More rain, or at least mist, but it’s Spring and somehow it’s reassuring that water still falls from the sky without seering your flesh when it touches you, so whatever. My back by the end of the night before had been movement-preventative, which I’ll just say was not encouraging on multiple levels, and I did not manage to get the Doan’s I’d hoped to. I bought a new vape though, and realized in the process that somewhere in the previous 48 hours, I had lost my debit card.

So it had been a mixed-bag morning, I guess. I saw my family, briefly, and that was a positive. They were going to the movies early and I think crashing out the rest of the day, or at least that’s what the weather warranted. The Patient Mrs. was very purposefully giving me space this weekend to do this. It was and is appreciated.

There was a late change to the evening’s schedule. Here’s what Kaleb Riser from Black Moon Cult posted:

SUN May 24
COSMIC STAGE – Brooklyn Monarch
11:25 Pentagram 60min+
10:00 Eyehategod 60min
8:30 Legions of Doom 60min+
7:05 The Obsessed 60min
5:45 Sacri Monti 60min
4:45 Dave Hill

SONIC STAGE – The Woodshop
45min sets
12:10 Mick’s Jaguar
11:10 Magick Potion
10:15 Carousel
9:40 Sphaèros Possession
8:40 Ike’s Wasted World
7:30 Black Moon Cult
6:30 Cats Eye
5:30 Sabbath Warlock

It would be a different kind of night than the one prior, with not none but less of the rush from one spot to the other. The change was that the night was at The Monarch and The Woodshop, instead of The Meadows and The Woodshop. The Monarch is a bigger space, and the lineup booked for it made that make sense. In the meantime, the Carousel reunion and Magick Potion were probably how my night was going to end given how I was feeling, and neither was a thing to complain about.

I was stoked that, like night one, there were a few bands that I’d never seen before, and that started with Spit Shine, who weren’t on that schedule but I think were originally going to play outside in the courtyard between Monarch and Woodshop, but for the weather. Very classic heavy rock, like ’70s but not necessarily boogie, as interchangeable as those two ideas have become. USDA beefier in tone and more of a roll-groove than a shuffle, though some of that too, they pulled an early crowd that was already more peopled than the day before had been, and so it would go. They covered Robert Trower and that was a lot of fun early in the day. Their singer was at the merch table even before the rest of the band was done playing. Working.

I was able to catch the start of Sabbath Warlock, whose doom rocking cult vibe was a turn, aesthetic-wise, from Spit Shine, despite the continuity of leather. I had Sacri Monti on the schedule next, so made my way toward the big stage for that; through the corridor, as it were. Turned out I was early, but there were friends in the room and I didn’t die. It was after 6PM when they went on, and the classic warmth of their prog-heavy rock, organ and all, would’ve been welcome anytime. Underrated for the soul, for sure, but I mean, those cats can play. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing all of it, so I took a few minutes to enjoy and watch, just to kind of put myself in the moment with that groove, and I didn’t regret that.

They were a similar joy last summer at Freak Valley (review here) with the songs from 2024’s Retrieval (review here) landing particularly hard, and with a bit of magic too them. They’ve toured enough that the chemistry shouldn’t be a surprise, but they know, each of them, where the other is at every point in every song while also being individually dug-in to playing, and I guess the professionalism underlying that hit me.

I had wanted to see Cat’s Eye, but stuck it out as long as I could. I’d ultimately spend more time in The Woodshop, but that was just how the night went. Fucking Eyehategod were gonna play. There was a kind of tension in the room, or at least in me. Some Dozer came on, and then the band went on too, and that was good. As I understood it, Cats Eye is made in part of former members of Carousel who were not participating in the reunion later that night — part of me feels like I should be able to keep track of these things by now, but shit, it’s hard — and so I was curious to see what they would sound like. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of classic riffing in there, and it was super-nice to see Jake Leger (ex-Bang, among others) on drums, and I dug it that Gero von Dehn’s vocal lent a grunge edge, which was cool and distinctive. Ron looked pleased. You know Ron.

My timing for getting to the front of the stage for The Obsessed worked, which was a nice first. Scott “Wino” Weinrich and Jason Taylor on guitar and Chris Angleberger on bass, Bob Pantella, who had destroyed the night before with The Atomic Bitchwax, locking in a much different, less frenetic groove for the most part — not that The Obsessed don’t have their motor riffs — to suit Angleberger’s bass punching through, Taylor and Wino holding down the utmost of doom rock riffing. They also came through Jersey last year, and, well, they probably didn’t need to do that as a career choice, so it was appreciated.

