VOODOO MUSIC EXPERIENCE ONE MORE NOTCH ON NEW ORLEANS…

(VIDEO) The 8th Annual New Orleans Voodoo Experience festival broke record attendance, featured some of todays hottest live acts and demonstrated why the spirit of New Orleans continues to thrive. The Flaming Lips and The Secret Machines talk about how important Voodoo Experience is to New Orleans, right here.

Voodoo Music Experience certainly brought to life the widespread chatter around the re-birth of the Crescent City, New Orleans, Louisiana. The two-day music festival welcomed with open arms the diverse and spirited native NOLA crowd as well as artists and fans from across the country. Performances from such bands as My Chemical Romance, Blue October, Pete Yorn, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Flaming Lips, Duran Duran, and many more drew a record breaking 100,000 person turn-out for the 8-year old festival. The festival not only means a lot to music lovers from across the globe, but it also is deeply ingrained in the fabric of a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

We caught up with The Secret Machines, who performed last year just after Katrina had devastated the region, to discuss last year’s event and their thoughts on seeing the progress one year later.

“We actually played last year, which was right after Hurricane Katrina hit and it was really important thing to be a part of, considering how the government really just slacked and really didn’t do what they were supposed to do. It felt good to go there and kind of see the people excited and change their view for a day with music. I think to a certain extent last year when we played it there was speculation it wasn’t going to happen and I think it happening was really giving the finger to the government and the man and saying look ‘It would be great to get your help but we’re going to still continue to fight and work and clean up and get on with our lives and it was really good to be a part of that.”

Sunday, My Chemical Romance introduced themselves to New Orleans with a bang! Lead vocalist, Gerard Way’s theatrical performance and captivating stage presence had the audience completely entranced and on their feet. Of course, The Flaming Lips couldn’t have been a more suitable act to help wrap up the weekend festivities. The circus-like traveling show entourage of dancing alien girls, and Santa clauses completely wowed the crowd as lead vocalist, Wayne Coyne, continued to express the band’s excitement for the physical and spiritual re-building of the city of New Orleans. We caught up with Michael Ivins of The Flaming Lips to talk about the bands feelings on performing in the city for the first time since Katrinas devastation.

“We haven’t been back to New Orleans since (Katrina) I heard a lot of weird things that’s there’s only half the peope in New Orleans that used to be there and it’s not quite as bussling as it used to be. I mean it’s a great city, hopefully the powers that be don’t squabble too much and maybe you can actually not turn New Orleans into a Disneyland version of itself or worse just abandon it. It seems like they could make a fresh start in a way and point the way for other american cities and be green.”

Voodoo Music Experience is one of the many stepping-stones in New Orleans, Louisiana’s journey back from the devastating Katrina disaster. While this public event is an example the city’s inherent vitality, it is apparent that everyday, through the efforts of locals and those who visit and lend support, New Orleans is on its way to bigger and better. With over 100,000 in attendance easily breaking festival records, one can bet next year will only be bigger and better. As they say in New Orleans, “Let the good times roll!”