Canadian metallers Anciients rest atop the bill for The Electric Highway 2024, the Calgary-based three-dayer festival co-presented by The Obelisk along with a slew of others. After the date reveal and ticket-onsale in November, the fest has now begun to unveil its lineup, which is probably fortunate because it’ll be April before you know it. Vancouver’s Dead Quiet and Empress are also included, as well as Darty from Chron Goblin‘s ambient project Musing, the returning hardcore-born heavy of Owls and Eagles and I think a few other repeat offenders. Hell, Anciients played Calgary 420 Fest in 2017, which was the precursor to The Electric Highway, so there’s history here if you want to find it.
There will be more as well, so sit tight. Canadian heavy is its own ecosystem distinct from the US underground, and I always look forward to seeing who’s going to be at The Electric Highway as a great way of finding new bands and checking in on those regulars. I’ve never been to Alberta and don’t harbor any delusions that I’ll be at The Electric Highway — though it’d be fun — but I’m glad to support this fest with this site and dig into some of the finest in heavy that the Great White North (and maybe a few American bands by the time they’re done; you’ll recall last year Sasquatch headlined) has to offer.
The PR wire puts it thusly:
The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Announces First Round of Bands For 2024 Lineup
w/ Anciients, Dead Quiet, Empress, Flashback, Buffalo Bud Buster and more!
The Electric Highway Festival is excited to announce the first round of bands for the 2024 edition of the festival being held in Calgary, AB on April 4, 5, and 6 at Dickens (1000 9 Ave SW).
Canadian Juno Award-winning Vancouver band Anciients will headline the whole festival. They will be joined by various Western Canadian bands including Dead Quiet, Empress, Flashback, Buffalo Bud Buster, and more.
Anciients (Vancouver) Dead Quiet (Vancouver) Empress (Vancouver) Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary) Flashback (Calgary) Pharm (Kelowna) Owls & Eagles (Calgary) Gnarwhal (Yellowknife) Solid Brown (Calgary) The Getmines (Vancouver) Tebby And The Heavy (Edmonton) Musing (Calgary) Blacksmith & Brewer (BC Sunshine Coast) Stone Spear (Kelowna) Black Daggers (Red Deer) Atomic Yeti (Saskatoon) Conjure Hand (Victoria)
Limited Early Bird passes are on sale for $65 until the rest of the bands are announced or the early bird passes sell out. Regular advance passes will be available at that time. There will also be a variety of single-day tickets available as well as 2-day passes.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 6th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Appropriately enough, the Calgary 420 Fest starts on April 20 and will feature a host of stoner and other heavy types of acts across its three-day stretch. Among the notables is Wo Fat (above), who’ll be making their debut appearance in Canada as headliners for the final evening, along with Black Mastiff and Anciients on the nights preceding, and a slew of native Canadian bands to go along with, from Mammoth Grove and Chron Goblin to the sludgy likes of Lavagoat and the classic heavy rock of La Chinga. There’s also a bunch of weedian whathaveyou going on as a part of it, as the PR wire details below, food trucks and a beard contest, so seems like a good time on any number of levels.
Details follow:
Calgary’s 420 Music & Arts Festival Announce Concert Line Up w/ Wo Fat, Anciients, Black Mastiff and more!
April 20, 21, 22 @ Distortion 3828 MacLeod Trail S., Calgary, Alberta T2G 2R2
Big Rock Brewery & METALHEADS UNITED Presents the 420 Music & Arts Festival at Distortion – Live Music Venue in Calgary, AB, Canada, April 20, 21 and 22, 2017.
The 420 Music & Arts Festival is a three day celebration featuring 22 Stoner Rock, Desert Rock, Doom & Sludge Metal and Fuzzy, Kick Ass Rock n Roll bands surrounding the culture that is 420. Headlining this inaugural year all the way from Dallas, TX for their first Canadian performance, stoner legends WO FAT, Vancouver’s ANCIIENTS and Edmonton/ Vancouver based BLACK MASTIFF.
In addition to all the rad music, festival attendees will have the opportunity to view and purchase the work of select local artists, artisans and craftsman at the 420 Expo, Saturday, April 22 at Distortion from 10am-4pm. Interspersed with vendors of interesting and eclectic wares will be information on medical marijuana and hemp products and even more 420 enthusiasts. Select vendors, artists and marijuana related companies will be available in the evenings at the festival as well. NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) will be in attendance to answer questions.
