The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

Since their inception three years ago, Houston heavy rockers Funeral Horse have proved to have more than enough weirdo edge to match their rolling, classic-style groove. In the fine and long-standing tradition of Bizarro Texas, their material is both strange and familiar somehow, playing smartly off conventions of traditional metal and punk and noise rock, but establishing an experimental undercurrent that assures they’re completely allied to none of the above.

From their first record, 2013’s Savage Audio Demon (review here), onward, Funeral Horse have willfully defied expectation. At the time I confirmed them for The Obelisk All-Dayer, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar — just EIGHT DAYS AWAY; get your tickets here — I did so in no small part because I thought maybe seeing them live would help explain at least in part just what the hell it is they’re up to. I wound up seeing them this past February and not only did I get a sense of the roots of their offbeat vibe, but was taken aback by their stage presence and the tightness of their performance as well. Bonus.

The song in today’s countdown video is called “Burial of the Sun.” It was filmed in Houston a couple weeks ago and it comes from Funeral Horse‘s impending fourth album, Psalms of the Mourning, which is currently being recorded. I’m stoked beyond all repair to welcome Funeral Horse to The Obelisk All-Dayer and hopefully watch as they blow a few minds and catch a lot of people off-guard, which they’re bound to do even if you think you might know what to expect.

Funeral Horse join Mars Red Sky, Death Alley, Snail, Kings Destroy, EYE, King Buffalo and Heavy Temple on the bill at The Obelisk All-Dayer, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NYC. For more info and to get your tickets for under the door price, click here.

Enjoy “Burial of the Sun” below:

Funeral Horse, “Burial of the Sun” Live in Houston

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Saint Vitus Bar website

The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

I wasn’t there to see it, of course, but I happen to know that this particular show has become something of a legend within Kings Destroy. It was the Getaway Rockfestival in Sweden, part of their 2012 European tour. They’d wind up hanging out with Weedeater — and by hanging out I mean stealing a forklift — and playing on what you can see in the video below is a massive stage to a likewise massive audience. Looks like it was an absolute blast.

Since even before Kings Destroy released their first album through this site’s short-lived record label wing, the New York outfit have been among my favorite bands to write about. They’ve consistently defied expectation — mine for sure, and I think their own as well — and have over the last five years become a highly individualized blend of noise rock, heavier sludge impulses and anti-genre fuckall.

On stage they’re confrontational in a way that was once a staple of their hometown. I’ve been fortunate enough to tour with them twice, and on the East Coast and the West, they’ve left audiences dumbfounded and won over in like proportion. Their third and latest record, Kings Destroy (review here), came out last year on War Crime Recordings and is a triumph of how far into their own they’ve come, full of memorable songs that have made for some genuinely ridiculous live shows. People have been kicked. By other people. On stage. Frequently.

There was basically no way I was going to put on The Obelisk All-Dayer — which is Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn (get tickets) — and not have them involved. I’m glad they said yes. They’ll be the lone New York band on the bill, which they’re sharing with Mars Red Sky, Death Alley, Snail, Eye, Funeral Horse, King Buffalo and Heavy Temple. It’s going to be incredible.

With visions of forklifts in your head, enjoy “Old Yeller” below:

Kings Destroy, “Old Yeller” Live in Sweden

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Saint Vitus Bar website

The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

This past weekend, West Coast riff-rollers Snail got together for rehearsal before they come east to play The Obelisk All-Dayer, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. Nothing weird about that, right? Bands rehearse all the time.

Snail are spread out between Los Angeles and Seattle — and for those of you unfamiliar with American geography, that’s not a minor distance, even for being on the same coast. They don’t always get together to record, let alone practice, so to have the three of them in the same room performing material at all is something special, let alone their traveling across the country to play a gig.

The timing couldn’t have been better to have bassist/engineer Matt Lynch record some of their time together and put it in a video clip for “Smoke the Deathless.” Comprised of Lynch, guitarist/vocalist Mark Johnson and drummer Marty Dodson, Snail come to The Obelisk All-Dayer on the heels of their finest work to-date, 2015’s Feral (review here), which was released by Small Stone.

