Posted in Whathaveyou on April 12th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
After a compelling first announcement two weeks ago that put Washington heavy rock institution Mos Generator atop a bill with six other outfits curated from among Europe and the UK’s ever-crowded underground — JIRM, Samavayo, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Omega Sun, and Fire Down Below — the Las Vegas-based festival Planet Desert Rock Weekend V offers four new names today with a similarly curated feel. California’s Fireball Ministry, Ohio’s Valley of the Sun (returning), Canadian upstarts Sons of Arrakis and Italian cosmic rockers MR.BISON (also returning) are the new additions to the lineup, and each brings something specific of their own to the mix for the three-dayer set for Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2025.
And yeah, that’s a ways off, but if you, like me, don’t actually live in Vegas, it’s an opportunity to make your travel plans early. As the city has never been a ‘scene’ hotbed for heavy fare — of course there are good bands who’ve come from there; that’s true of most of the planet — there’s no question Planet Desert Rock Weekend is positioning itself as a destination festival, and letting you book a flight before they’re even more outlandish than they are now is part of that. Not that I was just looking at airfare prices or anything, mind you. Because I absolutely was.
There were eight bands left after the first reveal, and this, as noted, adds four, so I count four more names to come, give or take, sometime between now and next January. I’m not sure how much more one could reasonably ask beyond what’s already being served here, but golly it’s fun to daydream.
Vegas Rock Revolution and Planet Desert Rock Weekend are proud to announce the next 4 bands for PDRW V. We bring back two alumni bands in Valley of the Sun and Mr. Bison, a longtime legacy band Fireball Ministry and rising star with Sons of Arrakis coming to Vegas for a fun filled weekend of heavy rock, friends and a cool environment that is comfortable. PDRW is designed to give you your mornings and afternoons to enjoy Vegas!
Fireball Ministry/ Los Angeles
Rising from quietly smoldering for a number of years we are honored to have Fireball Ministry be a part of PDRW. This is a pure legacy band that has been rocking the scene since 1999 and have shared the stage with the likes of Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, Judas Priest, Slayer, Danzig, Anthrax, Motörhead and many others. Recently it was announced Ripple Music will be reissuing their catalog.
Valley of the Sun/ Cincinnati
Super pumped to have Valley of the Sun return to Planet Desert Rock Weekend after performing at the inaugural one. Led by frontman Ryan Ferrier they deliver straight heavy rocking desert rock tinged stuff that sticks in your head. Their recently released album on Ripple Music landed close to the top of Vegas Rock Revolution’s top albums of the year.
Mr. Bison/ Italy
Mr. Bison has been one busy band since appearing at Planet Desert Rock Weekend II. Their latest album “Echoes of the Universe” has made an amazing splash in 2024 including landing #2 on the Doom Charts for February. Mr. Bison have continued to evolve and challenge themselves including adding a new member who is a multi instrumentalist. We can’t wait to have them back and hear the new stuff live! Mr. Bison is part of the Heavy Psych Sounds label.
Sons of Arrakis/ Montreal
Early on Vegas Rock Revolution has been touting and working with Sons of Arrakis and after hoping to have them as part of PDRW IV, we are excited to have them for 2025! Their sound is an outstanding blend of heavy rock/ heavy psych/ progressive/ stoner with a backdrop of being a Dune themed band. Their debut album ended #2 for 2022 on the VRR end of the year list right behind PDRW alumni Freedom Hawk (2). Their album landed #1 on Doom Charts for July 2022 and #8 overall for the year. SOA is currently finishing up their 2nd album which will be released on Black Throne Productions.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The 2024 Up in Smoke Festival came out swinging big in its first announcement last month, with names like Greenleaf, Monolord, Lowrider, Truckfighters, Messa and Gnome among others, and the second announcement below makes a fitting follow-up with the promise of a doesn’t-happen-all-the-time-see-them-when-you-can stopover from Monster Magnet, as well as up and coming atmospheric doomers Daevar, the e’er-a-riot Valley of the Sun, the reunited Scorpion Child and veteran heavy rockers Samavayo set to play. It’s the 10th anniversary for the Swiss festival held each Fall in Pratteln as part of what’s become an international family of festivals backed or semi-backed by Sound of Liberation — see also Keep it Low, Desertfest Belgium, etc. — and they’re only right to do it up accordingly.