You will be able to indulge your desire for munchies with a variety delectable culinary creations from some of Southern Alberta’s best food trucks. If that isn’t enough, each night of the festival there will be an opportunity to show off your glorious facial hair in our beard contest. Celebrity judges will decide who moves onto the final round on the last night of the festival where one beard will rule them all!
* Big Rock Beer is exclusive beer for the 420 Music & Arts Festival
* 420 Music & Arts Festival will be the very first Canadian performance by Dallas, TX stoner rock legends Wo Fat
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
True to their word, it’s Jan. 15 and Psycho California 2015 has announced the headliners for what looks like the best American festival lineup I’ve seen since the days of Emissions from the Monolith. That’s not to take away from the hard work anyone else is doing, but just look at the list of bands. It’s unreal. You’d want to be everywhere at the same time to see all of it. Absolutely wild.
Sleep and Pentagram were pretty clear choices to headline. Not only for being legends in the heavy underground, but for also being just about two of the only bands left. Sweden’s Cult of Luna were something of a surprise, but for a festival already showing a European reach in bringing aboard the likes of Samsara Blues Experiment and Stoned Jesus, they make sense. Hell of a bill. Kudos to anyone who actually gets to go to the thing.
Announcement follows, courtesy of the PR wire:
PSYCHO CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES HEADLINERS: SLEEP, PENTAGRAM AND CULT OF LUNA
WEST COAST METAL FESTIVAL HAPPENING MAY 15, 16 & 17 AT THE OBSERVATORY IN SANTA ANA
FIRST WAVE OF ARTISTS ANNOUNCED INCLUDED KYLESA, EARTH, OM AND RUSSIAN CIRCLES
Psycho California, the west coast’s first annual metal festival and a must see for fans of doom, heavy psych and sludge, has announced the headliners for this year’s event: Cult of Luna (May 15), Sleep (May 16) and Pentagram, who will perform First Daze Here in its entirety (May 17).
“2015 is going to be a slow year for Cult of Luna. However as much as we are musicians we are also fans,” said Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson. “Evaluating if the offer to play Psycho California was worth dusting off our instruments was not hard after looking on the line-up. Being on the same bill as Pentagram, Sleep and a festival packed with the best bands around is a privilege in itself and we’ll try to live up to that honor.”
The lineup for Psycho California is: Sleep, Pentagram, Cult of Luna, Kylesa, OM, Earth, Russian Circles, Bedemon, Conan, Wrench, Eyehategod, Indian, Earthless, Pallbearer, Stoned Jesus, Old Man Gloom, Cave In, Acid Witch, Truckfighters, Tombs, Bang, Electric Citizen, Coffinworm, SubRosa, Eagle Twin, Mammatus, True Widow, Anciients, Bellwitch, Dead Meadow, Lord Dying, Death By Stereo, Radio Moscow, Ancient Altar, Samsara Blues Experiment, Atriarch, Elder, Mothership, The Well, Deathkings, Wo Fat, Rozamov, Destroyer of Light, Highlands, Bloodmoon, Slow Season, Goatsnake, Crypt Trip, Wrench, Lords of Beacon House, Tumbleweed Dealer, Sinister Haze, Blackout, Red Wizard, Banquet and Loom.
Festival interludes will be provided by Housecore Records’ artist Author & Punisher and vinyl DJ set from Bob Lugowe (Relapse Records) and Sean Pellet (Last Daze Here).
Previously announced early bird tickets sold out immediately. Tickets for the festival are on-sale this morning with both a 3-day pass ($149.50) and a 3-day VIP pass available ($256.66)
VIP packages include a 3-day festival pass, a signed screen print concert poster by David D’Andrea, express entry via artist check-in booth, access to artist VIP lounge, a limited edition Thief X Obey festival tee, a Psycho record bag and patch as well as access to a complimentary craft tequila bar, premium microbrews and artisan snacks.
