Set to take place Jan. 28-31, 2027, in the Las Vegas Arts District, Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII has already unveiled the bulk of its lineup, with the likes of Greenleaf, Child, Carson, Humlus, Shun and others whose names are and aren’t one word. As one has come to expect from the festival and its curator, promoter John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution, there is consideration put into every choice of who’s added, and it accordingly doesn’t feel like an accident that Mothership and Siena Root are taking part.

The Texas natives were a boon to US underground heavy throughout the 2010s, much of which the trio spent touring. They’re now nine years removed from their last full-length, 2017’s High Strangeness (review here), and I’m not sure if brothers Kelley Juett (guitar) and Kyle Juett (bass/vocals) live in the same state, which surely would put a kink in the idea of getting together for weekly or however-frequent jams. But if you’ve seen Mothership — I haven’t since they started doing shows again in late-2024 after about a two-year break, but they were at Ripplefest Texas this past Fall, if you might’ve seen them there — you know they’re something special onstage.

Siena Root have had phases in sound and a distinctive evolution over their quarter-century-plus. Their 2023 full-length, Revelation (review here), was pure heavy rock classicism, played with joy and heart in kind, in a style that was a blend of decades and ideas alike. I’ve only seen them once over the years, and it was with a different lineup, so I don’t know how applicable it will be except to incite a generally positive expectation, which, frankly, I had anyhow. This will be one to see.

From the PR wire:

Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII – Mothership & Siena Root

Vegas Rock Revolution is super pumped to announce two really cool bands that are quite different from each other but still embody what we are doing at Planet Desert Rock Weekend! Both bands are new to PDRW, with one of them being from Sweden and the other from the great state of Texas!

Mothership shall be landing in Las Vegas next January as part of the Ripple Music Showcase on Friday January 29th at The Usual Place. Mothership has been a bit quiet over the last 5 years so seemingly, and we have wanted to get the Juett brother and Judge back to Sin City. These boys have ripped up the stage at Psycho Las Vegas a few times and have even played two Vegas Rock Revolution shows at the now defunct Bunkhouse Saloon and The Dive Bar. Mothership has toured with some big bands including Corrosion of Conformity, Crobot, The Skull, Overkill, Death Angel, Crowbar, The Obsessed, Weedeater, Truckfighters, Slow Season and countless other stellar bands along the way. With four releases to their credit, they have a lot of tracks to pull from for their set and have vowed to bust out “City Nights” from their debut album! Always a ripping live band that we know will cap off a big night in Vegas!

For the 1st time ever, Siena Root from Sweden will be headed to the USA to perform! Been rocking since the late 90s with their amazing retro heavy psych style that they refer to as “Dynamic Root Rock”. Their sound pulls from classic rock signatures but expands it into a beautiful journey with each track as they mix mesmerizing rhythms , heavy riffs, beautiful solos and emotional vocals. Their catalog is deep with 10 albums spread out over the years. Their current vocalist Zubaida Solid has stepped into her role with class and elegance as heard on their live album “Made in Kuba” that came out in 2025. This is one of the semi rare times a band reached out to PDRW and we immediately felt humble to be part of their journey. For the second year in a row the mighty Hammond Organ sound will grace the stage and we can’t wait to hear them take us away! They have a ton of videos to check out and they are simply magnificent!

So that now brings us to 15 bands and only 6 more to announce! The current lineup features 8 international bands from 5 countries along with 7 bands from 7 states. We have some cool stuff we are working on now and promise to deliver a great lineup that will capture your imaginations and heart!

There are a few early bird tickets still left so if you plan on coming then snag them and save a few bucks. This year our weather was in the 60s to 70s. Many who came enjoyed seeing beautiful scenery in our nearby parks! Vegas also has some wild museums including the Mob Museum, Punk Rock Museum, Haunted Museum, Atomic Museum and we had a big group head to the Metal Blade Museum this year. Tons of cool things to do and yes marijuana is legal in Sin City. It’s going to be one helluva rock and roll party with cool cats from all over the world!

Tickets available now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planet-desert-rock-weekend-vii-january-28-31-2027-tickets-1983056894554?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII Playlist

This second lineup announcement for Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII, which is set to take place January in Las Vegas, is emblematic of what I appreciate so much about the four-day festival to start with. To wit, it’s five bands and each of them counts double for what they bring to the lineup. Child, from Australia, offer some of the most dug-in heavy blues in the world, while Carson and Black Rainbows and the returning Droids Attack are each heavy rock bands taking that designation on from their own angle, and Steak are sometime this year (I’m pretty sure) set to release their follow-up to 2022’s Acute Mania (review here), which I’m very curous to hear.

