On Oct. 22, the first of the production crews rolled into New Orleans City Park to begin the long setup of stages, vendors and equipment for the massive undertaking that was The Voodoo Experience 2009.By Oct. 30, setup was complete, and the gates opened to officially begin the 11th Ritual.More than 150,000 people passed through City Park during the Halloween weekend for music, food and a New Orleans experience that brought an explosive performance from KISS, Lenny Kravitz’s return to New Orleans and a reunion of Eminem with his band D12 for his only full concert of 2009 and his first Voodoo performace since 2000.People of all ages and backgrounds — from dreadlocked hippies to clean-cut fraternity members — came together during the three-day music festival for notable performances from headliners and others 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, during the festival. “Plus, it’s Halloween, and this is the Halloween party.”The Halloween spirit was alive and well throughout the course of the fesitval. From Quail-Man to Mario and Luigi, concert-goers were dressed to the occasion, including a horde of zombies attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest zombie gathering.When the gates opened early Friday, Oct. 30, the sky was already gray with the threat of rain, but the festival managed to stay dry until The Black Keys took the stage for their set.Right as the band stepped onstage, the downpour began, but with what seemed like mystical powers, as soon as the first chord was struck from lead singer Dan Auerbach’s guitar, the rain stopped. For the remainder of the set, it seemed The Black Keys could control the weather, with rain stopping during songs but starting again during breaks.After a rain-soaked, cold night, the weather cleared up for what would be sunny, fair weather for the remainder of the festival.”I’ve got to give kudos to these people for sticking it out,” said Brian Aubert, lead singer and guitarist for Silversun Pickups. “We knew that if they weren’t complaining then we had no reason to at all. Despite all this rain and the setbacks, we came out at the end pretty happy with the show.”While main stage acts like Eminem and KISS garnered the largest crowds — each drawing more than 10,000 people — other sections of the festival attracted large crowds and offered acts filled with New Orleans flavor, the true heart of Voodoo.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.While rain-soaked fans huddled together for Eminem’s performance Friday night, the covered circus tent of the Bingo! Parlor thrived with an electrifying performance from Fisherspooner.Performances from local bands like The New Orleans Bingo! Show, The Happy Talk Band, MarchFourth Marching Band, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and the Rebrith Brass Band captured the eccentricity of New Orleans and offered festival-goers a chance to taste the unique flavor of the city that they couldn’t get with the main stage national acts.Jim Soule, general studies sophomore, attended all three days of Voodoo and he said the lineup was good, but he felt a lot of the local New Orleans acts were overshadowed by the bigger mainstage performances.”It seemed like a lot of people don’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 through.”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]