Voodoo Arts + Music Experience Casts It’s Spell on New Orleans

Aryeh Harris-Shapiro

For grown-ups, Halloween isn’t trick-or-treating and bobbing for apples – it’s an opportunity to dress up and cut loose, whether that means a party with friends or, if you’re in the Big Easy, one of the best music festivals around. On Oct. 28, The 18th annual Voodoo Arts + Music Experience transformed New Orleans City Park into a massive adult playground for a wild weekend of costume craziness, delicious eats and spectacular music.

Friday got off to a bit of a slow start, with attendees arriving whenever they got off work. But the night was packed with great musical moments. The Weeknd controlled the stage like a veteran, performing a selection of songs from across his career backed by his band and a stunning triangular video display.

The best moments of the night, however, came from a pair of homecomings. Oakland rapper G-Eazy appeared in-costume as Jared Leto’s Joker, returning to the first music festival he once attended as a fan. The joyful set also included a marriage proposal from G-Eazy’s manager Matt Bauerschmidt to his now-fiancée, and when the rapper claimed that Friday was the “the best night of my motherf—in’ life!” it was easy to believe him. The other major return was New Orleans rockers Mutemath, who returned to Voodoo after a 10-year absence. In a heartwarming moment, lead singer Paul Meany brought his young daughter out to join the band on her pink toy guitar for a song.

Combined with energetic sets from acts such as Tory Lanez, Rae Sremmurd, Mayer Hawthorne, Cheat Codes, Chairlift, and others, the first night of Voodoo crackled with the electricity of crowds and musicians eager to cut loose and party.

Saturday’s performances catered to the rock ’n’ roll die-hards in the audience. Raucous bands spent the day giving bombastic performances, that combined with the heat, had fans lining up 30-deep at the festival’s hydration stations. Shakey Graves and his band came out dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cage the Elephant’s Matthew Schultz donned a pair of vampire fangs and a little fake blood, and supergroup The Claypool Lennon Delirium showed off their trippy steampunk-influenced aesthetic. Prog-rock legends Tool closed out the night with a massive set. Frontman Maynard James Keenan even eschewed his habit of facing away from his audience in favor of donning a black military costume and bidding his fans a happy All Saints Weekend – although he did conceal himself behind the drum kit.

For fans who couldn’t take the heat or the musical intensity, Voodoo had plenty of other offerings, including The Mortuary, a massive mock graveyard and haunted house, and Brew Dat, a craft beer hall where baseball fans could watch the World Series.

Sunday was the hottest day of the festival also the shortest, with the last sets beginning at 7:30 in preparation for the beginning of the work week. The musicians still managed to bring the Halloween fun. Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and his other band Puscifer used a wrestling ring as the stage set, and Band of Horses tried doing a set in eerie animal masks, but the heat forced them to take them off. Some musicians fought through the heat spectacularly, including Anderson.Paak, who never stopped moving onstage, and NOLA’s own Preservation Hall Jazz Band, performing joyously while dressed in all-black suits. The night ended with performances from red-hot EDM duo The Chainsmokers and indie rock stars Arcade Fire. The two acts fought for the audience’s ears, Arcade Fire occasionally drowning out the DJs until their massive bass drops turned the tide. Win Butler and his band delivered the kind of cinematic, gargantuan performance that made the group famous.

The Voodoo Arts + Music Experience will return next year. Some fans of the festival may have been worried about the event’s change in ownership last year, but C3 Presents has now assured that Voodoo die-hards can now breathe a sigh of relief. Voodoo 2016 was as big and well-run as the festival has been in recent memory, with improved layouts and vendors that provided a fantastic festival experience alongside the typically amazing music.