Tone Deaf Touring has managed to get three of the hottest live bands together for one groovy road trip, launching only days from now. Spirit Caravan, of course, featuring the great Scott “Wino” Weinrich of The Obsessed and Saint Vitus, along with Dave Sherman of Earthride and WeedisWeed. The band is a revelation to hear live (I captured them during the initial reunion tour last year, when it stopped in Portland).

Joining the happy fray, Elder, whose new album Lore continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest, grabbing attention and respect far and wide (not to mention its unprecidented five-month stay on The Doom Chart). Elder, you will recall, performed at Psycho California earlier this year.

And if you haven’t heard Dirty Streets from Memphis, man are you in for one whale of a good time!

The tour brings them to another epic installment of Day Of The Shred, taking place on Dia De Los Muertos on November first. Now almost a month away, it’s time to get serious about your plans to be there for the Night (October 31st) and Day (November 1st) of this epic event in Santa Ana! Hell, you might as well pack it up and pitch a tent at the Kadavar Desert Campout, taking playing just a few days prior in Twentynine Palms on October 24th. Either way, the chilly fall beckons us to warm and sunny Cali for another stellar festival by Thief Presents!

Doomed & Stoned and The Obelisk will be bringing you an up-close-and-personal look at the bands and the music of this unforgettable weekend, which will see the incredible return of the legendary Captain Beyond! There’s something to please every fan of heavy music, from the stoner vibes of John Garcia (of Kyuss fame) to the monster riffage of NOLA sludgers Crowbar.

See the full line-up, make your plans, and get those tickets before they’re gone at: www.DayOfTheShred.com.

From Cali it Came…!

Doomed & Stoned Reviews Psycho California

Words and Photos by Hugo “Huggable” Guzman (The Intern)

Video courtesy of YouTube’s sexthrash69 and smitterous

Walking around the Santa Ana Observatory from May 15th to the 17th, you could be forgiven for thinking you were at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival or another European heavy metal mecca. But then again, you’d also be wrong. PSYCHO CALIFORNIA was the latest of Thief Presents’ heavy metal festivals in the Southern California area. Housed in sunny Santa Ana, the dates had been circled months in advance on my own calendar and calendars around the world. Fans poured in from Australia to Europe to pay tribute to heavy metal legends and up-and-coming stars alike. Although I couldn’t make it on Friday, Saturday morning my Doomed & Stoned teammate Frank and I were hyped and ready to enjoy a weekend full of doom.

Horror movie buffs, Acid Witch was the first band to grace the main stage on Saturday. Playing songs like “Trick or Treat” and “Midnight Mass,” as well as some older material from 2008’s Swamp Spells, Acid Witch was right at home in Santa Ana’s Observatory. The guys even had time to banter with the crowd a bit in between songs, setting the tone for the festival as a place of unity between bands and fans.

Vancouver’s Anciients (pictured) were also among the bands to grace The Observatory’s Monarch Stage, along with Pallbearer, who started their set with Foundations of Burden’s “World’s Apart.”

This album made several critic’s Top Ten lists last year, and when the mic checks ended and the music began, the crowd’s cheers threatened to drown out the band a few times. Not to be outdone, Pallbearer proved themselves to be great showmen, and played one of the loudest and most intense shows I’ve witnessed yet.

The Monarch Stage wasn’t the only area that saw some serious crowd participation. Grizzly Stage, a smaller concert area, was home to bands who were no smaller than their main stage counterparts. One set that seriously struck me was that of Subrosa (pictured), coming out west from Salt Lake City, Utah. The homeland of the Mormons prove to also be the home of one of Saturday’s best acts, and there were few dry eyes by the conclusion of Subrosa’s “The Usher.” The crowed banged heads like there was no tomorrow, and lead singer Rebecca Vernon stuck around for a few minutes afterwards to mingle and chat with fans.

Saturday’s heavy metal festivities concluded with the legendary Sleep, playing for an hour and thirty minutes. It could’ve been easy to think that they would have a hard time following up their predecessor that night, Kylesa.

While grabbing fresh drink after their set, I heard a few guys wondering how Sleep would top the Southern sludge titans. I have no doubt that those concerns were blown away the moment “Holy Mountain” began to blast through the venue.

Sunday morning, I had a chance to chat it up with some personal heroes of mine, the guys from Truckfighters. These Swedish desert rockers keep things clean before sets, and fuel their shows with caffeine instead of alcohol. It may have been worth it — lead guitarist Dango jumped like crazy, especially during the modern classic “Desert Cruiser,” served up at the set’s conclusion.

Although Sunday’s show included heavy hitters like Pentagram and Om, special mention has to go to Mothership (pictured) — the Texas natives with a taste for groovy heavy metal and authentic Mexican food. Although they tend to prefer the real stuff south of the border, Mothership concluded that California does just fine when it comes to cuisine…and a bit more than “just fine” when it comes to hyped up crowds!

A special mid-set shout-out also went to John Juett, Mothership’s original drummer, who is the father of brothers Kyle and Kelley Juett, founding members of the band. He was at Psycho, celebrating great music and his own wedding anniversary, with his sons and Mothership’s newest drummer and family friend, Judge Smith.

But family reunions weren’t the only heartfelt moments at Psycho California. Frank and I got a chance to chat with Bedemon’s Geof O’Keefe. After playing live for the first time in nearly 40 years, Geof was overcome with emotion as people of all ages and backgrounds came to him and explained how he had inspired everything they were doing at Psycho. Even Thief cameraman Patrick, who joined us for the intimate conversation, couldn’t help but choke up a little at seeing the emotion and love for heavy metal, and his fans and friends, in Geof’s heart. I’m not ashamed to admit that I teared up a little bit myself. (That interview will be featured in a separate post.)

There are some great things in store for Bedemon, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that without their hard work decades ago, Psycho California would have been outright unimaginable. Another hero who needs to be mentioned is former Relapse Records agent Sean “Pellet” Pelletier, who brought Geof to Psycho California and currently manages Pentagram. Without him, Bedemon’s and Pentagram’s appearance on Sunday night would have been impossible.

But the other heavy-hitters at the three-day festival didn’t play any sets at all. Since Psycho de Mayo 2013, Thief Presents has made it their mission to bring heavy metal to the thirsting masses of Southern California, whose drought extends to more than just water reserves. Across this desert landscape, good music scenes are hard to come by, but shows like those that Thief has made it a habit to put on are turning the tide against a land ruled by Top 40’s and radio pop.

Were you there (or maybe watched some of the the footage) and still hungry for more? Seems to me like the next step is to clear your schedule for Thief’s upcoming heavy metal adventure, Night of the Shred/ Day of the Shred. This revamped iteration of last year’s November festival is already enshrined as SoCal’s most anticipated music event for those with heavy metal in their hearts. If you’re after a festival that rivals the quality you can find in Europe, and where you can share great music and great times with fellow fans and favorite bands alike, there’s no reason to stay at home this October 31st and November 1st. Tickets and full lineup will be available through Facebook on June 15th. So far Captain Beyond (featuring Bobby Caldwell), Black Bombaim, and White Manna have been announced. Rest assured, Doomed & Stoned will be there to report on all the hot metal action!