Seven bands that include alumni of Loyola will be playing at this weekends upcoming Voodoo Fest. The festivals tenth year features an impressive line-up, but will also include eighteen art installations and a traveling Hammond organ cart that will drive around the festival. The festival will also be supporting the Gulf Restoration Network, who will have it’s own information tent.
Glasgow
Glasgow, whose members include brothers Jack Craft A’08 and Sam Craft, has an indie rock sound that manages between purer rock riffs and a classical music influence and adornment. The bands instruments include violin and cello, as well as various percussive effects. The bands music is explorative and sounds great on recording, but their stage presence needs work.
“It obviously means a lot to play for such an event. This is going to put our name out there for a lot of people who have never heard of us before because there are people from all over the US that will be there. It’s good coverage and our plan for Voodoo is to play as good a show as we always do. We’ll be playing on a larger stage and in front of a larger audience, so if there are going to be any surprises, well it wouldn’t be a surprise if I just told you,” bassist George Elizondo said.
Check Glasgow out on Friday, Oct. 30 at 12 p.m. at the Playstation/Billboard.com Stage.
MyNameisJohnMichael
MyNameisJohnMichael, which includes Loyola graduates Leo DeJesus A’07 and John Michael Rouchell A’09, is an indie rock band that has a rich sound with a pace to make you get up and dance. Their horns, bells and drums are the highlights while the voice of Rouchell, which sounds much like that of Neutral Milk Hotel’s lead singer, Jeff Mangum, sings simple lyrics and is backed by sparse, harmonic vocals.
Check MyNameisJohnMichael out on Friday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Soco/WWOZ Stage.
You can also hear them at these shows:
Nov. 22, 3 p.m.- New Orleans Po Boy Festival on Oak Street
Dec. 4, 10 p.m.- Blue Nile w/Brass Bed
Rotary Downs
The influences on Rotary Downs, which includes Loyola graduate Michael Girardo A’08, music seem to be as numerous as the amount of songs they have to play. The band’s music takes from everything from classic rock, blues and country to pop, indie and jam music, and they use instruments like a pedal steal guitar, trumpet and xylophones. Rotary Downs furthermore plays varying songs, ranging from dense, instrumental jams to light hearted songs about good times in their home, New Orleans.
Check Rotary Downs out on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 4:45 p.m. at the Bingo! Parlor.
You can also hear them at these shows:
Oct. 31, 11 p.m.- d.b.a.
Nov. 27, 10:30 p.m.- Le Bon Temps Roule
Dec. 18, 8 p.m.- The Republic
Fatter Than Albert
Fatter Than Albert, which includes Loyola graduates John Bourgeois A’90, Greg Rodrigue A’08 and Daniel Ray A’09, is a ska/screamo band that offers songs, which shift between and blend the two genres to form an interesting sound. The band succeeds especially when incorporating its horns, but has weak recordings, though they sound like they would put on an entertaining live show.
Check Fatter Than Albert out on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10:30 a.m. at Preservation Hall.
You can also hear them at Vintage Uptown on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
The Vettes
The Vettes is a garage rock band made entirely of the Vette family, including Rachel Vette A’06, that uses a heavy synths influenced blatantly from 80’s pop. The lyrics are simple and often cheap, and the female vocals of lead singer Rachel Vette sound loud, drawn out and influenced by someone like Amy Lee of Evanescence. The upside to The Vettes’ music is their often-surprising breaks that incorporate a new effect or tone.
“We perform at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 on the main stage, which is such an amazing time slot; we couldn’t be more honored and excited. We have a few tricks up our sleeve for Voodoo this year for sure, but honestly we treat every performance the same… as if we’re playing in front of 5000 plus people,” said Rachel, who worked as an intern at Voodoo Fest in 2004.
Andrew Duhon and the Lonesome Crows
Andrew Duhon stands within a large group of the seldom heard folk singers, but there is something about his soft crooning and light guitar strumming that has caught peoples attention and brought him to this, and many other events. Duhon’s composition clearly forms a picture but is underlined by bolder messages and ideas. Songs like “I Miss My Home” (which features an amazing violin accompaniment) cautiously delve into the topics of spirituality, growing up and love, and act as an ode to his home, New Orleans.
Check Duhon out on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. at the Soco/WWOZ Stage.
You can also hear him at these shows:
Nov. 6, 8 p.m.- Bacchanal Wines
Nov. 12, 7 p.m.- d.b.a.
Nov. 13, 10 p.m.- The Hi-Ho Lounge
Sarah Quintana
Sarah Quintana A’07 has a classically beautiful voice and applies it to singing her own songs in a jazz fashion. The band that backs her plays in a classic New Orleans jazz and offers a refreshing delicacy with its whole approach. Quintana is a songwriter and seems to not only be affected by classic jazz divas in her singing, but also her composition too, with song titles like “How Deep is the Ocean” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon.”
Check Quintana out on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11:30 a.m. at the Preservation Hall Tent.
You can also hear her at the Audubon Charter Fall Fete on Nov. 14 at 12 p.m.
Garrett Cleland can be reached at [email protected]
