By MIKE PERCIACCANTE and CHRISTINE CONNALLON
2014 Voodoo Music and Arts Experience
New Orleans, LA
October 31 -November 2, 2014
In 1974, after seeing a performance at the Harvard Square Theater, Jon Landau once wrote, “I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.” What a bold, prophetic and accurate statement. Now, forty years later a similar statement could be made about Trombone Shorty (Troy Andrews). Trombone Shorty is the future of musical fusion. He mixes elements of all musical genres.
His 2014 Voodoo performance on the Ritual Stage on Sunday, November 2, was a rocking mélange of pop, blues, R&B, jazz, funk, brass, hip-hop and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. According to his website, Shorty calls his style “SupaFunkRock.” As Landau stated about Springsteen so long ago, Shorty makes the listener feel like he or she is “hearing music for the very first time.” Quite a heady statement. It is, however, more than that. Talent courses through his veins and the veins of his family members. His grandfather is the late Jessie “Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo” Hill. His brother is trumpeter James “Satchmo of the Ghetto” Andrews. His cousins are trombonist/vocalist Glen David Andrews and the Rebirth Brass Band’s Derrick Tabb. That’s quite the pedigree. DNA is one thing, but individual talent is quite another. Shorty is an amazing player and singer. As a performer he is unparalleled. His vitality, energy and charisma is infectious.
His Voodoo performance and that of his band, Orleans Avenue, was astonishing—even for those familiar with the New Orleans legend. It was a musical onslaught. Shorty played trombone and trumpet, danced across the stage and sang. A quadruple threat, Shorty and his band were clearly “in the zone” and enjoying the performance just as much as the audience. The band played flawlessly. Highlights of the tour-de-force performance included a number of energetic and lively instrumentals, “The Craziest Things,” the cover of Green Day’s “Brain Stew” and “Fire and Brimstone.” Trombone Shorty has a presence about him. He is a rockstar, though he doesn’t act like one. And, he is humble. His talent outshines his unassuming attitude. He truly is the future of fusion.
Following Trombone Shorty, the festival’s headliners Foo Fighters took the Ritual stage. Introduced by former New Orleans Saint safety and ALS sufferer Steve Gleason (who had introduced the 2013 festival headliners Pearl Jam), Foo Fighters performance was lengthy and legendary. After the band opened with “All Of My Life,” lead singer Dave Grohl interspersed the band’s hits-filled performance with tales about his travels through New Orleans and his love of the city.
He told a story about an encounter he had earlier in the day. He said, “You never take a day off before you play in New Orleans because you go out and have too much fun, and you have to work in the evening…I was walking through the French Quarter about three hours ago. I walked into a bar and these three old ladies asked me, ‘Will you do a mind eraser with us?’ I said ‘No’ and the whole bar booed. So I did it, then I walked in here tonight feeling just right.” He told also told another story about shopping at Rite Aid for the pants that drummer Taylor Hawkins was wearing and proudly showed off to the audience. He also asked, “Ever see a Foo Fighters show? You know, we keep playing until they kick us off the stage. So tonight we’re going to play some new songs and some old songs and play until they make us stop.” And they did.
Highlights of Foo Fighters’ set included: “This Is A Call,” “My Hero,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” (a cover of the Van Halen rocker), “Something From Nothing,” a cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” Queen’s “Under Pressure,” and the closing song “Everlong.” The evening’s highlight was when Grohl brought Trombone Shorty out on stage with him to perform “This Is a Call.” The incredible performance, which featured a dynamic trombone solo during an extended instrumental interlude, was so electrifying that people were commenting that the hair on their arms was tingling.
The sixteenth Voodoo Music and Arts Experience definitely closed on a high note. The festival (overall) was one to remember. This version of Voodoo (as evidenced by Trombone Shorty’s breathtaking performances) was all about the local and up-and-coming acts. The headliners and bigger name acts including: Foo Fighters, Outkast, Arctic Monkeys, Slayer (who, as expected, were loud, fast and out of control), Thirty Seconds To Mars (highlighted by the covers of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Metallica’s “Sad But True”), the Melvins, City and Colour (who delivered a killer set from the Carnival stage on Saturday evening), Zedd and Skrillex—all delivered strong sets as expected. But, in addition to Trombone Shorty, it was the performances by acts like AWOLNATION, Royal Teeth, Flow Tribe, Manchester Orchestra, the Revivalists, Wild Feathers, Rise Against, Benjamin Booker, Rebirth Brass Band, the Soul Rebels, Pretty Lights, Dirty Bourbon River Show, Bonerama, Peelander Z, Honey Island Swamp Band, John Butler Trio, Gogol Bordello, Big Freedia, Sturgill Simpson, Lindsay Lowend, Twenty One Pilots, Bleachers, Barcelona, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, GIVERS and Crass Mammoth that defined the festival.
