Admittedly, I’m a few days late on this update from Desertfest Berlin 2018, and I don’t have an excuse for that other than ‘I suck at this,’ but don’t let that fact stop you from appreciating how righteous this festival is, both in terms of this year’s lineup and what they’ve built over previous installments. Adding Radio Moscow to a bill is always a good idea — also a good way to make everyone else playing that stage feel insecure — and I certainly dug the hell out of the latest from Pretty Lightning, The Rhythm of Ooze (review here), so having them aboard in this latest update along with Lucifer, Lionize and Haik only makes a strong Desertfest Berlin 2018 even stronger.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t make my ass any timelier. It’s okay though, I hear immediacy isn’t a big deal on the internet…

From the PR wire:

DESERTFEST BERLIN 2018 ANNOUNCES RADIO MOSCOW + LUCIFER + LIONIZE + PRETTY LIGHTNING + HAIK!

Finally the wait for a new band announcement is over, DESERTFEST BERLIN is thrilled to welcome RADIO MOSCOW, LUCIFER, LIONIZE, PRETTY LIGHTNING and HAIK to their already exciting festival line-up in 2018!

Radio Moscow (US)
No need to introduce RADIO MOSCOW, the psychedelic blues rock juggernaut will make you groove so heavily, none of us at the entire ARENA Berlin will stand still!

Lucifer (US)
Why just a few guitar cabinets and amplifiers, when you could use TONS on stage? Heavy doom trio LUCIFER will bring their massive wall of sounds to our stage, the entire city of Berlin will shake!

Lionize (US)
Rooted in hard rock & heavy metal, American rockers LIONIZED are not afraid to experiment in various sounds: add some exciting dose of funk, reggae and even dub-step to their mix, this band will round off the perfect heavy rock party. No wonder that LIONIZE are signed to CLUTCH’ own label Weathermusic, while members such as Neil Fallon or Tim Sult already guest-appeared on several LIONIZE records.

Pretty Lightning (DE)
With the heavy psychedelic blues running through their veins, up and coming PRETTY LIGHTNING from Germany will serve us sundrenched vibes moving into a powerful dark affair of tunes!

Haik (DE)
Feating members of Rotor and Dyse, Berlin-based quartet HAIK has their roots in rock´n´roll while runnig into creations of metal, jazz, blues and electronic fever. Fresh ideas meeting old drives and will showcase the band’s unique sound live at Desertfest Berlin 2018!

With this new bunch of highclass acts for 2018, Desertfest Berlin will make sure fans of the entire desert rock genre and beyond will experience the most special edition to date. Alongside headliners such as MONSTER MAGNET, HIGH ON FIRE and GRAVEYARD, many more bands will be announced soon! Desertfest Berlin will take place between May 4th – 6th 2018 at the ARENA BERLIN, tickets are available at: www.desertfest-tickets.de

www.desertfest.de
www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin
www.facebook.com/DesertfestBerlin/events

Pretty Lightning, “This Machine is Running”

A well-earned slow clap for Desertfest London 2018 on the occasion of completing what is unquestionably its broadest, biggest and most staggering lineup to-date. The festival has been outdoing itself every year since it got going, but this is a different league entirely. Kudos all around to the Desertfest London team. I really feel like there’s nothing else to say about it. It’s just amazing what these people have put together and I hope that those who are fortunate enough to be there realize the special event to which they’re bearing witness, because that’s what this is. Truly something special.

Here’s the final lineup update:

Psych legends Hawkwind + complete lineup announced for DESERTFEST LONDON 2018!

DESERTFEST LONDON announce the final acts for its 2018 edition on May 4-6th in Camden, including psych legends HAWKWIND, plus The Quietus, Human Disease Promo & Nightshift Promotions stages all revealed.

Yes, you read that title correctly. Desertfest are honoured, thrilled, losing our minds, quivering in our boots to reveal that one of the most influential English bands in heavy musical history are gracing us with our presence this May, seminal space-rockers HAWKWIND will return to the hallowed ground of The Roundhouse to play a very special performance as main support to Monster Magnet. Hawkwind require no real introduction – genre-defining mavericks since 1969, it’s safe to say most of your favourite bands wouldn’t exist without Hawkwind; their legend precedes them, expect a life affirming, life altering show. We are beyond excited.

