This Halloween students feeling a little wicked might try some pagan dancing at the seventh annual Voodoo Music Festival. The showcase of musical genres takes place in City Place on Oct. 29th and 30th, and scheduled acts include Dr. John, Digable Planets and Nine Inch Nails.
The festival, of��cially known as the “Voodoo Music Experience,” was founded by former LSU football player Stephen Rehage. The defensive back became involved in the entertainment industry after he was traded to the Canadian Football League by the New York Giants.
Having grown up in New Orleans, Rehage said in a 2004 interview that the concept of Voodoo Fest was inspired by the tales of Congo Square, an area in which Afro-Creole slaves were allowed to congregate on Sundays for dance and music.
Rehage, who is now president and CEO of Rehage Entertainment, Inc., said he sees Voodoo Fest as “an expression and celebration of the city.”
Two-day passes are on sale at the Ticketmaster and Voodoo Music Experience Web sites, but students are able to purchase passes through the Union Box Of��ce at a cheaper price of $60.50.
“People don’t know this is a Ticketmaster outlet,” said Jon Polk, an architecture senior who has worked at the second ��oor box of��ce for two and a half years.
Polk said online tickets are more expensive than Union Box Of��ce tickets because of convenience charges. A 4 percent fee also is applied to credit card charges at the box of��ce, but students who pay by check or cash will not have to pay this extra fee.
Polk said that though the box of��ce usually has enough Voodoo Fest tickets, prices tend to rise a day or two before the event. His advice is to get the tickets ahead of time.
“It’s almost like a new audience,” said Polk on the type of crowd the event is expected to bring, “There’s more Indie Rock.” He speculated this new kind of audience may bring a larger crowd than last year, which drew around 100,000 people.
In addition to 2-day passes, VIP tickets are offered at the Union. The VIP admission will cost $266.75 and include a better view of the stages, free beverages and Voodoo Fest products.
One-day passes may go on sale in September, pending availability.
Nathan Cazes, a broadcast journalism senior, attended the 2003 and 2004 Voodoo Fests.
“Yeah, I had a wonderful time,” he said, “but it was way too expensive.”
Cazes refers to the prohibition of outside food and beverages. He saw that food and drink were highly priced on festival grounds.
“You’re happy about the ticket price, but they know they’re gonna get much more money out of you after you enter the gates.”
Stephen Rehage would argue the opposite, “Voodoo Fest is the most inexpensive festival in the country, including the food.”
He said that allowing concert-goers to bring their own food would eliminate the need for vendors. He believes the absence of vendors would inconvenience those people who prefer not to bring meals.
Regardless of the cost of food, aggressive pricing can catch many ��rst-time concert-goers off guard.
In 2004, Cazes said, he had to pay $10 to use teller machines inside the festival. For comparison, the banking institutions outside the Union charge members of different credit unions $2.00 to $2.50 for access to their ATMs.
Cazes thinks anyone planning on leaving with souvenirs should bring at least two hundred dollars.
Last year, Cazes went to see Green Day, the Pixies and the Beastie Boys in one afternoon, and this year he plans to catch Nine Inch Nails: “I’ve never seen them live, and I’m dying to see them.”
Other performers include Billy Idol, The Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, Handsome Boy Modeling School and the Neville Brothers.
The full list of artists is located at http://www.voodoomusicfest.com/2005/home.php.
With upwards of 50,000 people present on either of the festival’s two days, some may be induced to suspend their social norms.
In his 2004 visit to Voodoo Fest, one thing that Cazes said particularly stood out in his mind was the air-brushing of women’s breasts, “which was nice,” he said “but there are some women you don’t want to see.”
Cazes also said he saw people use Ecstasy, acid and marijuana.
“There’s a lot of free living,” he said.
The most amusing thing Cazes said he remembered about his Voodoo Fest experience was a rap karaoke stand where people created their own hip-hop lyrics. Of this sight, Cazes surmised that “not everyone’s an Eminem. Some people are Skittles.”
Despite the liberal crowd and conservative policies, Cazes admitted the scenery, organization and quality get better every year, “It’s a nouveau Woodstock.”
Cazes cautions students to be sure of exactly what they can and cannot bring.
Recording devices are prohibited, but festival organizers offer DVD recordings of the event. A full list of banned items can be found at the Voodoo Music Experience 2005 Web site.
For parking, Nathan says people should plan their route ahead of time and arrive early.
He also recommends that the weak of heart remain well behind the crowd during performances; last year he sustained a blow to the arm from a Green Day crowd surfer.
The number to the Union Box Of��ce is 578-5128.