Live Review: Planet Desert Rock Weekend VI Night Two, Las Vegas, NV, 01.30.26
Before Show
Did some driving around in the afternoon. Adam took me up and out of town into the mountains where the views were insane. I’m an idiot for that kind of stuff. It was jawdropping. Back east, all of our mountains are water-weathered. Here it’s wind erosion, and younger plate-tectonics, and it’s a totally different thing. All of a sudden there’s just a billion-year-old layer of rock jutting up out of the ground, and it’s a novelty for me, so yeah, I dug the ride.
Side note: listened to most of the last Queens of the Stone Age record on the way back, and didn’t hate it.
Tonight’s show is the Ripple Music showcase. Five bands — Kaiser, Wolftooth, Freedom Hawk, The Devil and the Almighty Blues
headlining, and Paralyzed closing the night — all of whom, of course, are signed to the label. Like last night, it’s majority haven’t-seen-before for me, as I’ve yet to catch Kaiser, Wolftooth or Paralyzed, but I’ll tell you that knowing what’s coming from both Freedom Hawk and The Devil and the Almighty Blues does not lessen my anticipation for their sets. It’s gonna be a good night.
I was pretty done by the time The Quill were yesterday, and part of that I think was because I played it dumb on food. Today will be better, and by that I mean I brought a protein bar to the venue so I’ll have something to consume beyond calm-the-fuck-down-why-are-you-terrified-of-everything weed gummies, gum, and the free water that is so graciously available with little paper cones and everything at either side of the bar at The Usual Place. Will it make all the difference? I guess we’ll see when Paralyzed are finished how I feel about the prospect of sorting photos before bed. I am less tired than I was yesterday. O, that fresh mountain air.
I was in time for The Devil and the Almighty Blues’ soundcheck — I love a soundcheck lately — and thusly was gifted prescience of groove to come, which naturally I appreciated. A quiet tension in the room, then loud volume. More water in paper cones. Heck yes, thank you.
Follows here the night, as it happened from wherever I was standing, be it figuratively or literally. Or sitting, if we want to be honest. The caveats on typos (I’ll fix them sometime in the next however-many years; I fixed one from 2011 today) and flexible tenses apply. Time is weird when you’re thinking of a thing after it’s happened while it’s still happening. That processing in the moment. Anyway, onward:
Kaiser
One of my most anticipated bands of the fest, and I don’t think I was alone. They pulled an early crowd that knew what it was coming for, and delivered with vigor and tone, launching a groove that may indeed roll through the rest of the evening. Their soundcheck had also been killer, but they hit it harder in the set, as one would, and they put them over the top in my mind. Fest auteur John Gist had them out here in the Beforetimes, but I’m not that cool so wasn’t here for that, though it felt pretty cool to be here for this anyway. “Is Vegas awake?” We are now, man. They came all the way from Finland just to put boot to ass. Volume and force, and I guess I haven’t seen live video of them yet because they had more energy than I was knew was coming, which I’m not complaining about, but the nod was also elephantine, so the fact that they were making it move and moving with it made them all the more infectious, before you get to the good time they seemed to be having and the songs being right on. Not hard to see why John would bring them back, or how they would end up on Ripple. It’s by being really good, in case that wasn’t clear.
Wolftooth
Signed to Ripple for last Fall’s Wizard’s Light, Indiana’s Wolftooth brought together heavy tones with metallic precision and spot on vocal melody; that thread from last night for sure continues this evening, and it was all the more enjoyable to watch Wolftooth unite decades of rock and metal for it. “Valhalla” was a highlight, and some of the newer songs had me kicking myself for having not yet reviewed the album, but more than my punk rock guilt, what Wolftooth’s set underscored was the band’s utter mastery of their approach. And part of why I persist in thinking of them as a metal band is because their execution is so precise and their sound so crafted and hammered out feeling. Also the gallop. Also Iron Maiden. The guitar and bass tones were warmer live, but they don’t strike as a band who are leaving things to chance onstage or off. They hit it like pros, with chemistry and dynamic, soaring vocals and thrust to match. It’s debatable whether they’ll be the fastest band of the weekend — you’d have to sit down and take bpm averages against The Atomic Bitchwax, amd I have neither the technology nor time — but they’ve got the songs to change it up, as “Wizard’s Light” did, and the room was accordingly swept into it.
