Esbjerg Fuzztival 2026 Announces Complete Lineup & Pre-Show

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 5th, 2026 by JJ Koczan

Stacked lineup for Esbjerg Fuzztival 2026 in Denmark, which is expanding beyond its two-dayer presentation with a pre-party on Thursday, May 28 that will be overseen by the fest’s house band, the instrumentalists Vestjysk Ørken, whose third LP will be out by the time they hit the stage. Yawning Man and Fuzz Sagrado headline, with Howling Giant, Craneium, Child, SoftSun, Deville and others providing strong backing for the fest-proper, for which the lineup is now fully announced. That’s as opposed to the pre-show, which still has question marks on the poster below for two more bands playing.

Whoever they get, the Fuzztival always delivers a sense of vibe and already we see it doing so here while showcasing variety in a heavy underground context. I mean, they have Child and Childrenn — what more could you want? Kidding aside, even two bands like Craneium and Howling Giant, both of whom I would describe as melodic and progressive heavy rock, are aproaching those ideas from different angles, so while it’s 14 acts for two days, each one is bringing something of their own to the proceedings.

From social media:

ESBJERG FUZZTIVAL 2026 final poster

ESBJERG FUZZTIVAL – Full Festival Announcement!!

We are PROUD to be hosting the legends of the desert YAWNING MAN as our Saturday night headliner! What an absolute treat that we have been looking forward to for a long time!

Also proud to be adding SoftSun to the poster! The project between Gary Arce (Yawning Man) and Pia Isaksen (Superlynx). We can’t wait!

14 bands over two days – but wait, there’s more! The Fuzztival Pre-Party on Thursday the 28th we will host 3 additional bands TBA. First band on stage will be Vestjysk Ørken – while they have opened the festival for the past 8 editions, the tradition is now coming to an end, and they are moving to the pre-party instead! Don’t miss out, as their third album is releasing in April, so they will have fresh tunes for us!

https://www.fuzztival.com/
https://www.instagram.com/esbjerg_fuzztival/
https://www.facebook.com/esbjergfuzztival/

Yawning Man, Pavement Ends (2025)

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Desertfest Berlin 2024 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Behold as Desertfest Berlin launches its 2024 season with 15 bands like hey getting 15 bands in a place is no big deal. Of course, maybe it isn’t for the now-long-running German event with close ties to the Sound of Liberation booking concern, but for the rest of the planet. You’ll note Belgian post-metallers Amenra and always-hip weirdos Osees at the top of the thus-far bill followed immediately by Acid King and The Brant Bjork Trio, both of whom will also take part in Desertfest Oslo 2024 as announced yesterday. Norway’s Full Earth, an offshoot of Kanaan with a debut album coming next year on Stickman, will also be at both events, and they’re likely not the last.

So, context tells us to expect at least two weeks of touring in Europe from those three outfits. Monkey3 are on the road now, Siena RootDÿse and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs — new live LP out — were recently confirmed for Bear Stone Festival 2024 in July, and it’s not unthinkable they’d be doing shows from one to the other. They’re confirmed here alongside Tuareg rockers Tamikrest, Earth Tongue from New Zealand, Thronehammer, Dirty Sound Magnet, Praise the Plague and Neànder. Sounds like a festival to me. I’m ashamed at this point to say I’ve never been.

Info came down the PR wire, courtesy of Sound of Liberation:

DESERTFEST BERLIN 2024 first announce square

DESERTFEST BERLIN Announces First Bands For 2024! Tickets On Sale Now!

Desertfest Berlin friends (#129304#)

We’re delighted to finally share with you the first names of the bands that are going to play on our stage in 2024❤️‍(#128293#) AMENRA from Belgium are going to be one of our headliners along with the LA’s psych-punk warrior OSEES ⚡️ We’re happy to see again the great ACID KING and BRANT BJORK TRIO and welcome TAMIKREST for the first time with their mix of traditional African music and Western rock (#128165#) The Newcastle’s doom rockers PIGS x7 will play for us their new album ‘Land of Sleeper’ while MONKEY3 and SIENA ROOT will bring their instrumental psychedelic rock and bluesy hard rock to our stage. Get ready for the emotional as well as decal-laden music of DŸSE and the psychedelic rock by the trio Dirty Sound Magnet (#127786#)️ You’re going to experience the heavy psychedelic / fuzz music of EARTH TONGUE directly from New Zealand, and the epic doom of THRONEHAMMER (#128588#) The experimental Oslo based rock-quintet Full Earth will play along the black metallers PRAISE THE PLAGUE and NEÀNDER both from Berlin ⚡️

Get ready for more names very soon. We’re stoked!!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW: www.desertfest.de

AMENRA | OSEES
ACID KING | BRANT BJORK TRIO | TAMIKREST
PIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGS | MONKEY3 | SIENA ROOT
DŸSE | DIRTY SOUND MAGNET | EARTH TONGUE | THRONEHAMMER
FULL EARTH | PRAISE THE PLAGUE | NEÀNDER
& MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

