Staring at the poster of the finished lineup, there’s nothing more to do than congratulate the Desertscene crew on Desertfest London 2023. You could spend an entire day at any single stage in any single venue and call it front-to-back a good time. I’ve been posting festival lineups for Desertfest since it started in 2012 and this is the biggest and best it’s ever been. If you’re going, I’ll tell you flat out I’m jealous. It looks like it will be an amazing experience, and right up to the last lineup announcement, it’s quality as much as quantity when it comes to who is playing, on what stage, and when. It is the heavy festival ideal; a lineup that crosses generations and geographies to give those fortunate enough to be there something they’ll never forget.

So that’s it. Go if you can. Here’s the reportedly final update:

Desertfest London announces final bands and day splits for 2023, including Nebula, Dozer, Fatso Jetson + more

Friday 5th May – Sunday 7th May 2023

Weekend and day tickets on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk

Desertfest London have announced the final bands and day-splits for 2023’s line-up, which will be taking place across Camden from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th May and promises to be heavier than the King’s coronation crown.

The final few bands to join the already stellar line-up includes the heavy groove rocking trio Nebula, Sweden’s stalwarts of stoner Dozer and the godfathers of the Desert Fatso Jetson. French post-metallers Year Of No Light will also be playing their first London show since 2013.

Also joining the line-up is Antwerp’s Gnome who will bring their dirty riffs, anarcho-punks Bad Breeding to get everyone fired up and acclaimed virtuoso Cellist Jo Quail to bring another dynamic to proceedings.

Electric Funeral will also be keeping the party going with a Sabbath covers set at Friday night’s after party and the festival is completed with Elder Druid, Kurokuma, Firebreather, Earth Moves, Untitled With Drums, Graywave, Mountains, Rosy Finch, Lowen, Homecoming, Wall and Death Wvrm.

Weekend and day tickets are available via www.desertfest.co.uk

The final additions join festival headliners and cult heroes Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats who will be playing the Roundhouse for the very first time. As one of the most widely-requested bands in the Desertfest-sphere, Uncle Acid’s trippy and melodic riff-driven hard-rock is uniquely original, yet an utterly timeless beast and will close Desertfest 2023 in a mystical cloud of doom and awe.

Friday’s headliners are none other than Swedish heavy-blues maestros Graveyard who will draw out raw emotion with their lyrical prowess & introspective compositions whilst Saturday welcomes back Corrosion of Conformity who have not been on UK soil since 2018 so expect big, loud and memorable things from their appearance at the festival!

Full Line-Up for Desertfest London 2023:

FRIDAY 5TH MAY
ELECTRIC BALLROOM
GRAVEYARD
KADAVAR
CHURCH OF MISERY
VALLEY OF THE SUN
SPACESLUG
ELECTRIC FUNERAL (AFTER PARTY)

UNDERWORLD
DISCHARGE
BAD BREEDING
DAWN RAY’D
KUROKUMA
TERROR COSMICO

POWERHAUS
YEAR OF NO LIGHT
SUM OF R
EARTH MOVES
WYATT E
IRON JINN

BLACK HEART
ECSTATIC VISION
PLAINRIDE
LONGHEADS
VINNUM SABBATHI
GNOB
MARGARITA WITCH CULT

THE DEV
DOMMENGANG
UNTITLED WITH DRUMS
MOUNTAINS
TROY THE BAND
DEATH WVRM

SATURDAY 6TH MAY
ELECTRIC BALLROOM
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
CROWBAR
WEEDEATER
DOZER
FASTO JETSON

UNDERWORLD
UNSANE
INTER ARMA
GRAVE LINES
STAKE
TUSKAR
WREN

POWERHAUS
CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL
TELEKINETIC YETI
THE NECROMANCERS
DEATHCHANT
EARLY MOODS

BLACK HEART
SAMAVAYO
HIGH DESERT QUEEN
MR BISON
OUR MAN IN THE BRONZEAGE
TREVOR’S HEAD
TONS

THE DEV
ELDER DRUID
OREYEON
ROSY FINCH
LOWEN
HOMECOMING

SUNDAY 7TH MAY
ROUNDHOUSE
UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS
BORIS
KING BUFFALO
NEBULA
BLOOD CEREMONY