Black Moon Cult were my must for the day, and I hope when you look at the lineup that tells you something. It was my first time seeing the Ohio heavy psych rockers fronted by the slick guitar and vocals of Kaleb Riser, and yeah, I’ll bite on the cliché that it probably won’t be the last, because, uh, it most likely won’t. Their 2025 album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (review here) was a favorite from last year, and the songs were recognizable live, which especially in this case was great. “Stoned Ape” was a hit, and closing with “At the Realms of Madness,” that chug, was the right call. I could see and hear quickly why I’ve heard so many excellent things about Black Moon Cult live, and they were all justified. I watched the whole set. Only my second full set of the weekend at that point. And they might’ve been band of the weekend.

So yeah, if I have anything to say about it, I’ll see them again. Potential out the wazoo.

I was indeed able to get over to The Monarch to get up front door Legions of Doom, whom I saw earlier this Spring as The Skull with Acid Bath (review here). Okay, so I’m not sure where one band ends and the other starts these days, but I think that’s something that gets hashed out over time, and Legions of Doom — with Karl Agell having maybe the best time on vocals — where a doomly follow-up to The Obsessed, sort of a supergroup but really just a band with a pedigree. They’d be the last ones I’d try to take pictures of in The Monarch (did I see Monster Magnet here? no.), but there was still plenty of night left when I watched Legions of Doom’s full set. They do really well on a big stage.

Legions of Doom played a Desertfest New York pre-party in 2024 (review here) and that night they opened with C.O.C.’s “Dance of the Dead,” and had Scott Reagers swapping in on vocals. This was much more of a working-band, been-on-the-road-a-few-nights kind of show. The Skull’s “For Those Which Are Asleep” and “Send Judas Down” and Holzner shouted out the memory of Dave Sweetapple of Tee Pee Records, not to mention several of its bands, and it was clear he wasn’t the only one remembering him, and of course that’s sad in a way, but nice too. Then they went back to dooming the fark out. They seemed set to end again with “Psychotic Reaction” (Trouble), and set about making it their own, but asked if they had time for one more, Agell dedicated it to Reed Mullin and they finished with “Dance of the Dead.” I didn’t run up front, but for sure made my way with some urgency once I realized what was coming.

I hadn’t yet had my dose of dark-acid ritualizing, and Sphaèros Possession had played night one and the pre-show as well. Sphaèros came out of French heavy psych weirdos Aqua Nebula Oscillator, but this was a different kind of trip, with emphasis on the ceremony that brought dancers out of the crowd, and while there were a only couple drums handled by someone in what looked to be a cloak of elvish make, it was enough to go with all that cosmic swirl. Next door, Eyehategod were about to Eyehategod the big room to pieces, and I decided to take the short walk over and get a bit of that in my brain. No regrets. It was just a few minutes, but it had been a couple years and they’re Eyehategod, so, you know, show up. Sludge would probably exist without them, but it wouldn’t be nearly as disaffected. They remain more punk than punk.

It was a headliner set for Eyehategod even with Pentagram on the bill after, and that was cool, but I’d been waiting all day for Carousel and was stoked to see Dave Wheeler back at it with Justin Sherrell (Somnuri; I forgot he was in this band for a while), founding bassist Jim Wilson and guitarist Jason Sichi [thanks Gero –ed.] from Wheeler’s other band, Limousine Beach. They took all of 30 seconds to remind me why I was so excited to see them play. Wheeler noted it was their first show in 10 years, and I noted before they went on that the setlist had a song called “New Jam” on it. Cool to think they might really get back at it. I’m all for the reunion. They sounded great. Bluesy, heavy, with Wheeler’s vocals on point for the classic style. They called it a day in 2016. I hope this isn’t the last show they do for a decade.

It was coming on 11PM, and I was pleased to feel like I was in better condition than I had been the evening before. I got to talk to a lot of people — I even signed one dude’s jacket and he had had Tim Bugbee sign the other side; talk about company I’m not worthy to keep. Eyehategod had finished, but I was in The Woodshop anyhow, Wheeler pointing out before they played “2113” that two of the members who played on it were here with Cats Eye earlier in the day. I’m assuming one of them is guitarist John Dziuban? In any case, Carousel coming back felt like probably as much as it could for a band from Pittsburgh playing NYC, and I was glad to see them again after so long. I had some good times watching them play and was glad to add another one to that list.