Posted in audiObelisk on December 17th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Every year at Roadburn, there are a couple bands — guaranteed, without fail — whose sets you want to watch but don’t get to. Maybe you’re somewhere else seeing a once-in-a-lifetime show or reunion or one-time-only thing or maybe you just get the schedule wrong and miss it. This batch of Roadburn 2014 audio streams has the three bands I most regret not seeing at this year’s fest: Freedom Hawk, Inter Arma (pictured above), and Aqua Nebula Oscillator. I wouldn’t have minded catching Anciients, Hark, Glitter Wizard or The Old Wind either, but those three stung particularly hard.
In the case of Inter Arma, their single-song 2014 full-length, The Cavern, has made a considerable splash on the Readers Poll so far, and like their fellow Virginians, Freedom Hawk, they were a band whose schedule just didn’t match my own. At least I can hear what I missed out on, thanks to Marcel van de Vondervoort and his crew, who’ve returned again with another diligently gathered round of primo live recordings. As we move closer to 2015 and the next incarnation of the festival — Roadburn 2015 has a few lineup announcements left, but it seems to be by and large set — all the better to cap off the year that was by tying up such loose ends.
Check out the streams on the players below, snagged from the Dutch website Vpro 3voor12:
Anciients – Roadburn 2014
Aqua Nebula Oscillator – Roadburn 2014
Freedom Hawk – Roadburn 2014
Glitter Wizard – Roadburn 2014
Graves at Sea – Roadburn 2014
Hark – Roadburn 2014
Inter Arma – Roadburn 2014
The Old Wind – Roadburn 2014
Thanks as always to Walter and the Roadburn crew for permission to host the streams. For the other batches of audio from Roadburn 2014 — there’s some stuff worth digging for — click here, here, here and/or here, and to read the coverage from this year’s fest, click here.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
The list of bands, quite frankly, is astonishing, but even more astonishing is the fact that Thief Presents‘ Psycho California 2015 (formerly Psycho de Mayo) hasn’t announced its headliners yet, because these sure as shit look like headliners to me.
A three-day festival set to take place at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA, Psycho California will feature the following acts:
Here’s that list again: Kylesa, Om, Earth, Russian Circles, Orange Goblin, Bedemon, Conan, Indian, Pallbearer, Cave In, Old Man Gloom, Tombs, Earthless, Truckfighters, Bang, Eyehategod, Crowbar, SubRosa, Lord Dying, Acid Witch, Electric Citizen, Coffinworm, Eagle Twin, Stoned Jesus, Mammatus, True Widow, Bell Witch, Death by Stereo, Radio Moscow, Samsara Blues Experiment, Anciients, Elder, Mothership, Ancient Altar, The Well, Deathkings, Wo Fat, Rozamov, Destroyer of Light, Highlands, Bloodmoon, Slow Season, Crypt Trip, Lords of Beacon House, Tumbleweed Dealer, Sinister Haze, Blackout, Red Wizard, Banquet, Loom.
Plus interludes by Author and Punisher.
God damn.
Not only does it cover both coasts, huge bands, legends and up and comers, but the reach is international. Take special note of Conan, since their appearance means that Maryland Deathfest won’t be their only US date, and also Samsara Blues Experiment and Stoned Jesus — two killer European bands that you don’t even go after unless you know what the fuck you’re doing. That also hugely extends the possibilities for headlining acts. It’s an assemblage that’s beyond impressive, and if you haven’t already looked up flights to Southern California, I don’t know what to tell you. As I write this it’s after one in the morning on Sunday night, and you know I wouldn’t be doing that if my mind wasn’t leaking out of my ears at the thought of experiencing this thing.
Stay tuned for more to come, since as the poster says, headliners will be announced on Jan. 15. I’ll be looking forward to finding out who else is in store.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 17th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Huge news out of the Roadburn camp today for the 2014 lineup. In addition to a pre-sale party for tickets that features New Keepers of the Water Towers and SardoniS, YOB will headline the Afterburner playing 2009’s The Great Cessation in full, and Sourvein, Graves at Sea, Crowbar, ASG, Lord Dying, A Storm of Light and Anciients have been added to the bill, ensuring that however much psychedelia has been announced and may yet still come, Roadburn 2014 won’t lack for crushed skulls either.
Oh, and in case you missed it, let me just repeat: Graves at Sea. Graves at fucking Sea. So yeah.
Here’s the latest:
Roadburn announces ticket prices and pre-sales party; Crowbar, Sourvein, Yob and more added to the line-up
Roadburn Festival 2014 Ticket Pre-Sales Start Friday October 11th 2013 at 21:00 CET; Pre-Sales Party at the 013 venue (NL) with New Keepers of the Water Towers and Sardonis.