Day 1: Friday, October 31, 2014
Sturgill Simpson is a rising outlaw country star. Some even call him the savior of country music. His early in the day performance on the Carnival Stage on Friday gave some creedence to that point. In reality he is a throwback to the originals outlaws of the movement that bears that name. His music isn’t slick like what passes for country pop like much of what currently gets airplay on terrestrial radio. He is often compared to Waylon Jennings—both vocally and stylistically. That’s a pretty heady comparison. He and his twangy four piece combo even covered Jennings’ “Waymore Blues” during his set. As one of the only true Americana acts at the festival it was also a pleasure to hear his cover of Lefty Frizzel’s “I Never Go Around Mirrors. His vocals along with guitar work of Laur Joamets, made Simpson’s performance stand out. Known as an existential thinker, prior to playing “Turtles” Simpson even told a story about how the song is a peyote fantasy based off of a joke about the universe being balanced on an infinite number of turtles. Another highlight of his set was the medley of The Osborne Brothers’ “Listening To The Rain” morphing into T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong.”
For the uninitiated, Bonerama is a funky rock, soul, reggae, fusion, pop, jazz, brass, blues band from New Orleans formed in 1998 by trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein. Along with Greg Hicks (also on trombone), Mullins and Klein’s band is one of a kind. The group’s three trombone attack backed by electric guitar, bass, drums and, on this day, tuba give a different edge and feeling to rock ‘n’ roll. Not only does it work, but it gets the audience on its feet and dancing. The members of Bonerama arrived on the Flambeau Stage dressed in costume. Craig Klein stepped forward and announced, “Hey! How’re y’all doing? It’s a beautiful day in New Orleans, LA. We’re called Bonerama. You’re spending the day with Bonerama!” The crowd which (at the early hour) was comprised mostly of New Orleans locals shrieked its approval, sang along with the band, pantomimed playing trombone and danced until it was exhausted. Highlights included: “Let The Four Winds Blow,” a Bonerama-ized version of the traditional Mardi Gras Indian chant/song “Indian Red,” the brass band cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” “Shake your Rugalator” and the cover of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein.”
Another local and home-grown band, Royal Teeth arrived on the Ritual stage dressed in Halloween costumes and hats. The New Orleans indie pop group is comprised of guitarist Gary Larsen, singer Nora Patterson, guitarist Thomas Onebane, bassist Joshua Wells, and drummer Josh Hefner. In 2013, the band played one of the festival’s smaller stages, By 2014, as the band’s popularity had increased, they “graduated” to the main stage. The Ritual stage. The Royal Teeth performance from the big stage did not disappoint its fans. The group played an energetic eleven song set that was highlighted by “Hold Me,” the cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love Is A Battlefield’ (on which Patterson shined), a superb unnamed new song that the band stated was a work in-progress and its most well-known song “Wild.”
Twenty One Pilots hails from Columbus, Ohio. The indie pop/rap rock/indietronic duo consists of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. Prior to signing with Fueled by Ramen Records in 2012, Joseph and Dun released two independent albums, Twenty One Pilots in 2009 and Regional at Best in 2011. Twenty One Pilots released its major label debut Vessel on Fueled by Ramen in 2013. Dressed in black with their faces covered Joseph and Dun appeared on the Ritual Stage and opened with “Guns for Hands.” During the set the guys both donned numerous outfits and surfed the crowd. Highlights included the ukulele renditions of Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love” and Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Addict With A Pen,” “Holding On To You” and “Car Radio.”