But look at it. Carson or Black Rainbows might also have a record coming, but they might not, and Droids Attack are amazing, but likely not them either. It hasn’t even been that long since Child‘s 2023 LP, Soul Murder (review here), but they’re here too, which brings me to the point that it’s not about who’s coming through on tour, but about hand-selecting bands from the worldwide heavy underground and bringing them over for a gig.

Some will make tours out of it, which I’d expect Steak, Carson, Child and Black Rainbows to do, and maybe Droids Attack as well — I only didn’t list them because they haven’t been super-active, but of course it’s possible they’ll do other shows; their last record was 2016’s brilliant Sci-Fi or Die (review here) — but Planet Desert Rock Weekend becomes an epicenter for seeing things you’ve never seen before, offering something distinct from other festivals and showcases while telling the story of itself as each band moves into the next. I’ve been lucky enough to go twice now, and barring disaster, I wouldn’t want to miss it in 2027 either.

From the PR wire:

Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII – Second Lineup Announcement

Vegas Rock Revolution is excited to present the next batch of bands for Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII 2027 with five unique groups for five countries. We are happy to bring back 2 PDRW alumni and 2 bands that have not played in the USA yet. This collection ranges from stoner rock to bluesy rock to stoner thrash to heavy rock and more. Our goal Is to always deliver music from bands to highlight our great heavy underground scene to our fans who love to discover and support. It means a ton to us that your feedback has been amazing when talking about our curation and vibe of our weekender. Is it too early to get excited about next January? LOL!

We have nearly sold out of presale tickets so …. go for it and save a few bucks. Artist extraordinaire Joey Rudell is back to provide us with cool art for PDRW!

Black Rainbows / Italy

Longtime stoner rock stalwarts Black Rainbows have been steadily popping out fuzzy new tunes since early 2010s. This power trio will be returning for the 1st time to the USA since 2017 when they played Desert Generator at Pappy & Harriet’s! Frontman Gabriele Fiori is a massive figure in the scene as he is the head honcho of Heavy Psych Sounds Records. He has built an amazing label and is involved with not only tour support but festivals all around the world. Their is no doubt their set will be high octane fueled and get people moving! Honored to have this killer band come out for PDRW!

Steak / London

You can never go wrong with British rockers Steak! Steak played Planet Desert Rock Weekend v3 at Count’s Vamp’d as direct support for desert legend John Garcia who did a rare unplugged set. This Ripple Music band is set to have a new release in 2026 and we can’t wait to hear what they have in store for us. Their creativity keeps us on our toes as their last release “Acute Mania” saw them creating some more depth to their songs and the addition of a 2nd guitarist who also helped with vocals some. 5 albums deep and driven by strong vocals and the guitar prowess of Reece Tee who is the man behind Desertfest which has been a massive part of the heavy underground with their always choice lineups and spread out all across Europe giving fans a chance to see so many cool bands in one place! Steak was just announced to be tourmates with All Them Witches and Slift for a European run. What a lineup!

Droids Attack / Wisconsin

It was just a matter of time that we would bring Droids Attack back to Planet Desert Rock Weekend. This “stoner thrash” power trio lit up the stage at PDRW v2 back in 2019 at the old Bunkhouse (R.I.P.). Frontman Brad Van and gang haven’t put out new material since their amazing “Sci-Fi Or Die” release. Yes PDRW loves to mix in the heavy in the weekend and who better than this riff and groove band that rarely plays nowadays. If you aren’t moving when you listen to “Brahma Astra” then you might be dead. Brad’s guitar tone paired with syncopated drums is unique. We are excited to have our friends back to Sin City!

Child / Australia

We have made no secret that blues rock is an important part to Planet Desert Rock Weekend. We never imagined that one of the most killer bluesy rock bands around from Australia would join the party. This Melbourne based band has 4 releases and all of them provide sultry psychedelic tinged goodness that promises to translate to a live set that will leave people saying “well damn that was good” . This will be their 1st time to the USA for this Heavy Psych Sounds band who in recently years has made the trek to Europe to do runs of shows. Frontman Mathias Northway’s vocals and songwriting really elevates this band to upper tier in the scene.

Carson / Switzerland

Planet Desert Rock Weekend loves to hand pick very good European bands that deserve far more ears than they currently get. Carson is a band with some momentum as they have knocked out two stellar heavy rock albums in a 3 year span that has grabbed some attention for sure. Truth be told we have been watching them since hearing the song “Drown the Witness” back in 2017. The band’s sound is a mesh of stoner, grunge and some psych as well and features male/female vocal blend on many of their tracks. Carson landed on The Doom Charts in 2022 in April at #4 and in September 2025 at #7 as well as ended on the End of Year list as well. Also to note that landed very high on Vegas Rock Revolution’s End of Year lists as well. Want good catchy hard rocking songs? Dig in.

