As diverse as the Voodoo Music Experience is musically, with its heavy-hitter, festival friendly rock, rap, and electronica acts, there are two constants: one is its devotion to native New Orleans music from standard bearers of brass like Kermit Ruffins to the hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll of Dash Rip Rock.
The other is the spooky fun of Halloween and how it relates to New Orleans’ lore and community. There’s plenty of juju in the old structures in New Orleans (you can’t throw an empty beer can in the French Quarter without hitting a dive bar) and the decrepit sites like old cemeteries and post-apocalyptic-looking, empty lots full of kudzu, left by storms and floods.
If you’re there for the adventurous city experience or the insane mile-a-minute drunken revelry of a festival, the always-bumpin’ New Orleans service industry, both the city’s lifeblood and life of the party, is there to fulfill your every whim.
Here, then, is a guide for maybe the best possible juju-filled city to be in on Halloween: New Orleans, Louisiana.
-Paul de Revere
Staff Writer
“This stuff’s to die for…”
Brunch/Morning
Commander’s Palace – 1403 Washington Avenue – On a weekend morning, one of the best places to soak in music and some of the best food Old New Orleans has to offer (turtle soup, shrimp and grits, Creole cheesecake) is Commander’s Palace. Its jazz brunch features a trio playing New Orleans standards for tables in the restaurant’s various dining rooms. And they take requests! You’d be hard-pressed to find a more delightful, charming brunch. It’s dressy, not cheap and reservations are recommended but the three-course brunch never skimps on the food. For a daylight spook, stroll Lafayette Cemetery across the street after your meal.
Surrey’s Cafe and Juice Bar – 1418 Magazine Street and 4807 Magazine Street – There are two of these in New Orleans and for good reason. Surrey’s light offerings (Crab Meat Omelette, Bananas Foster French Toast) are local brunch staples. On the weekends, a wait for a table at Surrey’s is a given but it’s worth it. It’s been cranking out affordable, fresh and high-quality brunches for over a decade. Though it’s lighter fare, this is still New Orleans, so bring your morning appetite.
Cafe du Monde – 800 Decatur Street – It’s super-touristy, no doubt, but if you’ve never been, your trip to New Orleans isn’t complete without a taste of ostensibly The Original Chicory Coffee since 1862 in the French Market. “Cafe au lait and fresh beignets!” Boom, your order’s up immediately. Done.
Inside the Park
Cafe Degas – 3127 Esplanade Avenue – Okay, so it’s not technically inside the park but it might as well be. French owners/chefs opened this lovely space down the street from where Edgar Degas lived over a century ago and, as it so happens, at the foot of Voodoo’s City Park setting. The food is classic French bistro fare (nicoise salads, escargot, french onion soup) with al fresco seating that recalls a treehouse. It’s the closest, best dining to the festival grounds, for sure.
Ninja Restaurant – Okay, so you’ve probably heard of po’ boys, those singularly New Orleanian takes on sub sandwiches. Go on, dive in! Get it fully “dressed” (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and mayo, usually). But let’s be real, guys, Ninja’s soft-shell crab po boys? You don’t want none of this. Stay on the well-trodden path of fried chicken, catfish and shrimp. But, hey, if you’re feeling adventurous…
Miss Linda Catering – A fall night’s slight chill in New Orleans means yaka mein season. The local noodle soup was adapted from Asian and Southern low-country cooking. A whole kitchen is thrown in: boiled eggs, several kinds of meat and/or seafood, veggies… the dish’s has many variants. You need a trusted soul and experienced hand to guide you through. And it should be a sweet lady named Miss Linda whose likely honed her recipes for years in her home kitchen or something. Dive in! The bowl will likely be big enough.
Stella! – Normally playing the role of a super-pricey French Quarter restaurant with a caviar menu, Stella! brings serious gourmet options to Voodoo with its take on BBQ shrimp (not really “barbecued”, per se… it’s tough to explain), Loaded Pig & Grits and Bananas Foster French Toast. They’ll likely be offering fine-dining treats at festival prices. You’ll definitely want in on this.
Late-Night Eats
The Trolley Stop Cafe – 1923 Saint Charles Avenue – There isn’t much in the way of Denny’s, IHOP or Waffle House (it’s a Southern thing, Google it) in New Orleans proper. So local businesses like The Trolley Stop have picked up the slack, serving drunk revelers 24-3 on the weekends. It serves mostly greasy drunk food. You can stumble off the streetcar to the door to get there. The waitresses are sassy. It’s cheap. Eat it.
The Avenue Pub – 1732 Saint Charles Avenue – One of the best all-around bars in the city, open 24-7, two floors of seating with a balcony and its kitchen serves a quality, affordable bar menu (the Dump Truck Fries are perfect drunk food) until the wee hours as well. Not to mention a formidable tap list, if you plan on keeping the party going.
Maurepas Foods – 3200 Burgundy Street – Okay, so you need some real food, right? Ideally a balanced meal involving chairs? You want something civilized away from the maddening crowd of Voodoo? Maybe a place to relax and be around some sweet folks? Maurepas is your jam. It’s open until midnight and the very model of what a neighborhood restaurant should be. And it’s in the Bywater so, hey, Hipsters Galore! But also, for reals, jaw-droppingly great local/seasonal food, affordable as all get out. I shouldn’t even be telling you about this place.
“Just do it. Do it.”
