Dispatch from SonicBlast 2023: Day One
Posted in Features, Reviews on August 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
08.10.23 – Thu. – Festival grounds
Before show
Day one. Also night one. There’s about two hours until Desert’smoke kick things off on Stage 3, but I got here early I guess basically to start writing and scope out where shade could be found. It’s not egregiously hot — I suspect the fact that the ocean is just over the large sand dune behind me has something to do with that, and the breeze is pleasant. I got a water bottle that I’ll keep all weekend barring disaster and sat down under an umbrella by one of the row of food trucks off to the side of the grounds, adjacent to the third stage.
I’ve had four espressos in about the last three hours, and so count myself as awake. There is a little cafe next to where I’m staying that has been very kind, though I think the guy running the hotel suspects I’m hiding more than one person in the room and walking back in with two tiny paper cups, which he definitely noticed, probably didn’t help my case. Nobody else, dude. Just trying to pry my eyes open.
Slept about six hours and got up, showered, grabbed coffee, finished the review of last night correcting a bunch of typos resulting from writing on my phone and no doubt missing many others. For some reason every time I try to swipe the word ‘album’ it thinks I’m talking about someone named Alvin. As you might imagine, it comes up regularly. These are the crosses to bear on a long rock and roll weekend in coastal Europe with the sun shining and the breeze blowing. To be sure, I’ve had it far worse.
Checked in on The Patient Mrs. and The Pecan to see how they were getting on, and of course they were doing just fine in the early morning at home. Today is long — I’ll still be here 12 hours from now, again barring disaster — and a quick video chat felt good to touch ground before spending the rest of the day in an ether cloud of riffs and volume. I’m curious to see how I hold up, but right now I feel pretty okay, if I can dare to say so. I’m here, which is amazing in itself.
Here’s the day:
Desert’smoke
Groovy and spacious, Lisbon instrumental four-piece Desert’smoke eased the afternoon open with warm heavy psychedelic meandering offset by moments of heavier, riff-led roll and a bit of noisier slide guitar in the end. I wouldn’t call the sound groundbreaking, but I don’t think they’re trying to be. The material they played had character though in how smoothly it shifted from one stretch to the next, solos traded between the two guitars reaping applause along the way, and the crowd in front of the third stage was into it for more than just the shade under the tent where all sets to this point have taken place. An easy nod to get lost in, which means they’re doing it right, as 2019’s Karakum (discussed here) will attest, with some lighter touches of prog to complement the trippier aspects and the grounded riffs. If you’re the type to close your eyes at a show and figure out where the music takes you, they’d be a perfect candidate for that.
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Etran de L’Aïr
First band on the main stage — Stage 2, as it happens, which is on the left as you walk into the festival site — and they had the crowd dancing, mixing West African and rock musics together with an emphasis in rhythmic fluidity and extra-tasteful bass working in kind with the twisting guitar and the uptempo drums. Their home country of Niger recently saw its government overthrown, which is a hell of a thing to happen while you’re on tour in Europe. But as the soon-to-be 5,000-someodd people attending SonicBlast this weekend continued to trickle in, they were greeted by an engaging presence and a reminder of the often overlooked history of African rock, and psych rock particularly. You could find room to move up front, maybe even a bit of shade if you were lucky — I have a spot near a shaded fance and even a chair to sit in while writing this, so feel like I’m risking almost too much luxury, but it’s still early in the day. And by the time they were finishing up, the place was packed. Good. I hope they get home safe.
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Mythic Sunship
Coming from Copenhagen, instrumentalists Mythic Sunship played in the likely-coveted 4:20 slot, swapping with Death Valley Girls for some yet-unknown reason. Their 2022 LP, Light/Flux (review here), was released through Tee Pee Records, and they brought a similar purposeful-in-the-jam sensibility to the live set. Humble heavy-prog? I guess that was a thing bound to happen. After Etran de L’Aïr, they came across thicker in tone as they would, but the guitar was able to float above the sharp turns of bass and drums beneath, the two sides coming together for well-placed peaks and valleys. It was fun to watch the audience shift over to the other main stage. “Okay, everybody take 35 steps to your right!” But while they were a surprise in that timeslot, Mythic Sunship by daylight was an unabashed joy and heavy to boot — though they had me wondering if it’s weird to play in front of a giant photo of yourself projected onto a screen — with runs of less guitar woven through the songs and a sensibility able to burst into a rock riff and drive that point home, not quite shape-shifting but making transitions that not every band could while sounding sure-footed and explorational at the same time, tipping into psych here and there but with clear direction in mind. I should probably buy that CD. Maybe a couple of them. Their last song was a particular burner and you could hear cheering before they were even done.