As the sun began to set New York City-based Bleachers graced the Carnival Stage. Led by Jack Antonoff, the band’s performance was a modern-day version of what can only be described as a “wall of sound.” Featuring tons of harmony, happy, upbeat and vital songs, Bleachers should be getting the same amount of airplay that the similarly influenced and sounding Youngblood Hawke and AWOLNATION are receiving. Highlights of its nine song set included: “Wake Me,” “Rollercoaster,” “You’re Still A Mystery,” the cover of the Cranberries’ “Dreams” (which was announced as being “for those born in the ’90s) and the band’s final number “I Wanna Get Better” (which was played following a costume change). The band members momentarily left the stage only to race back dressed in matching Little Orphan Annie outfits. It was quite a spectacle and an amazing performance!
Politically and socially active (they support Amnesty International, PETA, straight edge and vegetarian causes) Chicago punk rockers Rise Against’s ritual stage performance was nothing less than spectacular. Lead singer Tim McGrath quipped that he’d never seen so many banana costumes and that the band should consider selling banana merchandise, he also got the crowd into his band’s performance by asking if there was a punk scene in New Orleans and by getting the audience to react by asking, “Can you scream?” Naturally, the crowd members obliged. Highlights included “I Don’t Want to Be Here anymore (from the 2014 DGC/Interscope Records release The Black Market), “Give It All,” “Help I Son The Way,” “Audience of One,” “Like the Angel” and “Savior.”
Thirty-five years into its career, Fishbone is still bring an amazing and insane fusion of alternative, ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul mixed together with a very distinctive and off-kilter sense of humor to every performance. As darkness began to descent on the first night of Voodoo, Fishbone on the Flambeau stage delivered a set of total zaniness that carried over to its set later that evening at the Joy Theater in Downtown New Orleans.
The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans institution. Though the band was scheduled on one of the smaller stages—the Flambeau—the sound was big. The brass rang out as the band could be heard across the festival grounds even though Slayer was on opposite over on the Ritual stage. When Slayer finished a song the sound of Voodoo was that of Rebirth. that isn’t to say that Slayer drowned out the band. In the past that might have been the case, but for Voodoo 2014, the festival organizers seemed to have mostly solved the issue of bleed from competing stages. Playing songs from every part of its career, the band also showed its sense of humor by covering “Ghostbusters.” Another highlight was the superb performance of “Casanova.”
Day 2: Saturday, November 2, 2014
Flow Tribe is a New Orleans based funk/rock band. Opening the Ritual stage on day two of the festival (dressed as Tibetan monks in neon green and purple costumes with skull caps), the six piece band offered its musical gumbo of funk, jazz, reggae, rock, latin, hip-hop and blues to the audience. For the locals in the crowd it was as welcome as mother’s milk. They started dancing and bopping along to the groove-based funky beats and music that K.C. O’Rorke (vocals, trumpet), Chad Penot (bass, vocals), John Michael Early (harmonica, vocals, keyboard, washboard), Bryan Santos (guitar, timbales), Mario Palmisano (guitar) and Russel Olschner (drums) were laying down and soon they were joined by other festival revelers who were drawn to the commotion, performance and joyous celebration. The highlights of the eclectic set included: the snippet of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Hungry For You,” “Walk Like An Animal,” the theme from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the cover of Smashing Pumpkins “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and a number of tracks from its new Alligator White EP (Independent, 2014).
Barcelona announced itself to the Flambeau Stage crowd with a simple, “Hello, hello everybody. We’re from Seattle, WA. We’re called Barcelona. Thanks for being here.” By the end of the band’s short poppy set of modern rock (with a distinctly late ’80s/early ’90s feel), it was the audience members who were thanking the 3-piece (guitar, keys, drums) band for being there. The audience ate up the band’s indie pop (the band classifies itself as piano rock) sound. As the band’s set was ending, many festival goers (who had obviously never seen the band before) were heard stating, “We’ve got to find out more about these guys.” Highlights were “Desperate Man” and “Diamond And Silver”(which was introduced with “Some of you are dressed up and you look great. Those who aren’t look great too. This is our first time in New Orleans. Walking down Bourbon Street last night, I got licked on the head by a police horse…which is a great intro to this song.”).