Magick Potion were my end to the night. I knew better than to try to get up front to shoot Pentagram, but that stage was running basically on time, so I did get to watch a bit of it; Tony Reed forever, man. And Henry Vasquez drumming. Some day I’ll tell you about my non-toxic/subservient lyrical headcannon rewrite of “Forever My Queen.” Don’t hold your breath.

I was ready to go when Carousel were done, existentially and otherwise, but I wanted to see Magick Potion. The Baltimorean boogie outfit — how many times this weekend have I used the word boogie? so many — like The Obsessed, and in the company of Electric Citizen, played my hometown last year, and again, forever-points. I could stick around for a little longer to see them.

Knowing on some level what was coming was not a detriment to the experience of seeing them again. Carousel had laid waste, so Magick Potion had a bit of a rebuild, and even with the holiday Monday, the crowd had begun to thin out. Fair enough. Not that I wasn’t feeling it too. But a bit of Magick Potion’s softshoe was a salve. You could hear Pentagram through the open door between songs, but once they were playing it didn’t matter. Once the music started, everything was fine. They easily made it worth it to have stuck around, and their chops-heavy take was as sweet a finale as I could’ve hoped for.

Way there was Solace and The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Way home was Ealdor Bealu and Buzzard.

Thanks for reading. Thanks to Kenny and all at Tee Pee Records. Thanks to everybody who said hi and/or hung out. Thanks to Andy Goldstein and Erik Larson. Thanks to The Patient Mrs. for the weekend time.

Real quick before you go if you’re still here. You may have noticed I used photo captions on these two reviews. I’ve never done that before and if you have a second to let me know in the comments if that’s cool for you or you don’t care or it looks stupid, really any and all opinions valid. I don’t think I’d do it for every review, but something like this where the subject and image aren’t broken up each into their own section, it sort of made sense to me. I’d very much appreciate any feedback you have.

This post is it for today. Maybe also for tomorrow, we’ll see.

You know how it gets. The whole morning and early afternoon, the voice in my head telling me not to do the thing, to stay home, the weather sucks, driving in NY is expensive, depressing and tedious, the couch and the dog and Twilight Princess are here, so who ever wanted to do a weekend of commuter-fest? There was no logical case to be made against this. I just had to tell that frankly much more reasonable portion of my brain to can it and get myself out of the house. I wouldn’t say it was easy. Shut up, it’s fine, shut up. It’ll be fine.

This was the schedule of the night:

COSMIC STAGE – The Meadows
11:15 Dead Meadow 60min
10:05 Al-Qasar 45min
8:40 The Atomic Bitchwax 60min
7:30 Electric Citizen 50min
6:30 Mirror Queen 45min
5:30 Worshipper 45min
4:30 Alreckque 45min

SONIC STAGE – The Woodshop
45min sets except where noted, 15-20min changeovers
11:30 Sphaèros Possession
10:30 Satan’s Satyrs
9:20 Sun Voyager
8:10 Casket Rats
7:05 The Golden Grass
6:15 Dead Hits (30min set)
5:10 River Cult

No way I was going to see all of it, right? Unreasonable expectations. But with some back and forth, it would be mostly doable. The drive was every bit as pleasant as pre-departure anxiety made it out to be, but I still had some time to sit in the car with the window open (raining) and vape like a douchebag to try and calm my nerves. I was about two blocks from the venues and walked over in the rain, good and stoned and wet walking into The Meadows for Alreckque.

Familiar faces, the three of them being veterans of the Boston underground, Jim Healey on vocals and guitar, Aaron Gray on bass and backing and some lead vocals, and Rob Davol on drums. Melody and crunch were kind of what you’d expect from them, but the configuration was new to me live and it was cool to see those guys doing the thing. Obviously they’ve written more songs since they did that demo in 2024 (review here).

I popped down to the Wood Shop for River Cult, who for sure are a band I need to see again, and I say that having seen not all that much since they hit it a couple minutes late and Worshipper were about to go on at The Meadows. This was kind of going to be the story of the night, and fair enough. The back and forth probably wouldn’t kill me, but I wanted to see a lot of the bands playing the show, so that’s what I did. River Cult were still on when I got back to The Wood Shop, so I got to see at least the start and finish. Take what I can get.

