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HUMID CITY - VOODOO
08
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008
NOOMOON - Land Of Nod stage @ Voodoo Festival
New Orleans is, and has always been, a city that calls out to artists of all types. Writers, actors, painters, and especially musicians, come here and are reborn in the image of those who were born here in reality; not by imitation, but by the sense of freedom and self discovery that prevails in such a lush Caribbean climate, steeped in all night drinking establishments, a history of cultures, wide and deep, and a sense that life is for living in the moment at hand.
This makes New Orleans the perfect venue for music, not only at festivals such as Voodoo & Jazz Fest, but also in the dive bars, tiny clubs of Frenchman street and for the street performers of Jackson Square.
Thousands come every year to see & hear their favorite artists, acts too big to play together in smaller arenas, or in one night only situations. Twice a year we are host to a stellar group of performers and luminaries, a seemingly unending parade of talent, going on for days.
In the background of these nationally noticed events is a much smaller phenomenon. A small part of downtown New Orleans, just east of the French Quarter, is known as the Marigny/Bywater. These two communities, joined back to back at the Press Street railroad tracks, are an amazing burgeoning art community.
This development has led to the creation of the St. Claude Art District, (http://www.scadnola.com/) an online co-operative of the art spaces and galleries, now garnishing national attention from the likes of Derek Hess & the Andy Warhol Society, as well as international attention created by this Fall?s New Orleans Fringe Festival (http://www.nofringe.org/).
At the same time, local musicians have been plying their trade, supporting local recording studio spaces, from the well known Piety Street studio, home of the latest Andre Williams recording, to one of the newer additions, The Rookery Studio, a digital and multi track tape recording facility hidden deep in the Bywater.
This is but the tip of the iceberg, however. The new music coming from this community reaches far & wide in terms of influence, method and instrumentation. From the dreamlike poetic musings of Illusion Fields to the house & dance hall reggae & ska of DJ Proppa bear, there is as far flung an approach to this local music scene as any art community has seen.
Aside from smaller experimental venues, and playing backup at local galleries, only the internet, with its dizzying compilation of independent talent, offers itself as ongoing fertile ground for these artists. Therein lies the rub.
Until now.
Enter Dan Sheridan, or as we call him in the neighborhood, Dan the Man. I met Dan when he arrived in New Orleans to stay, about the same time that Strekin Hobo was rocking the Hi Ho. In fact, we met at that very club. A long time outsider entrepreneur,
Dan the Man was marketing a thoughtfully freaky brand of clothing, particularly tribal designed screen printed wear, under the name Noomoon. Those who helped out with these endeavors, taking part in an organic growth of neighborly family, became known as the Noomoon Tribe, back in the beginning of the creation of this crew of freaks.
But that was only the beginning.
As Dan would tell it (or at least as he told it to me), so many people from those days assumed that Noomoon Tribe was a band, that one was eventually started, as the promotional machine seemed already in motion. Bringing that momentum from Detroit to New Orleans, Noomoon quickly found a home base, right here in the Marigny, and an ongoing group of willing constituents.
These endeavors grew right along side of the music & art community renaissance that was taking place in these same small neighborhoods. Dan?s Noomoon promotional machine once more came into play.
While music and art fans from around the world know they can come and enjoy the second Saturday of the month gallery openings of the St. Claude Art District, or come to town in mid November for the New Orleans Fringe Festival, it?s only just becoming common knowledge that the Voodoo Music Experience is no longer for name acts only.
This year is the 10th Voodoo Experience Music Ritual, and the 9th for Noomoon. Running it?s own stage, The Land of Nod, Noomoon brings to a huge public audience those underground and outsider musical entities the rest of the world is only just now about to discover.
Located just inside the front gates, aptly placed immediately to the right of the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Noomoon Land of Nod stage provides an alternative reality, with two stages, a variety of bands and performers, fire breathers and dancers, tribal style body piercing and suspension, vendors and costumers all quite a bit different than the usual Voodoo fare, last year even including a voodoo ritual to protect New Orleans from hurricane damage, that although may be a leap of faith, may actually have worked to some degree. You?ll have to decide for yourself.
The point is this: New Orleans is a magic city of new tastes and old, of mixed blood and history, of pirates and politicians, churches and vampires, writers and drinkers, many of whom are all one and the same. It is a spicy gumbo of creativity, where musicians & artists of many types and cultures experiment with their canvases and sounds, their processes, their lives. While that may not be for everybody, it?s an amazing thing to watch.
The 10th annual Voodoo Music Experience and Ritual provides that opportunity.