They’re back. The reunited Death From Above 1979’s performance from the Ritual Stage was as expected: loud, fast and heavy on the bass. The Canadian garage/punk duo released its first album You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine in 2004 (Last Gang/Vice Records) and broke-up in 2006. Sebastien Granger and Jesse F. Keeler reunited in 2011 for a tour and released The Physical World in 2014 on Warner Brothers/Last Gang Records. Sounding tight but with the rowdy and disorderly edge that defines its sound Death From Above 1979’s set was highlighted by “Right On, Frankenstein!, “Virgins,” “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine,” “Government Trash” and “The Physical World.”
The Wild Feathers is still touring behind its 2013 Warner Brothers self-titled release. The Nashville, TN quintet with the rocking, southern fried, boogie-woogie bluesy sound performed on the Flambeau Stage as the sun set on Saturday afternoon. Announcing themselves with the quip “How Do you do, Voodoo? I always wanted to say that. It’s a dad joke, I know…,” the band wowed the crowd with “Hard Wind,” “Christine,” “I Got it Wrong,” “American” and “Hard Times.”
Peelander Z is a delightfully wacky Japanese punk pop band based in New York City. They bill themselves as a Japanese Action Comic Punk band hailing from the Z area of Planet Peelander. They have to be seen to be believed—performing in color-coordinated costumes, that band members claim aren’t costumes, but skin. Peelander Purple, Peelander Green, and Peelander Yellow, along with the lone female member, Peelander Pink who doubles as the band’s merchandise salesperson, worked the crowd into a frenzy. The performance itself was zany, the band played at a breakneck pace, brought audience members on stage and surfed the crowd. Peelander Yellow served as Master of Ceremonies leading the audience through the show with Peelander Pink carrying signs telling the crowd how to respond to Yellow as well as the call-and-answer songs. An unexpected highlight was the cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” sung by Peelander Pink. The drop-you-jaw moment was when Peelander Yello brought and unsuspecting audience member on stage and proceeded to climb onto the man’s shoulder all the while performing. What a spectacle!
Lafayette, LA’s Givers returned to the Voodoo festival on the Flambeau Stage with its patented mix of afro-beat, dance, indie pop and light rock. The band played a number of tracks from its 2011 Glassnote Records release In Light and some slow burning new songs that it is working on (and that will hopefully be available on its sophomore album).
Benjamin Booker is this year’s Gary Clark, Jr.—the darling of the festival. For those who haven’t heard of him, it won’t be long before you do. He also bleeds the blues. Some consider him a New Orleans local and others argue that he is from Florida. Both are correct. Originally from Gainsville, FL, Booker moved to New Orleans in 2012. His performance was incendiary. His fretwork was fiery, with an urgency that can only be found in songs by the greatest of blues-rock guitarslingers. His voice a tad raspy but nonetheless soulful. The man is a bit of a throwback but with a modern tone. He skillfully mixes electric blues, with roadhouse rockin,’ a bit of cow-punk and a touch of both classic and modern rock to create a sound that is both familiar and new to even the most seasoned musical ears.
Skrillex played on the Le Plur Stage as the temperature dropped. The fans hardly noticed, mainly because the heat generated by their dancing kept them warm. For those in attendance it was virtually impossible to not get into the music as Sonny John Moore delivered a set that was so impossibly danceable that even the most uncoordinated found themselves grooving to the beats.
Saturday’s low-light was one of the festival’s bigger-name acts. Ms. Lauren Hill, obviously, is in need of an alarm clock, a minder or a drill sergeant to make sure that she appears on time. Hill was 45 minutes late for her set on the Ritual Stage. So late, in fact that, Voodoo officials pulled the plug midway through her performance. This was done so Thirty Seconds to Mars could actually perform in its allotted slot. Unfortunately, an announcement was made that she would be allowed to complete her performance at the end of the evening…and she was 45 minutes late for the make-up performance. The diva act didn’t go over well with a large number of audience members. It seems at Hill has a sense of entitlement. It would also appear that punctuality is not her strong suit.
Day 3: Sunday, November 2, 2014
Crass Mammoth opened the day’s proceedings on the Carnival Stage with a tight powerful set of straight forward alternative-influenced rock ‘n’ roll. It served as the perfect way to open the last day of the festival (as many revelers didn’t arrive at City Park until after 12:30pm). Comprised of the Crowe brothers, Joseph (vocals, guitar, drums) and Matthew (bass, drums) and their lifelong friend Trey Epperson III (who also sits behind the drum kit), the Chatsworth, GA band won over the crowd very quickly with its hard rockin’ alternative musical onslaught.
