Voodoo Experience 2008: Friday Review

Friday, October 24, 2008 kicked off the tenth edition of the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans' City Park. BOT was there to capture the action, including sets from Zydepunks, The Dirtbombs, The Dynamites ft. Charles Walker, Marva Wright & the BMW's, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, 101 Indian Runners, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Erykah Badu, Andre Williams, TV on the Radio, DeVotchKa, The Gutter Twins and Stone Temple Pilots.

Read more about Voodoo 2008, Day 1 after the jump

Words by Cereal, with additional reporting from Eggs and Toast
Photos by Eggs and Toast

Early on Friday morning, Eggs, Toast and I loaded up the car and made the journey from Houston to New Orleans. We opted to skip the inevitable delays that would have been caused by checking into the hotel first, and instead drove straight to the festival. After breezing through parking and check-in, we hopped on a golf cart taxi and were chauffeured to the main festival entrance.

We'd spotted the New Orleans Bingo! Parlour from across the press parking lot, and after entering the fest, we wandered over to inspect it more closely. A crowd was gathered for the Zydepunks show that was taking place there, but I have to admit that we were more interested in seeing the Bingo! Parlour's tent in a different setting — it was the same structure that was used for the Establishment at ROTHBURY in July. Decorated in rich reds and blues, the interior looked completely different than it had in Michigan, and it even seemed a bit bigger, perhaps because the chairs and tables that had given it a dinner theater feel at Roth were absent at Voodoo.

The Zydepunks, "New Orleans' Favorite Cajun Irish Jewish punk band," were about midway through their set when we finished examining the tent and started paying attention to the music instead. We didn't previously know anything about them, but from their name we expected to hear some sort of punk take on zydeco. In fact, the music produced by accordions, a violin, bass and drums more closely approximated gypsy folk. Their set was the perfect rambunctious way to start off our day.

After a few songs, we headed down the main drag to the track area that holds both of Voodoo's main stages. The Dirtbombs were finishing up their short set on the Playstation/Billboard.com stage and we stopped to take it in. The crowd was rather sparse — perhaps a given considering the early time slot — but it included at least a few appreciative fellow musicians: members of TV on the Radio were among those in the audience, videotaping the performance of the band that's providing support for them on their current tour. The Dirtbombs' fuzzy garage rock was a fast-paced mid-afternoon treat for the handful of festival-goers present.

When we'd gotten our fill of The Dirtbombs, we meandered over to check out the Preservation Hall tent and discuss our coverage plan for the rest of the day. A drum jam of sorts was in progress just outside the tent, featuring several children clad in brightly patterned attire, dancing and beating on drums. We watched the end of the performance, then moved on to the WWOZ/SoCo stage to catch The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker. According to our schedule (tangent: there was no festival booklet this year — just double-sided postcard printouts for each day), the band was set to take the stage at 4pm, but when we walked up at 3:45, The Dynamites were already playing. Despite the fact that they were hosting a "funky soul party," as they called it, the majority of the audience in front of the stage was seated. This wasn't the case for long, however; the band's brassy funk progressively drew more (upright) fans to the stage. As an advertisement for Larry Flynt's Barely Legal club flew overhead, trumpeter Jon-Paul Frappier absolutely tore it up on a solo onstage, nicely fulfilling crowd-warming duties. By the time Charles Walker made his entrance in a dapper white suit, most of the audience was on its feet. Walker and the Dynamites didn't disappoint, running through a solid set of heartfelt soul numbers in the blinding late afternoon sun. (Hopefully, those who neglected to bring eyewear noticed the nearby booth selling sunglasses for $5. I snagged some lavender-and-mint old-lady-chic awesomeness.)

The BOT group parted ways after leaving The Dynamites' set. I headed back to the Preservation Hall tent for a bit of Marva Wright & the BMW's. Wright was looking quite bling-tastic, attired in bejeweled and besequined sweater and hat. The tent was much bigger than in previous years — this was great because I can recall being involved in more than a few sweaty packed-tent performances, but since it was more open than the walled-in models of the past, some sound bleed from the main stages was audible. Ms. "Marvalous" wasn't deterred: her powerful bluesy vocals soared, holding the attention of those inside the tent. A highlight for me was a rendition of "No Drawers" — as in, "you ain't got no drawers on" — performed by special request. Wright was at her most energetic during the song, coyly making playful facial expressions at audience members throughout. At the song's climax, she declared, "My name is Marva Wright. I ain't got no drawers on. I don't want 'em. I don't need 'em. I can't stand the skid marks — y'all know what I'm talkin' about." Her music was equally as fun and laidback, and she took the time to banter with the audience. During one song, she handed the reins to guest Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and busied herself with tossing Mardi Gras-style beads to fans (no nudity required).

