October 16, 2017
One of the last great music festivals of the year happens down where it’s always hot & always party time, New Orleans, in Voodoo Experience, Friday-Sunday, October 27th-29th:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27th
Le Plur Galantis, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM Swedish dance DJ duo Linus Eklöw and Christian Karlsson combine as Galantis (QRO photos at a festival), who’ve had hits such as “Runaway (U & I)”, last year’s “No Money”, and redoing early internet hit “Peanut Butter Jelly”. |
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Yellow Claw, 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM Dutch DJ duo Yellow Claw incorporates everything from trap to big room house to moombahton. |
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NGHTMRE, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Los Angeles DJ and trap-house producer Tyler Marenyi is NGHTMRE. |
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Also: JOYRYDE, 5:45 PM – 6:45 PM Autograf, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Tokimonsta, 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM SAINt JHN, 2:30 PM DJ Mel, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM Alfred Banks, 12:45 PM – 1:15 PM Free Swim with s.K.b & ystrly, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM |
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South Course The Afghan Whigs, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM Greg Dulli’s soul-influenced rock group The Afghan Whigs (QRO photos at a festival) rocketed out of Cincinnati in the nineties, but broke up the same year Americans learned Afghans weren’t just blankets (with Dulli going on with his Twilight Singers – QRO photos at a festival). But in 2011 not only did the group announce their reunion (QRO photos at a festival), but also a new record, 2014’s beastly return Do the Beast, and subsequent tour (QRO live review). The band comes to Voodoo Experience (QRO photos at a festival) behind this year’s strong In Spades (QRO review) and tour (QRO photos). |
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Benjamin Booker, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM The neo-garage of Benjamin Booker (QRO photos at a festival) isn’t that special, but has gotten him attention (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Mondo Cozmo, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM This festival season, one of the most ubiquitous performers has been Josh Ostrander, a.k.a. Mondo Cozmo (QRO photos at a 2017 festival). He’d previously run in acts Laguardia and Eastern Conference Champions, but now is operating solo (QRO photos). |
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Also: Flow Tribe, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Public Access T.V., 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM – QRO photos |
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Toyota Music Den Mondo Cozmo, 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – QRO photos at a 2017 festival gnash, 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM Chicano Batman, :00 PM – 4:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival Bleached, 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival Autograf, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Flint Eastwood, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
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Wisner Prophets of Rage, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM The terms ‘rap-rock’ and ‘supergroup’ often elicit groans, but Prophets of Rage (QRO photos) combine the two to pull it off. With three members of Rage Against the Machine, two members of Public Enemy, and one of Cypress Hill, expect a lot Trump denunciations at Voodoo Experience. |
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Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Frontman of Something Corporate and then Jack’s Mannequin (QRO live review), Andrew McMahon’s emotional piano has since gone solo (QRO photos) and In the Wilderness (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Also: Bibi Bourelly, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – QRO photos at a festival gnash, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Durand Jones & The Indications, 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM |
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Altar Stage Kendrick Lamar, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM Voodoo Experience is headlined by hip-hop hit Kendrick Lamar (QRO photos at a festival), who got notice with his 2010 mixtape, Overly Dedicated, and lived up to the hype (QRO photos at a festival) in 2012 with debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city – he’s got no “Fuckin’ Problems” (QRO video), as he comes to the festival behind 2015’s Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly. |
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LCD Soundsystem, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM When the indie kids started using synthesizers, it began with LCD Soundsystem (QRO live review). As essential a starting point for twenty-first century music as The Strokes (and with a much better legacy), the outfit around James Murphy (QRO DJ photos) taught hipsters to dance – and hit single “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” introduced the helmeted ones to Americans. Their 2005 self-titled debut full-length is as seminal an album this century as anything, with strong follow-ups in 2007’s Sound of Silver (QRO review) and 2010’s This Is Happening (QRO review). Eventually, the band got so big that Murphy had to call it quits on the whole thing (to focus on running DFA Records), but not before an epic run of goodbye shows in New York (QRO photos). But as sure as people asking what time Daft Punk goes on, we all knew the Soundsystem (QRO photos at a festival) would be back, and after much rumors & hype, and last year they returned to headline festivals, open the new venue Brooklyn Steel (QRO venue review) with a string of shows, play Saturday Night Live (QRO Music On Late Night TV), play another string at Brooklyn Steel, release this year’s excellent American Dream (QRO review), and play Voodoo Experience. |
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Kehlani, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Kehlani Parrish (QRO photos at a festival) first got notice as part of America’s Got Talent finalist teen pop group PopLyfe, but has since made her own name with two killer mixtapes, 2014’s Cloud 19 and 2015’s You Should Be Here. |
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Marian Hill, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Not a woman but a duo, Marian Hill (QRO photos) is synth-pop Philly pair Samantha Gongol and Jeremy Lloyd. |
