DesertFest NYC 2023
We sure as hell wished we had been there. DesertFest NYC… Seeing all those amazing bands. Catching up with my Doom Charts brothers, Scott Spiers from CleanAndSoberStoner, Remi VL - the Tallymaster and our very own Kyle SB / Shastabeast. We would have befriended a load of others there as well, cause we are all Heavy Underground loving brothers, and we would surely have become best friends with Josh Burke. Friend of Remi and Kyle, he has graced us with a review of the festival. Our very first guest writer, and yes, we would surely let him write about DesertFest NYC again… Or anything else for that matter… Great to meet you Josh!
DesertFest NYC 2023
by Josh Burke
After some encouragement from a member of the Doom Charts, as well as Stoner HiVe contributor Kyle SB / Shasta Beast, I decided to attempt an actual write-up of the festival we all attended last weekend. Although I write a ton for my job, I don’t think of myself as a writer. As someone who tends to sum up experiences as “that was awesome”, “that was okay” or “that sucked” I have a lot of respect for people who can write a coherent and well-written review. So, anyhow, Desertfest NY 2023 was okay.
Colour Haze won the weekend. Despite their 30-year history, they had
apparently only played once in the States previously. What a special treat to
have their unique brand of jazzy, psychedelic rock. Both nights were great; the
band made both the intimacy of the St. Vitus bar and the grander setting of the main
stage work for them. Either set would have topped my list, but I give the edge
to Friday night on the main stage. It is really easy for largely instrumental
and generally mellow music to be boring and self-indulgent. Colour Haze dodged
both of those traps. Building up and then backing down, occasionally going all
out, everything worked. Every solo mattered and added to the performance. I
went into the weekend as a casual fan of this band, only owning a couple of
records, and came away just stunned by how great they were, particularly
drummer Manfred Merwald. I only wish they’d had merch!