It’s the third album they’ve put out since 2009, but their fourth overall. Their debut came in 1993 and was followed by an EP and a 16-year disbanding. Even since coming back, they’ve toured only sparingly, so I cannot emphasize this enough — if you ever want to see these guys, take advantage of this opportunity. It may or may not ever come again, let alone on a bill shared with Mars Red Sky, Death Alley, Kings Destroy, Eye, Funeral Horse, King Buffalo and Heavy Temple.

Thanks to Snail for making the trip to Brooklyn on Aug.20 to play The Obelisk All-Dayer and the trip to get in a rehearsal beforehand. You can check out the video from their session of “Smoke the Deathless” below in tripped-out style, then pick up your All-Dayer tickets at Ticketfly. Do that. Really.

Snail, “Smoke the Deathless” official video

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Snail on Thee Facebooks

Saint Vitus Bar website

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With the addition of Amsterdam’s Death Alley, the bill for the first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer is complete. Show is Saturday, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. The complete lineup is as follows:

THE OBELISK ALL-DAYER:
Mars Red Sky*
Death Alley*
Snail*
Kings Destroy
EYE
Funeral Horse*
King Buffalo
Heavy Temple
* first East Coast appearance.

Death Alley

Motor-driven Netherlands heavy rockers Death Alley tore their way into the consciousness with their 2015 debut album, Black Magick Boogieland (review here), on Tee Pee Records. An offering that set itself a seemingly impossible task with its title and then managed to live up to it, the record pulled together straightforward, classic-style brashness and offered an edge of spaced-out expanse that worked in a scope few groups would dare attempt, especially their first time out.

With members of Gewapend Beton, The Devil’s Blood and Mühr in the lineup, they’re not exactly inexperienced, but the energy they brought to Black Magick Boogieland and the energy they bring to the stage is fresh and righteously their own. I was fortunate enough to see them at Roadburn in 2014 (review here) and again twice this year (reviews here and here), and the progress they’ve made in that time was evident both in their sound and in the crowd they drew to watch them play. A group that obviously enjoys what they do on stage and wants you to do the same, they’ll bring vitality and push to The Obelisk All-Dayer in a way that no one else could, and maybe get a little weirdo jammy in the process. Awesome.

The Afterparty

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Oh an afterparty. La-di-da. Let’s all do blow and talk about Reaganomics.” Not quite what I’m going for. The show itself will run from 2:30PM until about midnight. Today I’m thrilled to announce that at 12AM, two DJs will be taking over: DJ Adzo and Walter Roadburn.

I don’t think either needs much of an introduction. Walter is of course the creative force behind the aforementioned Roadburn festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands. DJ Adzo is also known as Adam from Brooklyn’s own The Golden Grass and La Otracina. Both are excellent human beings and I’m humbled they’re willing to be involved in The Obelisk All-Dayer.

From 12AM to 2AM, they’ll be spinning whatever the hell they want — classics, new stuff, stuff you know, stuff you don’t — and I feel completely comfortable trusting the taste of both of them and can’t wait to hear what they put on. After Mars Red Sky‘s headlining set, there’s still plenty of party left, and I hope you’ll stick around for it.

The Obelisk All-Dayer is Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature full sets, after-show DJs, food on-hand, live recordings, limited edition merch and much more. Official poster and set times coming soon.

The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

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Kings Destroy on Thee Facebooks

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The first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer is set for Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NY. So far the announced lineup includes Mars Red Sky for their first East Coast appearance, Snail for their first East Coast appearance, Ohio’s EYE supporting their new album, Funeral Horse for their first East Coast appearance and King Buffalo, who’ll be playing the last night of their release tour.

I’m proud and thrilled today to add Kings Destroy and Heavy Temple to the bill.