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Chicano Batman, 1:15 PM – 2:00 PM Los Angeles’ Chicano Batman (QRO photos at a festival) first got notice in 2014/5 with Cycles of Existential Rhyme, but this year go full-on Gil Scott-Heron with Freedom Is Free. |
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28th
Le Plur DJ Snake, 9:45 PM – 11:00 PM France’s trip-hop producer DJ Snake comes to Voodoo Experience off of working in 2014 with Diplo and touring with Skrillex. More recently came debut album Encore, including single “Let Me Love You”, which featured none other than Justin Bieber. |
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RL Grime, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM Henry Steinway, a.k.a. RL Grime (QRO photos at a festival), is a Los Angeles producer of hip-hop, trap, bass, and yes, grime. |
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ILLENIUM, 7:15 PM – 8:15 PM San Francisco DJ & producer Nick Miller, a.k.a. ILLENIUM, comes to Voodoo Experience. |
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Boombox Cartel, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM From Mexico to Minnesota, Americo Garcia and Jorge Medina have become a big name in big dance as Boombox Cartel. |
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Also: Rich Chigga, 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM CID, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Tim Gunter, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM DJ Gracie Chavez, 1:15 PM – 2:00 PM Carmine P. Filthy & OttO, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM |
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South Course Vintage Trouble, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM From Hollywood, Vintage Trouble (QRO photos at a festival) brings some soul & funk to Voodoo Experience (QRO photos at a festival). |
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Whitney, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Shortly after Max Kakacek & Julien Ehrlich’s young Smith Westerns (QRO photos at a festival) broke up, the pair formed their new outfit, Whitney (QRO photos at a festival). And they’ve certainly grown up, as debut Light Upon the Lake was one of the best records of last year (QRO Top Albums of 2016). |
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Also: The Record Company, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival Hayley Kiyoko, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Flint Eastwood, 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
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Toyota Music Den The Black Angels, 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – QRO spotlight on Black Pistol Fire, 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival Tim Gunter, 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Boombox Cartel, 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM SuperDuperKyle, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Pell, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM |
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Wisner Crystal Castles, 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM Most electronic acts are restrained on stage, even when their crowd is going nuts, but the duo of Ethan Kath & Alice Glass (QRO live review) long matched their audience’s fervor – which had gotten them booted from more than one stage, especially at festivals (QRO photos at a festival). Glass split in 2014, but Kath decided to keep the group going, recruiting replacement Edith Frances to a rather mixed reaction (QRO photos at a recent festival). So even if you fall on the ‘hate’ side of this love-them-or-hate-them act (from Canada, surprisingly…), show up for the spectacle… (QRO live review) |
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SuperDuperKyle, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Kyle Thomas Harvey comes to Voodoo Experience with his SuperDuper Crew as SuperDuperKyle. |
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K.Flay, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM A musical aficionado, K.Flay (QRO photos at a festival) seems to know how to do it: producing beats, making rhymes, and playing guitar, piano, and drums. Her inexplicable catchy hooks, and beats are something least expected of a Stanford graduate but has already been deemed the ‘new best thing in hip-hop.’ This year she’s put out her second record, Every Where Is Some Where. |
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Also: Pell, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Black Pistol Fire, 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
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Altar Stage Foo Fighters, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM For some people, Dave Grohl will always be, first and foremost, the drummer of Nirvana (QRO DVD review), but he’s forged a massively successful career fronting his own Foo Fighters (QRO photos at a festival) for over fifteen years now. Along with former Sunny Day Real Estate bassist Nate Mendel and Pat Smear (of iconic punk act The Germs), they’re up to record number nine with this year’s ambitious Concrete and Gold (QRO review), 2014’s Sonic Highways (QRO review) and 2001’s Wasting Light (QRO review). There has even been pseudo-Nirvana reunions, like Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Nevermind producer Butch Vig on Wasting, plus Grohl’s documentary & album about their old recording studio, Sound City (QRO album review). More recently, Grohl broke his leg on stage, finished the performance, toured with his leg in a cast, and more! |
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Brand New, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM Long Island’s Brand New (QRO photos at a festival) were getting bigger & bigger, like with 2009’s Top Ten release, Daisy, but took their time with their follow-up, Science Fiction, which was only released this year, to great acclaim. They return to Voodoo Experience (QRO photos at a festival). |
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LÏVE, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM You remember LÏVE as a hit nineties act, with their album Throwing Copper and “Lightning Crashes”. More recently, singer Ed Kowalczyk split with the band in 2009, a new singer was recruited & new album released, but last year Kowalczyk returned for the full Live experience. |
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The Black Angels, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Austin’s great music scene has many dimensions, but the band that opened up the psychedelic side of the Live Music Capitol of the World is The Black Angels (QRO spotlight on). The group (QRO photos), fronted by Alex Mass (QRO interview), bring the psych-rock of 2013’s Indigo Meadow (QRO review) and 2010’s Phosphene Dream (QRO review) to Voodoo Experience (QRO photos outdoors at a festival), after previously playing America (QRO live review) & Europe (QRO photos at a European festival), not to mention their own psych fest, Levitation (QRO photos at Levitation ’15). They come to New Orleans (QRO live review) behind this year’s Death Song. |
