09.14.23 – Thursday – Saint Vitus Bar – Before show

A somewhat harried process getting to Brooklyn. Satnav calls it more than the usual traffic on the route, but I did it yesterday too and this evening was about right. An infinity of vehicles, all trying to squeeze into the same stupid tubes to get somewhere.

Tonight is the Desertfest New York 2023 pre-show at the Saint Vitus Bar, and the four-band bill — Sonic Taboo, Lo-Pan, Duel and Colour Haze — is a suitable precursor to the two full fest days to come. It’s not packed yet, but I expect it will be. There’s an awful lot of adventure that’s going to happen between now and Saturday night.

I’ll do my best to keep up as much as possible, and if you’re reading this or anything that comes out in the next couple days, thank you.

Here we go:

Sonic Taboo

By the skin of my earplugs, I made it to see New York’s Sonic Taboo, and the instrumental trio were already rolling out steady nod by the time I made it to the back to watch them. In medias res as it was, and out of my fucking mind as I was to be late, I won’t say I was in the headspace yet, but I did my best, saying a couple quick hellos while trying to position my brain in the moment. Sonic Taboo, who are apparently motorcycle aficionados, were conducive to digging in but not too elaborate or complex to give up the paramount roll. I wasn’t egregiously late, at least not in reality, but it was enough to throw me off. Missed three songs or so, which was about half the set. Lesson learned, about checking out Sonic Taboo, if not about leaving earlier, which I also should’ve done. But they sounded cool and were selling vinyl, so perhaps a Bandcamp perusal is in order. The pre-show here last year did right with Druids, and 2023 easing into the evening with Sonic Taboo’s palette-cleansing riffery worked well along similar lines conceptually, if not with the same sound.

—

Duel

Next week they’ll be at Ripplefest Texas in their native Austin. Next month they head back to Europe for another go there that also includes a Desertfest — in Antwerp — and I don’t know what’s up after that, but it’s Duel, so chances are it’s something. They put out Live at Hellfest (review here) earlier this year, and between that and having seen them the couple times I have at this point, including twice last summer, I feel reasonably comfortable with high expectations when it comes to their live show. They are, and have been, a rager, and they just go and go and go. Also rip. “Children of the Fire” is always a highlight, and I’ll put “Fears of the Dead” right up there with it in terms of this-is-a-chorus-you-want-to-dude-shout-along-with, but fresh off a plane as they were and maybe haggard for that, Duel only benefitted from the wild-eyed madness of improper sleep cycles, and the crazier they were the crazier the shit sounded and the more everybody went nuts. Total win. Nice when you know you’re getting something awesome and then you do. They fucking went on early. That’s who they are.

—

Lo-Pan

Jeff up front? It’s just crazy enough to work! It’s been just over four years since I last saw Lo-Pan, that long as well since they put out their most recent studio album, Subtle (review here), and that feels like too much time by at least half. To wit, at some point, Jeff moved out front. I stood over by bassist Scott Thompson, which meant that the low end was basically eating me alive, but hell, I’ve been down that road with Lo-Pan before, and you’re not going to hear me complain. To think of it, there is no wrong place to stand. If you’re over by Chris Thompson’s guitar, you’re not wrong. I sure as crap wasn’t wrong where I was, and if you’re up the middle you’ve got Jesse Bartz’s kick drum punching you in the face — or kicking — and Jeff Martin’s vocals cutting through, all soulful glissando and whatnot. So yes, they destroyed. Like Duel, it took them a song or two to warm up, but they locked it down quickly and it turns out they were fucking Lo-Pan and they destroy so that’s what they did. “El Dorado.” “Sage.” “Go West” and “Ascension Day.” They always seem to mix it up, but they hit it hard across the whole set and were a blast to see after some tumultuous years. One of those bands you miss after a while.

