True, my existence has been a diseased and stress-filled shambles ever since my return from Europe now nearly two weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish I’d stayed there another week. Quite the opposite. As documentation begins to emerge from Desertfest Berlin, it only seems to underscore how righteous the fest was and makes me even sorrier to have missed it. I found a few clips on the YouBigTruck — oh wait I’m sorry, it’s not a big truck, it’s a series of tubes — that emphasize the point, and figured I’d share in case you hadn’t seen them yet.

For fun, here are five reasons I wish I was there:

1. Greenleaf
Granted, I got to see Greenleaf — the Swede-rock heavy supergroup populated by members of Dozer and Truckfighters — in London, but here’s the thing about it: They were really fucking good. Blindingly so, and another opportunity to catch a set would’ve been greatly appreciated. It’s hard to argue  with “Alishan Mountain,” since it’s one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard, and this just looks like good times to me:

2. Wight
As their recorded output proves, the jam-heavy German stoner rockers aren’t messing around when it comes to riff worship, but as righteous as the guitar solo that leads this Desertfest jam is, it’s the bass runs underneath that have me totally hooked. Charm is half of Wight‘s game, and that’s clearly on display here as they jump headfirst into the recognizable blues rocking grooves of “You!,” a demo of which was previously streamed on this very site. This one would’ve been fun to watch live:

3. The Grand Astoria
If I live to be 100, I’ll probably never make it to Russia, and while I don’t know for certain, I’m pretty sure the St. Petersburg four-piece — who seem to be in the process of acquiring a new rhythm section — don’t have any plans to hit the US anytime soon, so this would’ve been a crime of opportunity as much as anything else. I’ve dug both their records that I’ve heard (see here and here), and if this clip is any indicator of the shenanigans they threw down on stage for the duration of their set, hard not to feel like I missed out:

4. The Machine
At this point, what’s a trip to Europe without seeing The Machine? I kept hoping the Dutch natives — whose new album, Calmer than You Are was reviewed last week — would add a show on the sly sometime in the week before Roadburn kicked off, but no such luck, and after seeing them two years in a row on their native shores (or at least at the 013), they only seem to have gotten better as a live act, as this clip of opener “Moonward” from Calmer than You Are proves:

5. Operators
I’ve got their self-titled record on deck for review sometime in the next couple weeks (or months, if my current pace is maintained), and as they’re Berlin natives and I don’t know the band all that well yet, I think it would’ve been cool to check out organ-ized six-piece Operators at Desertfest. If nothing else, there’s six of ’em! That’s like two trios! And part of being at any fest worthy of the name is finding new acts you hadn’t really been familiar with previously, so they probably would’ve filled that role well:

If we’re being honest with each other, there are way more than these five reasons I wish I’d been able to go to Desertfest Berlin, but some you win, some you have to go back to Jersey and spend two weeks staring at your computer monitor waiting for your work to finish itself. I think that’s how the song goes. Credit where it’s due, all these clips were shot by YouTube user MrJdelgadolopez, whose efforts and timely uploading are much appreciated.

I included it with the Greenleaf review yesterday as well (because they were recently added to the increasingly kickass lineup), but wanted to put it here too, because, looky looky whose logo got put on the bottom of the Desertfest Berlin poster! Yeah, that’s right. It’s The Obelisk‘s. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to let it go to my head, even though it already has. I’ve gone mad with relevance.

Thanks to Sound of Liberation for making that happen. Here’s the poster and the latest from their camp, including the news that Swiss instrumentalist stalwarts Monkey3 will be playing:

Time’s flying now and we are all looking forward to celebrate with you the Desertfest Berlin from 19-21 April. Three days of rock with 30 bands/artists from 13 different countries.

The already outstanding line p was upgraded last week by the announcement of Switzerland’s psychedelic wizzards Monkey3.

We are honoured to announce the presence of Monkey3 at Desertfest Berlin! The Swiss quartet from Lausanne is very well known for being one of the most cosmic, ultra-psychedelic and hypnotic acts of the stoner scene… Get ready for those monkeys to whirl you up into a trance! It has been a long time since the band played in Berlin and we can’t wait to see and enjoy their performance!

Interested ticket buyers please hurry up:

We throw in the ring the last bunch of two-day tickets. There are less than 200 available! Get them here.
One day tickets for Friday or Saturday are here.

We’re also working on the details of the Saturday 21 April aftershow party… Stay tuned!!!

http://www.desertfest.de/

The other day in my post about Lord Vicar and Sigiriya being added to the London lineup (Roadsaw has also joined the bill — stoked), I mentioned that Elvis Deluxe also signed on to play the Berlin Desertfest — website here — as well. It dawned on me after that that I haven’t really had the chance to talk much about the Berlin fest.

That’s probably at least in part because I can’t go. Much as I’d love to take three weeks and dick around Europe going from show to show — sandwich the weekend of Roadburn with the two Desertfests — it’s just not feasible. I have a job, and without it, no money to do the dicking around already planned, so at some point, I need to go back to it. Too bad, given the lineup already announced (see above) and the reportedly more still to come.

In any case, Berlin Desertfest (put together by Sound of Liberation) has some cool stuff in the works, and I thought it would be a good time to find out more about it. Here’s the info I got sent, so that if you’re like me and unable to go, you can also be jealous of anyone who is:

We plan bands from all over the world: we still have quite a few to announce! It will happen on Thursday 19th April in Festsaal Kreuzberg / Berlin and in Astra Kulturhaus / Berlin on 20th and 21st April, 2012.

Orange Goblin will headline the 19th.
Motorpsycho on 20th and Colour Haze on 21st.

We also have a Theatre Bizarre planned with two movies: Fuzzomentary ( doc about Truckfighters band) + Black Mass Rising (visions of a bunch of bands from various genres about the thematic: darkness, mysticism and apocalypse).

Also a couple of artist playing acoustic as well as DJ in this small theatre. The place will be fully redecorated by artists to bring a special atmosphere to the Theatre Bizarre. Artwork exhibit is also scheduled, as well as a “hippie corner”: market with labels, artwork designers, food, craftsmen, etc.