UNDERWORLD
SOMALI YACHT CLUB
GAUPA
MARS RED SKY
GNOME
WEEDPECKER
ACID MAMMOTH
GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST (AFTER PARTY)

POWERHAUS
BIG|BRAVE
JO QUAIL
ZETRA
EVEREST QUEEN
GRAYWAVE

BLACK HEART
CELESTIAL SANCTURY
MORASS OF MOLASSES
WARREN SCHOENBRIGHT
VENOMWOLF
BLOODSWAMP
BLACK GROOVE

THE DEV
THUNDER HORSE
FIREBREATHER
THE AGE OF TRUTH
EARL OF HELL
WALL

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

Park myself in Joshua Tree for a weekend just as the winter is turning to spring, catch a ton of awesome bands from and beyond the desert? Yeah, that sounds pretty magical, to be honest. Nothing against San Francisco. I’ve seen videos from outside at Thee Parkside and it looks like an incredible place to see a gig, but if I’m making the trip from the other side of the country — and unless there’s a sudden fiscal windfall in my favor, I’m not, sadly — it’s the desert calling, all the more with All Souls and BigPig and Third Ear Experience on that bill. That’s a memorable weekend in the making.

The 2023 lineups for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in California are finished, and with the two posters next to each other you can see some of the differences from one to the other, but they’re mostly the same as artists will play in one city one night, the other the other, and as someone who remembers seeing Yawning Man and Fatso Jetson together a decade ago at Desertfest London 2013 (review here), I’d offer up a kidney to do so again if I thought I could be healed in time to actually enjoy the show in March.

Anybody want to buy some… shit I have nothing of value. Alright then.

Here’s the bill:

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is proud to announce *** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST CALIFORNIA 2023 JOSHUA TREE & SAN FRANCISCO ***

full lineup announcement

Heavy Psych Sounds together with Plastic Cactus Productions and Subliminal SF presents the full lineup of the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest California 2023 !!!

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ***CALIFORNIA 2023***
MARCH 25 & 26

SAN FRANCISCO @ OPEN AIR AT THEE PARKSIDE

JOSHUA TREE @ HI DESERT CULTURAL CENTER

JOSHUA TREE
HI DESERT CULTURAL CENTER
MARCH 25th and 26th

WINDHAND
WEEDEATER
BRANT BJORK
NEBULA
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
YAWNING MAN
FATSO JETSON
DUEL
HIPPIE DEATH CULT
GEEZER
KADABRA
WARLUNG
LOVE GANG
WITCHPIT
COSMIC REAPER
ALL SOULS
BIG PIG
THIRD EAR EXPERIENCE
DEATHCHANT
WHISKEY AND KNIVES
HIGH TONE SON OF A BITCH

SAN FRANCISCO
OPEN AIR AT THEE PARKSIDE
MARCH 25th and 26th

WINDHAND
WEEDEATER
MONDO GENERATOR
NEBULA
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
DUEL
HIPPIE DEATH CULT
GEEZER
KADABRA
WARLUNG
LOVE GANG
COSMIC REAPER
WITCHPIT
DEATHCHANT
HIGH TONE SON OF A BITCH
DISASTROID

TICKETS PRESALE SAN FRANCISCO:
https://www.venuepilot.co/events/65782/orders/new

TICKETS PRESALE JOSHUA TREE:
https://heavypsychsounds.ticketleap.com/heavy-psych-sounds-fest-joshua-tree-2023/

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

Windhand, Live in Hollywood, CA, June 26, 2022

If you’ve never seen Nebula, or even if you have, you should think long and hard about showing up for this one. Eddie Glass is a singular ripper on heavy rock guitar for his generation, someone who can look like he’s making himself a sandwich while bridging styles from Stooges to Hendrix, desert stoned and, oh yeah, singing at the same time. Tom Davies on bass and Mike Amster have it on lockdown in the rhythm section, and that power trio format lets Glass go for it as apparently only he can. If you think of bands with turn-of-the-century-era origins (never mind that dude was in Fu Manchu before that), Glass isn’t the only great guitarist — base a genre’s songwriting modus on riffs and you might attract a few — but there’s no one else who does what he does the way he does it. Especially if you’ve never seen them, you owe it to yourself to do so.

