Voodoo 2008 ticket presale begins. And man, its cheap!

Pre-sale tickets for the 2008 Voodoo Music Festival are available for what looks to be about a month. And they're only $75. So, if you can look past this years long festival season to its lovely conclusion in the Big Easy, you can save some money. They're even throwing in a years subscription to SPIN for free. Not too shabby.

Pre-sale tickets are HERE.

Last years festival was pretty awesome, as noted HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Sunday at Voodoo - Gravy Day

Sunday at Voodoo was gravy day; Anything good today was just a bonus. Arriving around 5:00pm, the crowd was noticeably smaller then Saturday's. I assumed many locals just bought day passes for Saturday, and choose to forgo Sunday.

First up were the Black Crows. I had never had the pleasure of catching these guys, though the Birmingham crew speaks highly of them. And I can say that in this case, reports were accurate. The Black Crows rocked for 90 minutes, playing songs that made you feel like you were watching a festival act in the 70's. The Crows just have that classic rock feel that is extremely rare nowadays. I couldn't tell you the name of a single song they played, but it really didn't matter. Very entertaining.

Next up was Common. Now I'm not really a hip hop guy. I leave that up to JB and Laurent the Laurent, but enjoyed the set. Common performs with a a pair of keyboard players and a bad ass drummer, along with a DJ. It's refreshing to see an MC who doesn't just rap over recorded music. The first half of the set rolled by with what I assume were some of Common's hits. The crowd certainly went nuts for a few of them. The second half was what I really enjoyed. Common did a 10 minute hip hop medley that included everything from Biz Markie to NWA. He followed that up with a freestyle session that played to the home crowd, mentioning the Saints and Bourbon street. I dipped out after this to get a good spot for Wilco. Overall, Common was good stuff, and a nice change between the Black Crows and Wilco.

Poor Wilco. I've had a few chances to see them, including at Bonnaroo this year, but they were up against the Decemberists and a good spot for the White Stripes, so they kinda lost that fight. That said, I was happy to hear they would be at Voodoo this year. And I have to say that they were the perfect closer for the festival. Their folky jam style really fit. The crowd had dwindled even more by the time they took the stage, but that only made it more intimate. Jeff Tweedy leads Wilco with an awesome voice and a great stage presence. He talked to the crowd somewhat casually, at one point saying, "Man, this is awesome. Its fairly awesome." Fairly awesome, aside from being quite hilarious at the time, would be a great description for Wilco. Their lead guitar player broke into some amazing solos, but was just as noticeable for his antics. At times he shook like he was having a seizure. And once he was playing his guitar by rubbing it on the back of his head.

Another highlight occurred when Tweedy started a song by dedicating it to Yuri from Mike. Soon, on the big screen, an image appeared with the message, "Yuri, will you marry me?" After the song the crowd discover that she said yes, causing a huge ovation.

Wico rocked for another half hour or so, closing with a great jam that included a lovely segment of dueling guitars. And with that, Voodoo 2007 came to a close. It was a great weekend with a bunch of good performances, especially RATM, Spoon, and Wilco.

Smashing Pumpkins at Voodoo

Setlist
[Circus music]
Superchrist
Doomsday Clock
Bring the Light
Drown
Hummer
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
[Pomp and Circumstances?]
Stand Inside Your Love
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Glass and the Ghost Children
1979
To Sheila
Set the Ray to Jerry
Today
That’s the Way (My Love Is)
United States

Encore:
Heavy Metal Machine
Born on the Bayou [Credence Clearwater Revival]
I Love Rock ‘n Roll [Arrows]

Thanx to hipsters united

Evil Homer's take:

This will not be as extensive as my RATM review, because.....well, because I'm tired today.

The Pumpkins had a hard act to follow, considering the amazing show by Rage Friday night, and it showed. SP just didn't have enough energy for my tastes. Many times throughout the show, the stage would be going nuts, with lights flashing like wild, but the band seemed like they were at a poetry reading. Coming out to Superchrist and then doomsday clock was pretty cool. Bullet With Butterfly Wings really had the crowd pumped, but following with Pomp and Circumstances and Stand Inside Your Love just didn't do it for me. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Pumpkins fan by any means, but I really thought I'd be familiar with most of what they'd play, considering I do have the new album.

Anywho, Tarantula is a great song, and they rocked it hard, but the best part of the show for me was Billy Corgan doing a solo acoustic version of 1979. That was really cool. Overall, good show, but certainly not nearly as good as Rage.

You haven't seen Spoon yet. WTF.

So, for all you slack-asses who haven't seen Spoon since my post three hours ago, here's a video of "I Summon You" at Berkley last year.