I can’t say enough about what each of these bands brings to the show, and I couldn’t be more stoked to have them involved. One thing I’ve been trying to do all along is build a genuine flow to the day that I think will make sense as one set leads to the next. It’ll make sense once the full running order is posted, but for the time being, let me just say that both these bands hold a special place in the lineup.

Here’s more on each:

Kings Destroy

There isn’t a band today I feel closer to than Brooklyn’s Kings Destroy. If you read this site at all, you probably already know that. I’ve been a nerd for these cats since their first 7″ and I’m fortunate today to consider them as friends and the bottom line is there’s just no way in hell I’d put on this show and not have them involved. They were out on tour earlier this year with Black Cobra, Lo-Pan and Bongzilla supporting their 2015 self-titled third album, for which they’ve already started writing the follow-up. They have a new 15-minute song that last I heard was about half done and they don’t know it yet, but I’m calling them out to play it at this show. The gauntlet is thrown down, gentlemen.

Heavy Temple

Oh my god, the new Heavy Temple is so good. Don’t get me wrong, I knew before I heard it that I wanted them on this bill — I’ve known it since Vultures of Volume last year, but the Philly trio have a new EP in the can and it’s absolutely stellar. They’ll open the show hopefully playing tracks from it and I expect by the time August comes around, there will be some official announcement as to the release, but even if you don’t know it yet, you’re in for a treat as they kick things off at The Obelisk All-Dayer. I shouldn’t have to tell you to get there early — looking like a 2:30PM start — but I will anyway, just to reinforce the importance of the issue. Get there early.

The Obelisk All-Dayer is Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature full sets, after-show DJs, food truck on-hand, live recordings, limited edition merch and much more. One more band to be announced in June, along with DJs and the running order.

The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

The Obelisk All-Dayer event page

Kings Destroy on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Temple on Thee Facebooks

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Today I’m ridiculously pleased to announce that lush progressive heavy psych rockers EYE will play the first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer on Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NY.

By the time Aug. 20 gets here, EYE will have very likely issued Vision and the Ageless Light, their third full-length and first for The Laser’s Edge. The album arrives following a grueling three-year wait since EYE‘s last release, 2013’s Second Sight (review here), and features new guitarist Jon Finley and new bassist Michael Sliclen alongside founders Lisa Bella Donna (synth) and Brandon Smith (drums), embarking on an expansion of the melodically resonant poise they showed last time out and on their 2011 debut, Center of the Sun (review here).

I’ve been fortunate enough to see EYE live, and their flowing, patient, heavy and thoughtful material is a perfect fit for The Obelisk All-Dayer. If you haven’t been introduced, their latest outing was 2014’s Live at Relay (review here), which brought together two massive, 19-minute cosmic explorations captured, as the title indicates, completely on the move. The textures they’re able to create on those songs push through atmospheric boundaries to create something as spaced-out as it is plotted, and EYE steer their ship with a rare grace as they move further and further away from terra firma.

Bella Donna had this to say about playing: “We are equally excited to rip some music as well as listen during the festival. We are very big fans of The Obelisk and our full intention is to celebrate that energy and the momentum that JJ has already elevated. We have a lot of new sounds and vibes flowing in our music, so we’re excited to bring them to the already great host of music we’ll get the opportunity to listen and party to.”

EYE join the previously announced Mars Red Sky, Snail, King Buffalo and Funeral Horse on the bill for The Obelisk All-Dayer. Tickets are available now. Three more bands still TBA.

The Obelisk All-Dayer is Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature full sets, after-show DJs, food truck on-hand, live recordings, limited edition merch and much more. Stay tuned for announcements to follow.

The Obelisk All-Dayer tickets

The Obelisk All-Dayer event page

EYE on Thee Facebooks

EYE on Bandcamp

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I’m happy to report the first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NY, will also mark the first-ever East Coast appearance of Snail.

The band, who released their finest outing to-date in last year’s Feral (review here), go back some 23 years, having gotten their start with an underrated self-titled album that was followed the next year by an EP and then 16 full years of silence before 2009’s Blood (review here) brought them back. That record, 2012’s Terminus (review here), and Feral established them as masters of heavy psych grooves, rolling maximum-density riffs with a laid back vibe that few dare to be chill enough to match, full in sound and soothing even in its most chaotic moments.

