I didn’t know too much about the annual Desertfest until a fellow media maven was talking about it and now I can proudly share some cool concert news with you all. Check it out.
The Press Release:
Established in London in 2012 and entering its 8th year in 2019, Desertfest is the leading underground festival specialising in all aspects of Stoner Rock, Doom, Heavy Psych and its subsidiaries. Now taking place across 4 cities in Europe during a 12-month period, the growth of Desertfest has been organic and utterly independent, making it one of the most solid and trusted names within the music community.
With its grasp on Europe well and truly honed, the next logical step was to bring the unparalleled atmosphere and eclectic line-up of Desertfest to the sprawling plains of the USA and what better place to start than New York – a city that encompasses everything the festival holds dear. It’s no easy feat launching a festival in a new country, but with demand rising, an established name pushing the train forward, plus a killer partnership with esteemed locals Tee Pee Records, it’s time to answer the call…
April 2019 will see Desertfest take over two of the most renowned venues in Brooklyn, The Well and Saint Vitus. The Well, housed in the former Hittleman Brewery, which boasts two stages, an expansive outdoor area and striking indoor bar, will be turned into a haven for riff lovers on Saturday April 27th and Sunday April 28th as Desertfest lands upon Bushwick. Plus, a venue that is no stranger to the louder side of the spectrum, New York’s most famous heavy haunt Saint Vitus will play host to Desertfest on Friday April 26th. Saint Vitus has nearly singlehandedly put NYC on the global metal map, honoured is an understatement.
Hypnotic doom-metal quartet WINDHAND will make their return to New York as they headline The Well for Desertfest New York 2019. The band’s latest offering ‘Eternal Return’ has been met with critical acclaim, and for good reason, their haunting sound has moved to unearthly new depths, bringing a flurry of dark-grunge and heavy psych-rock into play, strengthening WINDHAND’s status as one of the most dynamic and exciting acts on the doom circuit.
Sweden’s MONOLORD, who are no strangers to the Desertfest family, will be bringing a hefty-dose of ear-shattering, 70’s-tinged riffs to festival proceedings. Having recently sold-out Saint Vitus, the trio will be rattling US revellers at The Well with their fuzzy sludge sound. MONOLORD shared the following, “Every time we’ve played the Desertfest’s in Europe it’s been overwhelming. Great vibes and devoted crowds; we’re proud to be a part of the first edition of this in New York. Stoked to see you there!”
One of the most wildly talented live acts on the scene, the compelling soundscapes of ELDER will take listeners on a musical exploration of rich, sonic laden riffs combined with thunerous, building rhythm sections. ELDER have been long time comrades of Desertfest and frontman Nick Di’Salvo shares “The Desertfest is an (ironically) urban musical excursion for heavy bands, and has been badly needed by the States for many years. We’ve had the fortune to play several editions across Europe and the UK and Elder are beyond excited to be part of the first ever US line-up. We’ll be bringing some new material to the festival and will try our hardest to make it the best Desertfest yet!”
Featuring vocalist Eric Wagner and bassist Ron Holzner, formerly of metal legends Trouble, THE SKULL creates classic Sabbathian doom with a psych-tinged metal vision. Legends in their right, Desertfest are thrilled to be bringing these stalwarts to the first edition. THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX are quintessential stoner rock heroes who have been dishing out the high-octane goods since the 90’s, with Chris Kosnik and Bob Pantella of Monster Magnet in the midst it’s fuzzy, space-rock worship at its best.
Desertfest NYC will also be welcoming genre-bending, good timers DANAVA, monolithic volume dealers MIRROR QUEEN, nostalgic hard rockers WORSHIPPER and electric blues rock’n’rollers DOMMENGANG.
3-day early-bird tickets for DF NYC can be found HERE
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: I have to admit that I am not up on most of these bands at all because thought I’ve enjoyed a number of Doom, Stoner and Psych acts over the years – it was never my Metal genre of focus. I always tended to lean toward to the more energetic Power Metal and of course the now referred to as Traditional Metal aka Classic Metal. I’ll be looking into all of these acts because I don’t think I’ve actually covered them here on the website before and we are an all-inclusive sort of medium here and try to make room for any group possible. I am a firm believer that more content is better than less content if you haven’t already noticed that so stay tuned. So what do you folks think of this visiting tour? Chime in down below in the comments section.
Official Website: https://www.desertfest.nyc/