Voodoo or Vegoose?

I'm trying to decide which one I will go to, Vegoose (Las Vegas) or the Voodoo Music Festival (New Orleans). I'm leaning towards Voodoo; I went last year and was really impressed with how well-run and well-organized it was; beer and burger prices at the event were pretty close to what you'd pay on the outside (I don't think I have ever seen $3 beer at any other music event, at least not since the very first Lollapalooza), and the sound crew really put a lot of effort into preventing the sound from one stage from stepping on the next stage over…

Lineups are comperable, with Rage Against the Machine actually playing both. The Stooges play Vegoose, Ska Cubana plays Voodoo, in the end each lineup is awesome.

Full lineups at http://vegoose.com and http://voodoomusicfest.com

Price-wise, each trip will run about the same, New Orleans probably a little cheaper (the good Vegas hotels are high that week) although in NOLA I would want to stay on for Halloween and in Vegas I usually win a nice little pile of money. But money really is not that big an issue— no I am not rich, I just realize this won't be a $700 trip and either way, I'll be spending some money, and the difference in cost isn't going to be big enough to use as the deciding factor.

So since things are so evenly matched, which one would you go to?

i'd stay home, save the money and the heat stroke, pets my cats, and watch it on the eventual dvd.

Personally I'd hit Vegoose.

Vegoose has a better lineup, so I'd hit that.

If all else is equal:

Strippers in Vegas > Strippers in New Orleans

Vegoose may end up with marginally better line up, but from a comfort, convenience, and the fact New Orleans can use your $$$ a whole lot more than Vegas that's the horse I'm going to ride.

I've only done Vegoose once, I've done Voodoo four times, and with the exception of the Katrina year which only one day in NO and one in Memphis and a complete clusterphuck, it's always been a great time.

I like Vegas for one off's, but I don't gamble so if there are no shows I want to see or DJ's in town there's nothing there for me, it's kind of sterile but both cities draw their fair share of druken A -holes, they just seemed to more well heeled in Vegas.

I don't think you can go wrong either way, but I'd vote for Voodoo.

For your money, with all things comparable, Voodoo Fest makes more sense. First, its $100 tickets for the entire weekend (3 days), in-and-out entry, whereas Vegoose is $150 GA BASE PRICE (2 days, no in-and-out entry; $80 for one-day) plus if you want to go see Vegoose at Night shows (like the Shins, Umphreys McGee at Vegas clubs like the Joint and House of Blues), those cost extra and you MUST buy a 2-day pass for it. Flights are actually around the same: about $200-$250 per person roundtrip to fly to Vegas and New Orleans. Hotels would be cheaper in N.O., as someone pointed out, and they could probably use the money more than Vegas.

I went through this same debate with my friend, who actually lives in Vegas. Because of that, I wouldn'tve had to worry about paying for a hotel there. BUT even with that, we found it was better to go to New Orleans, because 3 of our favorite bands (rage, pumpkins and Coheed and Cambria) are playing in New Orleans, so the $100 more than makes sense for us. This is just my opinion, you have to take into consideration the line-up. I know not everyone loves Coheed or the Pumpkins as much as I do, and the Vegoose line-up is very good: The Stooges, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, plus Rage of course. And Vegas is a great town, but it is the weekend, the Strip will be packed and it will cost you a fortune to stay there for a weekend. In the end you have to judge the overall line-up quality and the prices of flights, hotels and tickets and decide which makes more sense for your money. I've never been to New Orleans, it will cost more to go there in my case, but I can still see all three bands I want to see by Saturday night, can fly back Sunday to DC and only miss one day of work.

P.S. The Strip Clubs in Vegas are great. Hit up Little Darlings if you there.

based on line-up, it's vegoose for me. voodoo has smashing pumpkins (will have seen them twice by then) and wilco (not a huge fan), which can't compete with vegoose: rage (best act from coachella), daft punk and muse (two best acts of lolla), stooges (year's best act at 930), QOTSA (might be my only chance to see them), thievery, battles… daft punk alone is putting me on that plane.

if anyone is considering going and wants to share costs (accomodations, car rental, etc) send me a PM. i'm still in the early planning stages, haven't bought/reserved anything yet.

New Orleans is way cooler than Vegas.

new orleans IS way cooler than vegas.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
based on line-up, it's vegoose for me. voodoo has smashing pumpkins (will have seen them twice by then) and wilco (not a huge fan), which can't compete with vegoose: rage (best act from coachella), daft punk and muse (two best acts of lolla), stooges (year's best act at 930), QOTSA (might be my only chance to see them), thievery, battles… daft punk alone is putting me on that plane.

if anyone is considering going and wants to share costs (accomodations, car rental, etc) send me a PM. i'm still in the early planning stages, haven't bought/reserved anything yet.

From one amateur consultant to a professional one, your logic is not faulty, but unfortunately you're not weighing the intangibles and only the experience itself will teach the lesson you need to know about this bad choice…but you know I wish you well, and will be thinking about your horrible evenings on the strip while we're living the vida loca on Bourbon street (well sort of).

Ehhh, hope they don't disappoint you the 2nd time around 'coz you'll get exactly the same show. I was blown away by Muse last time during Download fest but what I got at Lolla was exactly the same thing.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
daft punk alone is putting me on that plane.

