Posted in Whathaveyou on July 20th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
The story has been the same pretty much every week for the last four or five that I’ve been posting these updates from next March’s Mojave Experience Festival 2027: good lineup gets better. Mondo Generator brings the Desert’s Nick Oliveri to the proceedings, which is only reasonable given his past tenure in Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, collaborating with Brant Bjork (whose band is also playing as you can see below) in Stöner, and so on, in addition to the likes of The Dwarves and Bl’ast, building not at all quietly the broadest-reaching pedigree of the Kyuss family tree.
Mondo Generator are joined in the announcement round by Austin’s High Desert Queen, who’ve quickly positioned themselves among the best times you can have watching a US heavy rock band onstage. Fronted by Ryan Garney, who doubles as the honcho/curator of Ripplefest Texas, the band deliver, period. Their songs are hooky and memorable, the performances nail it, and of the several times I’ve had the pleasure, I’ve never seen them that they looked like they wanted to be anywhere other than the stage they were on.
The festival posted the confirmations accordingly:
Mojave Experience – March 19–21, 2027 Joshua Tree Lake, California
Mondo Generator
If you’ve spent any time around desert rock, you already know what Mondo Generator brings.
Nick Oliveri formed the band in 1997, and it has remained a relentless force ever since. Records like Cocaine Rodeo, A Drug Problem That Never Existed, Dead Planet, Hell Comes to Your Heart, and We Stand Against You have earned Mondo Generator a loyal following by doing things the only way they know how: loud, raw, and without compromise. While Oliveri’s work with Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age is part of rock history, Mondo Generator has written a history of its own.
Out here, music has a way of taking on a different shape. It echoes off the rocks, disappears into the darkness, then comes back sounding even bigger. Maybe that’s why bands like this have always felt right in the Mojave. There is no separation between the landscape and the music. One feeds the other.
We’re excited to have Mondo Generator play next year. This will be one of those sets where the volume comes up, the desert settles in around you, and everything else can wait.
High Desert Queen
Some bands arrive with noise. Others seem to rise out of the horizon like heat shimmering across the desert floor. High Desert Queen has that kind of presence.
Formed in Austin, Texas, the band has become one of the strongest names in today’s heavy rock underground. Their debut full-length Secrets of the Black Moon turned heads with its massive riffs, soaring vocals, and songs that carried as much feeling as weight. They followed it with Palm Reader, a record that pushed their sound even further while keeping the heart of the band intact. Along the way they’ve shared stages with artists across the heavy rock and stoner scene, building a reputation one show at a time.
If you’ve seen High Desert Queen live, you already know. The songs grow larger once they leave the studio. There’s a quiet confidence to what they do. Nothing feels forced. The room settles into the groove and before long everyone is moving with it. It’s the kind of performance that stays with you long after the last note fades into the night.
The desert has always had a way of drawing together wandering souls. This March, another path leads to Mojave Experience.
Artists Playing: Red Fang Fatso Jetson Sasquatch Brant Bjork Trio Big Scenic Nowhere Mondo Generator High Desert Queen Heavy Temple Yawning Balch Unida Sons of Arrakis 20 Watt Tombstone
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 28th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
It’s beautiful, innit? A perfect mesh of nostalgia for what was and laying claim to what may yet be. Emissions From the Monolith isn’t just returning to remind people it was there 20-plus years ago when the notion of a festival celebrating underground heavy from sludge to psych — that kind of genrefest — wasn’t entirely unheard of but was nowhere near as widespread or taken for granted as it is now. It’s looking ahead. You get Torche (!) and Rebreather, but you also get Howling Giant and High Desert Queen. Fistula and Winds of Neptune. That’s gonna be a wild few days.
I ran into Ben from The Brought Low this past weekend in Brooklyn, and nearly the first words out of his mouth were asking if I would be in Ohio this October. Four-day fest plus a day of travel on either side makes it less feasible, especially coming off In the Key of Doom, also in NYC, the weekend before. It would be a challenge and would require a lot of indulgence on my wife’s part. I’m not sure I can make that ask, actually. And I’m not sure I have a car that I would trust to make it to and from Ohio. I guess that’s a factor too.
But you never know what the next few months will bring, and the lineup is gorgeous either way, so here it is as posted by the fest on socials:
EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 — FINAL POSTER + FULL LINEUP REVEAL
After nearly two decades away, Emissions From The Monolith returns October 8–11, 2026 at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, Ohio.
