoline" the crowd surged forward and screamed along with the band. As the set moved along Weiland removed the shirt and wig to reveal his newly shaved head. The band ran through both new and old material, occasionally taking time in between songs to interact with the crowd, before plowing forward. If memory serves me correctly, which it probably won't considering all the crowd surfers kicking me in the head and the excessive amount of weed smoked near me, the band played in no particular order "Down", "Interstate Love Song", "Plush", "Unglued", "Trippin' On a Hole in a Paper Heart", current single "No Way Out" and probably a few others that I can't remember. The band left the stage for a couple of minutes while the crowd chanted STP over and over, when the band returned Weiland standing above the drum kit, with a mask covering his face, and elbow length gloves on, once again barking into a mega phone this time it was the familiar intro of "Dead and Bloated" which the band ripped through and followed that up with another song from core "Wicked Garden" towards the end of the song Weiland stood up in the middle of the stage wrapped the American flag he was carrying around his waist and removed his pants, and finished the song dressed in nothing more than that. The band really made the concert for me and made it extra intense by avoiding some of their "softer" material and just going with the pure hard rock. A great ending to a great festival that I definitely can't wait to go to next year.