Total Coverage: Borderland Fuzz Fiesta Night One, Tucson, Arizona, 02.26.16
No sleep, no food, no stopping. Heavy rock and roll waits, but why be impolite? I landed in Phoenix after a two-hour flight from San Francisco that put me back on Mountain Time, two hours behind the Eastern Seaboard. Totally livable. I can’t and won’t account for the frayed neurons playing havoc with the various cortices in my brain, but the two-hour drive through the desert from Phoenix to Tucson in my rental car was just enough open spaces to set the mood for Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016, my playlist along the way curated to the best of my admittedly limited ability.
I swung through the Arizona Riverpark Inn to engage in a ceremonious dropping off of stuff. Wasn’t time for much else. It was after 5PM by then and doors at 191 Toole seven minutes up the road were at six. Places to be. A quick hobo bath in the sink would have to do, and I was off, greeted by brothers Joey and Wayne Rudell, of the band Fuzz Evil and the organizers of Borderland Fuzz Fiesta, as well as Todd Severin of Ripple Music, Bucky Brown who writes for Ripple Effect, Randy Blood, Mark Aceves of Zed and others. Luminaries all. Voices put to names and faces from social networking, I was glad to be in good company. The vibe was relaxed and would remain so for the duration.
To follow-up on Elder canceling earlier this week owing to injury and Fatso Jetson taking their place — they rolled in with the dudes and ladies of Yawning Man, who headline night two — psych rockers 3rd Ear Experience called in sick with food poisoning. That left seven bands on the bill, which proved to be plenty enough to riff the evening into oblivion or something close to it and effectively wash away months’ worth of humdrum adultism, stress for work, real life, and so on. It was, I don’t mind saying, much needed.
The esteemed Lance Gordon and his Mad Alchemy crew would be working an oil light show for the entire night, six projectors going resulting in unparalleled psychedelic gorgeousness accompanying the bands while they played. Here’s how it went down, front to back:
Big Mean
Among other things, Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016 would mark my first real exposure to local trio Big Mean, named presumably for both beard and riffery. Actually, the three-piece take their moniker from guitarist/vocalist “Big Mean” Maheen who started the band as a solo-project circa 2013. They released their first EP last year and dug into thick, straightforward grooves to start off the show, not without a harder bluesy edge, but still fluid enough to help set the vibe for the evening as they played on one of the two stages, located on the floor next the main stage. The crowd filtered in, and for a moment it seemed half the people there had cameras, but it was an all-ages show, so some genuine kids would show up throughout the course of the night, and Big Mean gave the evening a suitably unpretentious start, some raw volume — the cargo train going by on the tracks behind the venue, for example, could not be heard over them — and a spacier guitar finish that saved their best nod for last. They were way more of a band than a solo-project, and solid at that. Left no room for complaint.
Dead Canyon
I can’t say Phoenicians Dead Canyon were a complete surprise, as I did check out their 2013 The Lonesome Company Demo to pick a track for the Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016 mixtape, but the three subsequent years since that release have clearly brought some changes in their sound. Somewhat slicker thank the openers in their presentation, they got tighter as they went on, guitarist Frank Davenport and drummer Josh Bodnar sharing vocal duties over Roger Willams‘ thick bass tone, resulting in a sound that seemed like it would very easily translate to a long-player. I don’t know if they’re there yet, but they came across like a band with an album out, with touches of classic swing in Bodnar‘s drums and a very distinct sonic identity in development. They kept momentum between their first couple songs with a steady kick drum and stick clicks, stopping for the first time after three cuts, and even then not for long — there was shuffling to do. And they did it right on, with starts and stops that stood them out even on a night chock full of riff-led fare. They’d end the Arizona contingent of the lineup, but represented their home state well.
Zed
San Jose four-piece Zed reportedly have a new album due out in August or thereabouts on Ripple Music, and much of what they played came from it. On a weekender with shows in Palm Desert and San Diego in addition to Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016, they also had a fill-in guitarist in the form of Tim Narducci of SPV heavy rockers Spiralarms, who took the place of Greg Lopez alongside guitarist/vocalist Pete Sattari, bassist Mark Aceves and drummer Rich Harris and was well at home running through “Please” from 2013’s Desperation Blues and new cuts like “Royale” and “Blood of the….” (I didn’t quite catch the full title). More aggressive than either Dead Canyon or Big Mean, they reminded me a bit of Dozer live, perhaps not as raging, but still two guitars pushing energetic material that doesn’t so much ask you to follow along as it does shove you in the direction it wants you to go. In any case, they were duly tight, Sattari showcasing punker roots reset in a thicker-riffed context, and if I hadn’t known beforehand that they weren’t playing with their permanent lineup, I wouldn’t have guessed. They closed with the more brooding “The Mountain” in grand style, a subdued feel at first flourished by lead interplay getting larger as it went. Zed sounded like a well-kept secret, and made me look forward to their record.
Funeral Horse
Look. I like weird bands. I make no apologies for it. As such, Houston’s Funeral Horse were exactly what I was hoping for. First line of my notes? “Can’t spell Funeral Horse without ‘fun.'” They were that, guitarist/vocalist Paul Bearer big on personality in leading the trio of himself, bassist Jason Argonaut and drummer Chris Bassett through “There Shall be Vultures” from their 2015 LP, Divinity for the Wicked (review here) as well as “Until the Last Nation Falls” from 2014’s Sinister Rites of the Master (review here) and “Scatter My Ashes over the Mississippi” from their 2013 debut, Savage Audio Demon (review here), along with what may have been a new song or two, all the while running a cohesive balance between blown-out stoner punk and heavy metal. Very clearly up for a good time but not at all a joke. On a personal note, I was already looking forward to having them at The Obelisk All-Dayer in August, but their ability to freak out the room at 191 Toole and actively not give even the remotest of fucks only made me more stoked to see them again. Bearer auctioned off Argonaut before “Scatter My Ashes” — I think the final bid was $20, including the bass — and their whole set was just a blast, a touch of ’90s noise rock more prominent in their sound than I’d previously realized. I was way into it, but hey, I like weird bands.