Four days of underground heavy music presented on a single stage with full sets and absolutely no overlaps.
Built around immersion, discovery, flow, and community rather than festival sprawl, Emissions has always focused on the experience of being there from start to finish.
We’re intentionally choosing not to sell the room to maximum capacity. Comfort matters more.
Final poster artwork by Mercerrock (Brian Mercer Design)
FULL LINEUP Axioma BAT Bongzilla Cavity A.D. Deadbird Disengage edhochuli Fistula Generation of Vipers Great Falls High Desert Queen Horseburner Howling Giant Kowloon Walled City Lake Lake Lo-Pan Minsk O.I.L. rebreather Rwake Shun Solace Stinking Lizaveta Sunrot Telekinetic Yeti The Brought Low THUNDERCHIEF TODAY IS THE DAY Torche Voivod Weedeater Winds Of Neptune
October 8–11, 2026 Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio
Okay, here we go. Sorry in advance for the typos. I’ll do my best to correct as I see them.
No sleep on the plane overnight meant that by the time I flopped through the entrance of the hotel, I was exhausted to a point of emotional fragility. No, I wasn’t actually crying, but it wasn’t far off as I begged at the counter for an early check-in. I had to wait a bit, so I sat in the lobby, said hi to Tor-Erik from Slomosa and three-fourths of Howling Giant, who were passing through for coffee — oh shit I need coffee — and whathaveyou. About an hour and an early-check-in fee later, I happily galavanted, flailing from joy, to pick up my bags and head upstairs.
In the end, I slept about three hours, which isn’t enough, but so it goes. Nobody comes to a music festival to be well rested. I checked in, got my credentials and made my way to the outside stage at Revolver, where Håndgemeng were soon to repeat the madness of last year’s outdoor appearance. It was packed by the time I got there. I probably should’ve slept less, but my consolation was going down the way to Rockefeller for Thulsa Doom’s soundcheck. They brought all the drums. I tried for coffee but couldn’t find any — I was gonna get one at the hotel but there was a line and I wanted to get moving. John Dee was still closed but was playing Sabbath when I walked through, so good things happening one way or the other. The day would ultimately start with High Desert Queen down there, and of course that’s a riot.
The Austin outfit were starting their ‘Riffs as Big as Texas’ tour with this slot, and I’m not sure who’d do better getting an early crowd on board for a busy weekend, though Håndgemeng might have a thing to say about that up at Revolver. Or they might not, because fuckall. But the point is High Desert Queen are a high-energy band, and that’s what you want in that spot. They brought it certainly when I saw them in January at Planet Desert Rock Weekend (review here), and apart from (my) jetlag in the other direction, Oslo was no different.
A hard snare hit snapped through the P.A., and they were off. Of course, frontman Ryan Garney was all over the place — Garney gonna Garney — and people were moving out front as there was little choice in the matter amid such infectious riffery. They noted from the stage it was their first time in Oslo and ran through a succession from their two to-date LPs with not a bummer in the bunch and no real drop in vitality, despite the fact that the songs do more than just shove. “Head Honcho” is always fun. People clapping along to “Ancient Aliens” and such. If all goes to plan, this won’t be the last time I see them this year, and they held that room captivated. I never found coffee and High Desert Queen made that hurt a little less at the start of my day.
The bar upstairs was open when I went up ahead of Thulsa Doom, so I got a pair of espressos — is that self-care? — and had to be told to take my card out of the machine because I was so out of it. It was beeping, not without volume. I told myself last year I wasn’t going to play it so tight on 2026, but here we are. I said a quick hi to Cas from Sasquatch, who’s here playing bass in Nebula, and went up to the Rockefeller balcony to drink my coffee. Already it was filling up for Thulsa Doom, and reasonably so. I don’t know when their last record was, and so far as I know they’re not out touring like High Desert Queen and some of the others on this bill, going from Desertfest to Desertfest to Desertfest in the ecosystem of Spring festivals in Europe — living the dream, as it were — but the long-running countrymen heroes absolutely owned the big stage and the big room and I’d have expected no less. It made me wish Ron was here to see it. You know Ron.
They seemed to be enjoying it as much as the crowd as well, and that made the set even better, seeming as they did to screw around until it was suddenly time for a three-part harmony. Their singer’s arm was in a sling, and maybe he was more subdued than usual on stage, I haven’t seen them before so I don’t know, but he and the whole band nailed it either way, and having seen the soundcheck, the actual performance was a thrill on a different level. Better band than anybody outside Norway knows, it would appear.
