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Pumpkins, Rage Under Voodoo Spell
06/22/2007 1:08 PM, E! Online
Having already suspended fans' belief by getting back together, the Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine are planning to work a little Voodoo magic this fall.
The two sets of reunited rockers have been tapped to headline the 2007 Voodoo Music Experience Oct. 26-28 in New Orleans, both just months removed from having taken the stage together for the first time in years. The Black Crowes, also no strangers to breaking up and making up, are also on the bill.
Rage Against the Machine, continuing what the politically charged Los Angeles-based quartet refuses to call a comeback, is being billed as the Voodoo Music Experience's marquee act, just as it was at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival back in April, where singer Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk performed all together for the first time since de la Rocha left the group in 2000.
Morello, who appeared Tuesday at the Parish at the House of Blues New Orleans under the guise of his new solo acoustic persona the Nightwatchman, penned the song "Midnight in the City of Destruction" about the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
"I can't speak for them, but I think they're doing it for the right reasons," Rehage Entertainment founder Stephen Rehage, whose company produces Voodoo, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune at Morello's show. "They're coming to New Orleans with a purpose. And they've never been a band to hold their tongues onstage, so I would expect a lively show with a few surprises."
The outdoor festival is in its ninth consecutive year, having soldiered on even in the wake of Katrina in 2005, with a scaled-down version held along the Mississippi River in Riverview Park.
Last year, the event returned to its home in City Park, which this year will feature three distinct performance areas—Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival—to emphasize the concert's ties to the city and New Orlean's historical pedigree. The '07 fest has also expanded to three days to accommodate more than 110 acts, including dozens of musicians native to the Big Easy, such as Dr. John, Mute Math and numerous jazz bands.
Meanwhile, Voodoo can also lay claim to frontman Billy Corgan and original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain's ongoing efforts, announced in May, to get the Smashing Pumpkins back together.
The Chicago-based duo, with fellow band mates to be announced, are kicking off a series of in-residence concerts Saturday at the 942 people-capacity Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, where they'll play nine shows. Then it's off to the Fillmore in San Francisco for eight dates, starting July 22.
The Pumpkins' new album, Zeitgeist, drops July 17 in four different formats—all have the standard 12 songs, but which bonus songs are included depends on where you buy it (iTunes, Best Buy, etc.).
Other acts on tap for the 2007 Voodoo Music Festival include Fall Out Boy, Wilco, Sinead O'Connor, Kings of Leon, Plain White T's, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, M.I.A., Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Spoon. For the full lineup, check out the festival's Website.
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