Nowhere else will you see local legends like Dr. John and Preservation Hall Jazz Band perform on the same stages as worldwide phenomena such as The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam, all the while catering to a younger culture of music lovers with headliners like Bassnectar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Calvin Harris and Paramore at the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans. 

The Voodoo Music and Arts Experience

By
November 5, 2013

Events

Day One Headliner Reviews:

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Strutting onto the stage in a sequined tuxedo complete with coattails, Macklemore opened the show with his single “Ten Thousand Hours” while people flocked to the Ritual stage for his short performance. Because this was a festival set, the duo couldn’t fit in the full stage setup from their current world tour, but made the best of it regardless. The duo played most of the songs from their multi award-winning album The Heist before closing the set with their hit single “And We Danced” after giving a short speech introducing his British alter ego, Raven Bowie. “He’s like a modern David Bowie,” I overheard an obvious new fan say on my way out of the crowd. Bowie is an accurate alter ego indeed, as the Seattle native danced up and down the stage in a gold jacket and blonde wig (as seen in his video for the song), giving a passionate performance that sent the crowd into an uproar.

Pearl Jam: “This is my hometown, and this is my hometown band,” former Saints football player Steve Gleason, now wheelchair stricken after being diagnosed with Lou Gherig’s disease, said from center stage next to the members of Pearl Jam. It was the emotional and heartfelt opening that made the band’s performance one of the most memorable for Day One of the festival. Pearl Jam played some of their greatest hits in their hour-and-a-half set and jokingly gave Macklemore’s phone number out to the crowd during their closing set at the Ritual stage.

Calvin Harris: If you’ve seen Calvin Harris in one city, you’ve seen Calvin Harris in every city. Oddly enough, the two times I’ve seen him have both been here in New Orleans. His Top 40 dance chart influenced set (which works for him because he’s produced half of the tracks on it) kept the college party going strong and, although he overused the air cannons in my opinion, the ravers clearly loved them. The fans, with glow stick juice running through their veins, partied hard and lived up to the mantra half of them wore on their shirts with “Fuck Calm, Turn Up.” Playing some of his hit songs like “Sweet Nothing,” “Bounce,” “We Found Love” and “I Need Your Love,” Calvin Harris closed the Le Plur stage on opening night with a good crowd and a good dance party, although there’s not much more to it than that.