It’s a big one. Weedian crust-sludge legends Bongzilla will head out on a European tour that will take them from Spring to Summer, May to July, as they hit the UK and the continent-proper for festivals and headlining club shows. They go ostensibly in support of 2021’s Weedsconsin (review here), but really they go in celebration of themselves, pot, and riffs in general. That is to say, you might be extra stoked when Bongzilla hit into “Free the Weed” or “Sundae Driver” from the new record, but you were already stoked to begin with. They’re calling it the ‘Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour,’ and, well, I don’t doubt it. Art imitates life imitating art, and so on.

Note Tube Cult Fest in Italy, Desertfest Berlin and lineup-still-TBA (unless I missed it; possible) Heavy Psych Sounds Fests in Switzerland early in the tour and wide open spots for the UK portion. I don’t know what that portends, but no doubt Bongzilla can find ways to handle a couple days off at that point in the tour if it comes to it. Worst case is, what, they get high anyway? It’ll be fine. If you can put them up for a show, though, you might want to hit up Heavy Psych Sounds and say the word.

Dates follow:

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking to announce BONGZILLA European & UK tour 2023 !!!

*** BONGZILLA *** – Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour 2023 –

We are stoked to announce that our Weedsconsin riffers BONGZILLA will smash Europe and UK in May and June 2023 !!!

*** BONGZILLA *** DABBING ACROSS EUROPE & UK TOUR 2023

FR 19/05/2023 IT PESCARA – TUBE CULT FEST
SA 20/05/2023 IT MARGHERA – RIVOLTA
SU 21/05/2023 DE BERLIN – DESERTFEST
MO 22/05/2023 PL WARSZAWA – HYDROZAGADKA
TU 23/05/2023 PL POZNAN – MINOGA
WE 24/05/2023 PL KRAKOW – ZAśCIANEK
TH 25/05/2023 AT WIEN – ARENA
FR 26/05/2023 CH WINTERTHUR – HPS FEST
SA 27/05/2023 CH MARTIGNY – HPS FEST
SU 28/05/2023 CH GENEVE – L’USINE
MO 29/05/2023 CH CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC
TU 30/05/2023 FIN HELSINKI – Kuudes Linja
WE 31/05/2023 DK COPENHAGEN – LOPPEN
TH 01/06/2023 DK AALBORG – 1000FRYD
FR 02/06/2023 DE BREMEN – NIGHT OF THE BONG
SA 03/06/2023 IT LUGANO – OHM CLUB
SU 04/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT**
MO 05/06/2023 DE COLOGNE – MTC
TU 06/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT**
WE 07/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT**
TH 08/06/2023 NL EINDHOVEN – EFFENAAR
FR 09/06/2023 NL LEEUWARDEN – NEUSHOORN
SA 10/06/2023 NL VENIO – GRENSWERK
SU 11/06/2023 NL UTRECHT – DB’S
MO 12/06/2023 UK BOURNEMOUTH – DORSET
TU 13/06/2023 UK TBA
WE 14/06/2023 UK TBA
TH 15/06/2023 UK TBA
FR 16/06/2023 UK TBA
SA 17/06/2023 UK TBA
SU 18/06/2023 FR OPEN SLOT**
MO 19/06/2023 ES SAN SEBASTIAN – DADABA
TU 20/06/2023 PT PORTO – HARD CLUB
WE 21/06/2023 PT LISBONA – RCA
TH 22/06/2023 ES MADRID – WURLITZER
FR 23/06/2023 ES BARCELONA – UPLOAD
SA 24/06/2023 FR MARSEILLE – LE MOLOTOV
SU 25/06/2023 IT TORINO – BLAH BLAH
MO 26/06/2023 IT BOLOGNA – FREAKOUT
FR 30/06/2023 IT CAGLIARI – TBA
SA 01/07/2023 IT OPEN SLOT**

BONGZILLA is:
Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals
Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars
Mike “Magma” Henry – drums

https://www.facebook.com/Bongzilla/
https://www.instagram.com/bongzillaband
https://bongzilla.bandcamp.com/
https://bongzilla666.com/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Bongzilla, Weedsconsin (2021)

Wisconsin’s Bongzilla make ready to head abroad next year in support of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here). Does the tour start on 4/20? No, but close enough, and you’ll note that they have May 1 listed as an open date in London. Well, that’s the final day of Desertfest London 2022, so don’t be surprised when or if they show up as a late addition to that considerably-packed bill too. Hard to imagine them finding anything other than a welcome reception, frankly.