Originally posted by bnyced0:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
based on line-up, it's vegoose for me. voodoo has smashing pumpkins (will have seen them twice by then) and wilco (not a huge fan), which can't compete with vegoose: rage (best act from coachella), daft punk and muse (two best acts of lolla), stooges (year's best act at 930), QOTSA (might be my only chance to see them), thievery, battles… daft punk alone is putting me on that plane.

if anyone is considering going and wants to share costs (accomodations, car rental, etc) send me a PM. i'm still in the early planning stages, haven't bought/reserved anything yet.

From one amateur consultant to a professional one, your logic is not faulty, but unfortunately you're not weighing the intangibles and only the experience itself will teach the lesson you need to know about this bad choice…but you know I wish you well, and will be thinking about your horrible evenings on the strip while we're living the vida loca on Bourbon street (well sort of).

I feel you on that, but New Orleans does NOT have Daft Punk. That's a scale-tipper to say the least. Then toss in Iggy. Plus Queens. Now I'm leaning REAL hard towards Vegas my damn self. The only thing semi-stopping me is upon recent review, my concert expenditure is starting to get a little outta control this year.

I'd do it all again, though . . . :D

Originally posted by wanderlust featuring j. marshmallow:
Ehhh, hope they don't disappoint you the 2nd time around 'coz you'll get exactly the same show. I was blown away by Muse last time during Download fest but what I got at Lolla was exactly the same thing.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
daft punk alone is putting me on that plane.

EXACTLY? I've been to quite a few Muse festival shows since the most recent album was released and though similiar I don't think I got EXACTLY the same set list or visuals at any two of them, so you should proably buy a lottery ticket today. And Daft Punk hasn't spun EXACTLY the same thing on any of the US dates thus far, a scarily fanatical friend of mine has been/is going to them all and has delineated on her PRIVATE blog the differences between the appearances. Though for the average Joe (no pun intended) they are very similiar and the visuals are essentially the same, but the music (the important thing) has changed.

i've never been to vegoose, but i have gone to voodoo and LOVED it. the festival was nice, good food, good seats, good bands.

the weather will be better in new orleans. soo much cooler than vegas.

i'd choose voodoo. where else can you get a buggy ride and order a hurricane curbside–i dont recall the name of that bar, but they make the best hurricane i've had to date.

Originally posted by bnyced0:
From one amateur consultant to a professional one, your logic is not faulty, but unfortunately you're not weighing the intangibles and only the experience itself will teach the lesson you need to know about this bad choice…but you know I wish you well, and will be thinking about your horrible evenings on the strip while we're living the vida loca on Bourbon street (well sort of).

you know… in my job, when someone tells me they are a consultant…the usually means they are unemployed :D

Originally posted by K8teebug:
New Orleans is way cooler than Vegas.

uh, see vansmack's comment above :)

Originally posted by wanderlust featuring j. marshmallow:
Ehhh, hope they don't disappoint you the 2nd time around 'coz you'll get exactly the same show. I was blown away by Muse last time during Download fest but what I got at Lolla was exactly the same thing.

won't be exactly the same, there are slight differences (listen to the O2 show - songs are even in different order). even if it was the exact same show, i'm on board - i'd be happy to relive that. and i seriously doubt that muse played the same set at both festivals… weren't you complaining "where are the songs"??? i wonder if this isn't a case of their songs all sounding the same to you ;)

I've never been there, but from what I've heard, I fail to see how Vegas is a "great city" worthy of a "proper visit". I'll be happy if I never go there.

New Orleans is pretty cool though.

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
I've never been there, but from what I've heard, I fail to see how Vegas is a "great city" worthy of a "proper visit". I'll be happy if I never go there.

Why don't you invite all these other people that you talk with to participate on this board, because they'd have a lot more to add to these conversations than you're consistent "well, I've never_______ but from what I've heard I'd ___________" conjecture? Maybe this board has passed you by a bit…

Originally posted by sweetcell:

both vegas and NO are indeed great cities worthy of proper visits - but it isn't going to happen much during a festival. typical day: wake up, grab brunch, head to festival, dance ass off, possibly catch after-party, pass out, repeat. indio is absolutely boooooring, but it can host one of the best festivals anywhere - why? because location doesn't count for very much. if i had extra time to kick it and check out the city my choice might be different, but with limited vacation time and budget it's fly-in fly-out.

and my point is, those intangibles are rather limited during day-long festivals. not absent, just limited - not enough to out-weigh a better line-up. i plan on spending no time on the strip, with the possible exception of catching one late-night show (and/or a cirque du soleil show - TBD). unlike yourself, i need to sleep at some point :) [/QB]

The intangibles in this case is that the festival is built around the evening shows, not vice versa.

Vegoose as a festival is sorta like a cd sampler put out by record labels in hopes that you'll buy the full lengths by the artists.

Again, this is something that needs to be experienced before it makes sense why I'm warning you off it, so you're doing the right thing, because you're a smart guy and won't make the same mistake twice :p

There's more than enough good acts to lure anyone, including me, if it didn't coincide with Voodoo.