By RHIANNON WEBER

Staff Writer

The spell had been cast.

Many music fans, college students, locals and tourists alike made the pilgrimage to New Orleans this weekend to encounter the Voodoo Music Experience, a three-day music festival featuring more than 60 acts, held in City Park.

From Staind to 50 Cent to deejay Paul Oakenfold, the festival intertwined and cut across musical barriers, bravely mixing gypsy-style folk music with techno and hard rock.

Not too many lineups feature A Perfect Circle with George Clinton and the P-Funk AllStars.

From babies in strollers to grandmothers in lime green bikini tops with cutoffs, no fan's needs went unmet.

Michael Frusha, a local musician and a senior management major, made the 330-mile trip to spend his Saturday listening to different types of music.

"This is my first time at Voodoo, so I'm just bouncing around trying to hear as much as I can," Frusha said.

"I wanted to get out of Ruston so I could get exposed to some new kinds of music. It helps me to come up with new ideas for my own stuff."

Born in 1999, the Voodoo Music Experience started off as a small one-day concert held in a stadium. Estimated first-year attendance was less than 10,000 but that grew to more than 60,000 the next year, mainly due to the appearance of rapper Eminem.

Attendance at the next two festivals fluctuated with last year's total estimated at 90,000.

Past headliners include Tool, 311, No Doubt, Garbage, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg and Crystal Method.

With either an $80 three-day pass or a $40 one-day pass in hand, concertgoers were forced to check all lawn chairs, backpacks, blankets, food and drinks at the door, only to find them being sold overpriced by vendors inside the gates.

Even people with metal studded belts had trouble getting past security.

Once inside, smells of beer, incense, corndogs, onions and sun block invaded, as fans gradually flocked from one stage to another to experience their favorite band or inspect a new one.

Besides the music, folks had a chance to play videogames at the various Playstation kiosks, watch flat screen televisions under the Rollingstones.com tent, play a game of chance with the Port-o-Cans or shop for tattoos, piercings and clothes.

One could even visit the Jimi Hendrix traveling museum tour bus.

"How many people have a job? How many people go to school? How many people don't care about either one because you're at a rock concert right now?" shouted Paul McCoy, lead singer for the rock band 12 Stones, from Mandeville, to which the sprawling crowd yelled and waved in response.

Somewhat of a modern day, small-scale Louisiana-style Woodstock, Voodoo is the kind of festival that will leave fans sun burned and sore.

It was the Louisiana style that leaves the bottom of your jeans crusted with garbage and dirt and the Woodstock vibe where announcers reminded fans to stay hydrated and to take care of their brothers and sisters next to them.