Fatso Jetson
Fatso Jetson‘s set came in two parts. For the first, they played as a five-piece fronted by Sean “The Captain” Wheeler of desert punkers Throw Rag. Wheeler sat in for opener “Trouble Maker,” as well as the mega-boogie “Golden Age of Cell Block Slang” from 2010’s Archaic Volumes (review here), their most recent full-length, and “Swollen Offering” from 1998’s Toasted, trading lines back and forth with guitarist Mario Lalli and also backed by guitarist Dino von Lalli, Mario‘s son. Dino was freshly in the band last time I saw Fatso Jetson, three years ago at Desertfest London (review here), but that dynamic between father and son has clearly taken shape, which came out further in the jammier second part of the band’s set, sans Wheeler. Atop the somebody-should-build-a-statue-in-their-honor rhythm section of bassist Larry Lalli (Mario‘s cousin) and drummer Tony Tornay, Mario and Dino alternated leads between frenetic shredding and airier effects, backed each other on rhythms in “Magma” and “Dream Homes” and shared vocals as they pushed “Orgy Porgy” to what felt like it should’ve been well past the breaking point. They may have been a last-minute replacement for Elder, but Fatso Jetson owned the room immediately — locked in from the start and only built momentum as they went. Yeah, they had that split with Farflung (review here) last year, and one with Yawning Man before that, but it’s been too long since they put out a proper record. As they showed in their finishing jam playing off of “Too Many Skulls,” their chemistry is so dead on that it deserves to be captured one way or another. It’s like the whole planet doesn’t even know it’s waiting for them to out-rock it. They were phenomenal.
Blaak Heat
Los Angeles by way of New York by way of Paris by way of who knows where else three-piece Blaak Heat — who’ve also dropped the “Shujaa” from their moniker in their many travels — had their work cut out for them headlining the floor stage. Playing between Fatso Jetson and Dead Meadow probably counts as the evening’s least enviable task, but the three-piece flourished. They’ll release their third album, Shifting Mirrors, in May through Tee Pee Records (Europe gets it in April), and aside from closing out with “Shadows (The Beast Pt. II)” from their 2013 sophomore outing, The Edge of an Era (review here), everything they played was new. This was particularly encouraging. I’d heard “Anatolia” on the aforementioned mixtape, but in songs like “Shifting” and “Zeta” (likely partial titles), they affirmed their progressive leanings in winding rhythmic complexity, guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier an emergent frontman presence and new bassist Henry Evans (ex-Spindrift) and drummer Mike Amster (also Sinner Sinners, Boarchucker and ex-Abrams) seamless in their execution. It was noted on stage that Amster was just back from Europe — as in, the same day — and while I’m sure having just come from a time zone upwards of eight hours ahead of that in Arizona was taking a toll, it didn’t stop him in the slightest from nailing the heavy psych frenzy and stretches of undulating groove. As an initial impression, mostly their new stuff seems like it’s refusing to settle or be tamed. “Sword” (again, presumably a partial title) was a tornado in the desert, a fitting answer to Fatso Jetson‘s own riffy torrents, less jammy perhaps, but furious in its purpose and instrumental focus. I’m going to look forward to that album, “Shujaa” or no.
Dead Meadow
It’s been half a decade since I last saw Dead Meadow. That was Roadburn 2011 (review here). In the interim, the shoegaze-psych pioneers issued a studio full-length, Warble Womb, in 2013 and toured vociferously to support it. Now 16 years removed from their self-titled debut, Dead Meadow are both massively influential and completely underrated. Once they took stage, there was never any doubt. Drummer Mark Laughlin‘s stiff-armed swing rolled out the swim-in-this-tone bass of Steve Kille and the guitar of Jason Simon, and Simon‘s quiet vocals set a particularly molten vibe. It’s fortunate Mad Alchemy was around, since Dead Meadow are essentially the aural equivalent of a liquid light show. It took me a couple songs into their set to realize what was going on, but it marked a fascinating turn for Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016 to have Dead Meadow end the night. After Fatso Jetson and Blaak Heat, each more furious than the last, Dead Meadow were a sharp turn toward the laid back, and rather than drive the evening’s momentum over this or that edge, they melted the entire evening down and gave everyone an opportunity to bask in the warmth. Through cuts like “I Love You Too,” “The White Worm” and “Good Moanin’,” they were a gentle easing out for the night, all fuzz righteousness and non-aggro heft, effects wash and mellow-out. I wouldn’t try to make rash predictions or anything, but that’s a spirit I’d expect Yawning Man to echo at least in part in closing out Night Two, giving the festival a kind thematic cohesion that resonates as much conceptually as sonically. Either way, Dead Meadow — who’ve already toured South American and the West Coast in 2016 — were a trip into raw psychedelic bliss, which is a trip I just about always welcome taking, and in rounding out the night, they expanded the palette and minds alike. I’m going to try very hard not to let another five years pass before I see them again.
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Before Dead Meadow went on, solo act Leonhardt went on near the merch area for a quick set of solo acoustic material. Another last-minute addition, his inclusion demonstrated a growing reach on the part of the fest stylistically. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did more of that kind of thing in the future.
More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