—

Colour Haze

Magic. A guy named John came up to me before Colour Haze went on to tell me I’d introduced him to the band. I heard that a couple times by the end of the night. That was a trip, though not nearly as much so as the set itself. The headline is they played “Peace, Brothers and Sisters!,” the 22-minute forge in which much of the genre of heavy psych was cast. That and the shorter-but-no-less-epic “Love” from the Munich outfit’s landmark 2004 self-titled LP (discussed here) closed out the night, but more recent stuff like the title-track of 2019’s We Are (review here) or “Ideologigi” from last year’s Sacred (review here) was definitely welcome too after they led off with “Turquoise” and “Goldmine.” The room was electric, before, during and after the set. Between songs, the shouts of “thank you!” and “you’re so good” made people laugh and the joy of the set was felt all the more as the band met that energy in their performance, keyboardist/organist Jan Faszbender tight on the Vitus Bar stage behind founding guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek on the left side while Mani Merwald — who might be one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen play, and I’ve seen a few at this point in my life — and bassist Mario Oberpucher held down stage right, the latter a quiet presence but a resounding fit with the band’s four-piece dynamic. “Peace, Brothers and Sisters!” ended noisy, as one would hope, and the unexpected addition of “Love” made my night, no shit. I was likely in a minority of people there who’d seen the band before, but even if this wasn’t my first experience with Colour Haze, in another incarnation or in this one — I was lucky enough to catch them last December in Stockholm — the fact that it was something special was inescapable, and as somebody who was there the last time Colour Haze came to the US, which was in 2006 for Emissions From the Monolith 8 in Youngstown, Ohio, I’ll say their sound has only grown richer since then. They’re playing the Main Stage of the first night of the festival-proper, so this won’t be the last word about them, but I have the feeling that, if you were there for this, you’re going to remember it for a long time to come. I am, anyhow.

—

More pics after the jump.

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This is some of the biggest news of my year, right here, and precisely some of what I’ve been hoping for since the advent of Desertfest New York in 2019. The NYC branch of Europe’s foremost heavy festival brand is slates do the seemingly impossible this Fall and bring German heavy psychedelic rock progenitors Colour Haze to the States for the second time as well as Greek heavy rock forerunners 1000mods, overcoming the pandemic-interrupted growth after a successful 2022 edition to realize a genuinely world-class event already just with the first reveal. And that’s before you get to the badassery of Lo-Pan, Heavy Temple, bringing Duel back, Boris, and so on.

I mean that. This puts Desertfest New York on a level of scope and reach with Psycho Las Vegas, Monolith on the Mesa or Fire in the Mountains or whoever else you want to namedrop, while maintaining club-show roots in its pre-party and secondary stages. I also wouldn’t surprised if a third stage isn’t added to the fest proper, as Knockdown Center certainly has that space available.

Either way, this is a big fucking deal and I’m excited at the prospect of what’s still to come. Will Steak return? My Sleeping Karma? Perhaps even a Green Lung US debut? The doors are thrown wide here as Desertfest New York 2023 takes it to that next level. The possibilities are that much closer to endless.

From the PR wire:

Desertfest New York returns for 3rd edition this September announcing
Melvins, Boris, Colour Haze, Truckfighters & more

TICKETS ON SALE NOW VIA WWW.DESERTFESTNEWYORK.COM

Leading independent stoner rock, doom, psych & heavy rock festival Desertfest returns to
New York this September. Hot off the heels of their largest US event to date in May ‘22, the
globally renowned festival will return to the unique space of the Knockdown Center in
Queens, alongside an exclusive pre-party at heavy metal institution, Saint Vitus Bar from 14th to 16th September 2023.

Headlining the 3rd edition of the festival will be genre-defining trailblazers the MELVINS.
With King Buzzo & Dale Crover at the helm ensuring their 40-year status as icons of the
underground, Desertfest attendees can expect a MELVINS performance unlike any other, as
they are treated to the bands’ expansive & iconic back catalogue.

Joining them on the Knockdown Center main-stage, with a rare New York performance, will
be Japan’s own BORIS. An exercise in auditory marksmanship for any whom are lucky
enough to bear witness, BORIS continue to redefine heavy on their own terms.

German psychedelic trio COLOUR HAZE will join the festival for a US exclusive,
headlining Thursday’s pre-party at Saint Vitus Bar. A band who move beyond a space of
labels, their continued evolution propels them out of any current galaxy recognised as ‘stoner
rock’. Thursday night will also welcome the infectiously groovy sounds of LO-PAN &
Texan goodtimers DUEL to help warm up the gears.

