The Mars Volta and others join up for Voodoo Experience

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

The Mars Volta, N*E*R*D, TV On The Radio, Irma Thomas, the Butthole Surfers, Fishbone and Ben Jelen have joined the lineup for the 2008 Voodoo Experience, to be held Oct. 24-26 at New Orleans' City Park.

They augment a bill that also features R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots and Lil Wayne, among hundreds of others.

Festival founder/producer Stephen Rehage admits he was considering last-ditch options for Voodoo had Hurricane Gustav struck New Orleans with the force of Hurricane Katrina three years earlier. Luckily, the city was mostly spared this time around.

"I remembered all the struggles of 2005 and the options we might have to consider, but not moving forward this year never crossed my mind," says Rehage, who also produces the New Orleans Essence Festival.

Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster and TheTenthRitual.com.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Kanye West and NIN smash the end of Lollapalooza

Katie Hasty, Chicago

Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails closed Lollapalooza 2008 in grand fashion Sunday (Aug. 3) in Chicago's Grant Park, with the former regaling his hometown crowd with hit after hit and the latter band offering a tour-de-force of intense industrial rock.

All three days of Lollapalooza sold out this year, a first in the event's four-year-history as a one-off event in Chicago.

Read the rest of the story here.

Courtesy of Billboard.com