Monthly Archive for October, 2007

Sunday at Voodoo was gravy day; Anything good today was just a bonus. Arriving around 5:00pm, the crowd was noticeably smaller then Saturday’s. I assumed many locals just bought day passes for Saturday, and choose to forgo Sunday.

First up were the Black Crows. I had never had the pleasure of catching these guys, though the Birmingham crew speaks highly of them. And I can say that in this case, reports were accurate. The Black Crows rocked for 90 minutes, playing songs that made you feel like you were watching a festival act in the 70’s. The Crows just have that classic rock feel that is extremely rare nowadays. I couldn’t tell you the name of a single song they played, but it really didn’t matter. Very entertaining.

Next up was Common. Now I’m not really a hip hop guy. I leave that up to JB and Laurent the Laurent, but enjoyed the set. Common performs with a a pair of keyboard players and a bad ass drummer, along with a DJ. It’s refreshing to see an MC who doesn’t just rap over recorded music. The first half of the set rolled by with what I assume were some of Common’s hits. The crowd certainly went nuts for a few of them. The second half was what I really enjoyed. Common did a 10 minute hip hop medley that included everything from Biz Markie to NWA. He followed that up with a freestyle session that played to the home crowd, mentioning the Saints and Bourbon street. I dipped out after this to get a good spot for Wilco. Overall, Common was good stuff, and a nice change between the Black Crows and Wilco.

Poor Wilco. I’ve had a few chances to see them, including at Bonnaroo this year, but they were up against the Decemberists and a good spot for the White Stripes, so they kinda lost that fight. That said, I was happy to hear they would be at Voodoo this year. And I have to say that they were the perfect closer for the festival. Their folky jam style really fit. The crowd had dwindled even more by the time they took the stage, but that only made it more intimate. Jeff Tweedy leads Wilco with an awesome voice and a great stage presence. He talked to the crowd somewhat casually, at one point saying, “Man, this is awesome. Its fairly awesome.” Fairly awesome, aside from being quite hilarious at the time, would be a great description for Wilco. Their lead guitar player broke into some amazing solos, but was just as noticeable for his antics. At times he shook like he was having a seizure. And once he was playing his guitar by rubbing it on the back of his head.

Another highlight occurred when Tweedy started a song by dedicating it to Yuri from Mike. Soon, on the big screen, an image appeared with the message, “Yuri, will you marry me?” After the song the crowd discover that she said yes, causing a huge ovation.

Wico rocked for another half hour or so, closing with a great jam that included a lovely segment of dueling guitars. And with that, Voodoo 2007 came to a close. It was a great weekend with a bunch of good performances, especially RATM, Spoon, and Wilco.