From Pentagram to Slomosa, the span of generations and sounds here is broader than the monikers alone can convey, but the celebratory feel of how the lineup is taking shape remains strong. There’s a lot to like about it, in other words, and while I’ve never been lucky enough to attend, I do know enough to know that running a successful fest for a decade — never mind surviving the odd bit of pandemic interruption of same — is no minor feat. Congratulations to Up in Smoke on the anniversary, and I look forward to when the rest of the bill is announced, say, mid-April?
From the PR wire:
UP IN SMOKE FESTIVAL confirms MONSTER MAGNET & many more new band names for its 2024 edition!
UP IN SMOKE FESTIVAL has announced new names for their upcoming, 10th anniversary edition, and confirms spacelords MONSTER MAGNET, high-voltage desert rockers VALLEY OF THE SUN, Berlin’s finest SAMAVAYO, stoner doomsters DAEVAR, US rock act SCORPION CHILD & many more!
They will join the already eclectic line-up featuring mighty PENTAGRAM, who will play their last Swiss show ever(!), TRUCKFIGHTERS, MONOLORD, GREENLEAF, LOWRIDER, SLOMOSA and more high class live acts. Further band names will be revealed soon.
Posted in Features, Reviews on September 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
09.15.23 – Friday – Knockdown Center – Before show
Okay, I can admit it’s weird. Not through anything the festival has done, beyond perhaps existing, which I firmly believe is a positive thing, but for me personally, it’s a weird process. The last couple years, I’ve had a much easier time making it to festivals than club shows, and it’s been easier to travel than see something local. The way my schedule and life are arranged right now — bed early, up early to write and begin the day’s domestic whathaveyou — it’s nearly impossible for me to ‘get out to a show.’ It’s a significant rearrangement of multiple lives to make it happen.
My solution has been, every so often, to go to a festival, and I’ve been lucky to travel these last couple years, whether it’s to Germany, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, even Las Vegas. That pulls me out of the norm. I’m on my own. I don’t have to worry about the house, or anyone else’s schedule other than the bands. I’m removed from ‘real life.’ Not so with Desertfest New York.
This is the only festival I’ve been to in the last 15 years-plus where the travel involved is a commute. I spent two hours in traffic last night to get to Vitus. And more than an hour home because why wouldn’t there be dead-stop gridlock at midnight on a Thursday? It’s another layer — something else to worry about — that I feel when I’m here. It was true last year to some extent, but the sheer novelty of being out of the house in May 2022 made up some ground in terms of the overall experience. A big emotional high.
And again, it’s not about the fest. It’s about where I live. Just far enough out to be a pain in the ass. And if you’ve ever been to New York, especially driving, you know the city doesn’t exactly work to make it easy, or remotely pleasant. I’m not trying to complain about some shit — Desertfest has taken great care of me once again and The Patient Mrs. has uprooted herself and our kid on my behalf for the weekend; she even drove to and from the pre-show — it’s just a part of the experience I’m not used to. It’s weird to think about running the dishwasher after you get home from Colour Haze playing one of the best shows you’ve ever seen at the Saint Vitus Bar. It’s weird that the last thing I did before I left the house to come here was change over the laundry.
It’s weird. I’m weird too.
Two-dayer fests rule and here’s how night one of two went down:
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SpellBook
Pennsylvania cultists, doomers, a little bit glammers SpellBook had the bonus factor of having added Greg Diener of Pale Divine on guitar, which is never going to hurt you when it comes to doom riffs. It’s only been a couple months since he started with the five-piece, whose second album under the name — they used to be called Witch Hazel — Deadly Charms, came out last year. They played the title-track from it after “The Witch of Ridley Creek,” the joke there being that initially-cape-clad frontman introduced the first by saying “This next song is about a witch,” then saying the same thing before they played “Deadly Charms.” I missed that record but might pick up a CD if those exist as the swing of that hook sat right, and in the name of good times generally. Funny, before they went on, bassist Seibert Lowe came up and said hi, it’s been a while, etc. Curious, I looked it up. Saw Witch Hazel in 2015 at a fest in Maryland. Yeah, it’s probably been long enough.
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Valley of the Sun
Reliability be thy name. Ohio’s Valley of the Sun were in Europe this Spring to do Desertfest Berlin and London, Esbjerg Fuzztival, etc., and a tour around that. Last year, they played the pre-show at Vitus (review here), wrecked it gloriously, and I’m not trying to toot my own horn when I say I knew they’d do the same on the main stage here at the Knockdown Center, but yeah, I had a pretty good idea of what was coming. They’ve been touring basically since before they put out The Chariot (review here) last year, and they absolutely sounded like it. Set was tight, pro, fun, and could’ve been delivered to 15 people at 1PM (there were many more there, and it was later, I’m just making a point) or 10,000 at midnight, I honestly don’t think it would matter. They did their set, their way, their presence bolstered by the unshakeable quality of their craft and the fact that even as veterans however many years later — 12 since the EP, I think? — they continue to look like they’re having fun. And goodness gracious, maybe they are.
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Grave Bathers
Dark, moody, urbane heavy rock, with members of Yatra — who played last year — and Heavy Temple, who play tonight. Don’t doubt Philly is where it’s at. They’ve got a whole generation of up and coming bands and I’ll add Grave Bathers to the list. I didn’t hear last year’s debut, Rock ‘n Roll Fetish, so didn’t know the songs, but their delivery was right on as they put that fetish to good use. They were brash, maybe a little druggy — more pills/coke than weed — and seemed in the process of solidifying their approach, which, yes, means it was exciting set to watch.
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1000mods
Long drone before they went on. Like 10 minutes. Fair enough, I guess. But it was riffs freshly rolled once they got going, their traditionalism for desert rock very clearly familiar to the crowd on hand, and they were pretty fresh in my mind as well since they reissued their full-length discography ahead of coming to the US to play. They’ve also got socks at the merch table, which is knowing your market, I suppose. They’re probably the most successful heavy rock export from Greece to-date, and their groove answers any and all questions why. Newer material or old, they’ve always managed to find the tempo just right for their riffs. Last time I saw them was a decade ago at The Black Heart in London (review here) and they were killer then, so I knew a bit of what was in store, but the long drone became transitional ambience, and it was interesting to hear the maturity of 2020’s Youth of Dissent (review here) come through in their approach there, but you can’t beat the raw mellow nod of “Vidage.” The very sound of everything cool about this music and probably some stuff that’s only cool because 1000mods made it that way. Definitely need to buy some socks before the night is done.
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Castle Rat
I had not yet seen Brooklyn trad metal/doom-adjacent troupe Castle Rat. It’s a particular aspect of New York that might make one feel late to the party before a band has a record out, but the room knew what was up, and the band put on a theatrical display of intermittently sexualized horror that included a bassist in a plague mask, a vampire guitarist, some kind of forest spirit on drums, the storyteller herself up front, a couple druids parked outside the room as greeters. Cool vibe, though I wonder about how it would/will work on an album, but maybe they don’t need to put out an album, though when they signed to King Volume Records in July, word was an LP in 2024. Either way, they’re young and in shape, and thus marketable, in addition to all that rocking and metal-of-eld. They had the room wrapt, and yeah, the evening is getting on and progressively less lucid, so maybe some staring anyway from the crowd, but they put on a show, rather than playing a set, and today or tomorrow there’s not another band playing this weekend doing the same kind of thing, let alone doing it so well, so I’ll take the win. I may never feel like Johnny Groundfloor on Castle Rat, but at least I can say I’ve seen them now. Which I suppose makes the fact that they killed a bonus.
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Windhand
I didn’t know this prior to looking it up — yes, sometimes it is handy to have an archive of nearly every show you’ve seen for the last however many years — but the last time I saw Windhand was at The Well for Desertfest NYC 2019 (review here). That place was cool, wouldn’t say a word against it, but DFNY works well at Knockdown Center and being inside for the most part — an outdoor third stage opens tomorrow — allows some seasonal/weather flexibility. As for Windhand, well, their most recent LP, Eternal Return (review here), turns five this year and vocalist Dorthia Cottrell — who’s doing a solo show tomorrow on the aforementioned third stage — put her new solo album, Death Folk Country (review here), on Relapse, to which Windhand are also signed for over a decade, and earlier this year they reissued their 2012 self-titled debut (review here; discussed here), did the Heavy Psych Sounds Fests in California, and it’s kind of the personality of the band that they’re there when called upon. In this case, it was Truckfighters canceling that brought them here, and they did the job they were brought in to do. Slowest band of the day, easily, and the most miserable of the weekend this far. Murkiest sound anywhere. Like an out of focus photograph from the 19th century.
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Heavy Temple
Oooh, Heavy Temple’s got new songs. And a new guitarist, who just happens to be Christian Lopez, also of Sun Voyager. High Priestess Nighthawk, Lopez and drummer Will “Baron Lycan” Mellor took to the stage with the door closed into the second room and then about a minute before they went on, the door opened and everyone came in at once and then they started and that was that. But jeez, put out a record. What’s the holdup? Your drummer is an engineer! Granted, it’s only been two years since Lupi Amoris (review here), but they’re about to go tour Europe for the first time with Howling Giant — whose new album is stellar, I had it on in the car on the way here — and taking a new release along doesn’t seem like the worst idea. Hell do I know. Once the door was open, the room packed out immediately, and not even a Colour Haze line check could bring the crowd out from the Texas stage. I don’t know when I last saw Heavy Temple, and at this point in the day I’m too tired to look, but they delivered like a band who has way more to their credit than two EPs, an LP and some other odds and ends — a notably righteous Type O Negative cover among them — and I was only happy to see them again and to hear some new material. The sooner the better on Heavy Temple’s sophomore LP.
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Colour Haze
Loud whispers of “shh!” to people talking during the quiet parts. The keys seemed more prominent in the mix, but I stood right in front of the stage last night for the whole set, so who the hell knows what I was hearing or not. The flexibility of a photo pit means I can move around a bit and, say, go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. Crazy shit like that. Most of Colour Haze Night Two — it really is a shame they’re not doing a third set tomorrow — artists-in-residence! pick any album you want out of the catalog and I’ll be more than happy to watch them play it in full — was instrumental, and I had been planning to go see R.I.P., from Portland, also quite far, but life doesn’t always afford you opportunities to see your favorite bands, and life is short and most of it is very, very difficult, so yeah, I stayed put. It was really difficult to think that Colour Haze might be playing in the building somewhere and I wouldn’t be there. So I put myself there and, as I occasionally remember to do, just enjoyed a thing for a couple minutes. On the whole, it was a more laid back set than last night’s at Vitus. They played “Transformation.” It was beautiful. I love the way it skips before it runs straight out and gets fast at the end. I hadn’t eaten since the morning and it was nearly 10PM. The Patient Mrs. texting to tell me to be careful on the way home. An infinity of distractions. But nah, just let me have this one for a minute. They closed with “Tempel” as someone yelled out “what a time to be alive!” No argument.
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Quick note: I did go check out R.I.P. after Colour Haze finished. The second stage was packed, they were shredding oldschool-style dirt metal to the delight of all present. The pic at the top of this post is the room when they played.
