For many people, Voodoo lineups for the past few years have not been up to par, and this year’s might have seemed to follow the same pattern at first glance. However, if festivalgoers give the lineup a second glance and click through a few Wikipedia articles, they may be surprised at who actually played the three-day Voodoo Music + Arts Experience this weekend.
If sets by ’90s guys like Pearl Jam and Kid Rock or radio rappers like Macklemore didn’t appeal to some, there were plenty of other acts to round out the fest.
Desaparecidos brought some jam-worthy post-hardcore to the table Friday, but if concertgoers paid attention to the vocalist’s screaming rants, they may have noticed that the same voice belongs to Conor Oberst, indie-emo hero of the early ’90s. Oberst started the band back in 2002 but put the project on hold when Bright Eyes started to take off and, 10 years later in 2012, he reinstated Desaparecidos.
Similarly, to the untrained eye, The Weeks is just an average southern-rock band from Jackson, Miss., but last year the band was picked up by Kings of Leon’s label, Serpents and Snakes, after a move to Nashville.
“Seth Riddle [manager of Kings of Leon’s record label] was helping them with their label and we were on tour with The Meat Puppets, and Seth Riddle came to that show, and after that he just started talking to us and the ball just started rolling — they’ve been really great since the beginning,” said Cyle Barnes, lead singer of The Weeks, which played Voodoo on Saturday.
Since then, the band has seen major success overseas, even being featured in NME on countless occasions.
Much like The Weeks, Bad Things has achieved nationwide appeal, but for a different reason.
Bad Things had a set Saturday that lacked a large crowd, but it may have been bigger if the audience knew that the guitarist was none other than Olympic snowboarder Shaun White. The band began its tour earlier this year and will be releasing a self-titled album produced by Rob Schnapf in the next few months.
And although many didn’t take the announcement that Florida’s New Found Glory were slotted to play the coveted Saturday afternoon spot, the band is actually seen by some as the “Godfathers of Pop Punk.”
“I think it’s pretty amazing, it seems pretty flattering,” Cyrus Bolooki, drummer of New Found Glory, said of the title.
The band has played alongside Blink-182 since the band’s inception, and if there was a pop punk hall of fame, these guys would definitely have been inducted.
Although originally finding success for its blend of pop-punk, Paramore seemed to drop its rebellious side and embrace the more radio-friendly nature of the band’s music during its Saturday night set. The Paramore of old is no more, as evidenced by both Hayley Williams’ physical transformation and overall attitude toward music. Rocking a short bob with a dose of spunk to match, it’s clear that Williams doesn’t care what people think anymore and that the band’s finally ready to admit that it creates radio-friendly pop hits for the masses instead of edgy pop punk.
The band bridged the gap between the grungier Friday and Saturday lineups and the bouncier Sunday sets.
The closing-day lineup seemed to drop the punk and left festivalgoers with only pop. Many know Matt & Kim strictly from the radio hit “Daylight,” but the indie-pop duo is actually widely known for its festival appearances.
“I just have these visual stills stuck in my brain of hundreds of people all trying to crowd surf,” said Matt Johnson of Matt & Kim about his Bonnaroo festival experience.
Overall, there were some genuine treasures at Voodoo festival, if patrons took the time to look.

Gallery • 67 Photos

Angela Major

Leslie Blackshear Smith from Leslie Blackshear Smith & Double Black sings on the Flambeau Stage on Saturday Nov. 2, 2013 at the 2013 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience.