Here’s a daydream for you. Hop on a plane and land somewhere in Spain that’s (quite literally, as I understand it) out of a Sergio Leone film to see three full days of international quality heavy from Mondo Generator and Unida and Nightstalker on down to Xispa and the Wild Pigs. I’m assuming the six tickets that were left when Tabernas Desert Rock Fest 2025 posted its full lineup the other day are long gone by now, or if not, congratulations if you’re one of the last six. I’ve talked to people who’ve been to this one and it looks amazing. Think of an experiential festival, kind of like Duna Jam or Bear Stone, but in an old-style Western setting.

And not to harp on it, but the lineup is really solid. I’m less familiar with Convoy or Scrotem or Baläte near the bottom of the poster, though at least the latter have played before, but with the likes of High Desert Queen, Kal-El, Rotor, Temple Fang, Godsleep, Ritual King and Tankzilla, it’s a cross-generational assemblage limited to 300 tickets and what seems to be an intimate setting that, at very least, is going to look incredible when you share the photos of everyone ripping it up. This is one I’ve been keeping up with for the last few years, and I think it’s easy to see why when you check the bill.

Again, I’m assuming those six tickets are gone, but you never know until you reach out at the email below:

So now here it is, our official confirmed LINE-UP for 2025 edition, with still one surprise ;-) = ENJOY!

WE ONLY HAVE 6 TICKETS LEFT, GET YOURS NOW BY MAIL:

tabernasdesertrockfest@t-online.de

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/fort-bravo/tabernas-desert-rock-fest-2025/1077631823361309/

NICK OLIVERI’s Mondo Generator (USA):
Unida (USA)
Nightstalker (GR)
Kal-El (NOR)
Rotor (DE)
Godsleep (GR)
Ritual King (UK)
High Desert Queen (USA)
Temple Fang (NL)
TankZilla (NL)
Psychogarden (DE)
Convoy (DE)
Baläte (ESP)
Scrotem (DE)
XISPA & THE WILD PIGS (ESP)

https://www.instagram.com/tabernasdesertrockfest/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057087564915

Unida, live in Gothenburg, Sweden, Sept. 19, 2024

Okeydokey, what do we learn here? Bongzilla will be in Europe this Spring, and Mondo Generator will be out to follow up on Nick Oliveri‘s winter solo tour, and Kadabra will go supporting their most excellent 2023 outing, Umbra (review here), though that was already apparent from the first Desertfest London announce. Along with MR.BISON, the esteemed Ufomammut — who’ll have a new LP out sometime in 2024, allegedly — Greek mainstays Nightstalker and upstarts 1782, speedrockers Tankzilla and punkers The Clamps, that’s the bill as it stands that will swap acts back and forth across two nights in Bologna and Trieste next May for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Italy 2024.

This is not the end of the announcements, of course, but it’s a rousing start as the Italian label and booking agency continues to branch out to new places. You’ll note Trieste is home for Rocket Panda Management, who are involved here and also behind the StonerKras Fest that’s taken place the last couple of years later in the summer. I assume that’s still happening too, and will do so until I hear or see otherwise.

I don’t have numbers on the site’s readership in Bologna or Trieste, but I think these things are relevant anyway exactly because of the above: they show you who’s going to be where when. And it gives me an excuse to post the Kadabra record again. Double-win.

From the PR wire:

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 Bologna & Trieste – TICKETS PRESALE + FIRST BANDS !!!

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Bologna and for the first time Trieste with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!

In cooperation with Freakout Club and Rocket Panda Management, today Heavy Psych Sounds has announced the first confirmed bands + TICKETS PRESALE for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 !!!

The HPS Fest Italy will be taking place 3rd and 4th of May at the Teatro Miela in Trieste and 4th and 5th of May at the TPO Club in Bologna !!!