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Monster Magnet
Time marches forward and Monster Magnet remain a salve against bullshit in rock and roll. Of all the bands to close out the night, the stalwart outfit from my beloved Garden State are legends in the field, and founding frontman Dave Wyndorf was simultaneously out of his mind and in command of the show, which I think is how you get to be that dude. I had thought guitarist Garrett Sweeny (also The Atomic Bitchwax) was out of the band, but no. He had stage right while longtime collaborator Phil Caivano — who just put out a solo record; the band is called Caivano — had the other side, drummer Bob Pantella (also also The Atomic Bitchwax, ex-Raging Slab, RiotGod, and so on) was up on a riser in back and the bassist Alec Morton, also ex-Raging Slab [thank you Amanda Vogel for that], hung back with a Rickenbacker that both looked and sounded awfully nice. Original band member Tim Cronin was doing lights, as he reportedly will according to a seven-year planetary cycle. We’ve been back and forth online and I’ve covered his band The Ribeye Brothers a bunch because they’re cool, but we never met in person, so that was awesome earlier in the day. Monster Magnet opening with the Hawkwind cover “Born to Go” was also rather sweet. “Superjudge,” “Powertrip,” “Dopes to Infinity,” “Tractor,” “Mastermind” tucked away in the encore. Even as a headliner, Monster Magnet would have a hard time putting together a full career-retrospective set. I got to see then play “Negasonic Teenage Warhead” tonight, though, and that’s plenty. Pro-shop rock band, one of heavy rock’s all-time great frontmen tossing out middle fingers like they’re free samples at Costco, and all was well and the strobe flashed and the fan blew and the band tore Knockdown Center a new ass — but they did it in space, so it’s even cooler — and reminded everybody there which coast really invented stoner rock.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The first bands for Truckfighters Fuzz Festival #4 have been announced, and in addition to the Swedish fuzzlords themselves — whose self-description below is hilarious in a “you know who we are, it’s our festival, damnit, do we really need to tell you about ourselves?” kind of way — they’re bringing in Khan from Australia, Kaiser from Finland, Valley of the Sun from the US Midwest, and Swedish natives Dark Ocean Circle and Tidal Wave. Set for this November, the two-day event will take place at Debaser and the adjacent Bar Brooklyn in Stockholm, right down the block from the fancy Italian restaurant and down the hill from the angry hot dog guy, to whom I hope they give tickets this year in order to cheer him up. Poor dude was feeling it when I was there this past December. Hard.
They’ll add more bands between now and the Nov. 10 kickoff (that’s my sister’s birthday), but the reach is already notable, even if Khan were going to be on the road in Europe anyhow. Valley of the Sun are overseas now from their Ohio home-base, and knowing they’ll return in the Fall, perhaps hitting Fuzz Festival #4 on the tail end of their own continental run, is good news for them and for anyone who gets to see them, as they are among the finer fuzzrock ambassadors the States currently has to offer. They’re not, but they most certainly should be funded by the federal government to serve in that capacity.
More to come, and I said as much on social media, but having gone once, I’d return to Truckfighters Fuzz Festival in a heartbeat. It was a blast for more than just the two-day deluge of distortion and riffs.
Check it:
Finally! The Fuzzfestival is back! What a festival we will have this year (as always)! Just grab the early bird ticket NOW for the suberp price of 666SEK
Well, we play fuzzy, progressive, hardrock… Just see it and embrace it. May the fuzz be with you!
VALLEY OF THE SUN (USA)
For the last decade,Valley of the Sun have lit up stagesacross Europe and North America, dropped three albums of high-octane rock ’n roll and won over thousands of loyal fanatics along the way. Now, they have their sights set on world domination with their most stunning album to date,The Chariot, coming summer 2022 on Ripple Music and Fuzzorama Records. A dynamic flurry of top-volumeriffage, soaring melodies and furious rhythms served up Cincinnati-style with a cold beer on the side. Check out the record today and get on board, and you’ll see why everything’s more dazzling in the Valley of the Sun.