They were doing tattoos in the art room. I was thinking about getting a little Triforce on my hand, but probably not. Pretty sure I don’t have enough power, wisdom, or courage to justify that, but it would be a fun moment to show up at home with it and show The Pecan. I went and got some water instead. Gotta hydrate. So important.
In doing so I left my phone where I had been sitting on the side. I retraced my steps and asked the guy in the Turbojugend jacket presently occupying that spot of he had found it and dude very smoothly pulled it from his pocket. I gave him a big hug, said thank you, and went to watch the rest of the set. Spelljammer were doing a line check downstairs at John Dee for their set, but the photo pit there meant I and my b recently recovered technology could enjoy more of Thulsa Doom, so that’s what I did. Not a band I ever imagined seeing, honestly. I’ll be surprised if Garney doesn’t bring them over to the States for Ripplefest Texas next year, or at least try.
They broke it down and got bluesy (-er) with about 10 minutes left, but built a nod back up from there — the stuff of classic stoner rock. After a little while, it was time to get downstairs for Spelljammer, but the end of Thulsa Doom was immense and I’m glad to have caught it. If you’ve ever found yourself curious though as to the difference between stoner rock and stoner metal, the Toner Low-worthy nod-worship enacted by Spelljammer, immediately after Thulsa Doom, offered convenient distinction.
I’d had another espresso by then and so was close enough to consciousness that there was something there in my mind for the Swedish trio to steamroll, and that they must certainly did. The green lights (and no, they didn’t stay green the whole set) could hardly have been more suitable to the floorshaking tonality, a thickened lurch that, while invariably influenced by Sleep, maintained its own riff structure and slow crawl. I love seeing a room get flattened, and that’s exactly what Spelljammer were doing to John Dee.
It was such a hyper-specific, dug-in thing. I mean, think about the normies you know. Your friends, coworkers/classmates, maybe even your family if you don’t all have the right kind of sauce on your neurology for this kind of thing to speak to you. I would love to see someone walk into the middle of a Spelljammer set by accident and have no idea or context for what’s happening. Oh that racket? That’s decades of Sabbath riffing exponentially built upon by decades of international underground experimentation and progression. What’s that? Why’s it so loud? Because you can’t feel the kickdrum in your stomach otherwise, that’s why.
Peaceful drone in Rockefeller ahead of Pelican. The Chicago outfit, who it turns out are my favorite emo band — being instrumental helps their cause in that regard; also the chugg, which is chug enough to warrant a second ‘g’ — took the stage with momentum at their back from the last few years of touring and their LP Flickering Resonance (review here) that came out a year ago next week, with the original lineup reclaiming its sound as they did. It was a raw joy to see them again. Last time, somehow, was Freak Valley 2022 (review here), so of course I was looking forward to the newer material in the set. They did not disappoint in that regard or any other, and that they were sharing the main stage with fellow Chicagoan sans-vocal heavies Russian Circles — with King Buffalo between, no less — felt like something special to see, and so it was.
Moving through the crowd was swimming through the sea of nodding heads. The band hit it on pro-shop style, got on stage, railed into “Cascading Crescent,” saying not a word but waving to the crowd for a reciprocated hello beforehand. What a band, and what a time to be a Pelican fan. Any “all cylinders” cliché you want to throw their way, they’re ready for it, and they were just so fucking good and so goddamn heavy that I put my phone down and stopped writing for a minute to just listen and watch the show as it unfolded. The place went off between every song, including when the band apologized for not having been to Oslo since 2007 ahead of “Ascending” from the 2026 EP (review here) of the same name. “Ascending” is a little slower, so the effect after the opening salvo was of the band getting deeper into it, and it was just a pleasure to see and hear. I don’t know if a live record could do justice to Pelican on stage, but I’d take one anyhow in the Flickering Resonance cycle.
In perhaps the weekend’s most brutal clash, Nebula were about to go on outside at Revolver in what I had no doubt would be a set epic enough to became part of Desertfest Olso lore — yo, did you see when Nebula played Revolver? — but I knew there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get in, and Pelican for sure made it less of a challenge than it would otherwise have been to stay put. I closed my eyes for a bit, became part of that sea, and while this day hasn’t been easy necessarily after not sleeping, everything else kind of evaporated and I just spent some time in the music, receiving a dose of the rejuvenation that’s why I still do this in defiance of logic, good decision-making, time and money. I don’t want to oversell it by calling it spiritual, but guitarist Trevor Shelley DeBrauw said on stage they were a band who loved each other and that’s what the band was to them, and it made perfect sense.
