Voodoo fest took place at City Park, New Orleans from October 30 to November 1. This three-day festival was jam packed with talent and energy. Each day featured up to 25 different performers on one of four large stages. Each performer did an incredible job making the stage their own. Here is what you missed.
Day one:
Joey Bada$$ and the Soul Rebels
The Soul Rebels started off the set by showing off their talent as a traditional New Orleans brass ensemble. Their combination of soul, jazz, funk and rock styles separated them from other brass bands. Partnering up with rapper Joey Bada$$ added new elements to their soul sound. Joey Bada$$ rapped over the smooth beats, and created an intriguing sound that drew a large crowd to the Carnival stage.
Modest Mouse
Issac Brock led his band through an exceptional one-set show on the Altar stage. The bands interesting indie-hipster sound had the whole crowd moving. This band was formed in 1992, and is still up and coming. It doesn’t matter if you have heard of them or not, their unique sound is absolutely worth hearing, whether you are right up front jamming with the band, or sitting in the grass relaxing and listening with friends.
Jack ü
The tag team of Diplo and Skrillex played an amazing show on stage Le Plur. Both artists played their personal mixes and some of their collaborative pieces. Each song got the whole crown singing. The crowd was pleased with each “drop,” which is what Jack ü is known for. Guest artist, Kai, joined Jack ü on stage to sing her most well-known song with Diplo, "Revolution." The show wouldn’t have been complete without the fantastical light show that engulfed the stage in light and color. This high-energy show was definitely one for the books for these well-known dub step artists.
Florence + The Machine
Florence and the Machine drew a huge crowd to the Altar stage to close out day one of the festival. Florence herself was wearing a hot pink pant suit with her face painted like a sugar skull, appropriate for Halloween weekend. Her performance included popular songs: The Dog Days are over, What Kind of Man, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Sweet Nothing, Shake it Out and many more. Her up-beat character and heartwarming music had the whole crowd dancing and singing along. You could truly feel the love in the crowd. This British band has produced many number-one hits, and has every intention to continue this trend. Florence and the Machine put on a lively show that anyone would enjoy.
Day two:
Sanigold
With her first album released in 2008, Santi White, better known for her stage name Santigold, showed the crowd her incredible talent on the Altar stage. This relatively knew artist is known for her extremely different sound and influences form many different genres of music. Her music is pleasant and contains a little bit of something for everyone. This artist is definitely one to keep your eyes on in the future.
Jane’s Addiction
Any rocker knows that Jane’s Addiction sets a certain standard for rock music. Everything about them screams rock and roll, from their exceptional guitar and drum solos to their clothing and face paint, these guys know how to get the crowd going. On the Altar stage, the members of Jane’s Addiction worked together to own the stage and get the whole audience singing alone to some of their most popular songs.
Ozzy Osborne, Slash, Tom Morello
How could you not see Ozzy Osborne on Halloween? As a legend of rock, Ozzy put on an incredible, crowd-pleasing show on the Altar stage. Musician Tom Morello accompanied Ozzy. Tom Morello is known for his long bond with the band Rage Against the Machine and is now touring with Bruce Springsteen as a part of the E Street Band.
To add even more talent to the stage, probably the most well-known guitarist joined Osbourne and Morello, Slash. Wearing his signature black top hat, Slash got the whole crowd excited with elaborate guitar solos, and overall presence with the other two musicians. In the middle of the show it began to rain, but that didn’t stop the fans from dancing in the rain and mud to some of their favorite Ozzy songs such as Mr. Crowley, Iron Man, Mama, I’m Coming Home and Paranoid.
Just when the whole crowd thought it was over, Ozzy encored with Crazy Train. Hearing everyone scream the chorus to this song proved that he had saved the best for last. Through all the rain and mud, this star-studded show was loaded with talent and energy from the performers and the audience.
Ozzy was honored to close out day two of Voodoo fest, and little did he know he would be closing out the whole festival. Due to severe weather conditions, like tornadoes and flash floods, Voodoo had to cancel its final day of music.
While three days would have been the perfect amount of time for performers and fans alike, the event staff was concerned about the safety of the fans, and for that reason canceled the show with a refund option for ticket holders. The amount of talent packed into these first two days is enough to get fans coming back year after year.
See you next Halloweekend, Voodoo.