Freedom Hawk
The Virginian contingent never disappoint. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Freedom Hawk over the years, but let’s have fun and call it “several-plus,” and they’ve never not satisfied. Consistent, and they made sense coming off of Wolftooth, since they also have a penchant for classic metal, though the balance is different. But that’s part of what Planet Desert Rock Weekend does so well, is bring together a lineup that is more than an assemblage of cool names or whoever has a new record out (nothing against that, mind you) but that has a narrative to the flow created from band to band, elements that tie together and/or distinguish, like Freedom Hawk. How’re you gonna come up against “Blood Red Sky?” “Solid Gold?” “Indian Summer?” Why would you? I didn’t know this but it’s their 20th anniversary this year and I think month, which is wild to conceive, but fair enough. Like Wolftooth, they knew what the fuckles they were doing, and while they sounded bigger than I’ve ever heard them coming through The Usual Place’s P.A., and it suited them well. I have probably said this before, but Freedom Hawk is a band you could watch any night of the week and they’ll make your day better. They tore it up for Friday night at Planet Desert Rock Weekend VI, and I was right during Kaiser; groove is the thread for the night. Somebody farted just as they were starting “Indian Summer.” Real life, folks. Stay tuned for more gritty reportage.
The Devil and the Almighty Blues
What to do when the band’s soundcheck was already a high point of the night? Well, you stick around for the set, dumbass. Pretty easy answer, actually. And The Devil and the Almighty Blues were very much the answer. Truth be told, I was already looking forward to this when I saw them last summer at Freak Valley in Germany (review here). That was a considerably larger space than this one, with the Rockpalast cameras going and such, and this is the most intimate setting for me yet. That they would take ownership of the stage wasn’t in question, as the Norwegian five-piece have done that every time I’ve seen them (this is my fourth; no, that doesn’t make me cool, but it has made me a fan), but I was curious how some of the moodier moments would go over with a crowd that’s been partying for the four hours prior. Turns out a party where sometimes you feel feelings is still a party. I’m pleased to report they did just fine, but which I mean the set was incredible, thanks. Like Freedom Hawk, they had volume on their side, and their tones, so classy and warm, lost none of their heart for it. Vocalist Arnt O. Andersen managed to find — or maybe he brought one from an extensive wardrobe thereof — a robe in which to cloak himself, and with rare charisma, he held down center stage while the band recast the history of heavy blues in their image. It felt like they were doing the genre favors. Very much a headliner set. I expected no less, got more than I expected.
Paralyzed
German rockers Paralyzed were supposed to open the show according to the original plan for the evening, but they wound up closing owing to a canceled flight or somesuch. The point is they made it, and people were glad to see them setting up gear. Classic rock carried over from The Devil and the Almighty Blues like Freedom Hawk carried over metal from Wolftooth, like Kaiser setting a high bar early and everyone holding up their end of the bargain while each doing something of their own. My first time seeing Paralyzed, but I had high hopes nonetheless. Their records have always had such an aspect of performance to them, but of course persona comes through bigger live. They had the classic rock, but they also had blues, and they were still their own thing. That’s what I’m talking about. The whole night has a flow from one to the next, and sometimes it’s blatant and sometimes you have to squint a little but it’s always there. I think about Paralyzed if they had started the night as intended — Kaiser would’ve inherited ‘brash’ — and it would’ve flowed differently, but the way it’s ended up, with Paralyzed using travel frustration as fuel, capping the show with a current of energy that would’ve certainly worked at the start of the night, makes a whole lot of sense too. So I suppose what I’m trying to tell you is I’m lucky to be in this room, to spend my time the way I do — here and at home — and it feels really good to know that while my head is being blasted out by Paralyzed’s next hard boogie strut. Thanks John Gist.
After Show
Man, night two went down smooth. From Kaiser on, not a dud set in the bunch. Paralyzed making it at the end was the perfect finish. A welcome reminder that sometimes things work out. God damn I needed this trip.
Can I tell you I thought I’d hate that Queens record? It was hyper-produced, as it would have to be, but I wasn’t mad about it. The one before was so forgettable. I’ll have to give it a real shot, which I guess means close a week with it at some point.
I stayed till the end tonight too. The crowd thins out — reasonable; it’s late and I don’t know the average age in the room, but would guess conservatively it’s north of 30 — but the bands still bring it. If these were full-day events, no way would I be able to hang out until 1AM. As it is here, it’s doable. It works.
Night two, just about everybody who’s gonna know each other does, and folks are way friendly. I’m pretty sure I’m the biggest asshole in the photo pit.
And speaking of, I could probably do it tonight, but I’m still leaving photo sorting for the morning. Good night. Thanks for reading.
More pics after the jump.
Kaiser
Wolftooth
Freedom Hawk
The Devil and the Almighty Blues
Paralyzed