Many thanx to memmatthew for many awesome videos of Spoon (and others; check it out)

And here's a live version of "I turn My Camera On," courtesy of kerndmb

Quick Hits from Voodoo

Just a few observations from this years Voodoo Music Festival:

- This years festival grounds are wholly unimpressive compared to 2004. No sculptures, statues, artwork, etc. WTF. How's it supposed to feel "voodooy" if all I see is big inflatable Southern Comfort bottles.

- Funk bands always have to brag about how funky they are. I caught some of Big Sam's Funky Nation, and the first song was dominated by the lyric, "ain't it funky now." In defense of Big Sam though, they were pretty funky.

- Hosting a festival around Halloween is the best idea ever. Today I saw everything from pirates to devils to Aquaman. Seriously.......Aquaman. And that's not even talkin' about the ladies. Grrr.

- Not that this is some deep revelation, but Ben Harper is flat out nasty with a guitar. Even more so when he's sitting down.

- Sometimes I wish people wouldn't tell me that they think a band is good. Porcupine Tree....not good. Coheed and Cambria....not good.

- Spoon....really, really good. Best treat of the festival thus far. Go see them NOW.

- Why are you still reading this. Go see Spoon, dammit!!

- Oh yeah, the Smashing Pumpkins played tonight. More on that tomorrow.

RATM Live at Voodoo

The crowd at Voodoo 2007 was waiting for the start of the Kings of Leon, when a local radio station DJ took the stage. He did the usual festival stuff; He asked the crowd if they were having a good time, if they liked the beer and booze local vendors were selling. Then he moved on to Rage. Paraphrasing, "These guys aren't playing every city in the US. Them coming here to New Orleans is a big fucking deal." And it was a BFD. One of the most controversial and amazing bands in the last 20 years brought their protest songs and anger to the Big Easy last night, and it was nothing short of spectacular.

Voodoo decided to place its two primary stages fairly close by and facing each other, so the stages alternated performances. Between 8pm and 9pm, while M.I.A. performed on the Sony stage, most of the festivals attendees steadily jockeyed for position. Never have I heard so many people state what time it was or how much time was left to wait. The scheduled start time of 9:10 came and went, and the crowd grew restless. but all was good when around 9:25, the stage went black, and a series of chain motors began to raise a huge backdrop of a single red star.

As the first notes of "Testify" sounded, the crowd surged. Most of the song was spent bouncing around and staying upright through none of my own power. The mood for the show was set as "Testify" reached its climax. With Zach De La Rocha commanding the crowd, all in attendance sang, "who controls the past now controls the future." Rage plowed through hit after hit, from "Bulls on Parade," to "People of the Sun." The crowd (and myself) almost screaming every lyric back at the stage. Tom Morello consistently awed the crowd with his amazing guitar work, but this show belonged to Zach. His presence on the stage, and the amazing fire in his eyes were impossible to ignore. As he rapped his way through "Rodeo," he pointed an imaginary shotgun at the crowd, and played to the home crowd by ad libbing, "I'm rolling down Canal st. with a shotgun."

Mosh pits broke out nearly everywhere in the crowd, but many were quite friendly with some just enjoying the open space to jump up and down, amazed at what they were witnessing. Those who fell on the muddy ground were quickly scooped up. I witnessed very few people that were looking to really rumble. Most just had a good time.

The end of the main set was a perfect duo of songs. "Sleep Now in the Fire" brought an amazing level of excitement for a crowd that had been rocking for an hour. So much so that as "Wake Up" was played, it was almost peaceful. As the slower middle part began, Zach decided it was time for a departure from lyrics. Prior, there had been almost no talking besides the songs themselves. He spoke of visiting the 9th ward, and having an epiphany. He claimed that the US government is currently at war in two places, Iraq and against the people of New Orleans. Some of the crowd cheered, but most seemed to dismiss it, possibly because much of the crowd were not locals. After completing the throat scorching chant of "Wake Up," RATM exited to a huge ovation.

As a veteran of RATM shows, I knew what would be coming after the break, and after about five minutes, they returned and the first notes of "Freedom" began. Building to the first climax, the band fell silent and the stage dark, save a spotlight on De La Rocha. He peered out into the waiting crowd, and shouted "Your anger is a gift." Freedom continued to its expected climax, followed by Morello quietly playing the notes that everyone expected. "Killing in the Name of" rocked the crowd yet again, with some improvised lyrics. "Some of those that burn crosses, are the ones who hold office" emphasised the strong anti-authority message that made RATM so exciting and so popular. As obvious as these messages are on their albums, when witnessing Rage live, it is still amazing to see how passionate De La Rocha is about his music and the causes they promote. After an amazing show like that, I might not go out and start rioting in the streets, but it does cross your mind.