Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII Makes First Lineup Announcement
The Patient Mrs. looked over at me the other day and was like, “Kind of a hard comedown from Vegas this year, huh?” And she was right, it has been. My second voyage to Planet Desert Rock Weekend (review here) was a really, really good time, and I guess a couple days away from the overarching weight of reality circa early ’26 was something I couldn’t see I needed as much as I did. I had been hoping to come home and hit the ball rolling on writing and feel like my head was back in it. That wasn’t really how it’s worked out.
Fortunately for me, Planet Desert Rock Weekend‘s founder and curator John Gist is already rolling out names for 2027’s PDRW VII, and it’s a get-your-ass-here assemblage with Greenleaf headlining the first announcement, Shun following up on Throttlerod‘s appearance this year and being part of a strong initial showing from Small Stone Records alongside Winds of Neptune (I still need to review that one; a Quarterly Review is coming later this month I hope) and Sundrifter, while Sergeant Thunderhoof return and Brimstone Coven make a first appearance, Humulus travel from Italy (that’s going to be a good one) and recent Ripple Music signees Florist round out.
As has been the case for the last few years, the sense of curation bleeds through the names being dropped, and if we assume the bands announced today are a little more than a quarter of the full lineup — that’s going by a max of six bands on a night this year, making this announcement more than one night’s total worth of bands, not that they’re all necessarily playing the same night, etc. — then I’m eager to see how the rest shakes out over the next weeks and, presumably, months before next January gets here. And I’m glad to have it to look forward to, frankly.
The PR wire has it like this:
Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII – 2027 Presale & Lineup Announcement
Planet Desert Rock Weekend is proud to announce its volume 7 for 2027! The dates are January 28- 31, 2027 and will take place again at The Usual Place!
We have 8 bands including 3 international to divulge and some new new ticket options. The 2026 version was our biggest one since the inception of Planet Desert Rock back in 2018. The feedback has been amazing and now the pressure is on to curate a lineup that will be held to the standards we have created. We hope you join us for this new sonic adventure in rock music.
PDRW will now have a VIP ticket option that will allow early entry to be behind the scene and see soundcheck as well as get your wristband for the evening that will permit you to be able to re-enter quickly and avoid the line. In addition we have a poster included with the VIP package. We offer 3 and 4 night choices. We will only being selling 400 total as we are not going to compromise the atmosphere and comfortable environment as well sell too many to have to move to a larger venue. So it’s 1st come 1st serve and we will see in the future if nightly tickets are an option!
The lineup:
Greenleaf/ Sweden
We have tried for a number of years to get this amazing band over and we are overjoyed to have one of the top heavy rock bands from around the world joining us for an exclusive west coast event. Meaning just Vegas… no California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon etc…. Flying in just for us! We are honored to have them!
Sergeant Thunderhoof / England (U.K.)
Returning after an amazing set at PDRW V, we are fired up to have this spectacular British band back and they will be playing a regular set and exclusively Muramasa from their split on Ripple Music they did with Howling Giant. This should be a very unique set to witness and rock to!
Humulus/ Italy
Long time heavy psych rockers Humulus makes their USA debut to continue to tradition of Italian bands playing PDRW. The band has been in the scene since 2012 and their recent 2023 release “Flowers of Death” with new vocalist Thomas Greenwood was a killer release ushering in an evolved sound.
Brimstone Coven/ West Virginia
Veteran retro hard rocking band Brimstone Coven has been steadily dropped cool albums since the early 2010s including a fantastic 2025 release “The Light Not Shines for Thee”. Key highlights including smooth harmony vocals and an homage to rock music of years past.
Sundrifter/ Boston
Returning to PDRW out of Boston all 3 of their releases have been phenomenal. The band’s sound has a near futuristic sound at times that touches upon other worlds in the galaxies and vocals that belong near the top of the heavy underground.
Shun/ North Carolina-South Carolina
Real excited to have Shun join the party in 2027 with their heavy atmospheric post rock sound that harkens to a more 90s vibe. Features fromtman Matt Whitehead from Throttlerod. This will be their west coast debut!
Florist/ Tampa
Heavy psych rockers Florist might be one of hotter bands in the scene right now on the heels of their 2025 release. They have played multiple east coast fests and we are excited to have them head west for PDRW with their theremin and other instruments. This is gonna be spacy stoney cool!
Winds of Neptune/ Detroit
Debut album in late 2025 on Small Stone Records created a lot of cosmic waves so much so they landed #1 for the November Doom Charts. Their retro 70s rocking vibe with massive riffs fits right in with PDRW. Oh and the drummer from Flogging Molly is in the band! COOL!
Tickets available now for presales until they are gone and then prices go up some: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planet-desert-rock-weekend-vii-january-28-31-2027-tickets-1983056894554?aff=oddtdtcreator
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/share/171CqcorKR/
https://www.facebook.com/VRRProductions/
https://www.facebook.com/vegasrockrevolution/
Here we go again… Nice lineup so far. Thanks John.
VERY COOL! btw Winds OF Neptune is also on Kozmik Artifactz, actually CD is Smallstone, LP is Kozmik, or shared coop or sth ……. anyways, cool lineup already!