KHAN (AUSTRALIA)
“Khan meld hazy psychedelia and heavy stoner riffs with a penchant for progressive rhythms and almost dirge-like, industrial-scale crescendos. The songs are lyrically evocative, exuding a sense of despondency and melancholy. Vocally, their songs waver from ethereal falsetto and hypnotic crooning to impassioned wailing punctuated by occasional guttural screams. The Australian trio released their third album ‘Creatures’ in February 2023 through Full Contact Safari Records and are returning for their second tour of Europe to promote the new album.”
KAISER (FI)
Kaiser is a northern desert storm, the master of doomy dunes and hi-octaned with fuzzy tunes. This three headed snake gave birth to their debut ’1st Sound’ in 2018. After that they’ve spread the fuzz across the ocean and beyond European highways. Now finally, it’s time for Sweden to get fuzzed. Prepare yourselves…
DARK OCEAN CIRCLE
Dark Ocean Circle is a four-piece band from Stockholm, Sweden. We play music in the heavier genres such as stoner, doom, heavyrock and psychedelic rock. We like to float a bit between genres and not get stuck in just one. We just released our debut album and it moves from punky stoner to doom and 70´s hardrock to heavy rock.
TIDAL WAVE
They released their debutalbum ”Blueberry Muffin” early in December 2019. It got recognised both by fans and blogs all over the world really fast. Tidal wave from Sundsvall in Sweden creates music that according to one of the biggest musimagazines ”Swedenrock magazine” is stonercoloured hardrock with a touch of all that where Seatlle grunge in the 90’s. With the new record “The Lord Knows” out early 2023 they are ready to spread their music even more.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This looks so good I’m kind of nervous about it. Monster Magnet and Godflesh join the ranks of the Melvins, Boris and Colour Haze at the forefront of the bill for Desertfest New York 2023 today, with the further additions to the lineup of Brant Bjork, Valley of the Sun, Mantar, Huntsmen, Upper Wilds and Dunes. Insert impressed-whistle here.
I guess what we’re seeing in 2023 is that version of Desertfest New York that was what they were growing toward when the festival held its inaugural edition in 2019. It’s been a long-ass time since I’ve seen Monster Magnet, and the promise of a career-spanning set makes me hope all the more it happens, but I’ll tell you outright that there are precious few acts of any genre who can match the intensity of purpose wrought by Godflesh at their best live. I assume they’ll be doing some amount of touring either a lot or a little as they support their upcoming album, Purge, which is set to release in June (info here), but no question they’ll be a highlight of the fest here, if one among many.
Shit, I still haven’t seen Castle Rat, so there’s A LOT to look forward to here. Interesting that it’s Brant Bjork playing and not Stöner, but I’ll take it for sure. You can read the rest of Desertfest New York‘s announcement below, stunning as it is, hoisted from the PR wire:
Desertfest New York reveals further artists for September event including Monster Magnet, Godflesh, Brant Bjork, Mantar & more
Leading independent stoner rock, doom, psych & heavy rock festival Desertfest announces eight new artists for their third New York edition this September. Heavy-rock legends MONSTER MAGNET make their headline return to the event, following their unfortunate 2022 cancellation. The New Jersey space rockers will join the festival for a long-awaited celebratory set, spanning their entire 30-year catalogue.
British industrial icons GODFLESH join proceedings for a rare New York performance, with Justin Broadrick at the helm GODFLESH will undoubtedly shake the Knockdown Center to its very core. If there was one set to add to your “do not miss” list for DF NYC, it’s this one.
Desert-hero BRANT BJORK rolls into the weekend to bring the very best in sun-soaked California stoner vibes. Whilst German sludge-punk duo MANTAR will offer up an ear-shattering live performance with their first New York appearance since 2016.
