Voodoo Music Experience, New Orleans, Set for October 28th and 29th

Red Hot Chili Peppers to Headline Weekend of Great Music

Amazing music and New Orleans-style revelry are on tap for the eighth annual Voodoo Music Experience, set for October 28 and 29 in one of America’s most musical and magical cities.  The festival’s celebrated Halloween weekend tradition will be highlighted by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who will charm the crowds with their inimitable brand of “blood, sugar, sex, magik.”

The remainder of the line-up and other festival details for the 2006 VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE will be announced in the weeks and months leading up to the event.  Look for an array of top-level talent from all genres of music, up and coming critical favorites and beloved local musical acts to grace the multiple stages.  Past performers have included: Green Day, Beastie Boys, Eminem, Tool, Snoop Dogg, White Stripes, Tribe Called Quest, Stone Temple Pilots, Iggy and the Stooges, No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, and Velvet Revolver just to name a few.

“Despite the past year’s events and the uncertainty it has created in the city--it is an honor to have the Peppers be the first act to sign on,” says VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE producer Stephen Rehage. “I think it speaks volumes about the influence New Orleans Music and musicians have had on the world.” 

Last year was a genuinely celebratory event when New Orleans’ residents came together--just two months to the day after their city was devastated--in the VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE’s “Worship The Music” philosophy.  The assembled crowd gathered October 29 at the free concert which marked the return of live music to the city and was one of the first occasions where people could unite through one of the most basic joys of life: great music.  Nine Inch Nails, New York Dolls, Queens of the Stone Age, The Secret Machines and hometown favorites World Leader Pretend performed in New Orleans and then went on to Memphis the following day as the two cities banded together to renew the spirit and music of New Orleans.

As Keith Spera noted in the TIMES PICAYUNE:  “…the festival's trademark mix of local and national acts rocked Riverview Park…On an afternoon of flawless weather…attendees streamed into Riverview Park, the swath of reclaimed land between Audubon Zoo and the Mississippi River, for 12 hours of music and distraction.”

MTV NEWS correspondent James Montgomery noted of Saturday’s New Orleans’ concert:  “A Halloween-weekend tradition since '99, Voodoo has always served two purposes: First and foremost, it pays tribute to the city's diverse and deep musical culture...the crowds filed out of Riverview Park, tired and a bit muddy but happy. They all knew that it was going to take more than good luck to dig their city out of the ruins and to get their lives back on track--but at least for one night, they weren't constantly reminded of that fact.  And their exit created another positive sight: a serpentine line of traffic. The last time many of the audience members saw so many tail lights, they were fleeing New Orleans. Now, they were heading home.”

Stay tuned for additional information on this year’s VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE. For up-to-the-minute information, log on to www.voodoomusicfest.com