Desertfest Berlin
May 24th – 26th 2024
Columbia Venues

TICKETS ON SALE NOW: www.desertfest.de

www.desertfest.de
www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin
www.instagram.com/desertfest_berlin

Acid King, Beyond Vision (2023)

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Up in Smoke 2023 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Some pretty good inferences one might make looking at the first lineup announcement for Up in Smoke 2023, the annual Sound of Liberation festival held each year in Pratteln, Switzerland. It says The Obsessed will be on tour in Europe this Fall, which I’m pretty sure they’ve said anyway, but it might also be a clue as to the release of their next album. On the other hand, they might just be fucking touring because they’re The Obsessed and that’s what they do. Also it’s further expansion of Alabama Thunderpussy‘s reunion and since this festival is Sep. 29 to Oct. 1 and their prior confirmation was Keep it Low from Oct. 6 to 7, they’ll likely be on the road in Europe for the better part of at least two weeks. That’s not nothing.

Consider also Yawning Man heading abroad in Fall for their new album, announced yesterday. And did you hear that Dirty Sound Magnet record? I didn’t until now but it’s a ripper. New school oldschool blues heavy. Rad. And Eyehategod getting back at it too. It’s a cool bill, mix of newer acts and recognizable with Zeal & Ardor on top nothing to complain about.

Of course, there’s more to come here, but hell, I’d go to this. You? Festival in Switzerland in October? Why on earth would you say no to that?

Also note there’s a new Facebook page for the fest. From the PR wire:

Up in smoke 2023 first announcement second version

UP IN SMOKE 2023 – ZEAL & ARDOR, GRAVEYARD, THE OBSESSED & MANY MORE ANNOUNCED

Hey Smokers, the long awaited day has come. We’re stoked to finally reveal the first names for our 2023 edition. We hope you like it as much as we do!

Get ready for three days of finest heavy rock music… this is just the beginning.

Artwork: Brookesia Estudio

Festival info:
Up In Smoke Festival
29. Sep – 01. Oct 2023
@ Konzertfabrik Z7 // Pratteln (CH)

Tickets: www.sol-tickets.com

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1511229892691120/

https://www.facebook.com/upinsmokefestivalswitzerland
https://www.instagram.com/up_in_smoke_festival

https://www.facebook.com/Soundofliberation/
https://www.instagram.com/soundofliberation/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/

Dirty Sound Magnet, DSM-III (2022)

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Keep it Low 2023: King Buffalo, The Obsessed, Mantar, Eyehategod & More Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

And so the Fall tourscape continues to unfold. King Buffalo heading abroad again is news, I think. They’re playing RippleFest Texas at the end of September, and between Keep it Low 2023 on Oct. 6-7 and the also-SoundofLiberation-affiliated Lazy Bones Festival in Hamburg, for which they were confirmed last week, it looks like they’ll once more spend at least the better part of a month on the road. Good to know these things.

Joining them in this whopper of an announcement is the e’er aggro Mantar, reinvigorated doom legends The Obsessed — who seem to be hitting the touring circuit that much harder with their revamped lineup — the reliably-unhinged Eyehategod, upstart rockers Slomosa, and Humulus, Dirty Sound Magnet, The Moth (who rule and hopefully have a new record coming), Eremit, Lucid Void and masked marauders Iron Walrus. It’s a busy one, but check out the generational blend between the likes of Colour HazeThe ObsessedEyehategod and Alabama Thunderpussy and the likes of SlomosaKing Buffalo, and Lucid Void.

Seems to me like we’re in a pretty killer moment of established acts still getting out and releasing quality material (The Obsessed have a new album that hopefully will be out concurrent to this tour) and newer bands on the rise. As the 2020s play out post-pandemic, this may be the shape of the next few years. Let’s learn from the past and support the shit out of the next generation of bands, hmm?

Here’s the latest:

Keep it Low 2023 second poster

NEW BANDS ADDED TO KEEP IT LOW FESTIVAL 2023

Hey Keepers,

we’re super stoked to present you the latest additions to our Keep It Low line up!

Please welcome to the bill:

MANTAR
The Obsessed
King Buffalo
EYEHATEGOD
Slomosa
Dirty Sound Magnet
Humulus
THE MOTH
Eremit
Lucid Void
IRON WALRUS

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1511616365992301

Complete line-up:
COLOUR HAZE – MANTAR – THE OBSESSED – KING BUFFALO – EYEHATEGOD – ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY – BELZEBONG – SLOMOSA – THRONEHAMMER – DAILY THOMPSON – DIRTY SOUND MAGNET – HUMULUS – THE MOTH – EREMIT – LUCID VOID – IRON WLARUS

& MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

Weekend tickets are available in our shop.
www.sol-tickets.com

Keep It Low Festival
6. & 7. October 2023
Backstage Munich

https://www.facebook.com/keepitlowfestival/
https://www.keepitlow.de/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/
http://www.sol-tickets.com

King Buffalo, “Firmament” live in St. Louis, MO, Jan. 15, 2023

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