With New Orleans safe, despite the dire predictions about Hurricane Gustav, producers of the Voodoo Experience, one of the most enduring large-scale music festivals in America, are preparing full thrust for the event’s 10th anniversary, October 24-26 in New Orleans’ historic and picturesque City Park.
R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots are the headliners over the three nights. The full line-up for the 2008 Voodoo Experience now encompasses more than 130 acts, including Lil Wayne, The Mars Volta, N*E*R*D, TV On The Radio, Irma Thomas, Ben Jelen, Fishbone and others.
The festival will again pay homage to the rich musical traditions the Big Easy; the acts will perform on six stages in three distinct areas — Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival — each of which highlights a unique side of New Orleans’ personality.
Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. General admission, single day tickets are available for a face value of $50, and $125 for weekend passes. VIP Experience passes have a face value of $450, which includes three-day admission with in/out privileges, grandstand viewing of the main stage, reserved parking, full bar services, exclusive New Orleans cuisine, private bathrooms, an autographed Tenth Ritual poster, exclusive experiences and more.
When Voodoo Experience‘s future was once again put in jeopardy — as it was in 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused devastation throughout the area — festival organizers began to look at other options for moving forward if a worst-case scenario presented itself.
“As I left New Orleans on the last flight out, it was déjà vu. I remembered all the struggles of 2005, and the options we might have to consider but not moving forward this year never crossed my mind,” Stephen Rehage, founder and independent producer of the annual Voodoo Experience, said in a statement. “From the runway, I sent three e-mails: one each to Mayor Nagin and Lt. Governor Landrieu commending them on their heroic leadership and thanking them for their service to the city. The third was to Trent Reznor — the first artist to commit to the 2005 Voodoo Experience — which simply read: ‘Are you [expletive] kidding me?’”
Three years ago, in the aftermath of the storms and despite the obvious obstacles, the Voodoo Experience took place on October 29 — two months to the day after the city was flooded. This first live event held in New Orleans was staged as a free daylong concert for those involved in the city’s recovery efforts, along with local supporters and residents.
Voodoo Experience 2008:
(Dates & performers subject to change.)
Friday, October 24
Stone Temple Pilots; Erykah Badu; TV on the Radio; Joss Stone; Wyclef Jean; Angels & Airwaves; Reverend Horton Heat; Joseph Arthur; Grace Potter and the Nocturnals; Ben Jelen; The Gutter Twins; The Dirtbombs; Dustin Welsh; Big Blue Marble; Sons of William; King Britt tribute to Sister Gertrude; The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker & Big Sam’s Funky Nation; Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra; Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show; DJ Soul Sister; The Leo Trio featuring Leo Nocentelli; DJ Butterfoot; 101 Indian Runners; Marva Wright plus the BMW’s; The Iguanas; Washboard Chaz Blues Trio; Rockie Charles; Man Man; The New Orleans Bingo! Show; Paul Varisco and The Milestones; Zydepunks; Vavavoom; One Man Machine; Oscillation Communications; Worms Union; New Orleans Sunken City Circus featuring Pain Tribe & Tap Water Mind Control; CHANT; Andre Williams; The Wallstreet Traitors; My Graveyard Jaw; Hurray For the Riff Raff; Ray Bong; The Low Down Throwdown; The Bad Off; White Bitch’s Prey Drive; Mad Mike; sHellShoCk; Gravity A; Common Thread; DJ Tom Harvey; Sonic Boom Contest Winner; Wooded Teeth; Nag Hammadi; F.I.S.T.; Extra Action Marching Band
Saturday, October 25
Nine Inch Nails; The Mars Volta; Lil Wayne; Old 97’s; Thievery Corporation; Innerpartysystem; Dead Confederate; Ghostland Observatory; Shudder to Think; Manchester Orchestra; Ashes Divide; Marc Broussard; Fishbone; Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk; Bonerama; Dan Dyer; Shamarr Allen; DJ Soul Sister; DJ Butterfoot; Walter Wolfman Washington; Hot 8; Dr. Michael White Jazz Band; Treme Brass Band; Sam & Ruby; John Boutte; Fatter Than Albert; DeVotchKa; The New Orleans Bingo! Show; Fleur de Tease; Clint Maedgen +9; Rotary Downs; The Happy Talk Band; DJ Proppa Bear; Ratty Scurvics Singularity; LOID; Good Guys; C-Ba$ Sideshow; Rabbit Junk; NOOMOON TRIBE; DJ Slice; Nag Hammadi; Widetrack; American Disaster Party; Crooked; Deep in the Ninth; Worlds Most Dangerous; Dave Gregg & the Barefoot Philistines; Under the Green; F.I.S.T.; Extra Action Marching Band
Sunday, October 26
R.E.M.; N*E*R*D; Butthole Surfers; Lupe Fiasco; Tokyo Police Club; Panic At The Disco; Dashboard Confessional; Cold War Kids; Ozomatli Reunited with Chali 2na; Irma Thomas; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings; Blind Boys of Alabama; The Vettes; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; The Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Morning 40 Federation; Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves; The Lee Boys; Cowboy Mouth; DJ Butterfoot; Soul Rebels Brass Band; Deacon John’s Tribute to New Orleans R&B featuring Wardell Quezerque; Preservation Hall Jazz Band with special guest Big Al Carson; Hot Club of New Orleans; Melody Clouds; The New Orleans Bingo! Show; Quintron & Miss Pussycat; The Tin Men with The Valparaiso Men’s Chorus; Bones; Crimes Against Nature; Sirena Serpentina; Trevor Green; Illusion Fields; Spoonfed Tribe; C-Ba$ Sideshow; Why are we building such a big ship?; Manwitch; Sista Otis; Hands of Nero; Belly Dancers; Edge Set Mary; Worms Union; People on the Side; DJ Slice; F.I.S.T.; Extra Action Marching Band
