MUSIC PREVIEW: VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE 2009

KISS Me, KISS Me, KISS Me - Headliners Announced For Voodoo Experience 2009

By: Ramus Dahl

July 2, 2009

Sweet Jesus! What is this?! It seems, according to the minions of the KISS Army (of which I am a devout subscriber), that none other than KISS is posed to headline this year’s Voodoo Experience 2009 in City Park, New Orleans October 30 through November 1.

The simple math in this equation is mindboggling — KISS, Halloween, Voodoo Experience, New Orleans…a tripartite alliance of darkness and evil the world, up to this point, may have never known or will ever know, for that matter.

While it’s near water torture to contain my excitement at this news, I must for the sake of appearances — of retaining some semblance of being a “true music critic” or “music journalist,” or simply for the sake of salvaging some sense of dignity before I rummage through the closet for my black platform boots, spiked shoulder pads, and the “official KISS makeup” kit preserved behind the stacks of KISS action figures, KISS comic books, and illegal copy of KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park on VHS.

But such an extreme ascetic is futile in this day in age. I need this concert. Why? There’s no point in asking such nonsensical questions such as “Why?”! Not here, not now…not with the very notion that the Knights In Satan’s Service will be ascending from the fires of Hades to throw down a few timeless classics from the Devil’s opus straight off the sulfuric strings of the Ax of Beelzebub am I, or you, or any mere red-blooded mortal anywhere near the position of opening our mouths to ask the question, “Why?”!

It’s simple really, I suppose — as simple as that nihilistic bent that has pulled every breath and tongue to shout, “I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday” till their throat bleeds and they actually believe it. For all their obese capitalism and unabashed appetites for shameless marketing and gorging on the almighty dollar, none of us can honestly deny the unavoidable fingerprint that the music and image of KISS has pushed into the very DNA of our social, musical, cultural conscience.

It’s all symbolism, I suppose. It’s the images, like Batman and the Headless Horseman, like Dracula’s widow’s brow — these images that KISS has somehow brilliantly fashioned and intertwined into the chord progressions of incredible rock and roll tunes, however tongue-in-cheek they may seem to the purists out there.

These images of evil, of the supernatural, of the feline curse, and of rock star excess that have sustained this quartet of doom for nearly four decades, more or less. Honestly, they should have evaporated in the 1970s…but the fact that they didn’t — the fact that they’re still rocking this planet should give us enough reason to pause and reconsider our skepticism about KISS as a viable contender for rock and roll greatness.

In addition, the newly resurrected Eminem will be taking the stage alongside KISS to make the Voodoo Experience 2009 perhaps his only live performance of this year.

I’ll go ahead and throw some chips out on the table to say that New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience is fast to dethrone the Bonnaroos, Coachellas and ACLs as the most anticipated and sought-after music event in the western hemisphere.

(This wager, on my part, is made with somewhat of a heavy heart, as last year’s festival was pure bliss on account of the cool weather, modest crowd size, and cutting edge that the Voodoo Experience offered to myself and my photographer, as opposed to the scorching heat, suffocating crowds, and yuppification of ACL. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I’d so casually be able to walk up to the front of the stage at shows of the magnitude of Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails or REM.)

Therefore, I beseech thee — buy your tickets now! This festival has only been getting bigger and better.

But…how can you top KISS?? (And, dare I mention, George Clinton and the P Funk All Stars? Jane’s Addiction?)

That three day artist lineup also includes:

Widespread Panic, Flaming Lips, Justice, Ween, Silversun Pickups, Street Sweeper Social Club, Gogol Bordello, Wolfmother, The Black Keys, The Pogues, Brand New, The Cool Kids, Black Lips, Janelle Monae, The Knux, Q-Tip, Mutemath, All Time Low, Mates of State, American Bang, Earl Greyhound, Drive By Truckers, Rebirth Brass Band, JJ Grey and Mofro, Shooter Jennings, Fischerspooner, Meat Puppets and the Squirrel Nut Zippers amongst many, many more.

The Voodoo Music Experience will take place from October 30 to November 1, 2009 at City Park in New Orleans, LA.