Danzig doing the Lucifuge record, plus Emperor and Mercyful Fate on US exclusives. In the age of spectacle, Psycho Las Vegas stands apart from its otherwise-might-be peers. There’s a method to all this madness. A plan in action. These people aren’t stupid — this isn’t a stupid lineup, unless you mean “stupid” in an emphatic sense. That’s what Psycho Las Vegas is: emphasis realized. The chaos is the mission. How could there be a more suitable complement to this year, this moment in human history? This is happening at a fucking casino. In Las Vegas. Do you understand what I’m telling you? Do you understand you surreal that is? Repulsion are playing a god damned casino. On a bill with The Flaming Lips and Katatonia. This is your brain on… fire, I guess?

A couple weeks ago — days ago? hours? I have no idea what day it is or why I should be expected to know; I’ve actually set an alarm to post this at the right time in an effort not to screw it up which I probably will anyhow — I happened to have some quick email correspondence with the souls behind the genre-consuming beast of a festival that is Psycho Las Vegas 2020 and I made my BIG PITCH for coverage. Want to know what it was? What it basically boiled down to was, “How about you guys bring me out to the festival and put me up for four days, I take a bunch of mushrooms, maybe go see some bands and write whatever the hell I want?”

Their answer was yes, so that’s my plan. I think Psycho deserves nothing less than me ranting about I don’t know probably cultural decay, self-hate manifest as pretentious judgmentalism, and not eating for four days? Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll go with that.

The schedule isn’t out yet, but it’s clearly a choose-your-adventure festival. For those seeing HOT TIPS from an internet influencer, you’re on the wrong goddamn site. I’m the guy who spent half his morning cleaning up animal piss at his mom’s house. I’ll say though that along with the gargantuan proportion of the headliners — come on, Danzig doing Danzig II is brilliant and you know it — and all the indie, emo and post-hardcore stuff that, yeah okay, I get it, the aughts were a thing for some people (not for me; was too drunk to remember any of it), it’s righteous to see such a huge event in addition to telling Coachella to suck its ass continuing to commit to the heavy underground. My chosen adventure will include but not be limited to placing priority on Lord Buffalo, Blackwater Holylight, Fatso Jetson (of course), Mothership (the context is too good to pass up), Hippie Death Cult and… yes… Katatonia. Because they’re the wintriest band ever and it’ll be 100 degrees. The most Psycho move ever would be to put them on the pool stage. Keeping my fingers crossed that’s how it works out. Shit, put Mayhem out there while we’re at it.

That’s all provided I’m not too out of my mind to leave the hotel room.

Here’s a poster and words in blue. See you there, sort of:

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020 – COMPLETE LINEUP

DANZIG (Celebrating 30 years of “Lucifuge”)
MERCYFUL FATE (2020 USA Exclusive)
EMPEROR (2020 USA Exclusive)
THE FLAMING LIPS
BLUE OYSTER CULT
DOWN (Celebrating 25 years of “Nola”)
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
TY SEGALL
WARPAINT
MAYHEM
SATYRICON
WATAIN
BLONDE REDHEAD
HEALTH
OBITUARY
ULVER (2020 USA Exclusive)
KATATONIA
AT THE GATES
POISON THE WELL
TSOL
CROWBAR
EXHORDER
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
THURSDAY
PINBACK
ZOLA JESUS
DRAB MAJESTY
BORIS
KING DUDE
PAUL CAUTHEN
AMIGO THE DEVIL
EYEHATEGOD
PIG DESTROYER
REPULSION
IMMOLATION
MIDNIGHT
MGLA
WINDHAND
CURSIVE
BRUTUS
PROFANATICA
LOWER DENS
BLACK JOE LEWIS
INTRONAUT
BOYSETSFIRE
DEATH BY STEREO
CURL UP AND DIE
ADAMANTIUM
THIS WILL DESTROY YOU
KHEMMIS
MOTHERSHIP
GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH
DENGUE FEVER
KAELAN MIKLA
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT
FATSO JETSON
WINO (ACOUSTIC)
CREEPING DEATH
MEPHISTOFELES
FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS
TOKE
FOIE GRAS
FLAVOR CRYSTALS
SILVERTOMB
LORD BUFFALO
WARISH
ALMS
BOMBERS
GLACIAL TOMB
RELAXER
HIPPIE DEATH CULT
VAELMYST
MOTHER MERCURY
DJ SCOTT SELTZER