It was back to Wood Shop ahead of Dead Hits, with exes from Naam and La Otracina, among others. My first time seeing them too, and though there was some nasty feedback of the unintentional kind at the start, once the set actually began, it was all kind of a haze, and that very much was intentional. Boogie, howl and scorch, none of which was a surprise given their makeup, but the psychblast element was most certainly appreciated. I couldn’t stay, since Mirror Queen were about to hit it next door, but I’d never seen them before, so I decided I’d be back. Again, that’s the night. I’m not saying stop reading now, but please know you’re never obligated at any point to continue.

The bummer of it, honestly, is that I’m not a very good photographer. I’ve been doing it for 15 years, and I’ve had some good ones along the way, but I’ve frankly never had the commitment to it as a creative endeavor to make it anything more than something I do to go along with the writing. I wish I had a great passion for it but I don’t. I just didn’t have a better solution than doing it myself.

But even going back and forth to shoot this or band, the proximity shouldn’t be left out of the conversation. It’s The Meadows, and then the next door down is The Wood Shop. So easy enough, for which I was grateful. Night two at The Meadows and The Monarch would be the same. I think The Monarch is the door after that. Maybe that’s where the hardcore fest was.

No, not even close to my first time seeing Mirror Queen, but their mellowrockpsychprog always goes down smooth and they did a new song called “City Skies” that Kenny — whose shindig this whole thing is — said had never before been played by humans. Duh, it was mellowrockpsychproggy. Then they hit into the thrashy “Rider on the Rain” and I knew Dead Hits were done anyway so I had a couple minutes before I needed to be over there for The Golden Grass.

It had been a while. New bassist. Don Berger. You’ll never guess where I looked that up. By a while I meant years and years, and I already knew it would be a sampling, but again, you go with it. It was a fomo kind of night, and of course as it went on it would be harder to get up front. I needed to rethink the strategy.

Hard choices. The Golden Grass are always great, but they had technical trouble before getting started, so it was a delay. I decided I’d settle in at The Meadows for Electric Citizen and most of The Atomic Bitchwax until Sun Voyager went on. I knew Al-Qasar and Satan’s Satyrs would be more back and forth later, but some things can’t be helped.

Electric Citizen played my town last summer, so aside from the forever-points thereby earned as regards general appreciation, they were relatively fresh in mind, but even so, they had a different keyboardist out with them, so that was a change. Also there was a disco ball and a dude dancing in the back. They killed, in other words. And golly, that last record smoked. They were the only full set I saw all night, and no, not just because they came to Parsippany frickin’ New Jersey. But like I said, forever-points anyhow.

Those points could be yours. Come to Jersey. (Please note points hold no cash or other value.)

In all seriousness, I was glad to see them pull the crowd they did, and extra glad I was part of it. They make a mean five-piece. Laura Dolan made an impassioned testimony between songs about having played an early gig with Dead Meadow and how it opened doors for them and it meant something to be playing with them again, kind of celebrating the scene as it were, where the bands know each other and the fans know the bands and a lot of the time the bands know the fans too. It’s a weird era in heavy rock as it is in everything else, but you can’t really look around underground heavy music at this point and say it’s lacking either quality or quantity. 10 years ago this show might’ve happened — Tee Pee did a Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous in 2015; I lived in Massachusetts at that point or I might’ve gone — but not 20. It was SHoD and Emissions and a few in Europe. That growth is a thing worth honoring, all the more because I think the genre has grown and changed as well, even in its most willfully traditional niches.

Electric Citizen occupy one of those, as there’s always been plenty of ’70s in their sound, but they’re a perfect example of a band who’ve progressed over their decade-plus, who have pushed themselves to try new things. And you could certainly say The Atomic Bitchwax have changed over their 27 years, though they’re arguably faster and fiercer in recent years than they’ve ever been, so I guess that tells you something. Plus every now and then they break out something midtempo that seems slow by comparison. It’d be the regular set and I would see most not all of it, but that is the order of things, as the Jem’Hadar are wont to say.

Forever on a tear, The Bitchwax smoked the room nicely as they will, and a slew of classics and recent burners were aired, same set they’ve been doing the last few years, but shit, it ain’t broke. Homeboy in the back was dancing again, which is the kind of thing you can see when you stay in a room for more than 10 minutes of a set. Tomorrow I’ll do differently. But the TAB, with Bob Pantella bashing away in back like he’s actually annoyed at the drums, Chris Kosnik and Garrett Sweeny all smiles up front, it’s a good show to see and a tough one to walk out of to catch the start of Sun Voyager, over at The Wood Shop. They premiered their latest single “Running Hot” here and I wanted to catch it in-person. They line checked with it, so I didn’t wait long.