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Also: Colony House, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29th
Le Plur Dillon Francis, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM American electronic artist Dillon Francis (QRO photos at a festival) has worked with big name DJs like Calvin Harris and Diplo (and stars as the idiot best friend to James Van Der Beek’s Diplo on VICE’s hilarious What Would Diplo Do?), to the point where he’s a big-name DJ all on his very own, headlining Sunday night at Le Plur. |
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Louis the Child, 6:15 PM – 7:15 PM While their name & electronica might make you think of France, duo Louis the Child actually hails from a high school in suburban Chicago. |
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Also: Mija, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM G Jones, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM SNBRN, 2:45 PM – 3:30 PM Pham, 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM Malik Ninety Five, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Church with Unicorn Fukr, Herb Christopher, Zander & Werd2Jah, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM |
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South Course Miguel, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Miguel Jontel Pimental (QRO photos at a festival) rose from his 2010 underperforming sleeper hit debut All I Want Is You and its label’s dissolution to acclaim with 2012’s Kaleidoscope Dream and last year’s Wildheart, incorporating R&B, funk, hip-hop, rock (QRO photos), and more like a latter-day Prince. |
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The James Hunter Six, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Hold On! for veteran English R&B singer James Hunter and his six-man band. |
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Strand of Oaks, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM For those looking for something a bit more heavy, look no further than Strand of Oaks (QRO photos at a festival). Timothy Showalter is not afraid to be honest in his guitar-driven songs punctuated with soaring solos. There’s a touch of pop, some Neil Young and the cathartic release of Strand of Oaks (QRO photos at a festival) will have you feeling nostalgic and ready for the future all at the same time. He comes to Voodoo Experience behind this year’s Hard Love (QRO review). |
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Also: La Femme, 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
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Toyota Music Den SNBRN, 6:00 – 6:30 PM DJ Mel, 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM Ron Gallo, 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival The James Hunter Six, 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Durand Jones & The Indications, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Strand of Oaks, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM – QRO album review |
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Wisner Post Malone, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM While best known for being a breakout hip-hop artist, Post Malone traffics in many genres. He comes to Voodoo Experience after last year’s debut full-length, Stoney. |
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Aminé, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM The young rapper Aminé (QRO photos at a festival) has already had a hit single in “Caroline”, and comes to Voodoo Experience behind debut album Good for You. |
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Sam Dew, 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Sam Dew came to notice for his work on Wale’s number one record The Gifted, but comes on his own to Voodoo Experience, behind this year’s single “Remember”. |
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Mannequin Pussy, 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM Smash your body on the punk rock of Philadelphia’s Mannequin Pussy. |
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Altar Stage The Killers, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM The Killers (QRO photos) broke out of their Las Vegas home in 2004 with debut Hot Fuss and great singles “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside” – and have failed to match that since. 2006’s attempt at greatness Sam’s Town didn’t make it, and after 2008’s middling Day & Age (QRO review) singer Brandon Flowers went solo for his own middling work. But the group has since come back (QRO photos) with 2012’s Battle Born (QRO review) and the upcoming Wonderful Wonderful – and they still play Hot Fuss live (QRO live review). |
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The Head and The Heart, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM Things have been seriously booming for The Head and The Heart (QRO live review). The Seattle alt-folk/pop band (QRO photos outdoors) was signed by Sub Pop (QRO photos outdoors), named their city’s best new band by Seattle Weekly, opened for everybody from Dave Matthews to Death Cab for Cutie. They since graduated to headlining status (QRO live review) behind 2013’s sweet Let’s Be Still (QRO review) – though their crowds never were (QRO photos at a festival). They come to Voodoo Experience (QRO photos at a festival) behind last year’s Signs of Light (QRO review). |
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Cold War Kids, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM After a string of EPs, Fullerton, California’s Cold War Kids (QRO photos) blew up in 2006 with their full-length debut, Robbers & Cowards. While 2008’s Loyalty to Loyalty (QRO review) suffered something of a sophomore slump, 2011’s Mine Is Yours (QRO review) 2013’s Miss Lonelyhearts (QRO review), 2014’s Hold My Home (QRO review), and this year’s L.A. Divine (QRO review) lifted things somewhat, and their live show (QRO live review) is still electric, especially outside (QRO live review outdoors) or at festivals (QRO photos at a festival), as they still ring with singles (QRO photos), from the more recent “Love Is Mystical” and “Audience” (QRO video) to their break-outs “We Used To Vacation”, “Hospital Beds” (QRO video), and “Hang Me Out To Dry” (QRO video). |
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Also: Ron Gallo, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival |
For festival website, go here: https://www.voodoofestival.com/
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