Psycho Entertainment & MGM Entertainment present PSYCHO SWIM

Lineup:
OLD MAN GLOOM
ELDER
THE SKULL
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT
HERE LIES MAN
POLYRHYTHMICS
DJ SCOTT SELTZER

Tickets for PSYCHO LAS VEGAS as well as the PSYCHO SWIM pre-party, which requires a separate ticket from the main festival pass, are on sale now!

Tickets for all PSYCHO LAS VEGAS events can be purchased at VivaPsycho.com or AXS.com.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3255628101138593/
http://www.vivapsycho.com
http://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
http://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

Danzig, Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990)

The full 2020 lineup reveal for the aptly-named madness that is Psycho Las Vegas is impending, but in the meantime, maybe you caught it last month when the Vegas-based festalith unveiled a more-than-handful of unexpected acts like Thursday, Warpoint, Cursive, Boy Sets Fire, Pinback, and so on — who, with the maybe-exception of Pinback, whose Rob Crow also spearheads Goblin Cock, are names I never thought I’d write on this site — and thereby offered those who thought they knew what they were getting a reminder of just what it is Psycho specializes at.

To wit: The suckerpunch.

The lineup for Psycho Swim 2020, the now-more-branded pool party of past years, is a little more in line with what one might consider Psycho‘s wheelhouse. Elder return to the fest, plus Here Lies Man, The Skull, Blackwater Holylight, and so on. Rest assured, it’ll still be a party, but if the message to those buying tickets early wasn’t made clear yet, it is now. Bring your bathing suit.

More to come from Psycho, of course. Until then, I’m just glad to have the chance to post their 2020 logo treatment again. This kind of righteousness doesn’t happen every year:

Psycho Entertainment & MGM Entertainment present PSYCHO SWIM

Lineup:
OLD MAN GLOOM
ELDER
THE SKULL
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT
HERE LIES MAN
POLYRHYTHMICS
DJ SCOTT SELTZER

Psycho Swim 2020 event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/3354696257881847/

Tickets for PSYCHO LAS VEGAS as well as the PSYCHO SWIM pre-party, which requires a separate ticket from the main festival pass, are on sale now!

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS offers several pricing tiers and payment plans starting with a $20 deposit. 3-Day GA Weekender passes start at $199 (excluding tax and fees). Limited VIP 3-Day High Roller passes – which sell out annually – are available for $499 (excluding tax and fees) and include:

— VIP access for all three days of the festival + entry to the Thursday pre-party
— VIP hotel and festival check-in at Mandalay Bay
— Dedicated lines for expedited entry to all stages of the festival
— Private viewing areas, seating, restrooms and bars at three stages of the festival
— Limited edition and exclusive merch item for 2020 High Rollers only

Tickets for all PSYCHO LAS VEGAS events can be purchased at VivaPsycho.com or AXS.com.

Meticulously curated, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS has gained worldwide recognition for consistently delivering lineups that grow increasingly diverse and eclectic with each passing year, the magnitude of which have yet to be seen in North America. From post-rock, to black metal, to world music and even electronica, PSYCHO’s wide-ranging allure has expanded ceaselessly since its inception, bringing together musicians and artists from seemingly immiscible corners of the musical world.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3255628101138593/
http://www.vivapsycho.com
http://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
http://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

Psycho Las Vegas 2020 has begun the process of unveiling its lineup, and already it’s all-over-the-place in that precariously well-named kind of way. That is, Psycho, and, well, yeah. Familiar faces Elder and Windhand return, and Ulver, Blonde Redhead, Mayhem, Kaelan Mikla, Mephistofeles and Ty Segall and the Freedom Band will join on as well for a varied and already kinda overwhelming aesthetic reach that should be perfectly suited to the festival’s gonna-blow-minds mission and generally hallucinatory vibes. Like a mirage all the more so for the blurred vision of those in attendance. There’s a difference between drinking in the heat and drinking in heat. At Psycho, they do both.