Friday
C.C. Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis – 3:00 p.m. at WWOZ/Bud Light Stage - Adcock is one of those earthy pop voices that could rise only from the bayous of Southern Louisiana. The Lafayette singer-songwriter’s vocals sound wise and weathered, complementing the zydeco/Cajun tint to his acoustic/electric blues that’s part Dr. John, part Bruce Springsteen. He’s also known to feature a perpetual rotating cast of local and visiting guests hop up on stage for a song or two, so don’t miss his set.
Bootsy Collins – 7:30 p.m. at WWOZ/Bud Light Stage - A-bipple bipple, baby! Mr. Wiggles a-gonna do that stuff! You know you wanna shake your butt watching the funk legend himself. Collins has all kindsa freaky-deaky live antics with grooves dug so deep they’ll vibrate down to the New Orleans mud and beyond. Do it to it, brotha.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse – 9:00 p.m. at The Ritual Stage - Seriously, you need a reason? It’s NEIL YOUNG. If the Foo Fighters can go on hiatus out of nowhere, surely we only have so much time left with Young, one of the greatest and most universally loved singer-songwriters in rock ‘n’ roll history. Catch his set or regret it.
Saturday
K’Naan – 2:15 p.m. at Le Ritual Stage - New Orleans is one big cultural gumbo, so a Canadian-Somali rapper talking gunplay and third-world struggle is as welcome at Voodoo as “When the Saints Go Marching In”. And guys, if you can’t summon yourself to put your hands in the air and sway them to the rapper’s anthemic “Wavin’ Flag”, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Silversun Pickups – 5:15 p.m. at Le Ritual Stage - Voodoo catches the L.A. shoegaze band in the midst of touring supporting its latest, Neck of the Woods. If you’re looking forward to the PA at Skrillex, Justice or Metallica blasting you with sound, expect a few warm, analog squalls from Silversun Pickups’ set, too.
Justice – 9:30 p.m. at Le Plur/The Red Bulletin Stage - New Orleans isn’t widely known for embracing electronica short of rap or its native bounce. Luckily for Justice, French and New Orleanian culture tend to meld beautifully, regardless. So it’s fun to imagine two French dudes mimicking arena rock with abrasive electro and Christian imagery attracting even the most traditional of New Orleans music fans to close out the night. Two nations under a beat. Everybody “D.A.N.C.E.” now.
Sunday
Dash Rip Rock – 1:00 p.m. at WWOZ/Bud Light Stage - Voodoo has a lot of shiny, over-the-top acts (which is great) but it gives perspective to have something simple, a control, to compare it against. The energetic New Orleans rock ‘n’ roll power trio Dash Rip Rock has been roaring out simple riffs and tight songs, no muss no fuss, at just a few BPM short of punk for over 25 years. The band plays the role of a Ramones-like root of New Orleans rock and rockabilly, an often-overlooked part of the city’s music scene.
Skrillex – 6:15 p.m. at Le Plur/The Red Bulletin Stage - People talk a lot of shit/hype about Sonny Moore, but you know what? His live setup looks like the Video Armageddon scene in The Wizard and that’s always okay. Don’t forget your earplugs, you crazy kids!
Jack White – 7:30 p.m. at Le Ritual Stage - Let’s see how long Jack feels like playing this time, I guess?
“Now what?”
Aftershows
Thursday
Jazz in the Park presents Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Jamal Batiste at Louis Armstrong Park – free
Aquarium Drunkard presents Man or Astroman?, Octopus Project, DJ Hunter King at One Eyed Jacks – $16 via TicketWeb
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Stooges Brass Band at House of Blues – $32 via LiveNation
Friday
Dirty Dozen Brass Band at d.b.a. – $20 tickets at the door
Saturday
The Baller’s Ball with Mannie Fresh, Earphunk, The Hood Internet, Nicky da B at The Maison – $18 via TicketWeb
Late-Night Hangouts
The Saint – 961 St. Mary – A cool dive bar in a nicer part of town provides balance to New Orleans’ Magazine Street nightlife. The Saint is simultaneously a neighborhood bar and a destination for the city with great live acts and kitschy, fun theme nights. And unlike most non-French Quarter bars, it’s open ridiculously late.
The Rusty Nail – 1100 Constance Street – If you’re a fan of the HBO show Treme, you’ll want to hit up The Rusty Nail on Sunday night, as it has weekly viewings of the intensely localist series. Disregard its rough name and gritty location under an Interstate overpass, though. The Rusty Nail is full of sweet, vibrant New Orleans locals likely to pour you well whiskey as “lagniappe” (for free, as a favor) if you mention you’re from out of town.
Cure – 4905 Freret Street – This craft cocktail bar is a good bit Uptown from the most New Orleans tourist haunts on Freret Street near Tulane University. It’s a sleek, modernized spot with cocktail curios in a city that’s invented its fair share. Cure is a must if you care to sample the city’s thriving, historic cocktail culture.
Hi-Ho Lounge - 2239 Saint Claude Avenue – Located in the city’s Marigny neighborhood, this dive-y nugget houses some genuine talent week after week, namely the Stooges Brass Band. Christmas lights ignite the small stage inside, while vintage ’70s booths offer cozy respite outside — nearby visiting local food trucks. Sometimes, the Hot 8 Brass Band keeps the nearby corner warm with their gritty Southern-fried stew of jazz, funk, and hip-hop. It’s definitely New Orleans here.
Carousel Bar – 214 Royal Street – You definitely don’t have to dress up to drink in the French Quarter but, if you prefer, you can stay classy at Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar, one of the oldest preserved bars in the city. Hemingway, Faulkner, and Capote are reported to have gotten drunk here. Classic cocktail recipes were innovated and invented here. And if that’s not enough, you sit at a rotating bar that looks like an actual carousel! Dress up and go already!
