As you can below the inaugural lineup for Desertfest Belgium’s Ghent edition is solid. They’ve gone so far as to reinforce it by importing King Buffalo across the Atlantic, resulting in a ‘Desert Stage’ schedule that about as far removed from fuckwithable as one could reasonably ask. Then you fill it out with, you know, the rest of the festival, and you’ve really got something going.

Well, you have a festival I guess. That’s definitely not nothing, especially these days.

Good show if you’re in the neighborhood. I’m not, but still good show.

Last word from the PR wire:

DFBE21 Ghent: Last Names & Countdown to Zero!

Can we all agree that Desertfest Antwerp was a resounding success, and dare we say: a return to form? Great! Now get in line because the party’s not over: the first edition of DF Ghent is nearly upon us! We have added a last handful of local talent to round out the line-up that already includes Motorpsycho, 1000Mods, Stoned Jesus aaaaand KING BUFFALO!

The Antwerpian psych slackers Fake Indians made a great impressions opening the Canyon stage at DF Antwerp, with a mindblending show of heavy drones and visual pyrotechnics. That was fun, so let’s do it again! They’ll make their welcome return at DF Ghent.

Fire Down Below is a Ghent-based stoner band with a great connection to our scene’s homebase with a signing on SoCal’s Ripple Music imprint. They guarantee an amp-ripping fuzz-hugging good time, and we’re stoked to have them playing their hometown for us.

And finally, Beaten By Hippies will bring you a solid reminder of everything that is good about straight-up no-frills stoner, with a stonking live act that has already earned them plenty of accolades on our local stages.

And there we have it – that will be the first chapter of our story in Ghent. Come and witness the birth of a new legend, and get your tickets!
TICKETS FOR DF GHENT ARE AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.desertfest.be/ghent/information/ticketing/

DESERTFEST GHENT (30/10): €52,00 ALL IN

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

Fire Down Below, Hymn of the Cosmic Man (2018)

Big update from Desertfest Belgium 2021. After recently unveiling some cancelations and following up with a list of the precautionary measures being taken to deal with happening during a pandemic, the Antwerp and Ghent-based editions of the festival both receive a round of lineup additions. Greece’s 1000mods will take part in both, while the likes of Electric Moon and Stoned Jesus join Ghent, and Monkey3 and Slift and Temple Fang confirmed for Antwerp. I’m not sure ultimately how many acts the two Desertfest Belgiums — Belgii? — will share between them, but with Ghent happening on one day and Antwerp happening across three, there’s bound to be significant variation. Looks like that’s happening here already, and take note of Ohio’s Frayle making the trip for Ghent. Hope they can get out of the US to make it in time, or that the EU hasn’t banned our infectious asses by then.

It’s nice to think about these things every day, isn’t it? Doesn’t it just feel like the way humanity was meant to live? Not at all a drain on one’s entire being.

I digress. Constantly. Here’s info from the PR wire:

DFBE21: A MASSIVE 20 NEW NAMES FOR ANTWERP & GHENT!

1000MODS playing both events, Monkey3, Stoned Jesus & much much more

Strap in folks, because this is going to be a ride.. after all the hassle with COVID and cancels, let’s have some great to even greater news about both festivals shall we? We have a whole slew of names for you and if we may say so ourselves: we’re positively STOKED about all of these. Scene favourites, new and upcoming acts, local gems to discover.. we have it all. Here we go!

First of all: the Greek stoner sensation 1000MODS will be playing Antwerp as well as Ghent. We love ‘em, you love ‘em, their mother loves ‘em – everybody loves ‘em, okay! They need no further introduction so let’s move on to another favourite that will grace the stage in Ghent: STONED JESUS is coming to town, and you all know what that means. Killer grooves and a mighty good time. We’re also extremely excited to have DELVING on board which is the new project of ELDER frontman Nick DiSalvo. This will be one of their first shows after the album dropped in June, and we can already tell you this one’s gonna be something special.

