To see a slideshow of all three days at Voodoo, click here.
Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to show that Babin enjoys seeing the indie bands Le Carnival offers not Le Ritual.More than 150,000 people passed through New Orleans’ City Park during Halloween weekend for the 11th ritual of The Voodoo Experience, featuring an explosive performance from KISS, a return to New Orleans by Lenny Kravitz and a reunion of Eminem with his band D12 for his only concert of 2009 and his first Voodoo performance since his 2000 appearance.People of all ages and backgrounds from dread-locked hippies to clean-cut fraternity members came together during the three-day music festival for notable performances from the headliners and many other bands including Wolfmother, The Flaming Lips, Justice, The Black Keys, Gogol Bordello and The Cool Kids.”Compared to other festivals, Voodoo does one of the best jobs of bringing really different acts together,” said Laci Gagliano, a zombified concert-goer from Mobile,  Ala. “Plus, it’s Halloween, and this is the Halloween party.”Twenty minutes before its first show at Voodoo, Silversun Pickups had to make a quick decision, either brave the heavy rain and wind or move its 6:40 p.m. main-stage set to a nearby club to play later Friday night.”It was chaotic right before we decided to go on,” lead singer and guitarist Brian Aubert told The Daily Reveille. “One of our amps had blown, and it came down to the last minute — the rain was just bad.”But the band came out and performed its full set to a crowd of several thousand cold, rain-soaked fans.”I’ve got to give kudos to these people for sticking it out,” Aubert said. “We knew that if they weren’t complaining, then we had no reason to at all. Despite all this rain and the set back, we came out at the end pretty happy with the show.”While main-stage acts like Eminem and KISS gathered the biggest crowds — each drawing more than 10,000 people apiece — other sections of the festival attracted large crowds of fans who were dressed for Halloween.Many people strayed away from the main-stage area, Le Ritual, to the Le Carnival area for indie bands and circus acts and to  Le Flambeau for local and New Orleans jazz acts.”I’ve been all over Voodoo,” said Sam Babin, business senior. “But I just saw The New Orleans Bingo! Show, and it was a blast.”Babin said this was the eighth year he had been to The Voodoo Experience, and he said he always enjoys seeing the indie bands Le Carnival offers as much as the main-stage acts.Rachel Vette, lead singer for The Vettes, played to several thousand people during her band’s main-stage set Friday and said Voodoo pulled off the diverse line-up well.”Our set position this year was weird compared to the last time we played,” Vette said. “When we played last, we were set in between bands that were close to our style, this year we were followed by The Cool Kids. But that’s what happens at Voodoo — a lot of different people come together.”Jim Soule, general studies sophomore, attended all three days of Voodoo. He said the lineup was good, but a lot of the local New Orleans flavor was overshadowed by bigger acts.”It seemed like a lot of people didn’t pay attention to the local bands as much as the bigger acts that were there,” Soule said. “They all put on a good show, but I think a lot of the local stuff just got pushed to the side.”Steve Rehage, founder and producer of Voodoo, said the main acts are meant to draw people in, and the local flavor is meant to shine equally.”New Orleans is the main attraction for Voodoo,” Rehage said. “So while people will be here to see these big names, they won’t be able to avoid hearing what the city is famous for — the music.”—-Contact Jake Clapp at [email protected]