Long-time friends in the Desertfest-sphere, high-octane Swedish rockers
TRUCKFIGHTERS join proceedings for their first New York performance in three years.

Greece’s stoner rock heroes 1000MODS also make the jump overseas, ready to bring their
ear-worm worthy riffs to revellers. Local legends WHITE HILLS, raucous street doom
reapers R.I.P & ‘heavy primal psych’ outfit ECSTASTIC VISION all join the bill.

Elsewhere Desertfest NYC also welcomes HEAVY TEMPLE, CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC, MICK’S JAGUAR, CASTLE RAT, GRAVE BATHERS & SPELLBOOK, with more still to be announced…

3-day passes (incl. access to Saint Vitus Pre-Party) & 2-day passes (Knockdown Center
only) are on sale NOW via the following link – https://link.dice.fm/Desertfest_NewYork

Day Tickets will be released in April. There are no individual Day Tickets for Thursday’s
Pre-Party.

Full Line-Up
Saint Vitus – Sept 14th | Knockdown Center Sept 15th & 16th 2023
Melvins | Boris | Colour Haze | Truckfighters | 1000Mods | White Hills | Lo-Pan | Duel |
R.I.P | Ecstatic Vision | Heavy Temple | Clouds Taste Satanic | Mick’s Jaguar | Castle
Rat | Grave Bathers | Spellbook

https://facebook.com/Desertfestnyc/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_nyc/
http://www.desertfestnewyork.com

Colour Haze, Sacred (2022)

It’s a big ‘un. And if you’re like me, there are a couple names that stick out from the poster below, particularly Earthride and The Skull. Both are tribute sets, of course. The Skull frontman Eric Wagner passed away in 2021 after complications from a covid-19 infection and the loss of Earthride‘s Dave Sherman just a couple months ago continues to be keenly felt in and beyond the confines of the scene he called home. Karl Agell (ex-C.O.C.) will step in for The Skull, while Scott Angelacos of Hollow Leg is set to front a rotating cast of players for Earthride. You would be hard-pressed to find a more fitting occasion for honoring one’s own, except perhaps this gig in a couple weeks.

Plenty of familiar, returning acts as well as newcomers. Hippie Death Cult and will travel from the Pacific Northwest, Switchblade Jesus and Doomstress make an appearance (not the first for either) from Texas, and Red Mesa come straight out of the capital-‘desert’ Desert. Meanwhile, Faith in Jane, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Mangog, Mythosphere, Thonian Horde, Spiral Grave and plenty of others represent the Maryland home team, High Leaf and Thunderbird Divine trip down from Philly, Curse the Son (CT) and Guhts (NY) come from farther north, Hollow Leg make the trip out from Florida, and Lo-Pan, Doctor Smoke and Brimstone Coven head over from the Midwest. That’s just off the top of my head. I’m not sure there’s ever been a MDDF pulling so many bands from different parts of the country, though of course international bands have featured in the past as well.

There are always some shakeup between the first announcement and the final lineup, but so far so good here. Any way it works out, Maryland Doom Fest has nothing to prove at this point. Guaranteed banger.

Here’s the poster (oy) and the lineup, the latter in alphabetical order:

Maryland Doom Fest 2023

June 22-25 – Frederick, MD

We are proud to present to you The Maryland DooM Fest 2023 lineup roster and 2023 promotional art!!!!

We showcase over 50 kickass bands bringing you heavy riffs over these #4daysofdoom!!

The centerpiece art was created by Joshua Adam Hart (Earthride, Unorthodox, Revelation, Chowder, Stout, to name a few).

Josh is a career tattoo artist and is currently scheduling appointments at Triple Crown Towson Tattoo. Schedule to get ink from him at info@triplecrowntowson.com

The incredible flyer layout, coloring, and design is by our very talented Bill Kole (make sure to check out his band Ol’ Time Moonshine)!!