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 – BOLOGNA & TRIESTE

@ TPO, Bologna // 4th and 5th May 2024

@ Teatro Miela, Trieste // 3rd and 4th May 2024

feat.
BONGZILLA
MONDO GENERATOR
UFOMAMMUT
NIGHTSTALKER
1782
KADABRA
MR. BISON
TANKZILLA
THE CLAMPS
+ more TBA

BOLOGNA WEEKEND TICKETS:
https://www.freakoutbologna.com/hps

TRIESTE WEEKEND TICKETS:
https://www.miela.it/spettacoli/heavy-psych-sounds-fest-italy-2024/

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

Mondo Generator, We Stand Against You (2023)

Kadabra, Umbra (2023)

Forgive me if what I have to say here amounts to “right on.” Temple Fang guitarist Jevin de Groot (above as seen at the recent Freak Valley Festival in Germany) and bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer have used the Right on Mountain name for releasing records, an internet radio station, a tattoo shop, an arts collective — others may be involved in these endeavors, of course; it’s not like there’s a board of directors list published in the annual financial report — and probably more, so to have Temple Fang create, curate, host and play a festival under the Right on Mountain banner feels like a natural-enough idea.

Any case, I’m pretty sure there’s a ‘Temple Festival’ somewhere — at least Temples was a thing a few years back, and my understanding is it didn’t end well — and ‘Fang Fest’ has alliterative appeal but beyond that sounds more goth than the Amsterdam-based longform psych explorers are likely to intend, even if they’re thinking of this as a longer-term, annual event. Though I guess you never know. Would be some shit if Temple Fang went goth. Cue the church organ. Might be awesome, actually. Maybe just for one record.

But hey, if you’re gonna do a thing like this, might as well call up some of your weirdo friends and get them on board too. Neptunian Maximalism from Belgium, Tankzilla, Spill Gold, Solar Temple, Dead Neanderthals and Temple Fang themselves will play the Right on Mountain Festival held Oct. 8 in Nijmegen at the it’s-famous-and-my-ignorant-ass-still-can’t-pronounce-it Doornroosje venue, giving aural variety from avant garde freepsychjazz to classic Dutch speed rock and beyond, and because I have no trouble believing Temple Fang could make this an annual happening, I didn’t want to let it pass without at least marking the announcement of the first one, brief and to the point as it is.

Poster and info follow. The text was run through a major tech company’s translation matrix, so take it for what it is:

Right on Mountain // Doornroosje Nijmegen

Tickets Oct. 8: http://www.doornroosje.nl/event/right-on-mountain

FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/357001243204516

Right on Mountain. An event with a line-up that celebrates various aspects of music, from loud to soft, dark and light…

Temple Fang has always been on a mission to explore the wider world, meeting new people and other like-minded artists. To make connections and build community, no matter what preference.

Since then the band has shared the stage with so many acts that have inspired and befriended them that the idea was born to bundle this together in a small, but powerful festival with a selection of these great artists in collaboration with Sleeping Beauty. Behold the birth of Right on Mountain. An evening where all aspects of music are praised, from loud to soft, dark and light, for everyone.

From the hypnotic blackened psych metal of Solar Temple x Dead Neanderthals, the velvety, trancy electronics of Spill Gold to the cosmic jazz-drone psychedelia of Neptunian Maximalism and the brutal riff attack of TankZilla. Of course Temple Fang itself should not be missed this evening. To speak in their own words; ‘Rock’n’roll as a means to attaining spiritual freedom, right on!’.

As we all march through a strange new world, we hope this lineup will provide the inspiration and faith needed to move mountains.

Right On Mountain is also a platform and label for album releases, shows and other art forms. Founded by Jevin and Dennis from Temple Fang, this evening will also be the official launch.

https://www.facebook.com/templefangband
https://templefang.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ElectricSparkRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/electricsparkrecords/
https://electricspark.bandcamp.com/
https://facebook.com/663740820355121/

Neptunian Maximalism, Set Chaos to the Heart of the Moon (2022)

Temple Fang, Fang Temple (2021)