Last year’s Transmission From Mothership Earth (review here) is a cause worth supporting, and you’ll note that as Nebula do so in Europe for the second time following another US stint — in the noteworthy company of The Atomic Bitchwax, no less — after they play Esbjerg Fuzztival, there’s a Heavy Psych Sounds Fest listed with no further info. Could well be there’s another fest TBA by the label, maybe in Dresden, where they’ve been before, or somewhere else entirely. Either way, Nebula will be in Europe for a month, and before they go they’ll do HPS Fest in California (info here) as well.

Dates follow:

NEBULA – Transmission From Mothership Earth Tour

We’re hitting the road!!! US in March with The Atomic Bitchwax then back to EUROPE the end of April. Dates below with more TBA…

1/21 Las Vegas, NV –
Planet Desert Rock Weekend-
VRR Presents: Nebula/Salem’s Bend/High Desert Queen/Sonolith – Saturday on January 21st LAS VEGAS – The Usual Place

US 2023 w/ The Atomic Bitchwax

SUN 3/5 CO SPRINGS, CO – VULTURES**
MON 3/6 OMAHA, NE – REVERB LOUNGE**
TUE 3/7 ST PAUL, MN – TURF CLUB**
WED 3/8 CHICAGO, IL – REGGIE”S
THU 3/9 COLUMBUS, OH – ACE OF CUPS
FRI 3/10 YOUNGSTOWN, OH – WESTSIDE BOWL
SAT 3/11 NEW HAVEN, CT – THE STATE HOUSE
SUN 3/12 BROOKLYN, NY – SAINT VITUS
MON 3/13 PHILADELPHIA, PA – KUNG FU NECKTIE
WED 3/15 ATLANTA, GA – 529 BAR
THU 3/16 NEW ORLEANS, LA – SANTOS
FRI 3/17 LAFAYETTE, LA – FREETOWN BOOM BOOM ROOM
SAT 3/18 AUSTIN, TX – VALHALLA
SUN 3/19 SAN ANTONIO, TX – PAPER TIGER
THU 3/23 MESA, AZ – THE UNDERGROUND
FRI 3/24 SAN DIEGO, CA – BRICK BY BRICK
SAT 3/25 JOSHUA TREE – HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FESTIVAL
SUN 3/26 SAN FRANCISCO, CA -HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FESTIVAL
WED 3/29 SEATTLE, WA – EL CORAZON
FRI 3/31 SALT LAKE CITY, UT – ACES HIGH
SAT 4/1 DENVER, CO – GLOBE HALL

MORE DATES TBA

nebula only**

Europe 2023

WE 26/04 FR CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC
TH 27/04 CH GENEVE – L’USINE
FR 28/04 CH ALTDORF – VOGELGESANG
SA 29/04 IT BOLOGNA – HPS FEST
SU 30/04 IT TORINO – HPS FEST
MO 01/05 IT ZERO BRANCO – ALTROQUANDO
TU 02/05 IT BOLZANO – SUDWERK
WE 03/05 AT INNSBRUCK – PMK
TH 04/05 AT WIEN – ARENA
FR 05/05 AT GRAZ – EXPLOSIV
SA 06/05 AT EBENSEE – KINO
MO 08/05 CH ZURICH – DYNAMO
WE 10/05 NL ALKMAAR – CLUB VICTORIE
TH 11/05 NL ROTTERDAM – BAROEG
FR 12/05 NL HENGELO – METROPOOL
SA 13/05 NL GRONINGEN – VERA
SU 14/05 NL EINDHOVEN – EFFENAAR
TU 16/05 DK ODENSE – KANSAS CITY
WE 17/05 SE LINKÖPING – PLATENS BAR
TH 18/05 SE GOTHENBURG – MUSIKENS HUS
FR 19/05 DK SØBORG GLADSAXE – RICHTER
SA 20/05 DE OLDENBURG – MTS
SU 21/05 DE COLOGNE – SONIC BALLROOM
MO 22/05 DE HILDBURGHAUSEN – CLUB MOLLE
FR 26/05 DK ESBJERG – FUZZTIVAL
SA 27/05 HPS FEST

MORE SHOWS TBA

NEBULA is:
Eddie Glass – guitars/vocals
Tom Davies – bass/backing vocals
Michael Amster – drums

https://www.facebook.com/NebulaBand/
https://www.instagram.com/the_official_nebula/
https://atomicritual.com/

https://twitter.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUND
https://instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Nebula, Transmission From Mothership Earth (2022)

A couple days’ escape to Joshua Tree just as winter starts to wane sounds pretty god damn good right now. And that’s nothing against San Francisco, mind you — there’s an Amoeba Music there, so however otherwise expensive lodging may be, it’s worth it — but a bit of desert rock in its native habitat feels like a win, and with more bands to be announced, Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 in California makes an enticing prospect. Daydream-worthy.