Above the Treachery, Akris, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Bonded by Darkness, Borracho, Brimstone Coven, Cobra Whip, Conclave, Crowhunter, Curse the Son, DeathCAVE, Doctor Smoke, Doomstress, Double Planet, Dust Prophet, Earthride, Faith in Jane, False Gods, Flummox, Fox 45, Future Projektor, Gallowglas, Grim Reefer, Guhts, Helgamite, High Leaf, Hippie Death Cult, Hog, Hollow Leg, Hot Ram, Las Cruces, Leather Lung, Lo-Pan, Mangog, Mythosphere, Orodruin, Red Mesa, Severed Satellites, Shadow Witch, Smoke the Light, Spiral Grave, Switchblade Jesus, The Skull, Thonian Horde, Thousand Vision Mist, Thunderbird Divine, Unity Reggae, VRSA, Weed Coughin, Wizzerd

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Lo-Pan, “Ascension Day” live at Maryland Doom Fest 2019

Lo-Pan vocalist and my-favorite-person-on-social-media-to-whom-I’m-not-married Jeff Martin dropped me a line last night with the GoFundMe link above. The headline says it all. The band’s drummer, Jesse Bartz, whose kickdrum I’ve had the pleasure of having my ears blasted by on many, many occasions and always gratefully, has been diagnosed with cancer.

You know the deal here. This is community outreach. For over 15 years, Bartz has been an integral facet — essential personnel, in the parlance of our times — for Lo-Pan’s heavy groove, and I don’t care how many t-shirts you bought along the way, it’s time to step up and help out. I won’t sell you on it and I won’t keep you with some flowery description of Lo-Pan’s influence on heavy underground rock, their years of road-dog touring, or the quality of Bartz’s work.

Frankly, I shouldn’t have to. All of those things are great, but what matters here is that Bartz is a human being and this is an opportunity to help.

On behalf of myself and this site, I wish Bartz strength and a quick recovery. There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll beat it and be back to doing likewise to his kit on stage with all good speed.

Here’s the link to share: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jesse-bartz-defeat-cancer

Spread that around as you will, but the point here is to donate. Now’s a good time.

Back for its second year and with a fourth day in tow, Ripplefest Texas 2022 confirms its full lineup, a total beast of legends and newcomers. Really, I don’t even know what to say here except that if you’re lucky enough to go, it’s probably the kind of thing you’re going to remember for a long gosh-darn time, and it’s the kind of lineup that serves as lording-over fodder on the part of those who were there to those who weren’t. Well, at least it would if the heavy underground weren’t too cool to each other for that kind of gatekeeping nonsense. In any case, this looks like a massive undertaking to put on, and the roster of assembled acts gets a hearty ‘fucking a’ from my corner of the universe.

Tickets for all four days will run you $150, but I feel like the festival earns that on both quality and quantity of product.

Here’s the announcement, info and links:

RIPPLE FEST TEXAS – The Far Out Lounge – July 21-24

4-day passes available now!

RippleFest Texas 2022 is back and the lineup is as big and hot as Texas itself! 4 days of blistering hot music at Austin’s premier music venue The Far Out Lounge. There will be everything from crushing heavy riffs, to acoustic and banjo picking, to improvisation jam sessions and puppet shows! So many legends and great music that this will be a 4 day weekend you will not want to miss!

TICKETS:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thefaroutloungestage/639551

FULL LINEUP:
Eagles of Death Metal, The Sword, Crowbar, Mothership, Big Business, The Obsessed, Stöner, Spirit Adrift, The Heavy Eyes, Sasquatch, REZN, Fatso Jetson, Heavy Temple, J.D. Pinkus, Lord Buffalo, Lo-Pan, Wino, El Perro, Void Vator, Hippie Death Cult, Howling Giant, Doctor Smoke, Nick Oliveri, High Desert Queen, Destroyer of Light, Ape Machine, High Priestess, Dryheat, Rubber Snake Charmers, Sun Crow, Holy Death Trio, Bone Church, Horseburner, Spirit Mother, Thunder Horse, Mother Iron Horse, The Age of Truth, Salem’s Bend, Las Cruces, All Souls, Kind, Fostermother, The Absurd, Godeye, Ole English, Mr. Plow, Snake Mountain Revival, Blue Heron, Grail, Formula 400, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Eagle Claw, Bridge Farmers.