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Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII Playlist

The Patient Mrs. looked over at me the other day and was like, “Kind of a hard comedown from Vegas this year, huh?” And she was right, it has been. My second voyage to Planet Desert Rock Weekend (review here) was a really, really good time, and I guess a couple days away from the overarching weight of reality circa early ’26 was something I couldn’t see I needed as much as I did. I had been hoping to come home and hit the ball rolling on writing and feel like my head was back in it. That wasn’t really how it’s worked out.

Fortunately for me, Planet Desert Rock Weekend‘s founder and curator John Gist is already rolling out names for 2027’s PDRW VII, and it’s a get-your-ass-here assemblage with Greenleaf headlining the first announcement, Shun following up on Throttlerod‘s appearance this year and being part of a strong initial showing from Small Stone Records alongside Winds of Neptune (I still need to review that one; a Quarterly Review is coming later this month I hope) and Sundrifter, while Sergeant Thunderhoof return and Brimstone Coven make a first appearance, Humulus travel from Italy (that’s going to be a good one) and recent Ripple Music signees Florist round out.

As has been the case for the last few years, the sense of curation bleeds through the names being dropped, and if we assume the bands announced today are a little more than a quarter of the full lineup — that’s going by a max of six bands on a night this year, making this announcement more than one night’s total worth of bands, not that they’re all necessarily playing the same night, etc. — then I’m eager to see how the rest shakes out over the next weeks and, presumably, months before next January gets here. And I’m glad to have it to look forward to, frankly.

The PR wire has it like this:

Planet Desert Rock Weekend VII – 2027 Presale & Lineup Announcement

Planet Desert Rock Weekend is proud to announce its volume 7 for 2027! The dates are January 28- 31, 2027 and will take place again at The Usual Place!

We have 8 bands including 3 international to divulge and some new new ticket options. The 2026 version was our biggest one since the inception of Planet Desert Rock back in 2018. The feedback has been amazing and now the pressure is on to curate a lineup that will be held to the standards we have created. We hope you join us for this new sonic adventure in rock music.

PDRW will now have a VIP ticket option that will allow early entry to be behind the scene and see soundcheck as well as get your wristband for the evening that will permit you to be able to re-enter quickly and avoid the line. In addition we have a poster included with the VIP package. We offer 3 and 4 night choices. We will only being selling 400 total as we are not going to compromise the atmosphere and comfortable environment as well sell too many to have to move to a larger venue. So it’s 1st come 1st serve and we will see in the future if nightly tickets are an option!

The lineup:

Greenleaf/ Sweden

We have tried for a number of years to get this amazing band over and we are overjoyed to have one of the top heavy rock bands from around the world joining us for an exclusive west coast event. Meaning just Vegas… no California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon etc…. Flying in just for us! We are honored to have them!

Sergeant Thunderhoof / England (U.K.)

Returning after an amazing set at PDRW V, we are fired up to have this spectacular British band back and they will be playing a regular set and exclusively Muramasa from their split on Ripple Music they did with Howling Giant. This should be a very unique set to witness and rock to!

Humulus/ Italy

Long time heavy psych rockers Humulus makes their USA debut to continue to tradition of Italian bands playing PDRW. The band has been in the scene since 2012 and their recent 2023 release “Flowers of Death” with new vocalist Thomas Greenwood was a killer release ushering in an evolved sound.

Brimstone Coven/ West Virginia

Veteran retro hard rocking band Brimstone Coven has been steadily dropped cool albums since the early 2010s including a fantastic 2025 release “The Light Not Shines for Thee”. Key highlights including smooth harmony vocals and an homage to rock music of years past.

Sundrifter/ Boston

Returning to PDRW out of Boston all 3 of their releases have been phenomenal. The band’s sound has a near futuristic sound at times that touches upon other worlds in the galaxies and vocals that belong near the top of the heavy underground.

Shun/ North Carolina-South Carolina

Real excited to have Shun join the party in 2027 with their heavy atmospheric post rock sound that harkens to a more 90s vibe. Features fromtman Matt Whitehead from Throttlerod. This will be their west coast debut!

Florist/ Tampa

Heavy psych rockers Florist might be one of hotter bands in the scene right now on the heels of their 2025 release. They have played multiple east coast fests and we are excited to have them head west for PDRW with their theremin and other instruments. This is gonna be spacy stoney cool!

Winds of Neptune/ Detroit

Debut album in late 2025 on Small Stone Records created a lot of cosmic waves so much so they landed #1 for the November Doom Charts. Their retro 70s rocking vibe with massive riffs fits right in with PDRW. Oh and the drummer from Flogging Molly is in the band! COOL!

Tickets available now for presales until they are gone and then prices go up some: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planet-desert-rock-weekend-vii-january-28-31-2027-tickets-1983056894554?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Greenleaf, Live in Nantes, France, April 1, 2025