New Orleans' third annual Voodoo Fest, with headliners Tool [ tickets ], Missy Elliot and Bush [ tickets ], is scheduled for Oct. 27 in the city's City Park. This year, for the week preceding the day-long festival, New Orleans venues will host a nightly concert series dubbed Voodoo After Dark.

The Voodoo Fest features a mix of marquee rock and rap acts--this year's show will also feature Snoop Dogg [ tickets ], Tricky, the Black Crowes and local sons Better Than Ezra [ tickets ], among others.

With big-name acts divided between two main stages, a third stage, sponsored by local roots-music radio station WWOZ, will feature regional acts, including singer-songwriter Anders Osborne, soul singer Marva Wright and several popular brass bands. A fourth stage will feature DJs, among them Julius Papp, DJ Craze and Penelope Tuesdae.

The Voodoo After Dark series starts on Oct. 22, and will feature such performers as rap groups the Pharcyde and Souls of Mischief, guitarist Robin Trower, Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti, local funk band Galactic and jazz saxophonist Karl Denson's group. Many of the series' artists are drawn from Voodoo Fest's lineup.

For the inaugural Voodoo After Dark, festival promoters hooked up with House of Blues to produce shows at the local House of Blues club, as well as the Saenger Theatre and Tipitina's. (Founded in honor of the late blues musician Professor Longhair, Tipitina's has established itself as a regular stop on the jam-band circuit.)

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Steve Rehage, whose Rehage Entertainment produces Voodoo Fest, said in an interview with liveDaily that he's worked with the New Orleans City Park board to expand to the festival's size to accommodate between 80,000 and 85,000 people. Last year's Voodoo Fest attracted more than 65,000 attendees.

The festival is intended to draw a tourist audience as well as a local one. Last year, of the initial 20,000 tickets sold online, 12,000 were on out-of-state credit cards, according to Rehage. "I see Halloween as something that's becoming a growing entertainment phenomenon," he said. "There are two national destinations: San Francisco and New Orleans, and that's why we put Voodoo on that weekend."

The city, home to the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, has cemented a reputation as a destination for music fans. This year's Jazz Fest attracted more than 600,000 attendees over the course of two consecutive weekends.

The Saturday (10/27) Voodoo Fest will be broadcast on its official website, as well as on RollingStone.com and RocknRollStation.com. RocknRollStation will provide 360-degree technology, which will allow individual users to scan the around the fairgrounds and zoom in on individual performers. The other websites will offer streaming views of individual stages. At press time, negotiations were underway at press time for broadcast via WindowsMedia.com. Rehage also said that MuchMusic would have production crews at the festival, filming for the cable channel's various shows.

Voodoo Fest Schedule (10/27)

Main Stage 1
Brand New Immortals (11:30 a.m.)
John Mayer (1 p.m.)
Tricky (2:30 p.m.)
G. Love and Special Sauce (4 p.m.)
Better Than Ezra (5:30 p.m.)
Bush (7:15 p.m.)
Tool (9 p.m.)

Main Stage 2
Dan Dyer (10:45 p.m.)
Will Hoge (12 p.m.)
Spooks (1:30 p.m.)
Missy Elliot (3 p.m.)
Snoop Dogg (4:30 p.m.)
Gov't Mule (6 p.m.)
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe (7:30 p.m.)
Black Crowes (9:15 p.m.)

WWOZ Stage
Brint Anderson (11:30 a.m.)
Treme Brass Band (1 p.m.)
Bamboula (2:30 p.m.)
Lil Rascals Brass Band (4 p.m.)
Anders Osborne (5:30 p.m.)
Marva Wright (7 p.m.)
(Sic) (8:30 p.m.)

Heavy.com Stage
Matt Nyce (11 a.m.)
Indieo (12:30 p.m.)
Julius Papp (2 p.m.)
A-Trak (3:30 p.m.)
DJ Craze (5 p.m.)
Penelope Tuesdae (6:30 p.m.)
Stryfe (8 p.m.)
Rah Smoove (9:45 p.m.)


Voodoo After Dark schedule

October
22 - Pharcyde, Souls of Mischief, other - House of Blues
(doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m.)

23 - Robin Trower, Eric Gales - House of Blues
(doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m.)

25 - Femi Kuti - House of Blues
(doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m.)

26 - Galactic, Derek Trucks Band - Saenger Theatre
(doors midnight, show 12:30 a.m.)

26 - Soulive - House of Blues
(doors 1a.m., show 2 a.m.)

26 - Greg Allman and friends, plus Jeffrey Gaines - House of Blues
(doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m.)

26 - Sherman, ReBirth Brass Band - Tipitina's Uptown
(doors 10 p.m., show 11 p.m.)

27 - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Saenger Theatre
(doors midnight, show 12:30 a.m.)

27 - G. Love and Special Sauce - House of Blues
(doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m.)

27 - Gov't Mule - House of Blues
(doors 1 a.m., show 2 a.m.) SOLD OUT

27 - Soulive - House of Blues Parish
(doors 1 a.m., show 2 a.m.)

27 - Steve Kimock - Tipitina's Uptown
(doors 10 p.m., show 11 p.m.)

28 - Steve Kimock, George Porter Jr. and his Runnin' Pardners - Tipitina's Uptown
(doors 9 p.m., show 10 p.m.)