The Far Out Lounge is located at 8504 South Congress. Winner of Best New Venue at the Austin Music Awards 2020.

http://www.thefaroutaustin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ripplefesttexas
https://www.facebook.com/LOMSProductions/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Lo-Pan, Live at the Grog Shop, Cleveland, Ohio, Feb 18, 2022

It was five years ago this week that Columbus, Ohio, heavy rockers Lo-Pan released their In Tensions EP (review here) through Aqualamb Records. It was the first collaboration between the band and the label, as Lo-Pan had reissued their 2007 sophomore full-length, Sasquanaut (review here), and their third album, 2011’s Salvador (review here), on Small Stone Records, with years of hard touring in between. In Tensions also marked the band’s first offering to feature vocalist Jeff Martin, bassist Scott Thompson and drummer Jesse Bartz without guitarist Brian Fristoe, who’d been in the band since their self-titled debut in 2006 and whose last release with them was 2014’s Colossus (review here), which found them moving beyond their mid-tempo fuzz beginnings on songs like “N.P.D.” and “Relo,” adopting a more straight-ahead, all-out, harder-edged approach that In Tensions would in part continue.

Their progression isn’t to be understated across those outings. Martin made his debut with the band on Sasquanaut and they toured extensively in the US across the years between 2007 and 2014, with their earned growth evident in their craft and performance across Salvador — one of the best heavy rock albums of the 2010s — and Colossus alike. More and more, they became the band they wanted to be, refused to be anything else, and if you didn’t like it, they were happy enough to steamroll your ass on the way to the next set of ears. Like others of the late-’00s/early-’10s Small Stone set — see also Wo Fat, Freedom Hawk, Gozu, and so on — Lo-Pan helped define American heavy rock for a new generation of listeners, and they did it resolutely on their own terms. In Tensions brought marked changes to their approach.

As I recall it was supposed to be an album, but its five songs and 22 minutes offer plenty of depth even as an EP, whether in the layered vocal harmonies from Martin, the thing-to-be-cherished grooves from Thompson and Bartz or the guitar work of Brujas del Sol‘s Adrian Lee Zambrano. The latter was announced as the band’s new guitarist in Nov. 2014 and would tour Europe with the band the next Spring — I was fortunate enough to catch their set at Roadburn 2015 in the Netherlands, which I still wish had been released as a live album and might’ve been had this lineup worked out — but was out of the band by the time In Tensions surfaced in Aqualamb‘s established art-book/DL and vinyl pressing modus. Thus, In Tensions was both ‘intensions’ and tense. Personality conflicts in Lo-Pan were nothing new. Even watching them on stage, they’ve always struck me as a band ready to put any and everyone in their place, including each other. That’s not a dig on Zambrano, just noting that Lo-Pan might require a particularly thick skin.

But these songs. God damn. From the opener “Go West” careening through “Sink or Swim” and “Long Live the King” into the emotive urgency of “Alexis” and into the six-and-a-half-minute “Pathfinder,” which half a decade later stands up as some of the best work the band have ever done, there was nothing but potential here. Zambrano not only held his own in place of Fristoe, but brought nuance and attitude to his style of play on “Long Live the King” to match Bartz‘s rolling crash, captured with due breadth by Joe Viers‘ recording job and the mixing by Jonathan Nuñez of Torche, who did the first three songs while Ryan Haft (Psychic Mirrors, etc.) mixed the latter two. That shift too is somewhat discernible, if not immediately palpable, between “Long Live the King” and “Alexis,” and I don’t know why the mix was divided between Nuñez and Haft, but they’re different songs with different atmospheres as well. Just “Sink or Swim” sets its terms quickly and in thudding but still melodic fashion, “Alexis” begins with a quieter stretch of guitar and Martin‘s vocals far back in the mix before the bass and drums enter about 30 seconds into the song. 

And “Pathfinder,” frankly, is a beast unto itself. I’ve long been a sucker for Lo-Pan‘s slowdowns — see also “Bird of Prey” from Salvador or “Eastern Seas” from Colossus — but if you were going to distill the potential of this lineup of Lo-Pan into a single song, it would be “Pathfinder,” beginning patient with hints of progressivism behind the verse and then sweeping into a build, the bass warm, the drums propulsive, the guitar precise but no less able to swing and the vocals heartfelt and melodically sure. A tempo shift at three minutes in leads to a break of toms and a fuzz-toned solo — nearly psychedelic but not so willing to relinquish control — before, at 4:55, the song quickly switches gears into its crescendo, gorgeously executed by the band as a whole, from Bartz‘s perfect, absolutely-nailed-it switch to half-time to Martin‘s call-and-response layering, Thompson‘s flourish in kind with Zambrano‘s guitar. When people talk about a band “clicking” or “all-cylinders” or some such, they’re talking about moments like the ending of “Pathfinder.”

