The Voodoo Music Experience returns to New Orleans this month for three days of rock, pop, hip hop and Louisiana’s indigenous music on Oct. 29-31. Visit 2010.thevoodooexperience.com for the complete line-up and festival details.
The voodoo religion is a confabulation of the present and the past. As things like Ray-Ban sunglasses and Darth Vader figure into the iconography for ancient gods of Haiti so too does the New Orleans’ City Park Halloween throwdown Voodoo Music Experience pull across demographics for its line-up. Among the warhorses anchoring the massive stages at City Park are Prince of Darkness-turned-Homer Simpson Ozzy Osbourne, high-octane arena-ready polymaths Muse and perennial greatest band on earth My Morning Jacket. But the real flavor of this year’s festival may be found in the lesser-known acts.
Jónsi wowed discerning listeners as the angelic voice of Sigur Rós but has recently taken an artful page from his fellow Icelander Björk’s song book with his exotic, artful pop album Go. His elaborate stage show is considered the one not to miss this season. A testament to the star power of hip-hop phenom Drake is the buzz he garnered in Los Angeles recently by not showing up to an event, though one suspects he keeps his appointment book updated now. The two greatest voices in modern soul, Janelle Monáe and Raphael Saadiq, will also be appearing, laying down lessons in how to perform a song. For some real-deal soul singing, direct your attention to the criminally undersung talents of Eli “Paperboy” Reed, who took his act from the church to the juke joint to Capitol Records.