Traveling from the East Coast will be Weedeater, the particularly sludgy Witchpit, Cosmic Reaper and The Atomic Bitchwax, Duel make the trip from Texas, Hippie Death Cult come down from Portland, Oregon, and Brant Bjork and Nebula represent California itself, so already the two-dayers (which will swap lineups from one night to the next) are varied in geography and style, and one would expect no less at this point. It ain’t Heavy Psych Sounds‘ first rodeo. The label/booking empire also recently announced two fests in Italy and if past is prologue, one expects plenty more to come as well spread throughout 2023.

We live in a golden age. Peak riffs.

From the PR wire:

*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST CALIFORNIA *** first confirmed bands

Heavy Psych Sounds together with Plastic Cactus Productions and Subliminal SF presents the 2023 edition of the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST CALIFORNIA !!!

The HPS Fest California will be taking place 25th and 26th of March, 2023 at the Thee Parkside (open air) in San Francisco and Hi Desert Cultural Center in Joshua Tree !!!

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – CALIFORNIA
@ Thee Parkside, San Francisco
@ Hi Desert Cultural Center, Joshua Tree

March 25th and 26th 2023

FIRST CONFIRMED BANDS

WEEDEATER
BRANT BJORK
NEBULA
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
DUEL
HIPPIE DEATH CULT
COSMIC REAPER
WITCHPIT

+ more TBA

In January we will unveil the full line up and single day line up.

Same line up will play both cities in different days !!!

TICKETS PRESALE SAN FRANCISCO: https://www.venuepilot.co/events/65782/orders/new

TICKETS PRESALE JOSHUA TREE: https://heavypsychsounds.ticketleap.com/heavy-psych-sounds-fest-joshua-tree-2023/

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

Brant Bjork, Bougainvillea Suite (2022)

I wish I could say I planned it out ahead of time that the 100th episode of The Obelisk Show would coincide with both the final one of 2022 and the third of the three roundups of some of the year’s best in heavy, but I’m nowhere near that coordinated. Fortunate happenstance, then, and a killer show either way.

You might note the minor departure from the general format I use in that this one doesn’t end with an extended track. Fact is there was just more I wanted to include than there was room for, so I opted to pack in three or four shorter songs where there might otherwise be one. Nothing here tops 10 minutes long — CB3 is just over eight and that’s the longest — and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Before I turn you over to the playlist itself, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Gimme Metal for allowing me to continue to do this show. Seems obvious to say, considering, you know, this site in general, but sharing music I dig is among my favorite things to do, and I value the opportunity to engage with Gimme’s audience as a part of that. Thank you to Tyler, Brian, Dean and the entire crew for having me and making this thing happen.

Thanks for listening if you do, thanks for reading if you are.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 12.23.22 (VT = voice track)

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Jan. 6 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

Don’t tell anybody, but I think Nebula might be on… the drugs. All of them, to be precise.

At least three tracks out of the total eight on the band’s seventh album, Transmission From Mothership Earth, essentially about getting and being very, very high, beginning with opener “Highwired,” the chorus of which runs, “Stay high/Never die/Highwired/Stay high.” First, I’m not sure that, medically speaking, it’s true that if you stay high all the time you’re immortal, but I’m no doctor and Nebula have been at this a while so I won’t argue. Still, between “Highwired,” “Wilted Flowers” and the dead-giveaway “I Got So High,” the point gets across. Nebula‘s second post-reunion full-length is self-recorded self-oblivion, the rawest they’ve ever sounded in some ways and the most expansive in others — looking at you, “Melt Your Head” — a gritty reboot for stoner rock cast in their own addled image.