The poster I’d been using to guide myself through the day because I’m old had Blackwater Holylight next on the John Dee stage, but when I went down there and was talking to a dude also there a couple minutes early, he said the Broadcast app had Astralplane next. And so it was. Cool by me, as Blackwater Holylight were playing Saturday instead and I got to see another band I’d probably never see if I wasn’t here. Astralplane have their cosmic elements, and sometimes they have a singing drummer, but the heart of their sound is in the riffs and tone and that’s just fine. They came out in nothing-too-fancy style and immediately locked in. I don’t know what they were saying from the stage because I’m an ignorant American, but people applauded and seemed stoked, so I’ll just assume it was something about a new record because watching them play live for the first time, I also would be stoked on more Astralplane.
Some continuity from Pelican in camaraderie and warmth of sound, naturally, but Astralplane were mellower by a margin, and in pursuit of a different kind of groove accordingly. I was lucky to be there for the set, and glad for that switch since it would’ve been less likely that I could’ve caught them at Revolver anyhow. Cool to see the room fill up as the set went on as well. I guess some of that was people coming over from The end of Nebula but rad just the same.
I had watched a bit of King Buffalo’s check upstairs at Rockefeller and they weren’t through “Silverfish” at the start of their set before they demonstrated plainly that guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay doesn’t even need to stand up to kick ass. He played started due to a recent injury — pretty sure it was an ankle, which hurts like hell for a long time in my experience — though of course with Scott Donaldson drumming and Dan Reynolds on bass, he was hardly acting alone toward the cause. I’m ready for a new King Buffalo album at this point, which is something I probably wouldn’t have said even this time last year, but I’m excited for what they still have to offer in songwriting. They’re touring here in Europe and just announced a couple Midwest US shows, and if you’ve never seen them, I’m not sure what urging I could give you would be enough. I wound up on Reynolds’ side of the room, and I call it his because the bass was so thick that it shook the wall I was leaning on because I’m so frickin” tired.
They had the standalone single “Balrog” (posted here), but I thought I heard some newer sounds in the set as well, though I wouldn’t swear to it, but their digging back for “Drinking From the River Rising” was appreciated as well. Really you could just extrapolate that across the board to the whole time they were on stage. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen King Buffalo at this point — less than some, surely, but more than a few — and they’re never exactly the same. The setlist is different, or the room is different, or it’s just a mood thing, but one way or the other, there aren’t a ton of bands I’d rather behold in a stage on a given evening than King Buffalo. It felt like the lineup was doing you favors all night.
Because basically it was, and the thread continued into Dopelord back downstairs. Singing along to “The Chosen One,” “Evil Spell,” “Addicted to Black Magic,” and so on was apparently my pull-out-the-earplugs moment for the day, and it was like I’d waited until I could do absolutely max damage for it, but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. The Warsaw stoner-doom four-piece toy with occult themes and yes, they brought enough satan for the whole class in “Hail Satan” alone, never mind the rest of it. What a blast. This was my second time seeing them after Budapest in 2024 (review here), and between signing to Season of Mist, celebrating 15 years as a band and opening for Napalm Death on tour earlier this year, they’ve been busy in the interim.
Their 2023 album, Songs for Satan was packed with memorable tunes like some of the aforementioned, but new or old, the worship of riff and dark gods remains. They’re another one who, if you’re not already into this music and the deviant subculture that values it, they probably make no sense or come off angry or whatever, but in the genre they’re just so, so much fun. They asked the crowd when they got up today and said they were so tired from the travel that they were going to die in 40 minutes when the set was over, and got a laugh, but while their tempos are mostly pretty languid, there was no discernible fatigue in their performance. Instead, the roll was palpable in the room and they basked in it, speaking of celebrations. The room was with them all the way.
It was getting late, but Russian Circles promised more chug to come and there you go. The evening’s headliner have always had a lot in common with Pelican, but more influenced by post-rock, and while on paper it’s instrumental heavy from Chicago, there’s never been any trouble distinguishing between the two parties, and both are readily identifiable when listening. Dopelord induced an oblivion of nod, and Russian Circles were a turn in another direction, less gleeful in their delivery, for sure, but with texture and atmosphere as primary elements of their sound. My favorite memory will always be seeing them in 2013 in New York at Radio City Music Hall (review here) and then skipping out to get Mexican food with my wife before Coheed and Cambria went on, but that doesn’t mean I want glad to see them. The weight and intensity of 2022’s Gnosis (review here) made that record a bit of an outlier for them, but in a most welcome way, and at a welcome point in the evening.