Some groups — most, maybe — go an entire career without pulling off something like that. Lo-Pan have done it a few times over. With an almost siren affect in the last few measures, they cap “Pathfinder” and In Tensions with no loss of intensity, willfully setting heads spinning before they end sharp and sudden, like closing a show. Even as a short set, In Tensions stuns with its force and with the sheer ability of the band to make their songs what they want them to be. As noted, by the time it came out, Zambrano was already out of the band, and with his replacement, Chris Thompson (no relation), they would offer the full-length Subtle (review here) in 2019 and return to the road to support it, leaving one with the feeling that, after half a decade since parting ways with Fristoe, they had hit a point of new beginning, sounding refreshed but still the beneficiaries of the work put in developing their chemistry over their years together. I saw them support that record a few times. They killed in a way that wasn’t a surprise, but damn sure was satisfying.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

So, I put up an Author & Punisher review this morning and sent it to the publicist only to learn that there was an embargo on writing about the record until Feb. 1. Damnit. I knew I was early for a digital review ahead of a Feb. 11 release, but didn’t see there was a prescribed day it was cool to post. I offered to take it down and as of me writing right this second, I’m waiting to hear back on whether or not I should. I feel like an ass either way.

Small stakes, I know, right? Dude has a massive following and very, very few people (all appreciated) see anything I post, but still, I’m not out to break rules like that or anything. If someone trusts you to get a release early, they should be able to depend on you not to fuck up their promotional plans. Yeah, I think I just talked myself into taking it down. Hang on…

Yeah, it’s down. I’ll post when I’m supposed to post. I just got stoked on it, which if you saw the review in the approximately 45 minutes that it was live, you already know.

That’s life. It was the best thing I’d written since I did that in-studio a few weeks ago. Can’t post that yet either. February’s gonna kick some ass around here, I guess.

Next week, meanwhile, is the continuation of the Quarterly Review from December. Another 50 records, 10 per day. I might’ve done the two weeks right in a row last month, but the truth is there was too much coming out and I needed to get the year-end stuff done and, as you’re aware, there are only so many days on the calendar. Like the A&P thing, I sincerely doubt it matters to anyone other than me.

But, yeah.

I’ve got a mountain of email to answer and a Quarterly Review to continue setting up, so you’ll pardon me if I check out. Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to the great unknown land that is Southern New Jersey along with Kings Destroy’s Steve Murphy to record some guest vocals on the next Clamfight record, and I expect that will be a great refreshing brodown/love-fest, that will completely rejuvenate my spirit and wash away all my burnout with a spirit of gratitude and contentment.

I figure as long as I don’t hang too much on it in terms of expectations I’ll be fine. Really though, it’ll be fun and I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks, even if it means I need to work on the Quarterly Review today after I finish this post instead of spreading it over Saturday and Sunday as I otherwise might.

Great and safe weekend. Have fun, wear your mask — who are these people not wearing masks? why is that a thing? — and don’t forget to hydrate. I hope you find something you dig in the Quarterly Review.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

Los Angeles trio Sasquatch and Columbus, Ohio four-piece Lo-Pan will team up for a handful of tour dates making a long weekender of their respective appearances at Maryland Doom Fest in Frederick, MD, on Oct. 29. Sasquatch will be supporting 2017’s Maneuvers (review here) as well as heralding their next release, yet unannounced, while Lo-Pan, who were last seen on the road with Crowbar and C.O.C. in 2019, will support Subtle (review here), issued that same year through Aqualamb.

Though obviously this four-date Northeastern stint marks a return to the road in the most significant manner both acts will have performed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, considering travel and all, Lo-Pan and Sasquatch both have shows booked for before they set out for Philadelphia to begin the run. Lo-Pan join Valley of the Sun for a weekend of shows in Ohio on Sept. 3-5, and are slated to play the annual Blackout Cookout in Youngstown on Oct. 23 alongside Rebreather, Midnight and a host of others.