ALL NEW NAMES FOR DF GHENT: 1000MODS, STONED JESUS, DELVING, LILI REFRAIN, ELECTRIC MOON, NERO DI MARTE, HEMELBESTORMER, FRAYLE, IGNATZ, MODDER

Moving on to Antwerp, we’re looking forward to revisit the audiovisual extravaganza of MONKEY3 who completely killed it at our last edition. For more spaced-out craziness, YURI GAGARIN is always a safe choice so let’s go with that. With VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY we have the second Greek band on the bill, with a more leftfield sound but no less essential.

ALL NEW NAMES FOR DF ANTWERP: MONKEY3, VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY, 1000MODS, YURI GAGARIN, SLIFT, ALKERDEEL, ATOMIC VULTURE, TEMPLE FANG, DAILY THOMPSON, BISMUT, FAKE INDIANS.

We still have a few names up our sleeve, but we hope this whopper list goes a long way to get you stoked. Please remember that we have installed a COVID info page on our websites, where you can check what to do in order to come fully prepared to the festival. We’re updating it as we go, and we try to help out our non-EU visitors as well. Make sure to read it to avoid disappointments at the entrance.

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

1000mods, “Pearl” official video

Can’t help but wonder if this isn’t the shape of things to come. Amid loosening regulations in the country, Desertfest Belgium 2021 announces a hopeful list of names for the Antwerp edition of the festival and also unveils that Wolves in the Throne Room — who were bringing Stygian Bough and Blood Incantation along for the trip — have canceled their Fall tour of Europe because, obviously, of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Thinking about what touring looks like in the future, it seems to me that domestic and continental runs are what’s coming back first. Places you can drive to on tour or take a train at most. Travel within the EU, travel within the US, within Asia, Australia.

I know Psycho Las Vegas managed to bring Psychlona across, but there were numerous international cancelations there as well, and seeing Wolves in the Throne Room pull out of their Fall stint makes me think that while regulations in Belgium are opening up (for now, remember; these things are fluid), it’s still so uncertain how the next several months are going to play out. It’s amazing to have no fucking idea about anything. I admire Desertfest Belgium for trying to make a thing happen, genuinely, but I don’t envy them the task.

While I’m opining, I think My Sleeping Karma might be my biggest bucket list band at this point. I’ve been a fan since their first record and I’ve never seen them live. I won’t be traveling to Antwerp to do so either, sorry to say. One day though. They join a slew of awesome acts here.

With hope and well wishes, this from the PR wire:

DF ANTWERP: Kadavar, My Sleeping Karma & more – WITTR cancelled

Summer’s nearly over, and yet it feels like life is only just beginning anew. COVID regulations are loosening up over here in Belgium, so we are looking hopeful towards the future. We’ll give you an update on the exact conditions very shortly.

First however, we have to bear some bad news that is very much still the result of the pandemic. Wolves In The Throne Room are forced to cancel their European fall tour, and in their wake we also have to forego Blood Incantation and Stygian Bough. All three will NOT be performing at either the Antwerp or Ghent editions of the festival.

We’re very sorry, but them’s the breaks in this Foul Year of our Lord 2021.

Fortunately, to make up for the loss we have some killer new additions to the Antwerp line-up as well! We figured you’re all in need of some face-melting unadulterated RAWK, and you know that’s what you get whenever KADAVAR hits the stage. On a more Sabbath-y trip, the same goes for DOPELORD who bring the Dooooooom with no prisoners taken.

Need some more healing vibes? Let the power of MY SLEEPING KARMA wash over you, as they bring back their entrancing instrumental groove after some severely trying times. MOHAMA SAZ hails from Spain, but cooks up a globetrotting psychedelic sound that is impossible to pin down. Total sonic freedom!