It’s worth taking a second to appreciate looking at a list of tour dates and thinking it’s more likely they’ll happen than not. Obviously I won’t claim to know what the conditions of anything will be by the time next Spring rolls around, but it doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility that these dates, including the couple TBAs, could go off without a hitch. Hope everybody got their shots. Boosters for all and safe travels.

From the PR wire:

BONGZILLA – EU/UK TOUR 2022

We are so stoked to announce the comeback of the Weedsconsin riffers BONGZILLA.

The band will smash Europe and UK in April/May 2022 bringing their brand new album Weedsconsin.

BUY THE ALBUM HERE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS186

*** BONGZILLA EU/UK TOUR 2022 ***
FR 08.04.2022 IT BOLOGNA Freakout
SA 09.04.2022 IT VERONA Kroen
SU 10.04.2022 AT SALZBURG Rockhouse
MO 11.04.2022 AT VIENNA Arena
TU 12.04.2022 AT INNSBRUCK p.m.k
WE 13.04.2022 IT TORINO Bunker
TH 14.04.2022 CH MARTIGNY Les Caves Du Manoir
FR 15.04.2022 FR MARSEILLE Jas’ Rod
SA 16.04.2022 ES BARCELONA Upload
SU 17.04.2022 ES MADRID Caracol
MO 18.04.2022 ES SAN SEBASTIAN Dadadaba
WE 20.04.2022 FR TOULOUSE Le Connexion
TH 21.04.2022 FR NANTES La Scene Michelet
FR 22.04.2022 FR LILLE Black LAb
SA 23.04.2022 NL LEIDEN Gebr. De Nobel
SU 24.04.2022 NL SNEEK Bolwerk
MO 25.04.2022 BEL AALST Cinema Aalst
TU 26.04.2022 UK MANCHESTER Deaf Institute
WE 27.04.2022 UK BRISTOL Thekla
TH 28.04.2022 UK SHEFFIELD Record Junkee
FR 29.04.2022 UK GLASGOW Ivory Blacks
SA 30.04.2022 UK LEEDS Boom
SU 01.05.2022 UK LONDON TBA
MO 02.05.2022 FR PARIS TBA
TU 03.05.2022 DE COLOGNE MTC
WE 04.05.2022 DE BERLIN Bi Nuu
TH 05.05.2022 PO WROCLAW Akademia
FR 06.05.2022 DE DRESDEN Chemiefabrik
SA 07.05.2022 DE KARLSRUHE Dudefest
SU 08.05.2022 DE LEIPZIG Conne Island
TU 10.05.2022 FIN HELSINKI Kuudes Linja
WE 11.05.2022 CH ZURIGO Dynamo 250
TH 12.05.2022 CH BASEL Hirscheneck
FR 13.05.2022 SE MALMO Plan B
SA 14.05.2022 DK ESBJERG Fuzztival

BONGZILLA is:
Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals
Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars
Mike “Magma” Henry – drums

https://www.facebook.com/Bongzilla/
https://www.instagram.com/bongzillaband
https://bongzilla.bandcamp.com/
https://bongzilla666.com/
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Bongzilla, Weedsconsin (2021)

None crustier. None more stoned. That’s the reputation that precedes Bongzilla headed into Weedsconsin, their first album in 16 years. That’s the standard. And while the Madison, Wisconsin, trio of Michael “Muleboy” Makela (bass/vocals, formerly guitar/vocals), guitarist Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and drummer Michael John “Magma” Henry have no doubt been busy in the intervening years working as high-power lobbyists toward the ultimate goal of marijuana legalization on the federal level in the US — an argument they state efficiently if not clearly in Muleboy‘s rasp on “Free the Weed” — their return to more riff-led weedian proselytizing is notable on its own merits in addition to the influence the band has had largely in their absence on a generation of underground listeners and players who’ve come to prominence in the years since 2005’s Amerijuanican was issued through Relapse Records.