Elsewhere, the festival welcomes the groove of VALLEY OF THE SUN, genre-bending storytellers HUNTSMEN, psychedelic locals UPPER WILDS & U.K. based stoner rock outfit DUNES to the bill.
The globally renowned event will return to the unique space of the Knockdown Center in Queens, alongside an exclusive pre-party at heavy metal institution, Saint Vitus Bar from 14th to 16th September 2023. 3-day passes (incl. Saint Vitus pre-party) are SOLD OUT with limited 2-Day passes still available.
With more to be announced, including day splits & day tickets in early June, Desertfest is the biggest celebration of underground heavy music that the East-Coast has to offer.
3-day passes (incl. access to Saint Vitus Pre-Party) & 2-day passes (Knockdown Center only) are on sale NOW via the following link –https://link.dice.fm/Desertfest_NewYork
Full Line-Up Saint Vitus – Sept 14th | Knockdown Center Sept 15th & 16th 2023
Melvins | Monster Magnet | Boris | Godflesh | Colour Haze | Truckfighters | Brant Bjork | 1000Mods | Mantar | White Hills | Lo-Pan | Duel | R.I.P | Valley of The Sun | Ecstatic Vision | Heavy Temple | Huntsmen | Clouds Taste Satanic | Mick’s Jaguar | Castle Rat | Grave Bathers | Spellbook | Upper Wilds | Dunes
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Been waiting for this since Valley of the Sun were announced for Desertfest in London and Berlin, and all the better for the Ohio four-piece that they’ll go further after the latter fest, keeping on with additional club shows supporting last year’s killer The Chariot (review here) album, which offered a ready definition of a band firing on all cylinders.
And of course, before they let out for international waters, Valley of the Sun will support UK harmonizers Church of the Cosmic Skull on a US tour (info here), and that as well is something I’m very much looking forward to. I’m not sure with whom they’ll be playing in Europe and the UK, but I do know that this is hardly the band’s first time over there and there’s no shortage of acts for them to meet up either as local support or doing the whole run, I have no idea.
In any case, these guys staying active post-pandemic is only good news, and as The Chariot wrought their most mature sound to-date, one might rightly think of these tours as a victory lap. The dates for UK and EU are below, venue info in the poster, which you can click to enlarge.
From social media:
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
We’re heading back to the UK and EU this May to rock off all your beautiful faces!!! Ticket links below:
05/05 UK DESERTFEST LONDON 07/05 UK EDINBURGH 08/05 UK NEWCASTLE 09/05 UK SHEFFIELD 10/05 UK MANCHESTER 11/05 UK NOTTINGHAM TBA 12/05 UK BRISTOL 13/05 UK BOURNEMOUTH 15/05 CH LUZERN 16/05 IT TORINO 17/05 HR ZAGREB TBA 18/05 AT GRAZ TBA 19/05 DE PASSAU 20/05 DE DESERTFEST BERLIN 21/05 DE HANOVER 22/05 DE WIESBADEN TBA 23/05 DE MUNSTER 24/05 BE EEKLO 25/05 NL EINDHOVEN 26/O5 DK ESBJERG 27/05 DE KIEL
VALLEY OF THE SUN are: Ryan Ferrier – Guitar/Vocals Lex Vegas – Drums Chris Sweeney – Bass, Keys Josh Pilot – Guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This is a good way to spend a couple of nights in Denmark. Hot damn. I missed I think, wait, let me check, yes, all of the batch announcements for Esbjerg Fuzztival 2023 due, I assume, to the whims of the algorithm, but when it finally occurred to me to check in on the fest precisely because I hadn’t seen anything about it, well, there was the full damn lineup waiting for me.