Since Big Sam's Funky Nation was listed on the schedule in a guest slot with The Dynamites and they hadn't appeared when we were at their set earlier, I decided to head back to the SoCo stage to see if they were playing. I found Charles Walker leading The Dynamites in a rowdy version of "Can You Feel It?" and saw that Big Sam had joined them onstage, but the rest of the Funky Nation were nowhere in sight. Walker and the Dynamites departed at the song's end, and Big Sam's Funky Nation were apparently going to follow with their own set after a short break, but I chose to sample a bit of Joss Stone instead.

English soul chanteuse Joss Stone was lovely in a flowing, brightly colored hippie-chic dress, and her voice sounded as striking as she looked. Eggs was almost glowing after photographing her and hearing his perennial favorite, "Super Duper Love." Stone's songs translated surprisingly well from the studio to the festival stage, and she was engaging throughout. In a demonstration of what seems to be a growing fest trend, she returned for an encore at the end of her set. We moved away during her final songs to nab a good spot at the other end of the field in anticipation of Wyclef Jean's set.

Wyclef Jean doesn't perform at nearly enough festivals. The former Fugees rapper proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend, churning out a high-octane set of crowd-pleasers peppered with numerous nods to other hip-hop greats. Early on, he insistently hyped up the crowd with his song "President" and made it known which candidate he supports (that would be Obama). He then ran through many of his more popular tracks including “Gone Til November” and a version of “911,” obviously sans Mary J. Blige. What was really impressive was his smooth, tight free flow ability, effortlessly spitting out rhyme after rhyme with abandon. Jean got the audience involved with a carnival-style tune during which he instructed the crowd to go nuts every time he shouted, "Tear the club up!" The audience happily obliged. But then, how could you not, with admonitions such as, "If you don't make noise, I'm gonna think you're voting for McCain"? The short hour or so set had the crowd moving from start to finish, convincing us that Wyclef is a stellar choice for any festival's lineup.

After Wyclef finished up his set on the Voodoo stage, Eggs headed toward the Preservation Hall tent, where he caught a glimpse of an over-the-top costumed character on stage, blasting out the sounds of New Orleans. The city famous for jazz, bourbon and beignets is also the home of wild Mardi Gras Indians. Over the years, Voodoo has hosted many of the city's finest Mardi Gras Indian bands, and this year's spot belonged to 101 Indian Runners. After taking in a few songs of their dance-friendly set, Eggs moved on to the nearby WWOZ/Southern Comfort, where Grace Potter & the Nocturnals were scheduled to take the stage.

Delays were rather common on all stages throughout the weekend, but most of Friday's problems were localized on the south end of the park. The two main stages did a fairly good job of sticking to their schedules, but toward the end of the day, every other stage was running behind. Grace Potter & the Nocturnals took the stage at least thirty minutes late, but that didn't seem to affect attendance at her set. While loitering near the front of the stage, Eggs heard three different people proclaim that they had come to Voodoo just to see Ms. Potter. Her infectious charm coupled with her vivacious vocal prowess effortlessly convert anyone who catches her live show into a fan. Potter and her band played through several blues-driven songs before jumping into her best-known song, the powerful "Nothing but the Water," which found the crowd singing and swaying along. She then jumped off the keyboard stool she'd been perched on for her first several songs and moved to the front of the stage equipped with a Gibson Flying V. After rocking out to Potter's guitar licks, Eggs jumped across the road to the Bingo! Parlour to see if Man Man had started their early evening set.

Meanwhile, at the Playstation/Billboard.com stage, a big-haired (wigged?) Erykah Badu began her performance by showing off her electronic drum skills, then launched into a solid set that encompassed material from her most recent studio effort, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, as well as a few older nostalgia-inducing songs. Highlights from New Amerykah included the retro funk of "Amerykahn Promise," and the moving personal delivery of "The Healer" and "Me." 'Badulla oblongata' didn't neglect fans seeking older fare, mixing in tracks from Baduizm and Mama's Gun. "On & On" was particularly memorable — the three cigar-smoking dudes next to me clearly agreed, happily singing along with every word.

