NEW ORLEANS | Halloween at this year's Voodoo Music Experience was exactly what its name suggests; an experience. Making up for yesterday's soggy lost time, NewOrleans.com's very own Red Death (yours truly) snuck into Day 2 of the festival through a well-hidden side gate just before the main entrance opened to the public.

After a much-needed cup of strong coffee, I started my rounds through the vendors' area to check out a few of the things I missed out on yesterday. Once I had made friends with the girls at Inexplicable Confetti (who have my vote for Best Name For Anything Ever) and harassing my friends at Sabai, it was time for the first round of music to begin.

• See Day 1 entry

• See our Voodoo photo galleries

My first stop today was at the Preservation Hall tent for the high-energy ska/punk fusion of Fatter Than Albert, taking to the stage in a variety of costumes. My music festival wanderlust soon took me away from FTA, however, and once I was quite sure my Halloween mask was on straight I headed to the Billboard/PS3 stage for the horn-infused rock of As Tall As Lions, who drew a surprisingly large crowd for their early time slot.

As the day progressed, yesterday's oppressive clouds and rainy weather were all but forgotten, with blue sky and sunshine slowly creeping across City Park. While American Bang played out their set on the Voodoo stage, I took some time to look at the other music fans' costumes. Popular themes this year seemed to be the Super Mario Brothers and my childhood heroes the Ghostbusters, with the obligatory zombie horde (organized expertly by the New Orleans BINGO! Show) coming in a close third.

By 12:30 it was time to buzz the SoCo stage for the beginning of Sam and Ruby's set before heading back to the Billboard area for Atlanta "flower-punks" Black Lips. The rest of the afternoon was absolutely packed with quality music, from the Zydepunks to Irvin Mayfield, with a typically outstanding performance by Mutemath to hype the crowd up for the action to come.

After Mutemath finished up, I spent some particularly fun downtime visiting the DIY noise-makers from Noisician Coalition as they prepared for their parade, watching them warm up on drums and tune their modified megaphones for maximum mayhem. Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello and New Orleans favorites Big Sam's Funky Nation shared a timeslot that brought us into a pleasant if chilly Halloween evening.

The crowd grew exponentially as that evening progressed into nightfall, with the Zeppelin-esque Wolfmother and swamp-metal heavyweights Down tearing up their respective stages as the sun sank below the horizon.

The rest of the night was filled by alt-rock pioneers Jane's Addiction and punk legend Jello Biafra's Guantanamo School of Medicine while truly diehard fans crowded the main stage to await the arrival of rock gods KISS.

Just as it was yesterday, I found myself torn between headliners, with my inner groove telling me to take in the legendary George Clinton and his Parliament Funkadelic at the SoCo stage, and the headbanger in me nudging me towards the KISS show. I compromised again, dancing in costume to the start of P-Funk's set before joining the KISS crowd halfway through.

Rock legends that they are, KISS performed a very solid set full of old and newer songs, keeping the energy level at the festival grounds in the red all the way through until the grand finale, which featured an exceptional fireworks display.

Satisfied fans barely noticed the mud as they exited the festival to regroup before Sunday's somewhat more laidback lineup, including Lenny Kravitz, Widespread Panic, and The Flaming Lips. More from the festival front line later as I make my way through Day 3 of Voodoo Music Experience 2009.