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Sasquatch
That finish was as much a lead-in as L.A.’s Sasquatch could ever hope for, and 10-minute changeovers between bands — which you can do when you have the entire set on the stage next door to load out and in and get everything set up — assures forward momentum. I had been saying hi to the Sasquatch guys earlier, and seeing guitarist/vocalist Keith Gibbs writing out the setlist, took my phone out and snapped a picture as a goof. Bad call. He got mad, grabbed his Sharpie and pieces of paper, and was gone before I could even apologize. I felt pretty bad about it, despite the assurances of bassist Jason “Cas” Casanova and drummer Craig Riggs that it was fine, he was pissed about other stuff, etc. So yeah, stupid for even adding to whatever frustration existed prior. I was just kidding around. That photo got deleted off my phone and I’m never looking to invade privacy. One more reason I’m best sitting in front of a laptop. Lesson learned. Again.
They had some technical issues that caused them to begin upwards of two minutes late, but once they started, they were every bit the force they’ve come. I don’t know how you leave a Sasquatch set not thinking of them as one of the best currently active pure heavy rock bands from America, Gibbs paying homage to guitar gods of yore and belting out new and old material with a delivery the reach of which has only grown over the 20-ish years of the band, Cas and/or Riggs backing at various points, all three locked in solid for the duration. There were not a lot of people milling around while they played. Dinner could wait, and so it did. Crowd surfing out front as they chugged Jack Daniels. A new album next year, maybe, would be a thing to look forward to. They did have new stuff in the set, a song called “This Heart is So Lonely,” and that’s always a good sign; you might recall when they were interviewed here earlier this year, they said they were recording in May. They’re the kind of band that gets people into this music in the first place. And then they (completely unnecessarily) shouted me out before “Destroyer,” said a few very nice things, which just about obliterated me, never mind floored. Thanks guys. And sorry again. We’re all heart emojis forever as far as I’m concerned. I went to the merch tent after they played and many sweaty hugs were exchanged. It’s a high bar to set but I’m gonna see if I can go the second half-plus of this day without making an ass of myself.
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Crippled Black Phoenix
It’s been so long since the last time I saw Crippled Black Phoenix, I had to stop what I was doing and look it up. You know when it was? 2019, at Roadburn (review here). So not actually terrible unless you count the fact that the span of 2020-’21 was eight years long. Still, that’s two Crippled Black Phoenix records ago; their latest is Banefyre (review here), the bleak brilliance of which made hearing it an act of emotional labor. They’re a challenging band anyway, expansive goth metal that’s all of those things and not really any of them. For an intro to one of their songs they had the same tune the ice cream truck by my house does, and there was definitely a part of me that perked up because I knew if my kid heard it she’d be chasing it down running in the middle of the street. Nope, just Crippled Black Phoenix adding atmosphere to atmosphere, as they will. I didn’t see any sad shuffle-dancing, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and it continues to be incredible how much this band exist in their own world in terms of style, and how that manages to be true even though they have a different lineup every time I see them, this one with two keyboardists, two lead singers, three guitars, one bass, one drums, and to their credit, they were nowhere near too much, and the rhythm section stood up to the task of pushing all that weight. Tonal and existential. And I would say it was weird seeing them by daylight, but the truth is it didn’t matter. They bring their own clouds.
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Spy
A not-insignificant landing to stick, going from Crippled Black Phoenix’s ultra-brood to the darkly thrashy hardcore metal of Spy, who are the most outwardly aggressive act thus far into the fest, and who plied their wares with persistent intensity. They had a circle pit going, were nastier than Scatterbrainiac last night for residing on the same genre spectrum, and actually, the more I think about it, the more sense their place on the bill makes, and the more every band today has been up to something of their own. They finished 15 minutes early, as a hardcore band might do here, but figure if you slowed their songs down to the average speed around here, they might’ve hit the mark, temporal mechanics notwithstanding. For sure they got their point across. I don’t think anyone was arguing with the chance to grab a bite to eat, a beer and so forth, but they did well with a crowd that’s at least somewhat not their own. Sometimes you want that kind of catharsis. I ain’t arguing.