I was fortunate enough to see Snail play a few years back in San Francisco (review here), and they were killer then. Now, back to their original trio incarnation with guitarist/vocalist Mark Johnson, bassist Matt Lynch and drummer Marty Dodson, Snail will hit the Eastern Seaboard for the first time to play a full-hour set and join the bill with France’s Mars Red Sky (also their first East Coast appearance), Texas trio Funeral Horse, Rochester, NY’s King Buffalo, and more TBA at The Obelisk All-Dayer. It wouldn’t be a party without them.

Comments Mark Johnson on making the trip from the West Coast to play: “People have been asking us to play on the East Coast for years. Honestly, personally, this is one of the most exciting things in my life. I’ve been to Manhattan once and completely fell in love — so super-happy to be going back to NY… this time Brooklyn!!! And it feels like going home in some way since we’re all friends and you are putting this on.”

That’s precisely the vibe I’m going for with this whole idea. We’re all friends, it’s gonna be a good time, and we’re all hopefully going to feel at home in some big ol’ heavy hippie kind of way. I’m dead serious. The closer we get to this thing happening, the more excited I am. I hope you feel the same, and I hope to see you there.

The Obelisk All-Dayer is Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature full sets, after-show DJs, food truck on-hand, live recordings, limited edition merch and much more. Stay tuned for announcements to follow.

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More to come!

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The Obelisk All-Dayer event page

Snail on Thee Facebooks

Feral on Bandcamp

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It is with distinct and enduring pleasure that I announce the next two bands for The Obelisk All-Dayer, Aug. 20 at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn: Funeral Horse and King Buffalo. Two groups with vastly different mindsets between them, they nonetheless emphasize the kind of weirdo rock range I’m going for with this thing, varied in their levels of sonic heft, aggression and scope.

They join the previously-confirmed Mars Red Sky on the bill for the show, which will start at 2PM and run past midnight with loads of heavy psych, noise, doom and beyond, as well as food on hand, recorded sets, exclusive merch and more. It’s going to be a party, a day-long party, and it’s my sincere hope that you can make it out.

More announcements will follow, but for now, here’s some info on Funeral Horse and King Buffalo:

Funeral Horse

Funeral Horse will make their way north and east from Houston, Texas, to play The Obelisk All-Dayer. By the time they get to Brooklyn, they’ll have recorded their new full-length and performed at Borderland Fuzz Fiesta and more besides, and my motivation for having them aboard couldn’t be simpler: I need to see them live. If only just to try and figure them out.

The three-piece release their third album, Divinity for the Wicked (review here), last fall as the follow-up to 2014’s Sinister Rites of the Master (review here) and 2013’s Savage Audio Demon (review here), and all along, they’ve fostered this strange combination of punk, doom, noise, stoner and cult rock that’s immediately familiar but entirely their own. I’m eager to see what they bring to the stage in terms of energy, but more than that, I’m just dying to try and get a grip on where they’re coming from, since they’re one of the most individualized acts I’ve come across in the last three years.

King Buffalo

Is King Buffalo‘s debut album, Orion, out yet? Okay. How about now? Now? NOW??? Truth is, I’ve been dying for the thing since the Rochester, New York, trio offered up their much-played first demo (review here) in 2013. A split with Sweden’s Lé Betre (review here) followed on STB Records and cemented the anticipation. I don’t know whether or not it’ll be out by the time Aug. 20 gets here, but with any luck they’ll have Orion material in their set and offer up a fix that way.

Their blend of heavy psychedelia, Americana and classic riff-led rock is second to none, and as The Obelisk All-Dayer makes the shift from afternoon into evening, they’ll be a perfect engrossing vibe to help everyone dig in as much as possible. Last I heard, that album is in the mixing stage, but whether or not the pressing’s done, I’m thrilled they’re aboard and can’t wait to see them again.

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More to come!

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