Signature components are present and accounted for in the 38-minute Transmission, including Eddie Glass‘ shredder soloing and anti-lucidity vocal drawl, riffs born of garage rock, space rock, or just outright punk grown their hair out and stopped bathing and decided to live outside for a while. There is an underlying meticulousness here, of course, and the thing you need to know is that Nebula — Glass, bassist/vocalist Tom Davies and desert rock’s house drummer Mike Amster (also of Mondo Generator, ex-Blaak Heat Shujaa, Abrams, etc.) — are masters of making depth sound easy and lackadaisical. Part of that comes from Glass‘ vocal style, which conveys classic SoCal slacker slouch fuckall, and part of it is tonality, which allows both Glass and Davies to draw the listener in with hypnotic effects swirls over rhythm tracks and, as on the seven-minute side B leadoff “Warzone Speedwolf,” to lace their jams with enough chemical lysergics to make the entire world forget its trauma. Nebula for world peace? You couldn’t possibly tell me it would be the strangest thing that ever happened.

But the point, somewhat obscured by the haze, the shoulder-shove, the melting of heads and whatnot, is that even if a track like the full-on freakout “Melt Your Head” sounds like they’re just throwing whatever onto the recording, that’s a purposeful decision Nebula are making. And 25 years on from the band’s founding, they’re able to create an atmosphere of smoke swirling around the room while still casting a memorable impression underneath. “Transmission From Mothership Earth” follows the opener and toys with fuzz and surf and grunge and is all the swagger you could ask after 2019’s Holy Shit (review here), and “Wilted Flowers” takes Stooges and MC5 attitude through a meat grinder of ranging, foggy acid fluidity, giving classic Monster Magnet a run for its money in hook and buzzing space triumph. And the aforementioned hook of “Highwired,” by the way, is not only emblematic of the ethos of the album as a whole, but a standout for its catchiness that earns its place up front.

Likewise, “Warzone Speedwolf” follows “Melt Your Head” with a headphone-ready expansion of intent that signals further shifts ahead on side B, but it almost feels like a formality given the mastery with which Nebula deliver their material and the in-their-element nature of their work throughout this record. And the chaos in “Melt Your Head” feels genuine, pushed forward through “Warzone Speedwolf” and into the more straightforward “I Got So High” — “I went to the doctor/To see what he could give to me…” telling the tale of pill popping en route to the chorus of the repeated line, “I got so high tonight,” delivered by Davies as he steps into the lead vocal role backed by Glass. That turn is unexpected and another showcase both of the trio doing whatever the hell they want and of their making it work with the record surrounding. “I Got So High” is almost tragically catchy, and its sub-five minutes still allow for plenty of all-go layered soloing in the second half, channels going this way and that until the space clears and they turn back to the chorus in traditional fashion before “Existential Blues” starts out with its bassline and buzz and effects, slower rolling, languid, drugged, clawing at the last strains of consciousness.

It is a blues song, to be sure, and the more you’re able to listen through the crust, the more you’ll hear it. Davies‘ bassline and Amster‘s drumming hold together a steady flow as Glass‘ guitar runs forward and backward all at once, creating a wash of fuzz and a sense of going everywhere at the same time that trips out the earthy groove beneath. As with the whole of Transmission From Mothership Earth, one shouldn’t fail to consider the artistry at work. There’s so much inwardly directed obliteration happening throughout this record, and plenty still to come on the purposefully-flaunting-grammar “The Four Horseman” — which references Morricone Spaghetti Westernism and Jefferson Airplane‘s “Somebody to Love,” because of course — but like the trumpet or trumpet sounds on the finale, like the detail of the mix on “Existential Blues” or “Melt Your Head” or “Wilted Flowers,” like the hooks, like the solos, like the sometimes urgent sometimes laid back groove throughout, this is who Nebula are.

The start of this review was a joke, because a lot of this record is about doing drugs, and it sounds like it. But to confuse art and artist(s) here is to dehumanize Nebula as players and songwriters, and it takes away from the actual accomplishment of Transmission From Mothership Earth, which is to push the group to places that even in their storied and widely influential career — one could easily argue that their label, Heavy Psych Sounds, which is the foremost purveyor of underground heavy in the world, wouldn’t exist without their influence on its founder, at least not in the shape it exists now — they haven’t been before. I do not know what Nebula‘s future holds, and anybody in the trio is doing more drugs than they want to be, I sincerely hope they get help if they need it. It’s easy to forget there are people behind these songs, because they’re otherworldly and there’s so much happening in them, and something they do very well is portray the escape-from-identity that a controlled substance might provide, if temporarily. But this is more than a drug album, and Nebula are more than drug band. A quarter-century after their start, they’re discovering new modes of expression, and the filthy revelry they conjure here suits them.