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Acid King
Ah, Acid King. A balm for my sunburnt skin. “Mind’s Eye” from this year’s stellar Beyond Vision (review here) followed by “Coming Down From Outer Space” from 2015’s Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (discussed here, review here) and “2 Wheel Nation” from III (discussed here) a decade prior. What a starting three to leave you on the doorstep of “Electric Machine” from the stoner rock omega that is 1999’s Busse Woods (featured here, discussed here) tone dense enough that you could feel the ground shake. Founding guitarist/vocalist Lori S. is joined by the ace-in-sleeve rhythm section of bassist/synthesist Bryce Shelton and drummer Jason Willer, who also played on the latest record, and it was my first time seeing this lineup but they sounded incredible. And as much as Acid King are considered a legendary band in underground heavy, I don’t think they get nearly enough credit for the lessons in grooves, riffs and the ability of a song to be outrageously heavy and still laid back, mellow. “Destination Psych” into “Beyond Vision” into “Color Trails.” That’s a fucking jam. Look. If you wanna pick favorites, Acid King are high on my list and as far as I’m concerned, stoner rock doesn’t exist without them. AND they’re growing as a band after three decades since starting out. There’s not a lot of bands I could listen to any time, regardless of mood or circumstance, but Acid King are always more than welcome in my ears. And with the kind of volume they had at SonicBlast, only more so. It was full across both stages, and they brought the sun down. Glorious.
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Death Valley Girls
Second band of the day from Los Angeles. Planet Earth is weird. Death Valley Girls took off running at the outset and only really stopped to say thanks and how strange it was for them since their normal singer was stuck in L.A. unless I completely misinterpreted what they were saying between songs, which is possible because I’m old and have hearing damage. I’m not sure the crowd knew the difference. I wouldn’t have if they’d said anything. Nothing seemed missing from their arrangements, with vocals handled by their bassist and another singer with a floor tom — which I wholly support; more floor toms, and I’m not being sarcastic — and they weren’t any looser than their heavy garage psych meets ’90s alt rock vibe warranted. Mostly uptempo but not rushed sounding, they seemed to dare toward fun in a made it almost too perfect they were playing the same day as Crippled Black Phoenix — one of whose six-stringers had an explicit ‘no fun’ sticker on the body of his guitar — and that went over well. I don’t know how familiar the crowd was generally, but I didn’t know them and whatever their situation was lineup-wise that perhaps was the reason why they switched slots with Mythic Sunship, they acquitted themselves well. I’d check out a record, gladly.
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OFF!
I was neither cool enough nor the right kind of uncool enough to be a punker, but even I know who the fuck Keith Morris is, and he’s my favorite of the various singers Black Flag had during their original run. The First Four Years, man. Their moniker taken from yet another brand of bug repellant, OFF! is Morris (lest we forget to mention Circle Jerks), guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Autry Fulbright II and drummer Justin Brown, and the crowd was packed in front of the stage 20 minutes before they went on, buzzing. I had gone to get coffee, and that turned out to be well timed ahead of their set, which made traditionalist hardcore punk sound new in a seemingly impossible way. They put out their first record in eight years (their fourth overall), Free LSD, in 2022, and they’re at the top of the bill tonight to support it, though not playing last by any stretch. They were unipolar in their manic push and gallop, and Morris was very much at the center of the circus. I don’t own an OFF! record and I’m not sure I’ve ever written about them since their inception in 2010 (I checked that and it’s true save for the announcement they were playing here), but having now seen them, I’m glad I did, which puts me in decent company I think with just about everyone here. Stripped down as it would have to be, but holy shit that’s loud.