Even though I would credit the hotel shower I’d taken before heading over to the fest with getting me through the day, I stank by the end of it and was fairly rundown. With Saturday still to go, I made my way with deliberate pauses toward the back and out of the venue. My own afterparty of sorting photos and falling asleep at the keyboard awaited, plus somewhere right around their third song, my keep-going chemicals shorted and I realized the only thing I’d eaten all day was a protein bar, also before I left the hotel room. I’ve never been especially good at being a person. Would you believe I give my kid shit for being a picky eater? Ridiculous, the level of hypocrisy.
So, food, work, and rest were the order of it, but what a day this turned out to be. Not that I wasn’t looking forward to a bunch of the bands, but I was coming back no matter who was playing, so that it worked out so righteously was a boon. Saturday last year was hard for me to keep my head in, already anxious about the travel home as I was. How it would play out this year I guess I’d have to live through it to find out, and I was definitely looking forward to that.
More pics after the jump, with special thanks to Tom Polzine for letting me borrow his SD card reader. More later. Thanks for reading.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
High Desert Queen, doing like they do. The Spring European tour dates below were previously announced, but there were enough shows filled in that I thought it was worth posting the update, if my reasoning matters. The Austin-based heavy rockers have a slew of festival slots on this run, including Desertfest Oslo, which kicks off the tour on May 8, as well as the Desertfests in Berlin and London, and Grand Paris Sludge. Kind of business-as-usual for High Desert Queen at this point, but it still looks like a rad tour.
I haven’t heard anything about a third full-length yet from the band, but I have to think riffs are cooking by now, and they’re too smart to let momentum slip — hence all the touring — and with more Fall touring presumed around already confirmed appearances at Emissions From the Monolith in Ohio and NYC’s …In the Key of Doom, their busy year would seem not to end here. Album in 2027? I guess we’ll see.
From socials:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN – RIFFS AS BIG AS TEXAS TOUR!!!
We are finally able to announce all the dates for our upcoming “Riffs As Big As Texas Tour” which will see us play in 5 different countries next month. If you like heavy riffs, high energy shows, and free hugs, you won’t want to miss High Desert Queen on the road! Which city will we see you in???
Riffs as Big as Texas Tour 2026 8.5 Oslo, NO: DesertFest Oslo 9.5 Nijmegen, NL: De Onderbroek 10.5 Neunkichen, DE: Stummsche Reithalle 11.5 Wiesbaden, DE: Kesselhaus 12.5 Hannover, DE: Cafe Glocksee 13.5 Hamburg, DE: Molotov 14.5 Berlin, DE: DesertFest Berlin 15.5 Oldenburg, DE: Cadillac 16.5 London, UK: DesertFest London 17.5 Winchester, UK: Railway Inn 18.5 Birmingham, UK: SubSide 19.5 Bristol, UK: The Gryphon 20.5 Lille, FR: La Bulle Cafe 21.5 Dusseldorf, DE: Pitcher 22.5 Namur, DE: Le Belvédère 23.5 Paris, FR: Grand Paris Sludge Fest 24.5 Barberaz, FR: Le Brin De Zinc 26.5 Kusel, DE: Kinett 27.5 Munchen, DE: Feierwerk 28.5 Stuttgart, DE: Goldmark’s 29.5 Koln, DE: Garagen 30.5 Münster, DE: Rare Guitar
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 25th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
This news came out last week but I was neck-deep in Quarterly Review stuff and didn’t get have time for living let alone other posts, so yeah, I’m playing catchup. What else is new? Well, the bunch of bands added to the returning Emissions From the Monolith are new, for example. A few of these put out some of last year’s best records. Looking at Howling Giant and Rwake, specifically in that regard, but also Winds of Neptune and Horseburner and High Desert Queen still have strong ’24 outings they’re heralding, so yes, very much a case of ‘sick bill gets sicker.’ I don’t know why I still write straightforward headlines when I could be proffering insights like this.
The cross-generational blend for Emissions From the Monolith 10, present in the first announcement — you had Telekinetic Yeti and Generation of Vipers alongside bands who played Emissions during its first incarnation — is exaggerated with this new one. Even having Shun where in years past Throttlerod might’ve been speaks to that. There are apparently more bands to add to the four-day fest, set for Oct. 8-11 in Youngstown, Ohio, and I’ll be curious to see where the balance shakes out.