Nebula, Transmission From Mothership Earth (2022)

Nebula on Facebook

Nebula on Instagram

Nebula website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Good show. Good tracks. Two Acid King songs to start, new stuff from Nebula, Sasquatch, Obiat, Torpedo Torpedo, Les Nadie — with whose debut album I am enthralled; review next week — Chat Pile, Brujas del Sol, Cities of Mars, Freedom Hawk (also reviewing next week). Classics from YOB, The Devin Townsend Band, Yawning Man, Kyuss, Sleep. New classic, anyhow, from the latter and a live cut from Yawning Man that’s gorgeously immersive to end out before the bonus track Freedom Hawk closes. I don’t know how much sense it makes on paper, but it flows well.

I don’t really have a theme here other than “make a good show.” I wanted to mix it up with stuff people might know and not, hopefully keep listeners hooked. Even 89 episodes of The Obelisk Show, I still a little bit live in fear that at some point Gimme Metal is going to be like, “You’re weird, you play weird shit, you never turn your playlists in on time and you suck at this,” and give me the axe. It’s happened to me on radio before (ask me about that some time; glorious story), but hasn’t happened yet here. Still, a nod to accessibility isn’t the worst idea once every 90 shows or so.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 07.22.22 (VT = voice track)

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Aug. 5 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gmme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

Monolith on the Mesa isn’t screwing around. The 2022 edition of the Taos, New Mexico, festival features a welcome-back-to-this-thing lineup that’s as desert as the sands on which it’ll take place and more besides. Ever wonder what Eyehategod and Yawning Man might sound like going back-to-back? Here’s where you’ll find out.

Those two, as well as import acts like Mars Red Sky (from France) and Belzebong (from Poland) will feature, alongside The Obsessed, Nebula, The Freeks, Red Mesa, Stöner, Ruby the Hatchet, Ecstatic Vision and others. This being the first Monolith on the Mesa since the untimely passing of festival co-founder Dano Sanchez, it’s a bittersweet occasion, but there’s no question looking at the lineup that it’s being executed in a spirit of celebration, both of that life and of the music itself. If you’d dare ask more than that, well, Eagle Twin are playing. Fucking bonus.

Info came down the PR wire, as well as the nifty poster art by Nick Filth:

MONOLITH ON THE MESA ANNOUNCES FULL LINE-UP, REVEALS POSTER ARTWORK BY NICK FILTH, AND FESTIVAL SPONSORS

Artists include Mars Red Sky, The Obsessed, Nebula, Eyehategod, Ruby The Hatchet, Stöner, The Freeks, Mondo Generator, Yawning Man and others

Monolith on the Mesa reveals final poster artwork by Nick Filth and full festival line-up in conjunction with summer solstice. The festival returns to Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership on September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022 for three days filled with music, art, and community. Tickets are on sale now HERE. Artists include internationally acclaimed acts such as Mars Red Sky, The Obsessed, Nebula, Eyehategod, Ruby The Hatchet, Stöner, The Freeks, Mondo Generator, Yawning Man and Red Mesa. In the words of belated festival visionary Dano Sanchez fans should get ready for a “weekend of live music heaviness blasting onto the high desert mesa in full view of the Sangre de Christo mountains.”

Roman Barham, festival co-founder and talent buyer says: “I am really excited to have Monolith on the Mesa back! This year’s line-up is a roll over from both 2020 and 2021. We had bands confirmed and then COVID happened. It was cool that so many bands were still down to be a part of Monolith once we got back. What’s really intense about the line-up is how it fits the surrounding high desert environment. With bands like Yawning Man, Stöner, Nebula, Mondo Generator — so many legends of the desert will be jamming. I know Dano would be really proud of the line-up for 2022. Summer solstice connects us deeply with Dano and how he saw the cosmos and life and how they coincide. Out here, we follow the astrological interpretations of the seasons and change.”

“The Mothership will have the same intent,” Jayson Wylie, Taos Mesa Brewing President/Director of Brewing Operations says, “but with a little different feel post reconstruction after the devastating fire we had. We still have two stages, both of them outside. We have transitioned our indoor space to accommodate more beverage production. Customers will notice an enhanced amphitheater with state of the art house PA and lighting. Out here on the mesa, summer solstice signifies a transition to shorter days and hopefully more rain.”