Also they get stoned.

I got asked the other day if I was planning to write another book anytime soon. I said I wasn’t, but that’s not entirely true. I’d like to fly out to Psycho Las Vegas 2020, maybe a day early, eat a bunch of mushrooms in some stupidly-deluxe hotel room and gonzo my way through 20,000-odd words over the course of the four-day fest experience and then publish that in paperback. It would not be a common photos-and-words review. It might not be a review at all. But it would be something, and I think it would be fun to do, and an experience befitting the atmosphere for the fest itself. I haven’t made that pitch yet to Psycho. I’m not sure if they’d go for it.

Anyway, here’s the lineup announcement. Private bathrooms for the win:

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020: First Round Of Artists Announced Including Ty Segall & The Freedom Band, Mayhem, Ulver, Windhand, Blonde Redhead, And More; Tickets On Sale Now!

America’s rock n’ roll bacchanal, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS, will return to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino for a second consecutive year August 14th through August 16th 2020. Set to commence with a pre-party at Daylight Beach Club on August 13th, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS remains the premier rock festival destination offering fans one of the most unique and immersive festival formats in the world.

Now approaching its fifth year in the swirling neon decadence of Las Vegas, the resort-wide takeover will utilize four stages including the world-class Mandalay Bay Events Center, the iconic House Of Blues, Mandalay Bay Beach, and Rhythm & Riffs Lounge located at the center of the casino floor. With its signature mix of grit, grime, and grandeur, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020 will continue to redefine America’s conception of what a music festival can be.

The curators of the event are pleased to unveil the first round of artists to grace the PSYCHO stages with California garage rock icons Ty Segall & The Freedom Band, New York alternative noise rock veterans Blonde Redhead, Virginia doom metal unit Windhand, and Massachusetts psyche metallers Elder (scheduled to play the pre-party), as well as Norwegian black metal legends Mayhem, long-running Norwegian dark ambient collective Ulver, Icelandic synth punk trio Kaelan Mikla, and Argentinian dark electric “mausoleum music” makers Mephistofeles.

Tickets for PSYCHO LAS VEGAS as well as the PSYCHO SWIM pre-party, which requires a separate ticket from the main festival pass, are on sale now!

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS offers several pricing tiers and payment plans starting with a $20 deposit. 3-Day GA Weekender passes start at $199 (excluding tax and fees). Limited VIP 3-Day High Roller passes – which sell out annually – are available for $499 (excluding tax and fees) and include:

— VIP access for all three days of the festival + entry to the Thursday pre-party
— VIP hotel and festival check-in at Mandalay Bay
— Dedicated lines for expedited entry to all stages of the festival
— Private viewing areas, seating, restrooms and bars at three stages of the festival
— Limited edition and exclusive merch item for 2020 High Rollers only

Tickets for all PSYCHO LAS VEGAS events can be purchased at VivaPsycho.com or AXS.com.

Meticulously curated, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS has gained worldwide recognition for consistently delivering lineups that grow increasingly diverse and eclectic with each passing year, the magnitude of which have yet to be seen in North America. From post-rock, to black metal, to world music and even electronica, PSYCHO’s wide-ranging allure has expanded ceaselessly since its inception, bringing together musicians and artists from seemingly immiscible corners of the musical world.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3255628101138593/
http://www.vivapsycho.com
http://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
http://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

Elder, Live at Psycho Smokeout 2019