For now, here’s the latest confirmations as seen on the ol’ social media that barely existed last time Emissions happened:
EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 – TRANSMISSION 2
A second wave of artists has joined Emissions from the Monolith 10.
Cavity Edhochuli Great Falls High Desert Queen Horseburner Howling Giant Kowloon Walled City Lake Lake Rwake Shun Thunderchief Today Is The Day Winds of Neptune
These bands join the previously announced:
Deadbird Disengage Generation of Vipers Rebreather Solace Stinking Lizaveta Sunrot Telekinetic Yeti The Brought Low Weedeater
October 8–11, 2026 Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio
One stage. No overlaps. The original heavy underground gathering
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 24th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Particularly if you live in this part of the world, you may have heard murmurations in the NYC heavy underground of …In the Key of Doom over the last few months, as Gav’s Heavily Curated has been carefully laying the groundwork for its inaugural two-dayer set for this October. The Meadows, in Brooklyn, will host the event, which brings Greenleaf to NYC for the first time and will feature the likes of Bongripper, Insomniac, Howling Giant, High Desert Queen, Crystal Spiders, as well as Seismic and Grave Bathers from Philly, Leather Lung from Mass, Afghan Haze from CT and maybe you wherever you come from.
Looking ahead on the calendar, Oct. 2 is a Friday (and thus the 3rd is Saturday, duh), and with 11 acts total, I’m assuming it’ll be five one night and six the next, plus the lightshow, and considering the bands involved, that’ll be plenty to make a start. New York is a famously terrible town to do a festival, between the most spoiled audience in the world, the cost of any and everything, and the fact that nothing lasts because sooner or later it’s all going to get turned into investment-condos. I salute Gav’s Heavily Curated for persisting in the face of history and good sense — the truest sign of passion, and no, I’m not being sarcastic — and I hope to be there to see this one play out that early October weekend.
The PR wire brought the announcement and ticket link:
GAV’S HEAVILY CURATED – …In the Key of Doom – Oct 2 & 3
Gav’s Heavily Curated proudly presents the inaugural edition of “…In the Key of Doom” at The Meadows in Brooklyn on October 2nd & 3rd, 2026! Two nights of doom, sludge, stoner, heavy psych and desert rock made by worshippers of the riff for worshippers of the riff! ITKOD will feature headline sets from the legendary Bongripper celebrating 20 years of doom by playing their first northeast show in over 8 years and Sweden’s desert rock icons Greenleaf playing their first ever NYC set in their storied career!
Plus, plenty more heaviness from Insomniac, Howling Giant, Glacier, High Desert Queen, Afghan Haze, Leather Lung, Crystal Spiders, Seismic and Grave Bathers!
More than just an amazing lineup, ITKOD also welcomes NYC’s visual maestro Liquid Light Labs to the GHC family. Liquid Light Labs will be providing mind-melting live visuals with each set over the 2 nights. We can’t wait for you to join us! Two night passes are available now at:https://kyd.to/Rxmi4Pns
🤘💀💨
Artwork by Steven Yoyada Sponsored by Made in Brooklyn Silk Screeners Consulting by Lick of My Spoon Productions
Posted in Reviews on February 2nd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Before Show
As I mentioned yesterday, Spaceslug — who flew from Warsaw, Poland, to L.A. and drove through the desert to Las Vegas, having apparently also done so when they were here a couple years back — are staying with Adam as well. There was talk last night of going to the Valley of Fire today. I offered to bring my camera, and it kind of turned into a photo shoot. Incredible sights driving around with Spaceslug, sitting in the back with classic rock radio on. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Revolution,” “Me and Julio Down by the School Yard,” etc. Some Edgar Winter.
I met a Hungarian couple in a parking lot by a closed visitors center in the state park, went up and introduced myself and did my best to hold a conversation in their language. That they didn’t tell me to fuck off immediately I took as a big win. I don’t usually do stuff like that.
The shoot was fun, climbing over rocks, taking shots with incredible backdrops, some pictures by a cool cave overhang. No idea if they’ll use any of them for anything, but I probably will put some in posts unless I’m told not to.
This is the last night of Planet Desert Rock Weekend VI, which is of course bittersweet. I look forward to getting home to my family tomorrow evening, and I’m bummed to leave a great time behind. I spent much of 2025 talking up the experience here last January. I feel like this something really special and its own thing among fests. It’s like a boutique festival. John Gist, who promotes and curates, should probably be charging $300 for tickets.