Though the John Butler Trio has been recording since the early 2000s, the group is woefully underappreciated. The roots-rock, jamband is lead by Butler, an Australian who can play 12-string guitar and pluck a banjo with the best of ’em. Appearing early in the day on the Ritual Stage, the groups set was an eye-opener—in many cases a real eye-opener for those festival goers who had spent much of the previous evening on Bourbon Street or sampling New Orleans’ famed and fabled all over the town nightlife. This fact was not lost on Butler who announced that the day’s set would be “a little bit of a schizophrenic journey; hope you’ll come along.” Highlights included: “Blame It On Me” from 2014’s Flesh & Blood (Vanguard), “the stunning instrumental “Ocean,” “I’d Do Anything (Soldier’s Lament)” and “Pickapart.”
Drew Holcombe & The Neighbors has an almost folky, rock vibe to its poppy Americana music. During the stellar performance (on the Flambeau Stage) which included “Can’t Take It With You” and the Band’s “Up on Cripple Creek” the bleed from the Ritual Stage could be heard quite clearly. Holcombe, who was in great spirits quipped, “John Butler is part of our band today.”
AWOLNATION lit up the Ritual Stage. The Los Angeles, CA band brought its bright, poppy, rock ‘n’ roll to the Voodoo crowd in what was easily one of the best, if not the best performance of the entire festival. Opening with the title track of its platinum full-length debut CD Megalithic Symphony (Red Bull Records, 2011), the hits-filled set had the audience on its collective feet dancing and grooving to the music and Aaron Bruno’s vocals. The band took the delirious crowd by storm, playing “Guilty Filthy Soul,” “Sail” “Jump on My Shoulders” “Not Your Fault,” the newish “Some Kind Of Joke” (which was released in 2013 on the Iron Man 3: Heroes Fall—Music Inspired by the Motion Picture soundtrack (Hollywood Records) and “Burn It Down” during its set. Ever the showman, Bruno engaged the crowd, with a dare. He said, “I challenge you guys to turn this place into a frenzy!” The audience was clearly up to the task. The crowd went nuts as audience members and Bruno himself surfed the crowd. Wow!
Highlighted by a stunning cover of the Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” the Revivalists made a statement on the Flambeau Stage. The homegrown New Orleans band also made another statement,. At the beginning of the band’s performance, lead vocalist David Shaw stepped forward and proudly announced, “We are New Orleans. We do it every day!” The crowd erupted in appreciation of the hometown heroes. What followed was a set of brassy, jammy funk ‘n’ roll that Shaw, pedal steel-guitarist Ed Williams, Guitarist Zach Fineberg, Saxophonist Rob Ingraham, George Gekas on bass, drummer Andrew Campanelli and keyboardist/trumpeter Michael Girardot delivered in a manner as though their lives depended upon it. It was frantic, energetic and powerful. Without a new album to promote (the band’s last, City of Sound was re-released with bonus tracks by Wind-up Records earlier in 2014), the Revivalists was set centered favorite tracks from its two full-length CDs and its independently released EP, as well as some new and as yet unrecorded songs. Though the sound at this year’s festival was a marked improvement over that of 2013, Shaw made it a point to jokingly refer to the bleed from the competing stages. He spoke of how the bands on the main stage and the bands on the Flambeau Stage were “having a contest to see who had the loudest speakers.”
Fuel appears to be ready for a huge comeback. The reconstituted version of the band features original lead-singer Brett Scallions and a whole new supporting cast. With a new CD and a new band it can definitely be considered a up-and-comer. Fuel took the older members of the audience back to the late ’90s early 2000s with a set that leaned heavily on its output from that era—”Bad Day” and “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” from Something Like Human (Epic, 2000), “Jesus Or A Gun,” “Bittersweet” and “Shimmer” from 1998’s Sunburn (550 Music). The tight performance on the Carnival Stage, however, was in no way that of a legacy act. The new song, “Puppet Strings” from the album of the same name (Megaforce, 2014) was pure honest proto-punk/post grunge rock ‘n’ roll that very quickly had the audience singing along. Also of note was the powerful “Time For Me To Stop” (also from Puppet Strings) which Scallions introduced as “a song about addiction.”