Noomoon?s 9th annual Land of Nod stage takes it the extra mile, loosing local creative madness in a public forum. While many cities have their own music scene, art venues, culture & style, few challenge New Orleans for sheer volume of these things, and so many talents that challenge the perspective we have come to know and accept.
Enjoy Voodoo this year. Take the walk down to the Land of Nod. Stay a while. Make some new friends, enjoy the music, join the Tribe for an afternoon or an evening or both.
Find something new to explore. Find something new inside yourself.
Who knows, you may find yourself on the Land of Nod stage, too, one day.
It?s a place where anything can, and often does, happen.
Lord David
New Orleans
Voodoo Experience 2008: Sunday Review
Breakfast on Tour.com
The Land of Nod? The area surrounding the Noomoon stage ? was truly its own world within the festival. People-watching was stellar at any time of the day, unique musical acts were constantly performing, and captivating visual art pieces were scattered throughout. Perhaps the most noticeable of the oddities was an elaborately adorned hearse created by artist Kelly Israel. I could spend days staring at its intricate magnificence and still not feel like I'd seen everything on it.
Dallas psych/prog rockers Spoonfed Tribe soon appeared on the Noomoon stage, so I drew nearer to watch. The first time I saw them, I found lead vocalist/flautist Egg Nebula's onstage energy infectious; the same was true this day. (And isn't 'Egg Nebula' a fab stage name? Loves it!) With his dreads bouncing joyously, he cut a fine figure dancing around the center of the stage. What I particularly enjoy about this band is that they mix delicate flute and piccolo sounds with harder, driving instrumentation ? and it actually works. They're unlike any other band out there, and their live shows are a truly unique experience.
The Ten Commandments of Voodoo
06:48 AM CDT on Friday, October 24, 2008
WWLTV
Chad Bower / Eyewitness News
You know the type: the stumbling, bumbling, obnoxious drunk that fights just to stand up after a drink or two over their limit. He may be a sad, sore sight, but he was only breaking a few of The Ten Commandments of Voodoo. Protect yourself from yourself by reading over the commandments. You don't want to be any more annoying than our little friend.
Thou shalt support local music ? Buy a CD. Try on a few shirts. Direct tourists towards the Preservation Hall Tent or NooMoon Stage. The real life and blood of this city is its music, so while Nine Inch Nails REM great acts, the locals need some love too.
Fusicology revels in the 10th Annual Voodoo Music Experience
Thursday, Oct 30 2008
10.24.08 | DAY 1
After a misty morning, fearing a muddy scene a-la-Lollapalooza memories, we were thrilled with the breaking of the sun around 2pm as my photographer, Emily, and I arrived at check-in on Friday under some sprawling poplar trees at the spectacular New Orleans City Park. Just a bit of distant chill in the air to let us know we?s need jackets for later and friendly smiles from the Voodoo Festival staff.
Our first glimpse was of the circus-style New Orleans Bingo! Show parlor tent, where we assume some scandalous revelry was taking place inside, but alas off we went to our first set on the PlayStation/Billboard Stage to check out those rising punk kids, and my hometown homies (shameless Detroit plug), The Dirtbombs, where they were opening that stage for the weekend. It was dope to see this band, who I watched play seedy bars and local festivals in years of late, playing on this enormous mammoth of a stage, as well as be the first act I catch at Voodoo. And you know what? Theirs was the best rock set of the entire weekend, and not just because I am partial to my hometown heroes. Unless, of course you want to classify FishBone as rock. Seriously.
FishBone?s set on the tiny NooMoon Stage was ridiculous. Period. I think they were even better than I remember them before. Seriously, less heavy metal, and more ska. I think I even got some afrobeat vibes from them! The crowd was hype?obviously enough old-school fans in attendance, crowd-surfing soon commenced. And though the guys are clearly getting older, they?re no less swank - just as quirky, but even maybe more so, in a somehow more sophisticated way. Or is that just me trying to justify my quirky taste now that I?m supposed to know the difference between unique talent and just plain weirdness?
In any case, their set was sick; funky horns, laid-back bass, and, though it took a minute, eventually the hype MC/lead front man we expected to dive into the audience not sans corded mic. Each member most definitely still has their own character, only a few uber-thick dreads now, but enough eclecticism to maintain their rank as one of my top bands of all time. In fact, I think I like them even more now. Hey - I haven?t been near the front row of a crowd-surfing pit and not been annoyed in years! FishBone was absolutely the low-profile, hardly publicized act of the weekend that just killed it. I totally went home to pull out my old FishBone albums.