Because I went back to Adam’s and napped for an hour, then had a cup of coffee before going to The Usual Place, I missed Spaceslug’s soundcheck, but got there in time for Bask’s, which was cool since I hadn’t seen them before, so like a little preview. Westing got a check after, which is how the other nights have mostly gone. Lots of hustle around the place as the crew gets everything ready. That tense thing in the air is real.
I’d already had a good day by the time I set foot in the venue. I still was looking forward to the night to come.
Here’s how that went. Thanks for reading:
The Show
Westing
They were the only band of the weekend who brought their own drumset. Westing’s 2023 album, Future (review here), was their first under the name, which had been Slow Season until 2021. Onstage, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Story Rice thanked John Gist for getting the band “out of semi-retirement” and noted it was their first show with their new guest lead guitarist Josh Cuevas. It was my first time seeing them under any name and in any incarnation. They did “Back in the Twenties” and “Nothing New” back-to-back, which is also how Future started, and their heavy ’70s-via-’10s sound was both ready for raucousness but still letting the music breathe in a way that made it feel laid back. I wasn’t surprised to dig them — and the drums that Cody Tarbell brought did sound perfect in the songs, to be fair, bassist Hayden Doyel rolling smooth lines alongside for a Zeppelin nod, benefiting from the sound in the room that’s been kind to bassists (and everybody) all weekend — but I’m glad I did. It was such an inviting sound, I’m not sure how you would not. I put my phone down and stopped writing for a few just to take it in. It’s the last night. Time for it.
Familiars
The only Canadian band on the bill, and another first for me. Toronto’s Familiars made an awful lot of sense coming off Westing, with a classic-rooted sound, purposeful and expressive melody, and a fuller, fuzzier tone (on average). The trio of guitarist/vocalist Kevin Vansteenkiste, bassist/vocalist Jared MacIntyre and drummer Anton Babych, set themselves to task early and were quintessential non-aggro heavy rock. The groove came through loud and, yes, warm, but they weren’t a bash-away kind of band. A more subtle touch, like when you see the wavforms of recordings from the ’70s and there are peaks and valleys where modern recordings shove everything so far forward. They had more country in them than just Vansteenkiste’s hat, and that ‘Gold’ (in the FM radio sense; they closed with “Bonanza,” also about the gold rush) had a shimmer whether a given part was loud or quiet. And in terms of the themes for the night, some twang made sense, at least up to Bask. Familiars were not a band I’d be likely to see otherwise, and I appreciated that about the set, but also just the set itself. You wouldn’t call them raucous on stage, and if they were thrashing around, I dont think it would work with the songs. Faor enough. They got into it in their own way, and with a light sway, the audience did much the same.
High Desert Queen
There aren’t a lot of American heavy rock bands who at this point can hold a candle to what High Desert Queen bring to the stage. They’re one great record away from headlining things like this, and at PDRW, they were a needed kick at just the right time; very much the centerpiece of the lineup, taking the flow of the first two bands and upping the energy level admirably. Chill vibes it ain’t, with High Desert Queen, with frontman Ryan Garney doing calisthenics early in the set to get the crowd on the band’s side, then making it worth their while for the rest of their time, drummer Phil Hook, bassist Morgan Miller and guitarist Rusty Miller conjuring a roll that could ebb and flow but was never really all the way gone. This was my third time seeing them, and if you never have, they’re an impressive watch. Garney shouted out “Head Honcho” to John Gist, which was fitting, and went on to demonstrate what can happen when you’re both a really good band and inclined to work your collective ass off, as without being cloying, High Desert Queen are about as engaging a stoner band as you can get. They played “Tuesday Night Blues.” Killed. I’m learning that’s how it goes. The crowd was pretty consistent all night, but High Desert Queen brought more to the front. As they will. Then Garney started the weekend’s only moshpit. Of course.
Bask
While also being quite heavy — I mean, it’s been four nights of this stuff at this point, and I’m talking remarkably heavy — Bask’s sound was lush in a way nothing else this weekend has been. Some of that is arrangement — unless Spaceslug have one hiding or somewhere, Bask have the only pedal steel guitar of the weekend, and they use it to cast a floating sunrise over proggy guitars, Southern-style noodling and riffs. I recalled digging 2025’s The Turning (review here) but hadn’t really gone back to it, which I regretted watching them play — is the notion of Americana emotional baggage? — and I was glad at very least to be in the room to be subsumed into that wash of sound, somwtimes a lead cutting through but rarely not beautiful. An unexpected highlight of the weekend for me, but mostly just because I’m a yutz and this is the first time I’m seeing them. I was good and tired, but as heavy as it was, it wasn’t abrasive. And even when they heavy-countried, that nod was there. Drift, crush, soothe.