Festival producer Ashley Sanchez says “The summer solstice is the time of year when you start to see the fruits of your labor – financially, agriculturally, in relationships, or otherwise. The solstice reveals if we’re still living in alignment with the goals we set at the beginning of the year. Dano and I worked to live in sync with nature and it’s still very much something I hold in my own center. In honor of this cornerstone of our relationship together and how our family shows up in the world, we chose the summer solstice to announce the complete lineup for the 2022 Monolith on the Mesa festival.”

Monolith on the Mesa is an open air festival focused around the “earthship” amphitheatre which holds 1,500 people. The festival sits at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and at the edge of the Rio Grande gorge minutes from Taos Pueblo and the Gorge Bridge. Activities in the vicinity include rafting, hiking in the desert or in the mountains, mountain biking, soaking in the natural hot springs, as well as strolling the beautiful and historic streets and plazas of Taos. In founder Dano Sanchez’s words: “It is truly a magical place and combined with awesome music and art it’s like no other music festival.”

DATES AND TIMES
September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022
Doors at 12 noon daily.

VENUE
Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership
20 ABC Mesa Rd, El Prado, NM, 87529
taosmesabrewing.com/mothership

TICKET INFORMATION
Monolith on the Mesa will honor tickets and other arrangements purchased in 2020 and 2021. Tickets will be rolled over to this year’s Will Call list.

Single Day Pass $60 ticket HERE: https://holdmyticket.com/event/358415

Two Day Pass $100 ticket HERE: https://holdmyticket.com/event/358428

Three Day Pass $150 ticket HERE: https://holdmyticket.com/event/344139

Rain or shine event!

FESTIVAL LINE-UP

Friday, September 16th, 2022
Doors at 12:00 pm
Mesa Stage-1:00-1:45/ Greenbeard
Mesa Stage-2:00-2:45/ Blue Heron
Mesa Stage-3:00-3:45/ Caustic Casanova
Mesa Stage-4:00-4:45/ Red Mesa
Mothership Stage-5:00-5:45/ Owl
Mesa Stage-6:00-6:45/ The Atomic Bitchwax
Mothership Stage-7:00-7:45/ Daikajiu
Mesa Stage-8:00-9:00/ Eagle Twin
Mothership Stage-9:00-10:00/ Belzebong
Mesa Stage-10:00-11:00/ The Obsessed
Mothership Stage-11:00-12:00/ Mars Red Sky

Saturday, September 17th, 2022
Doors at 12:00 pm
Mesa Stage-12:15-12:45/ Via Vengeance
Mesa Stage-1:00-1:45/ Terra Damnata
Mesa Stage-2:00-2:45/ Heretical Sect
Mesa Stage-3:00-3:45/ Love Gang
Mesa Stage-4:00-4:45/ Heavy Temple
Mothership Stage-5:00-5:45/ Year of The Cobra
Mesa Stage-6:00-6:45/ The Otolith
Mothership Stage-7:00-7:45/ Nebula
Mesa Stage-8:00-9:00/ Warhorse
Mothership Stage-9:00-10:00/ REZN
Mesa Stage-10:00-11:00/ Ruby The Hatchet
Mothership Stage-11:00-12:00/ Stöner

Sunday, September 18th, 2022
Doors at 12:00 pm
Mesa Stage-12:15-12:45/ Fever Dog
Mesa Stage-1:00-1:45/ Heave
Mesa Stage-2:00-2:45/ Lilith
Mesa Stage-3:00-3:45/ Communion
Mesa Stage-4:00-4:45/ The Freeks
Mothership Stage-5:00-5:45/ Duel
Mesa Stage-6:00-6:45/ Tabernacle
Mothership Stage-7:00-7:45/ El Perro
Mesa Stage-8:00-9:00/ Mondo Generator
Mothership Stage-9:00-10:00/ Ecstatic Vision
Mesa Stage-10:00-11:00/ Eyehategod
Mothership Stage-11:00-12:00/ Yawning Man

After sundown every evening visual magicians, Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show, illuminate the night sky.

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Mars Red Sky, Live at Sidéral Festival, May 5, 2022