The Voodoo Music Experience, a two-day New Orleans festival of rock and rap, has added a few pre-festival events. On Thursday, October 14th, Kevin Griffin of Better than Ezra and Fred Leblanc of Cowboy Mouth will be performing an intimate set aboard the Cajun Queen riverboat. It's called the True Experience and will allow these musicians with local roots to explore some different material. On Friday, October 15th, the festival is sponsoring VooDoo EconoMixx, a panel discussion of emerging trends in music and technology. Check the Voodoo website for more information.

Saturday, October 16th, the festival itself gets started with performances by Polyphonic Spree, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Beastie Boys, Green Day, Cypress Hill, Velvet Revolver, Kid Rock, Steel Pulse, De La Soul, and a Tribe Called Quest.