Spaceslug
There’s the blowout. I was wondering before they went on how Spaceslug fit into the narrative. Westing was classic, Familiars added Canadiana, High Desert Queen brought it to ground in rock and electrified the room, Bask called back to Southernism on the part of Familiars and High Desert Queen, and then there’s cosmic psych prog metallers Spaceslug. But it’s the weight, the notion of a heavy atmosphere, and an attention to the details of their sound that make it fluid, though honestly I’d be pretty happy to watch Spaceslug no matter who was opening. But the context of the night up to that point was part of what made it special. And it was that. Maybe Spaceslug do that all the time — I’ve never seen them seven nights in a row, I’m kind of sad to say — but I don’t always get to see it. Accordingly, I stopped writing for a while to loosen the earplugs and let the full range (and volume) in. Not like my ears weren’t ringing anyway. Wish I could say I lasted, but I’m too old not to know what’s good for me. Even so, Spaceslug were glorious in sprawl and volume and depth, all three sharing vocals, absolutely locked in. That was how I ended the night, off to the side of the stage, being bowled over. I didn’t end up writing again until they were done, and that was the right choice. Some moments you just need to exist in. I’m lucky to have existed in these.
After Show
The Uber driver had disco lights and funk grooves, so that was a win.
Thank you John Gist. Thank you Adam and Jocelynn Sage. Thank you The Patient Mrs. Thanks to my mom. Thank you for reading. Everybody who made this trip possible, which to some degree or other, is everybody.
I met a bunch of cool people and saw a bunch more I already knew. Real interpersonal interaction, like the humans do. It can be scary stuff.
Tomorrow (today by the time you read this) you won’t hear from me after this post. Travel day. I get to New Jersey at around 8:30PM, so not much time to write. I have a couple posts ready to roll on Tuesday, but give me a few days to get home, catch up on home/housework and be with my wife and daughter. I’ve had a really, really good time here, and I look forward to being with my family. My life is an embarrassment of love.
Thanks again for reading. More pics after the jump.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
For the perpetually busy High Desert Queen, this Midwestern run alongside fellow Austinites Gran Moreno in April will precede a Spring European tour set to take place in May. It’s 12 shows, which I’d call more than a warmup, but you can see that part of the occasion is a slot at the second Midwest Doom Coalition Stoner Doom Festival, to be held in Lawrence, Kansas, and of course at this point, High Desert Queen just go. They don’t really need an excuse. Their latest album, 2024’s Palm Reader (review here), will turn two years old while they do this tour.
Gran Moreno‘s debut album, El Sol (discussed here), on the other hand, just came out this month. They were recently brought under the wing of Lick of My Spoon Management, headed by High Desert Queen‘s Ryan Garney, and so yes, the pairing makes sense across multiple levels. I would expect more dates to come from both of these outfits, but perhaps that’s a no-brainer so early in the year. Nonetheless, here I stand, sans brain.
From social media:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN & GRAN MORENO: MIDWEST TAKEOVER TOUR!
High Desert Queen is getting back on the road and looking to take their “Texas sized riffs” to the Midwest. The band is ready to chase tornadoes with the quickly rising Gran Moreno. What show will be see you at?
“We are excited to finally announce we will be hitting the road with our good friends from Austin @granmorenomusic who are hot off a debut album release! There will be lots of energy, heavy riffs, and free hugs!” -Ryan of HDQ
Midwest Takeover Tour: 4/09 Little Rock, AK Stickyz 4/10 Nashville, TN The 5 Spot 4/11 Indianapolis, IN The 808 4/12 Chicago, IL Reggies 4/13 Detroit, MI Sanctuary 4/14 Madison, WI Gamma Ray 4/15 Milwaukee, WI X-Ray Arcade 4/16 Davenport, IA Raccoon Motel 4/17 Lawrence, KS Bottleneck (MDC Doom Fest) 4/18 Tulsa, OK Whittier Bar 4/19 Fort Worth, TX The Cicada 4/20 Austin, TX Far Out Lounge