Bassist Stefan Mersch caught some flack for the poncho, good-natured, of course, and not from me. I’m bad enough at regular human conversation that I feel like throwing around playful gibes isn’t what I need to be spending my time doing. I’d just end up talking shit and not meaning to. But they are not a band I take for granted seeing, and they’ve come through a lot the last few years to sound so righteous as they did. I had time before Al-Qasar went on to check out a goodly portion of the set. More because Sun Voyager basically went on on time.

The guitar of Christian Lopez (also Heavy Temple) was loud enough that up front your earplugs were little more than a cute accessory. When I lay down to go to bed tonight and I’m still hearing those solo notes from “Running in Circles” repeating themselves via tinnitus, I won’t be surprised. “God is Dead” had that same dude dancing. David and Danielle there, their buddy Craig who’s super-nice, Bill Kerls, a bunch of other people you meet and know in this thing. Sacri Monti rolled in amd were hanging out; I got to say hi to Anthony Meier, which is always nice, and even slow-burning Sun Voyager is still on fire, so the room was in. I don’t think the lights changed at all from the start of the set. Doesn’t matter. The band were hypnotic in that cool light and they remain a blast to see. I’m glad they’ve stuck it out and come so far the last couple years. Lopez, Mersch, drummer Kyle Beach. I can’t think of another band on the Eastern Seaboard who revels in the psych-gnarly like they do or with nearly as much joy.

Al-Qasar were soon on at The Meadow, so it was back out into the (now lighter) rain for all of 10 seconds to go from one venue to the other. I think they were kind of a mystery for most people but the Middle Eastern-vibing psych outfit feature Thomas Bellier, formerly of Blaak Heat Shujaa, so there’s the Tee Pee connection. I remember that band fondly and got to see them live despite their being from France, and thought they were way more interesting than they got ever credit for. That same drive toward the individual is in Al-Qasar, even if most of the rest has changed.

They would probably be the only band of the weekend to lead the crowd in a chant of “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” admirable as that is. And that’s hardly all stood out about them, what with Bellier on the oud and their vocalist running two mics through a processor, slap bass and Arab-influenced rhythms. You could dance to it, say, if you’d been dancing all night, but for sure too, Satan’s Satyrs were about to rip shit at The Wood Shop, so I did my last bit of back and forth ahead of closing the night with Dead Meadow, and I’ll just say that Clayton Burgess’ band certainly wasn’t any less charged for having Erik Larson (so many bands) on drums. I hope to see Thunderchief, in which he also plays, later this summer, as I did last summer on CT, whereas the last time I saw Satan’s Satyrs was next door at a Desertfest NY pre-show and they had Sean Saley of Pentagram, etc. drumming. Funny how these things go sometimes.

I decided while they were playing that the next morning, in addition to sorting photos and all the rest, I’d pick up some Doan’s for my back — which come to think of it, I started taking after a recommendation from Larson however many years ago — and maybe one of those gross sticky things that are always so cold but also work. My back hurt, is the underlying message. Satan’s Satyrs’ power boogie would surely have had me up for a two-step otherwise; they are an absolute shove, and even when they’re not going full-speed, you know it’s only a matter of time before the next round starts. They had glee at the racket they made in common with Sun Voyager.

My night capped back at The Meadows for Dead Meadow. By then, I guess the hardcore fest was done because people were lining up like for a dance club, which is to say better dressed than either the hardcore crowd or this one. Nobody’s wearing camo shorts on line for the cluuub.

I had told myself I wouldn’t sit on the stage, but I did anyhow. Come on, I made it to the last band, and I was dragging. But where Satan’s Satyrs were running laps around the universe, Dead Meadow’s signature roll is of a calmer spirit, and that warmth and nod felt like a good way to end it for me. A fuzz to give comfort. There was still the commute home and back for night two to consider, whether I wanted to be considering them or not. Hazards of commuter-fest. Glad I was there at all, even long past the point of being able to hang with it as I was.

Ride in was Genghis Tron, Nine Inch Noize, Elder and Floor. Ride home was the Genghis Tron again. I had that shirt on too.

More to come.