It all started early Friday morning, November 1st at City Park in New Orleans. You wake up after your long journey from wherever your home may be, surrounded by a sea full of tents and people that soon, will be more like family and less like strangers. You breathe in the crisp Louisiana air as you hear the sound check of guitars, drums and mic in the distant. Your blood starts pumping as the excitement fills the air, and soon the 2013 Voodoo Festival will kick into gear as the experience will begin.
Once you pass through security check, you are met with a marketplace, the site of white tents all around. Most of the vendors area variety of local New Orleans artist selling clothing, jewelry, food, and art... all things New Orleans. You then come upon the Merch Church. Best idea for selling merchandise by far.
Just beyond the Merch Church you walk into a sea of people and the beautiful site of four stages that will change your life. Among the crowd you will find all ages from newborns to people well into their 80's. You will see hippies, families, goth, candy girls, people in full Halloween costume, and your typical normal concert goers. The diversity of the people gives you a feeling of home. It makes you feel that no matter how you walked in, you will be changed by someone completely different than you.
The first stage is the Flambeau Stage. Flambeau is where you will find your inner singer/songwriter with a fondness for blues and a spiritual awakening. Performing were Flow Tribe, an off the wall soul band. ZZ Ward, a breathtaking beauty who's soulful blues/hip-hop sound had the crowd grooving.She was followed by the grace of Allen Stone who could easily be taken for the love child of Jim Morrison and Aretha Franklin. With strong stage presence and a soulful voice, Allen was a total crowd pleaser.
The main stage, the Ritual Stage is where the who's who of the festival performed. The first band up were Shovel and Rope. They took the stage and gave everyone a new opinion on what a duet should sound like. They were breathtaking. The performance by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was a non-stop hip-hop groove extravaganza. The heavy hitter of the night was the mighty Pearl Jam. Their performance was a roller coaster of past hits stirred around with new songs from their recent release "Lightning Bolt." The gospel sounds of Delta Rae was a deep cleansing experience. Pure joy and passion. A surprising performance by Paramore shockingly rocked the crowd as the band has bounced back after loosing two original members.
[Voodoo Festival Date: November 1-3, 2013 Venue: City Park City: New Orleans, LA By Annabeth Victorick Photos by Mike Victorick] Without a doubt the band most came to see were home town heroes, Nine Inch Nails, who came out hungry and devour the crowd with their pounding industrial sound. Trent Reznor and company don't just make music, they create a memory that will forever be etched into your brain long after the last note has faded. Fan favorite G-Eazy's deep beats and lyrics kept the tempo as the crowd sang along throughout his set. Michigan born, Kid Rock was explosive as always. His original style and non-stop balls out performance was nothing short of amazing. Closing down the Ritual Stage was Robert Smith and The Cure. Performing familiar songs from their hay day of the 80' felt like a warm embrace. Their melodic signature sound delivered what the fans expected.
No matter who you came with or what type of music you are into, you will leave Voodoo with a new appreciation for music, new friends and the memory of a true musical experience. The fans came to worshiped the music and after three days of the Voodoo Experience the music given was well received.