After the sun finally set and twilight had retreated, the moon rose high in the sky and a large crowd has assembled at the Carnival Stage for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. Unfortunately, its set was plagued by technical issues. After opening with “We Rise Again,” the sound was clearly off on “Not A Crime.” The band stopped mid song and frontman Eugene Hutz was forced to entertain his audience with a story about Hurricane Katrina. He said, “Right before we came here, I was talking to someone who was here during Katrina who said that during that time they were listing to our song ‘Illumination.’ I think we should restart the show with that song because technical glitches happen and it is appropriate.” The glitch didn’t ruin the performance but it did bring it down a notch from the usually psycho-gypsy frenzied high kicking spectacle for which the band has become known. Some highlights were the performance of “Alcohol,” and “Start Wearing Purple.”
Manchester Orchestra stormed its way onto the Flambeau Stage performing a hard, fast and rockin’ set. The performance featuring an amazing light show. The Atlanta-based band led by singer Andy Hull delivered a strong set with a number of songs featuring hard staccato beats with minor chords bubbling underneath. Touring behind not one, but two 2014 releases: Hope (Universal) and the soon to be released em>Cope on Loma Vista/ Republic Records (which features the exact same songs as those on Hope re-imagined and re-arranged. Highlights of the exempliary set included “Pensacola” From Simple Math (Columbia, 2011), “Shake It Out,” “The River” and “Pride” (from 2009’s Favorite Gentlemen Records release Mean Everything to Nothing), “Top Notch,” and “The Ocean. and “The River.”
Some of what has made Voodoo a special festival have been lost in time. There still, however, is plenty of charm to the festival. Many revelers arrived at City Park dressed in Halloween garb. Some costumes were clever. Some were provocative. Some were elaborate. Some were group costumes (like the group dressed as the Fintstones). Some outfits defied explanation. A number of art installations were present on the festival grounds. Some were new. Some were old. And, some that had been staples of past festivals appear to have been retired. The Ferris Wheel and other carnival rides were, as always, fun—especially after dark when they were lit up with neon. The Toyota Soundstage was gone as it appeared the Toyota was no longer a festival sponsor. The food, as always, was excellent. There was a main food court area featuring local cuisine and all sorts of barbecue fare as well as a secondary smaller food court where hot dogs, burgers, funnel cakes, chicken on a stick and root beer floats were readily available. Additionally there were a few other vendors and a general store (where cookies, candy and other necessities were available for purchase) located throughout the festival grounds.
Management obviously learned a little from the shortcomings experienced by the 2013 festival. Most of the sound bleed issues were resolved. There was some bleed, but that happens at every festival. This year’s bleed was much less of a distraction. The general store was much easier to find—and was clearly marked. Festival organizers made it a point to set-up a free water station complete with Mio brand water enhancers to service every festival attendee’s needs.
The true test of a music festival is (naturally) the music. It is how all festivals are remembered and judged (mostly). And on a musical note the 16th Voodoo Music and Arts Experience was a successful blend of high profile national and local musical acts representing many different genres into a three-day festival. Though there were fewer legacy New Orleans acts (Dr. John, Cowboy Mouth, George Porter, Paul Sanchez, Shamarr Allen, Glen David Andrews, the Subdudes, Debbie Davis, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and/or members of the Radiators were nowhere to be found). The number of jazz acts was also lacking. It might have been nice for Nichols Payton, at least one Marsalis, Donald Harrison or Preservation Hall Jazz Band to have been extended a place in the line-up. Sadly, there were only so many spots available. The key point is that the festival hosted a number of local acts (Royal Teeth, Flow Tribe, the Revivalists, Benjamin Booker, Big Freedia and Rebirth Brass Band to name but a few).
It’ll be interesting to see who will be scheduled for the 17th festival when the line-up is announced. Halloween Weekend 2015 and The Voodoo Experience are scheduled for Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1. Its guaranteed to be a blast where fans of all musicval genres can congregate to “worship the music.”
Photo Credit: Christine Connallon