And it’s looking sharp, as well. There isn’t one band on this bill I wouldn’t want to see, from Nebula and Greenleaf to Slowjoint and Vestjysk Ørken. Not a clunker in the bunch. And hell, I’ve never seen Clouds Taste Satanic and they’re from New York, so catching them in Denmark would be a hell of a way to see them for a first time. And Ecstatic Vision, High Desert Queen, Edena Gardens, Kryptograf, getting to check Causa Sui off my all-time must-see list? Yeah. Sounds fucking amazing, actually. Throw in Kanaan, Valley of the Sun and oh, say, Deathchant, and you’ve got yourself a deal. I’m not trying to be glib when I say this, but it looks like a lovely time.
I pieced the below together out of the aforementioned posts I missed, so if it reads clunky or they come off as excessively proud, perhaps, that’s why. Here you go:
Complete lineup for Fuzztival ’23!
Who are you most excited to see this year!?
Get your tickets in now!
Fuzztival are PROUD to announce our Friday night headliner NEBULA, bringing the desert to Denmark! ECSTATIC VISION, VALLEY of THE SUN and KRYPTOGRAF will be joining! And as always the Fuzztival house band VESTJYSK ØRKEN will be opening the festival for the 6th consecutive time!
We are PROUD to present another round of bands! Adding KANAAN as well as EDENA GARDENS (feat. members of Causa Sui & Papir) and CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC to Fuzztival 23!
We are proud to be adding the OG desert Rockers FATSO JETSON alongside DEATHCHANT and HIGH DESERT QUEEN! The riffs will be plenty and scorching hot! SLOWJOINT will be returning to Fuzztival with a special surprise set!
The almighty riff machine GREENLEAF will be headlining Saturday at Fuzztival ’23! Closing the fest with a shake and a bang so bring your dancing shoes!
Last but not least we are PROUD to welcome back the KINGS of Heavy Psych CAUSA SUI to Fuzztival ’23!
This wraps up the bands announced for this year! Final call to save some dough for more Fuzz Ales!
Posted in Radio on December 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I wish I could say I planned it out ahead of time that the 100th episode of The Obelisk Show would coincide with both the final one of 2022 and the third of the three roundups of some of the year’s best in heavy, but I’m nowhere near that coordinated. Fortunate happenstance, then, and a killer show either way.
You might note the minor departure from the general format I use in that this one doesn’t end with an extended track. Fact is there was just more I wanted to include than there was room for, so I opted to pack in three or four shorter songs where there might otherwise be one. Nothing here tops 10 minutes long — CB3 is just over eight and that’s the longest — and I can’t remember the last time that happened.
Before I turn you over to the playlist itself, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Gimme Metal for allowing me to continue to do this show. Seems obvious to say, considering, you know, this site in general, but sharing music I dig is among my favorite things to do, and I value the opportunity to engage with Gimme’s audience as a part of that. Thank you to Tyler, Brian, Dean and the entire crew for having me and making this thing happen.
Thanks for listening if you do, thanks for reading if you are.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 12.23.22 (VT = voice track)
Church of the Cosmic Skull
Now’s the Time
There is No Time
All Souls
I Dream
Ghosts Among Us
Sasquatch
Live Snakes
Fever Fantasy
Sky Pig
Larva
It Thrives in Darkness
VT
Abronia
Night Hoarders
Map of Dawn
Ealdor Bealu
Way of the Sudden Storm
Psychic Forms
Valley of the Sun
Images
The Chariot
Nebula
Highwired
Transmission From Mothership Earth
Supersonic Blues
They See Me Comin’
It’s Heavy
Les Nadie
Del Pombero
Destierro y Siembra
Sun Voyager
Rip the Sky
Sun Voyager
Besvärjelsen
House of the Burning Light
Atlas
VT
Dreadnought
Midnight Moon
The Endless
Author & Punisher
Misery
Krüller
Messa
Dark Horse
Close
Somali Yacht Club
Silver
The Space
Lamp of the Universe
Emerald Sands
The Akashic Field
Toad Venom
Swirling Hands
EAT!
CB3
To Space and Away
Exploration
VT
Ecstatic Vision
The Kenzo Shake
Elusive Mojo
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Jan. 6 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