Closer to home, we present a new Dutch supergroup by the name of SPLINTER, born out of the ashes of Death Alley and Birth Of Joy. A fresh take on retro sounds, with a glorious Hammond organ sound at the juicy center. And finally, the Belgian black sludge sensation KLUDDE draws from local folklore to spin their evil tales of sorrow and despair.

TAKE NOTE: All of these bands will ONLY perform at the ANTWERP edition, we will complete the GHENT line-up later this month.

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

My Sleeping Karma, “A Steya” Live in Nijmegen, July 31, 2021

Not only something happening again that’s happened before, but also something new! Desertfest Belgium, with all due respect to the delta variant and yet-unforeseen circumstances, will be the first post-pandemic installment of Desertfest to take place, and in addition to announcing the beginnings of its lineup with Motorpsycho, Wolves in the Throne Room, Dool, Blood Incantation and Stygian Bough, they’ve also added a second city. A Ghent date will follow for the first time the three-day event in Antwerp. Desertfest Antwerp is Oct. 15-17, and Desertfest Ghent is Oct. 30. Belgian double-shot, and apparently it’ll be an ongoing thing. Pretty frickin’ cool.

Of course, there’s no guarantee it’s going to happen, but there’s no guarantee it’s not going to happen either, and that’s saying something at this point.

Tickets are available now and there’s more lineup announcements to come. This went to my spam folder for some reason, but rest assured I’ll be looking to sort out any technical kinks in the functioning of the PR wire, rerouting primary EPS conduits through the secondary couplings and so on.

Info:

FIRST NAMES FOR DFBE 2021: MOTORPSYCHO, WITTR & MORE

Tickets for Antwerp & Ghent are now available!

We’re back… bigger and better than ever.

Here’s the news you were waiting to hear: We will have a Desertfest Belgium edition at Trix Antwerpen on 15-16-17 October 2021.

BUT THERE’S MORE! We are adding a new festival edition in another esteemed Belgian club venue: Kunstencentrum Vooruit in Ghent. For this year, this event will be limited to one evening on 30/10, but you can expect a full-blown second festival weekend from 2022 onwards. Most of the lineup will be shared, but of course each venue will bring its own personal touch. We are most hyped for this new chapter in the Belgian DF saga!

As of 2pm CET today, the ticket booths for both our Antwerp & Ghent events are active. Just the sweet memories of past Desertfests should be enough to get your ass over there as we speak, but of course you’re also wondering what we have in store for you.

We have a few first names to share, and all of these will perform on both editions, Antwerp as well as Ghent. First up, we finally have the legendary MOTORPSYCHO headlining Desertfest! They definitely need no further introduction, so let’s move on to a killer two-punch of extreme metal favorites: WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM and BLOOD INCANTATION will bring their progressive take on blackened metal to the DF stage this year. On the slow end of the extreme spectrum, we have STYGIAN BOUGH, the moody folk dirge collab between BELL WITCH and AERIAL RUIN. And finally, from Holland we welcome DOOL and their unique blend of heavy psychedelia and gothic vibes.

Get your tickets here:

DESERTFEST ANTWERP (15-17/10): €87,50 ALL-IN (or 2020 VOUCHER): https://www.desertfest.be/antwerp/information/ticketing/
DESERTFEST GHENT (30/10): €52,00 ALL-IN: https://www.desertfest.be/ghent/information/ticketing/

Don’t forget to use your voucher if you have it!

If you have any questions about the tickets, get in touch: tickets@desertfest.be.

Of course, due to COVID still not entirely beaten we have a few restrictions and uncertainties to take into account. The lineup will be somewhat reduced, and we’ll probably have a few more local acts than usual. Still, we’re doing our best to make it worth your while, and we’re confident that you will all bring that precious Desertfest vibe that makes our festival the best in town, anytime and anywhere.

We hope this first batch of names gets you all hot and bothered for what’s to come – spread the word and see y’all in October!

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

Motorpsycho, “Little Lucid Moments” live June 12, 2021