Costume-dressed patrons filled City Park's Festival Grounds on Halloween weekend, as the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience graced New Orleans with another year of music-induced madness.
With almost two decades under its belt, Voodoo Festival opened 2017 with just as big of a bang as they have done year after year. The main headliners were Kendrick Lamar, The Foo Fighters, and The Killers, and they were all prepared to dazzle. The large nightly crowds were proof that when it came to music this year, this festival got it right again.
Voodoo Fest had one main thing on their side this year: timing! Friday night opened as Kendrick Lamar performed to a crowd that didn't miss a beat when it came to knowing each and every lyric. His performance was political yet simple—as he hit the stage alone—needing no other hype-man but himself. Preceding Kendrick were spectacular performances by Prophets of Rage, Yellow Claw, and Kehlani.
Saturday was all about The Foo Fighters with a dash of Brand New. While Voodoo is notorious for placing very different genres back-to-back on the same stage, it's a testament to the fact that music-lovers love music. Saturday night was an awesome example, since much of Brand New's crowd stuck around to watch the Foo Fighters take them back to the 1990s and more. The crowd was filled, and kids knew every lyric to songs that were created before some of them were even born.
Day three, Sunday, was for relaxing and taking it all in. This is always a good day to visit venders and grab free knickknacks along the way. Sponsors like Toyota had a lot going on under their tent, where you could not only gain free Voodoo Fest merchandise, but also be entertained by intimate stage performances when many acts from the main stage came there to perform. Along with loads of food vendors and spirits to sip, The Mortuary Haunted House was also serving up a different kind of spirit, along with ghouls, goblins, and zombies.
Closing out the weekend were acts like Miguel and Post Malone, who drew a crowd so huge, it surprised him as well. To end it all, The Killers closed the festival with a performance that could only be described as breathtaking, with a theme of love and peace. The crowd seemed to be left in a very good space, and the night (and the weekend) ended in satisfaction.
Photos by Gus Escanelle and Steven Hatley.