Sasquatch, meanwhile, will make their way to San Diego on Aug. 25 to join headliners The Sword, as well as ASG and Deathchant for a show presented by Psycho Las Vegas.

As to what either act might have planned for after this Fall, either in terms of writing/recording or releasing new material, returning to longer touring schedules, and so on, your guess is as good as mine. Probably better. But both are veteran acts at this point and any sense that they’re getting back to some semblance of being able to play live again — that’s not to say “normalcy” — is obviously welcome.

Dates follow:

SASQUATCH & LO-PAN tour dates:

10.28 Philadelphia PA Kung-Fu Necktie
https://sasquatch102821.eventbrite.com/

10.29 Frederick MD Cafe 611 *Maryland Doom Festival*
https://www.marylanddoomfest.com/tickets-2021/

10.30 Brooklyn NY Saint Vitus
https://www.venuepilot.co/events/42586/orders/new

10.31 Cambridge MA Middle East Upstairs
https://www.ticketweb.com/event/sasquatch-lo-pan-middle-east-upstairs-tickets/11242305?pl=mid

SASQUATCH is:
Jason Casanova – bass
Keith Gibbs – guitar/vocals
Craig Riggs – drums

LO-PAN is:
Jeff Martin – vocals
Skot Thompson – bass
Jesse Bartz – drums
Chris Thompson – guitar

www.sasquatchrock.us
www.facebook.com/sasquatchrocks
http://store.sasquatchrock.us/
http://www.madoakrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MadOakRecords/

http://www.lopandemic.com
http://www.facebook.com/lopandemic
http://www.aqualamb.org
http://www.aqualamb.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/aqualambrecords

Sasquatch, Maneuvers (2017)

Lo-Pan, Subtle (2019)

Maryland Doom Fest 2021 is set for Halloween Weekend, Oct. 28-31, in Frederick, Maryland. Some of the acts on the newly announced bill are carryovers from the first-delayed-then-canceled 2020 edition — among them Sasquatch, Worshipper, and so on — but it’s worth noting that among those and others, the likes of The Age of Truth will have a new record out by this Fall, and pre-pandemic, Boozewa didn’t even exist. So yes, things have changed.

For further proof of the festival’s stylistic branching out — and with this many bands, they’d just have have to — you’ll note the departure in the poster art from the fest-standard purple toward a greater range of color. The music they’re pushing is likewise broader in palette, and to think of seeing the likes of Howling Giant and Revvnant alongside Arduini/Balich, Omen Stones, and Place of Skulls is an encouraging thought indeed. This even was much-missed last year.

Expect a time-table sooner than later, as organizer JB Matson doesn’t screw around when it comes to that kind of thing. The lineup announcement — short and sweet, as ever — is further proof of same.

I don’t know what the world’s gonna look like come Halloween, but I know damn well this is one reason I’m glad I got that vaccine.

[UPDATE 04/30: Black Road and Vessel of Light can’t make it. Lo-Pan and When the Deadbolt Breaks have been added. If there are any further changes, I’ll probably just make a new post.]

To wit:

Here is the Md Doom Fest 2021 roster folks!!!
Halloween weekend – Oct 28-31, 2021
WE CANNOT WAIT TO DOOM WITH YOU!!

Lineup:

Poobah, Sasquatch, Place of Skulls, Lo-Pan, Lost Breed, Cavern, Horseburner, Spiral Grave, The Age of Truth, Mangog, Wrath of Typhon, Helgamite, Almost Honest, Indus Valley Kings, VRSA, Monster God, Et Mors, Astral Void, Worshipper, Boozewa, Admiral Browning, Omen Stones, Formula 400, Molasses Barge, Arduini/Balich, Dirt Eater, Dyerwolf, Ol’ Time Moonshine, Shadow Witch, Revvnant, Bloodshot, Ritual Earth, Gardens of Nocturne, Conclave, Crow Hunter, Bailjack, Warmask, Akris, Alms, Thunderbird Divine, Strange Highways, Howling Giant, Yatra, Jaketehhawk, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Grave Huffer, Dust Prophet, Plague Wielder, Weed Coughin, Morganthus, Tines

www.marylanddoomfest.com
#4daysofdoom

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www.marylanddoomfest.com