Yet more Carolina goodness is coming Desertfest’s way, underground skater heroes ASG will make their psych riddled, post-punk sound heard across London, earplugs recommended, party times guaranteed. 70’s blues-soaked hard rockers RADIO MOSCOW will also make their return, following a recently sold-out performance at The Borderline – this trio of psychedelic power are being met with hugely high acclaim and for a damn good reason. They’re groovy, heavy and damn near perfect.

No strangers to the Desertfest, doom heroes MONOLORD are back to offer up some of the finest riffs to have ever come out Sweden’s smoke. Fuelled by bongs and black coffee, they are one of the favourite returning acts for the fest – y’all better get in the queue now if you don’t want to miss it. Another act from the dirty South comes in the form of SOURVEIN, sludge and crust blended together in perfect guttural harmony. Leading man T-Roy’s been fighting the good fight for over two decades and the band are now easily at their strongest. Not one for the faint hearted.

Alongside his performance with The Obsessed, leading man WINO will perform an acoustic set across the Desertfest weekend. Last time we had the frontman play an acoustic set at DF the queue was out the door, it’s stripped back but still totally heavy. Belgian bulldozers STEAK NUMBER EIGHT are making a long awaited appearance at Desertfest London, a postmetal powerhouse their live performances have been met with high praise around Europe. A hypnotic haze will fall when the mighty DOPELORD take the stage, sickeningly smooth vocals hit the good spot whilst thunderous riffs and a mind altering magnitude of heavy rattle your core.

Also filling up the final line-up are newcomers DEAD WITCHES, psychedelic New York masters KING BUFFALO, out of this world riff rockers KIND, British noise rockers CATTLE plus NECROMANCERS, CRUMPET, SOLLEME, LIONIZE, LNN, CHRCH, MASTIFF, TUSKAR, TOM CAMERON and LO CHIE

ALSO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED:

The Quietus stage

The Quietus Stage usually brings some of the more diverse bands to Desertfest and this year is no different. Headlining the stage at The Black Heart on Friday 4th May are WHITE HILLS whose concentrated blasts of interstellar noise with a tank load of psychedelic glam makes them the truest space rock goliaths of our time. They’ll be joined by GHOLD, SNAPPED ANKLES, MELTING HAND, CASUAL NUN and SWEDISH DEATH CANDY.

Nightshift Promotions stage

The melodic tones of DARKHER will be headlining this year’s Nightshift Promotions stage at The Dev at Desertfest 2018. They’ll be joined by a diverse, but equally dark lineup which brings post-metal from TELEPATHY and SNOW BURIAL, the experimental noise of CROWD OF CHAIRS, blackened doom from MONOLITHIAN and the sludge of THE MOTH.

Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide stage

This year the Human-disease Promo and When Planets Collide Stage has gone for an all out colossus of weighty heaviness for Desertfest 2018. Headlining the stage are WEEDEATER, making their second appearance of the weekend with a special early years set. They’ll be joined by Denver’s most crushing PRIMITIVE MAN, Canadian bruisers BISON, Swedish heaviness from SUMA, St Louis filthsters FISTER, Notts nasties MOLOCH and heavyweight duo BISMUTH.

http://www.desertfest.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/

Hawkwind, Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975)

Seems like a few festivals aren’t ready to let the year end quite yet, which is fair enough. Desertfest London 2016 has unveiled a slew of new acts for its lineup — enough to fill a whole other stage and then some — and along with Monomyth, who were previously announced as taking part in Desertfest Berlin as well, the DesertScene crew has seen fit to bring aboard Pelican, Blood Ceremony, Bast, Witchsorrow, Dusertoid, Lionize, impressive upstarts Sunder and others. It was a packed bill before. Now it’s a more packed bill. Funny how that works.

Here’s the latest with Happy Holiday wishes from the PR wire:

Pelican, Asteroid, Blood Ceremony and more added to the DESERTFEST LONDON 2016 lineup!

Jingle bells, jingle bells… The DESERTFEST LONDON promoters have one more treat for you before Christmas, with thirteen more bands confirmed to play the festival in Camden this spring, including the Old Empire Stage lineup that will be hosted at the Electric Ballroom on the Sunday.

Like the previous edition, DESERTFEST LONDON 2016 will broaden its horizon by bringing an alternative darker edge to the lineup. London’s independent promoters Old Empire will thus take over the Electric Ballroom on May 1st, with industrial metallers GODFLESH headlining the stage, plus five fantastically heavy acts including BLOOD CEREMONY, ORANSSI PAZUZU, BAST and WITCHSORROW.

