Voodoo ‘07

Day one of the Voodoo Music Experience kicked off in City Park on a bigger and better layout.

Getting Buzzed
Not quite the Jazz Fest Mud Fest or Woodstock of lore, but the soggy grounds (after the week’s heavy rains) at the WWOZ stage welcomed the swampy soul/blues/rock of JJ Grey and Mofro. Grey stopped mid-set to tell the audience that he’d need to drink heavier to deal with the mic that was shocking him every time he got close. He declared that “wind screens are too sissified” for his tastes, and then launched into Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy.” And after that he stayed away from the mic. Spending most of his time at the organ on stage.

Not Your Chronic Christian Rock
I don’t know what it was like onstage, but second-hand smoke was a chronic perk just left of the soundboard for Kings of Leon. The Kings themselves were much more mellow than during last years three-guitar assault. But more than that the brothers were polite. They thanked the crowd for its quiet, “respectful” ways before the final song. “And God Bless you.” But there was no encore.

Tent Revival
Also putting in solid sets, if you could squeeze in the tents were the Soul Rebels in Preservation Hall’s tent, and Lez Zeppelin in the Bingo Parlor.

Lost in Translation
M.I.A. showed that some hip-hop gems are transnational - especially the honorific “M****rF*****r”. At one point, she told that crowd that she’d be teaching us how to do a dance — which she might have called, “butt hopping,” but I’m not sure. I am sure that what her sidekick did is known in some local quarters as “popping.” But when she invited people on-stage to try it, no-one volunteered. So maybe that just didn’t translate.

Maybe last year I never looked up after dark, but it seems like this year they’ve added something new at Voodoo - once the sun set, a huge pyramid of light formed over City Park from the beams of three high-powered klieg lights triangulating in the sky. (Ironically, one beam originates at the press check-in tent, which I ran myself ragged trying to find earlier)

Now I’m going to go walk like an Egyptian.

This guy loves the mighty sounds of Lez Zeppelin, the all-girl Led Zep cover band from New York. Note the Zoso T-shirt.

After this week’s on-again, off-again, on-again Andre Williams saga, news of Spoon’s “unannounced” Saturday night show at One Eyed Jacks might best be taken with a few grains of salt. (Or, depending on your ability to handle disappointment, a whole spoonful.) Regardless, if the Best Rock Band At Voodoo Fest does indeed feel like stopping by Toulouse Street tomorrow for an impromptu 1 a.m. follow-up to their 6:30 p.m. City Park appearance, it’s doubtless there will be plenty of ears in attendance eager to hear the reprisal.

The Austin, Texas, band released Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge), its finest offering to date and one of 2007’s top rock records, in July. Spoon hasn’t played in New Orleans since, meaning that Voodoo will be the first chance for area concertgoers to hear this dark, fantastically dour set in a live setting. Given the album’s pervasive brooding vibe, however, the smoky and dimly lit confines of OEJ seem infinitely more appropriate than the clean air and clear skies expected for this weekend’s festivities.

After what seems like hours trekking through the surreal landscape of Storyland, the Botanical Garden, and the backstage bowels of Voodoo, this reporter finally found the media check-in only to be thwarted by an Internet that, apparently, hates me. Well, I won. Do you hear me, Internet?

Anyway, in my travels, I learned that at Voodoo this year you can get a tattoo…

… see a real live FEMA trailer (no explanation for this exhibit)

… and experience what ceviche feels like inside SoCo’s giant lime dance tent.

Whew. In other news, both the Palanquin Diaries performance and the Heavenly Trip to Hell set are cancelled for today, and the WWOZ hospitality area has hot dogs. I’m going to go catch Clint Maedgen’s set at the Bingo Parlour and plot my revenge against the Internet.

In half an hour, the madness at City Park will kick off and I’m right in the middle of it - marching with the Noisician Coalition out of the Bingo Parlour at 11 and 4:45. You’ll know us when you see us - and believe me, also when you hear us. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look.