Voodoo Music Experience, Day 1: Even rain and cold won't stop the energy
NEW ORLEANS | The first day of the 2009 Voodoo Music Experience was a hectic day for yours truly. After Canadian DJ team MSTRKRFT missed their flight and failed to headline Thursday night's kickoff party at Ampersand, I spent the better part of Friday morning dragging a hung-over friend off of my couch and out the door to get to the festival.
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After a truly epic wait in the line to check in, I walked through the festival gates and right into the heart of the Experience. Running hours late and disappointed to miss so many of the early acts, I allowed myself some "retail therapy" and took a while to peruse the vendor booths. With Storyville's clever t-shirts, Sabai's gorgeous jewelery, and Dubwise's hip Rastafarian gear among many others, the local merchants were out in full force, offering their best to the festival crowd.
Around 3 p.m. I headed for the Voodoo stage to enjoy the synthesizer-fueled rock energy of New Orleans' own Vettes, followed almost immediately by the old-school hip-hop vibes of up-and-comers The Cool Kids on the Billboard/PS3 stage across the way. Determined to take in as much as possible, I spent all of my downtime exploring the far corners of the festival, finding clever art installations, intriguing wares, and even some very tasty boudin.
Next up on my very full agenda was the outer-space soul of the beguiling Janelle Monae, whose set marked a very sudden and distinct change in the weather, bringing a chilly wind and chillier rain across City Park. Even this fairly nasty turn failed to dampen the spirit of the festival, however, as eager fans lined up en masse to watch The Black Keys' raw, compelling blend of classic rock vibes and new-school stylings.
The rain came and went, and came again as the evening progressed, with Silversun Pickups hitting the Voodoo stage in rare form and rocking like Smashing Pumpkins wish they still could before the crowd drifted back to the Billboard stage for an intense DJ set from French electro wizards Justice.
The hardest part of the night came around 9PM, when I was forced to choose between Ween's virtuoso freak-rock, Fischerspooner's electro trash, or Eminem's only show of 2009. Deciding to split the difference, I drifted from show to show as each started, taking in the decadence of Fischerspooner's set in the Bingo! Parlour, the bizarre hippie/indie/intellectual fusion of Ween's audience, and the absolutely intense energy brought by Eminem and his D12 crew in one of their first live performances in years.
With one great day already on the books, it's already plain to see that this year's Voodoo festival really does have something for everybody. With Mutemath, Jane's Addiction, George Clinton, KISS, and much more on tomorrow's bill, it can only get better from here.