As a mouth-watering addition, ten other delightful acts are added to the weekend, with Illinois legendary dream rock merchants PELICAN, Ukraine’s finest stoner trio STONED JESUS, as well as grooving rock’n’rollers LIONIZE, French proto-rockers SUNDER, UK’s post-doom outfit OHHMS, DUSTEROID, MONOMYTH, BLACK PUSSY and POSEIDON.

– DESERTFEST LONDON 2016 –
April 29th to May 1st in Camden, London (UK)
Weekend tickets available AT THIS LOCATION

Current lineup is as follows:
ELECTRIC WIZARD – CORROSION OF CONFORMITY w/ Pepper Keenan PELICAN – GODFLESH – CROWBAR – TRUCKFIGHTERS – BLOOD CEREMONY – ELDER – EGYPT – CONAN – ORANSSI PAZUZU – WO FAT – MOTHERSHIP – MONOLORD – ROTOR – ASTEROID – RAGING SPEEDHORN – STONED JESUS – LIONIZE – PLANET OF ZEUS – MONOMYTH – BLACK PUSSY – WITCHSORROW – OHHMS – SUNDER – DUSTEROID – BAST – POSEIDON

https://www.leedstickets.com/eventinfo/4804/Desertfest-2016
http://www.thedesertfest.com/london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://instagram.com/desertfest
http://desertfest.bigcartel.com/

Pelican, “Immutable Dusk” live on Sound Opinions

It just so happens that this past weekend found me listening to Clutch for more or less 13 hours straight. There was a break in the middle there for maybe an hour, but other than that, it was Clutch and nothing but for just about the entire waking day. Of course, since then, I’ve had an array of Clutch songs stuck in my head, from “The Devil and Me” to “Binge and Purge.” Even “Regulator,” which I didn’t actually hear in this massive Clutch session (it was also a massive drinking session, but that’s a story for a different time), has been playing nonstop on the ol’ mental jukebox.

No complaints.

Today, the band announced their annual holiday tour, which they’ll embark on hopefully having just finished or while in the process of finishing their new album, which they’re working on now. Opening for them on the gigs will be Nick Oliveri‘s Mondo Generator, along with Saviours and Wino in support. Dig the news:

CLUTCH Announces Holiday Tour

In what has become an annual tradition, CLUTCH have announced a string of Holiday tour dates for this December.  The dates kick December 26th in Washington, DC and conclude with a special New Year’s Eve performance in Worcester, MA at The Palladium.  Tickets for fan club members will go on sale Wednesday September 19th and to the general public on Thursday September 20th and Friday September 21st.  Support on these shows will come from Mondo Generator, Saviours and Wino.  Fan Club tickets are available at http://tixx1.artistarena.com/clutch/

CLUTCH will also take to the road starting on Halloween for a quick run of dates including two stops in Flint, MI and two stops in Detroit, MI.  MonstrO will open these shows with Lionize providing direct support.  A complete list of all confirmed dates is below.

In other news CLUTCH is currently in the studio working on what is to be their next studio release.  The band is currently in pre-production and is shooting to have the album out in early 2013.

For those of you that are clamoring for new CLUTCH music the band recently released a limited edition picture disc single of the track “Pigtown Blues” via Weathermaker Music.  The single is also available digitally.  The A-Side is “Pigtown Blues” and the B-Side is an acoustic version of the track “Motherless Child”.  The disc can be found at your favorite record store as well as online at www.clutchmerch.com.

Want to be the first to know about everything CLUTCH related?  Be it tour dates, breaking news and exclusives, make sure to sign up for the CLUTCH Mobile Mailing List by texting CLUTCH to 94253

With Lionize and MonstrO
10/31: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop – Tickets
11/1: Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/13)
11/2: Joliet, IL @ Mojoes – Tickets
11/3: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall (Sold Out – Rescheduled from 5/12)
11/4: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall – Tickets

Holiday Tour With Mondo Generator, Saviors and Wino
12/26: Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
12/27: Asheville NC @ The Orange Peel
12/28: Lexington KY @ Buster’s Billiards & Backroom
12/29: Columbus OH @ Newport Music Hall
12/30: Sayreville NJ @ Starland Ballroom
12/31: Worcester MA @ The Palladium