Weedsconsin finds the band aligned with Heavy Psych Sounds, and with production by the late John Hopkins, who passed away in Nov. 2020 following a heart attack, Bongzilla sound utterly unmistakable. Their closest sonic kin have always been Weedeater — they would seem to pay homage with a short interlude that opens side B called simply “The Weedeater” — but the six-song/43-minute run of this collection makes that North Carolinian outfit seem accessible by comparison. Of course, the album arrives some six years after Bongzilla returned to touring, so they’ve had plenty of time work work out material, but the truth is that in 95 percent of cases, the prospect of a new full-length from this band was going to be a no-doubter. What, Bongzilla were going to become math metal? Embrace their inner djent? They’re fucking Bongzilla. The biggest favor they might do their attendant listenership, new and old, is to sound like it, and that’s exactly what they do on Weedsconsin.

The album opens sharp and purposeful with “Sundae Driver.” It’s the shortest inclusion at about four and a half minutes, and it builds a massive wall of lumbering fuzz to set a high tonal standard for the rest of what follows. If the message is to reassure their audience that Bongzilla know what’s expected of them and are ready to deliver, the harsh-lung gutturalism of “Sundae Driver”‘s verse dispenses immediately with all doubt. Atop a chugging riff that opens into a rolling hook, Muleboy earns copious nodules in nothing-too-fancy lines that are made impressive through the excruciating-sounding execution. The great balance of Bongzilla has always been between the stoned and the brutal. “Sundae Driver” calls out both in deceptively clear fashion, and “Free the Weed” follows with a bigger central riff that holds its line out and lets Magma‘s hi-hat hold the procession together until the next round of lurch kicks in. It is pummeling and arguably the highlight of Weedsconsin for how its second half flows into its solo section with the bass and guitar taking their respective whims for a walk, but really, pick your poison. If it’s jams you’re looking for, the best is surely yet to come.

To wit, side A wraps with “Space Rock,” the first of two inclusions on Weedsconsin to top 10 minutes long. Time well spent. A first few minutes lull the listener into hypnotic nod before the full low end weight kicks in circa 2:30 and continues to cycle through until the big slowdown into the stoner softshoe riff about a minute later, all classic swagger as the bed for the verse, echoing and largely indecipherable. They pick up speed, subtly, but ultimately make their way back to the mellower movement and use that as the launch point for a jam that consumes the rest of the song leads the way out of side A, with the 35-second “The Weedeater” following its rumbling end with a slow drum beat, sample and maybe a keyboard of some sort or guitar playing some sparse notes. There’s a hard stop before the subsequent, 15-minute “Earth Bong/Smoked/Mags Bags” arrives, but the two pieces connect just the same, and the three stages of Weedsconsin‘s sprawling exercise in instrumentalist fuckall likewise flow into each other as they inevitably would.

There are tempo shifts throughout — and maybe the coughing 10 minutes in signals a turn to “Mags Bags,” which puts the bass more forward before oozing out its central riff, more stoner than sludge if it even matters by then — but Bongzilla were right to put all this stuff into a single track and just roll it out, because by the time the drums and whatever percussion is included finishes out, they’ve well established they can do whatever the hell they want anyway and still come out on the other end red-eyed but otherwise unscathed. Slow stick-clicks later and the six-minute “Gummies” wraps with more mostly-instrumental plodding — there’s voice there, but it’s buried deep — as the band cap their first album in more than a decade and a half by getting willfully lost in the fog of their own making and inviting their listenership to do largely the same. That’s not to say they’re not following a plan throughout Weedsconsin, but the plan sounds like it was to get high and wander off, letting one heavy riff after the next lead where they will.

If you can think of a more fitting showing for Bongzilla to make than to return with a six-track album and jam out for more than half its runtime, I’d love to hear about it. The fact of the matter is Bongzilla after a quarter-century since their inception know what they’re about, and Weedsconsin is Bongzilla being Bongzilla. I don’t know what various hyperbole has been tossed the album’s way, but its central achievement is that it is Bongzilla. If you know the band, you know what they do, and this is what they do. If you’re new to the band, then consider Weedsconsin your representative start as you head deeper into their catalog. It’s not that they’re not trying anything new here, but the overarching context is so much the band’s own that it is simply inescapable. And that’s the point. You would ask no less of Bongzilla. That’s their standard, and they meet it dead-on, without flinching.

Bongzilla, Weedsconsin (2021)

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Bongzilla on Instagram

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Bongzilla website

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