Yob to Headline Roadburn Festival 2014 Afterburner; Crowbar, Yob, Sourvein and Graves at Sea among others added to 2014 Roadburn Festival Lineup.
As previously announced, tickets for Roadburn 2014 will go on sale on Friday, October 11th 2013. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!
The majority of Roadburners live outside The Netherlands, which is why ticket pre-sales will start at 21:00 CET. This should be convenient for most time zones. Apologies to our friends in Oceania who will have to wake up early (or just stay up late)!
We are pleased to report that there will be NO price increase this year. Three-day tickets will be available for 165 euros; four-day tickets will cost 185 euros. Afterburner-only tickets will cost 32.50 euros. Please note that one-day tickets are not available for the Thursday, Friday or Saturday Roadburn dates. Online buyers can order a maximum of four tickets.
For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of two paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2014. Guaranteed!
In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited Sardonis and New Keepers of the Water Towers to provide the soundtrack. Both bands have been on the Roadburn radar for quite a while and this is the perfect opportunity for Belgium’s Sardonis to share their riff-heavy explorations and Stockholm heavyweights New Keepers of The Water Towers to take us on a progressive psychedelic trip. The live music part of the evening starts at 20:30 CET.
Roadburn’s artistic director/promoter Walter Hoeijmakers will be on hand to share the latest festival updates, too.
Roadburn favorites Yob will be making a highly anticipated return appearance in 2014, playing two crushing sets of their unique doom. They will play The Great Cessation for their album set on Saturday, April 12th, and headlining the Roadburn Festival Afterburner on Sunday, April 13th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Yob founder Mike Scheidt says, “Coming back to Roadburn for a third time… to play our fifth and sixth sets total at this festival… it is difficult to come up with words to adequately express our feelings. We have made it very clear how much we love the spirit of the Roadburn Festival. It is an unparallelled experience encompassing everything we embrace as both artists and fans. We will bring what we hope to be the best we have ever done in both of our sets of music. Playing The Great Cessation live in entirety will be a YOB first. For our 2nd set, we will perform songs covering our entire discography, including something new as well. To be able to play, to be in attendance as fans, and to once again to walk the streets of Tilburg and live in the soul that is Roadburn is something we are very grateful for. April 2014 is too far away.” More info on Yob here:http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8aX
From deep in the earth you can feel massive vibrations… soon they become audible — huge distant riffs growing louder and turning into a sonic assault with a familiar feel and groove. Suddenly you realize… NOLA is in the house! Roadburn 2014 welcomes legendary New Orleans riffmasters Crowbar to the 013 venue main stage on Thursday, April 10th. With ties to Down, Eyehategod, Acid Bath and Pantera, Crowbar will definitely provide Roadburners with a perfect cure for their New Orleans metal jones in 2014. More info on Crowbar here:http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8aZ
Sludge legends Sourvein will be ratcheting up the sheer brutality of their damaged, blackend misery by playing all three of the band’s much acclaimed EP’s, Emerald Vulture, Ghetto Angel and Imperial Bastard, in their entirety exclusively at Roadburn Festival 2014. “We’re beyond excited to return to the mighty Roadburn Festival on our 20th anniversary tour” says T-Roy Medlin, “and this year we have a very special set prepared just for the Roadburn crowd. We will be doing our trilogy live, all three EP’s back to back and some songs off the first record that we’ve never done live… So we really look forward to this being an awesome time. See you at Roadburn 2014.” More info on Sourvein here:http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8b3
Underground favourites Graves at Sea will bring their crushing brand of slow, sluggish despair to Roadburn Festival 2014 on Thursday, April 10th at the 013 venue. More info on Graves at Sea here:http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8b1
Roadburn 2014 just got a whole lot heavier: Anciients, ASG, A Storm of Light and Lord Dying have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2014 as well.
Holland’s very own Roadburn Festival has become Europe’s leading festival for psychedelic, avant-metal, doom, heavy 70s or any other variation of leftfield sonic pleasures that push the boundaries of music.
Roadburn Festival 2014 (including Mikael Åkerfeldt’s curated event, Opeth and Loop) will run for four days from Thursday April 10th to Sunday April 13th, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.