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Hällas
This was my second time seeing Hällas in about two months, so safe to say their futurist space progressive rock was fresh in mind. They had been warmly welcomed at Freak Valley (review here) and were perhaps more so here, with the crowd at the front of the barricade singing along, fist-pumping and so on. Riffs a-blazin’, keyboard with that gorgeous proggy krautrock sound that’s 50 years old and still ‘The Sound of Tomorrow!’ (to be read in a big booming voice), they were on, though to be honest, this is the third time I’ve caught them live and I’ve never come away disappointed. Are they likely to take over the world with their theatrical heavy space whatnot? Probably no. But in another abrupt aesthetic shift, they followed OFF!’s set with textures and a presence that was no less their own. I think I might like this band. Anything but that! Not another band! Nonetheless, they’ve been at this for at least 12 years now, so while they’re a young band in my head, they’re ab established band, and it seems like maybe it’s time for me to dig into their records for really real and see where I finally stand. 2022’s Isle of Wisdom a good place to start? Guess I’ll find out. I remembered “Star Rider,” which is on their first LP, so that’s something. I’ll figure it out. Party like it’s 1975. I swear I saw meteors steak the sky when they were done. Conjure the perseids.
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Kadavar
It’s been a very long tone (really) since I saw Kadavar last. Three or four records, like. The Berlin-based classic heavy rockers — who in the interim have put themselves on the path to become a classic band as well — added second guitarist and backing vocalist Jascha Kreft to become a four-piece, and hearing them play older songs like “All Our Thoughts” or even “Die, Baby, Die” from 2017’s For the Dead Travel Fast (review here) — I guess it’s all pre-lineup change since it’s not like they’ve done a record since March when Kreft’s joining was announced — but you could hear the difference this six added strings were making in the fullness of their sound, Kreft on a long riser with drummer Tiger while guitarist/vocalist Lupus Lindemann and bassist Simon “Dragon” Bouteloup held it down on the stage, swing and strut to spare. What songwriters they are. Here’s a Kadavar track you haven’t heard in about six years. No worries, you’ll remember it. Their sound has expanded since their early days of vintage worship, but no matter where they go, they bring the songs with them. And with Kreft serving keyboard/synth and backing vocal duties as well, they’ll likely keep growing. That ethic, the memorable craft, the not-tired-of-it-yet performance from all of them; it makes it easy to see them as one of the best heavy rock bands of their generation, with a legacy carved in stone and a refusal to stagnate that exists alongside an ability to blast out “Doomsday Machine” near the end of the set like they just wrote it. Bands like this don’t happen all the time. I already knew I let it go too long without catching a show, so that wasn’t news, but I’m glad as hell not to have missed this one.
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Deathchant
Amp blew in the first song. Maybe second. Early, either way, but they kept it going, got a new head and before much real-time had passed, Deathchant (the day’s third and final L.A. band) were ripping anew with their gritted-up dual-guitar/dual-vocal NWOBHM proselytizing. I won’t lie to you and say I stayed the whole time. It was getting on 2AM and I still had work to do writing and sorting photos, but rest assured they were loud enough that as I walked up toward the beach and off the fest grounds to make my way back to the hotel, I had the urge to put my earplugs back in. I probably should have, but was distracted as I walked out of the light and realized the sky I was standing beneath. To look up and see the Milky Way bifurcating a night’s stars that I don’t know, with the resonant low frequency wub of Deathchant behind me and the illusion of privacy in that very dark little stretch of beach between one boardwalk and the next, separated from everything I might’ve screwed up today and everything I didn’t. Me, neck craned to the cosmos above, riffs echoing in the distance. The only part that was weird was that it was real and I was living it. While Deathchant were kicking plenty of ass and leaving a mark in that regard, I think I’ll probably always associate them with that minute, maybe two, of my existence. Something they were part of that they’ll probably never know about. It’s quite a galaxy.
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Back to the day’s various successes and failures. I failed at food. Had like three forks of the almond butter I brought from home (not mine; store bought; still good) before going to the fest and more when I got back to the room and that was it. On every level, the wrong choice, and it didn’t really feel like it was one. I’m doing my best.
Success? The day, really. I met more super-nice people, and apart from the misunderstanding with Gibbs from Sasquatch, I think I managed to go the entire 12-hour shift without directly alienating anybody. Maybe. And even that got worked out. I had my sunglasses on. He didn’t know it was me. Indeed, other shit going on. Sometimes you get wound tight and it doesn’t take much to set you off. I felt bad. I still do, but that’s how I roll. But it was a great day. I even saw the Ruff Majik guys again for a bit. They’re staying in the same place I am.
I also took over 1,300 pictures today, which I have to think I might not do if I was a better photographer. Ha. Anyhow, some of those will end up at the bottom here, but I’m not even going to start sorting them tonight because I’m so god damned tired. Good night, thanks for reading and, I promise before this is posted there will be more pics after the jump.