Man Man were scheduled to begin playing in the Bingo! Parlour at 7:10, so I left Badu a bit early to catch some of their set. Unfortunately, Honus Honus, Sergei Sogay and the rest of the Man Man crew were still on stage setting up their own gear. I wandered over to the Noomoon stage, where R&B crooner Andre Williams (dude's sort of a legend – check it) was in the middle of a performance that came complete with scantily clad dancers. When Man Man still hadn't taken the stage at 7:30, I opted to head back to the main area for TV on the Radio's set. I discovered later that Eggs had been faced with the same decision, and chose the same option. We'd seen Man Man twice just a month earlier in Austin, but had never before caught TV on the Radio, so the decision was clear, and we both individually made our way across the park. Toast did catch some of Man Man's set later, and was actually much more impressed with them this time around than he was the first time he saw them.

TV on the Radio was one of our favorite sets of the festival, but we knew beforehand that this would probably be the case. The Brooklynites presented a good mix of old(-ish) and new, tossing up tracks from 2004's Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain, and this year's Dear Science. Standout songs included "Golden Age," "Wolf Like Me," "Dirtywhirl," "Dancing Choose," and rearranged versions of both "The Wrong Way" and "Staring at the Sun." Tunde Adebimpe proved to be an energetic, no-frills kinda frontman and managed to keep the audience engaged throughout the show.

DeVotchKa's consistently good live performances placed them near the top of our list of most anticipated Voodoo acts, and they again proved why. For some reason, the crowd was relatively sparse for this performance — unfortunate for those who had no idea what they were missing, but hey, I'll take extra space where I can get it. The band's set was heavy on new material, but they did include a few songs that people probably recognized from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack, including the now-ubiquitous (but still stunning) "How It Ends." The set also featured a guest appearance from Norwood Fisher, the bassist for ska/punk/reggae/funk legends Fishbone.

After making port-o-john, food, and beer pit stops, we headed for the Bingo! Parlour to see if the Gutter Twins had begun yet. Finding that the stage was still running behind, we rested for a moment at the Noomoon stage area, taking in a DJ group that we decided was Oscillation Communications, though we had nothing upon which to base this presumption. After several minutes of observing the hippie freaks (gotta love 'em) that the Noomoon area attracts, The Gutter Twins got started in the Bingo! Parlour. The parentage of this group is undeniably historic — two well-known alt-rock era frontmen helm the project: Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs and Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees. This sounded promising, so I was all amped up to see what they had to offer. I left less than satisfied, however. While not awful, the Gutter Twins' fare simply didn't sound particularly fresh or innovative to me. Their first album, Saturnalia, has garnered favorable reviews, but I just didn't feel it live. Maybe another setting, another day.

Friday's big event, a main stage performance from 90s heroes Stone Temple Pilots, was next on our itinerary. We were all a bit unsure of what to expect from the band; specifically, we questioned whether frontman Scott Weiland would be in a coherent state of mind. After reading several reviews about Weiland's recent antics, our expectations weren't terribly high for this performance. A strong version of "Big Empty" opened their set and announced to the crowd that they were in for quite a nostalgic evening. STP soon started cranking out the hits, offering ace versions of "Interstate Love Song," "Plush," "Sex Type Thing" and "Creep" while the forty thousand plus people present sang along. Weiland seemed to be having one of his good nights, as his vocal work was spot-on throughout every tune. Talk in between songs seemed to drag a bit, but the band kept that in control by beginning songs when Weiland started to become overly garrulous. "Lady Picture Show" was quickly followed by one of their hardest rockers, "Down," which found us leaving City Park to see what other treats New Orleans had in store for us the rest of the evening.

We were making a swift exit from the festival, only to get sidetracked when we heard "Vaseline." Actually, to be completely accurate, Eggs got sidetracked when he heard "Vaseline." The rest of us were already packed into the car, ready to get into trouble in the French Quarter, but he insisted on dancing in the press parking area until the end of the song. When he'd gotten his fill, he slid behind the steering wheel and guided us back to our temporary NOLA home. We all agreed unanimously that day one of Voodoo '08 was a success, and we were looking forward to see what treats the next day would bring.

Check out our other Voodoo 2008 coverage:

Friday
Review
Photos
Videos

Saturday
Review
Photos
Videos

Sunday
Review
Photos
Videos