Psycho Las Vegas Photos
Vegas is a strange land but I suppose there is no better spot for hosting an event of predominantly psyche/stoner/doom metal and its various offshoots. Yep, Jordan and I survived Psycho Las Vegas, where I overheard someone actually say, “Dude, I found a fossil, and it’s like, hellllla old!” Where the Hard Rock was thronged with denim and leather-clad aficionados all weekend, including a stage by the pool. Sure, the pool looked kinda brown, but, you know, rock ‘n’ roll! Where beers cost between $8 and $15—unless you could manage to sneak ‘em in. Although the preponderance of stony music was enough to leave my brain dripping out of my ears (and Sleep’s lower end may have caused a premature bowel evacuation), there were some notable standouts that stretched (or ignored) the genre: Midnight’s unrelenting masked assault, Lecherous Gaze’s freaking out of the squares, the Shrine’s hard rock approach, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s body paint, fire dancers, and sheer trippiness and Alice Cooper’s superfluous abundance of insane musicianship/showmanship. The lineup featured new, established, old and older bands—Blue Oyster Cult, Arthur Brown, Alice Cooper and Pentagram can be seen as progenitors or heavy influences in a lot of this stuff (and Sabbath, it goes without saying). Bands like Mudhoney are bridge crossers between psyche and metal and punk and Converge crossed over from the HC to eventually be accepted by the metal heads, and some of the established bands just don’t play that much or at all anymore—although Sleep considers themselves reunited and plays festivals, it wasn’t that long ago that everyone thought seeing them was a thing of the past. We stayed in a hotel with a bit of reputation for partying and prozzies, but it kind of worked in our favor as nobody seemed to mind our beer drinkin’ ‘til the wee hours. With literally dozens of bands to see over the weekend there was just no way to do it all—sorry to those we missed, but thanks to all for a good time. —Wez Lundry
Photos: Jordan Joseffer & Wez Lundry
Mudhoney kick the whole thing off at the pre party by the pool
They had custom Psycho Las Vegas blackjack tables for everyone to lose their money at
Mondo Drag
Tribulation
The Shrine on the pool stage
They had Beb from Soggy come out and sing "Waiting for the War"
It was Beb's first time in America and he had a blast
Death from Detroit!
Pentagram
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Who is also the God of Hellfire
Danava played pretty early after a long night but sounded great
Converge
Satan's Satyrs
Friendly bar staff
High on Fire
Lecherous Gaze played at the same time as High on Fire but still filled the room for a toast
and a ripping set as always
Death Alley
Blue Öyster Cult
Electric Wizard
Midnight freaked out the security
Then Athenar lit his bass on fire and jumped in the pool
For sure one of the best sets of the weekend
Sleep
Vote for Alice Cooper 2016 to make America sick again
Alice Cooper
-
Skegss Interview
Australia's Skegss are the reverb drenched summer soundtrack you need. Read the exclusive Thrasher interview. -
Beirut Interview
The music of Beirut has been featured in many skate vids over the years, most notably in Mark Suciu’s “Verso” masterpiece. Mark caught up with Zach Condon, the man behind the band, in this exclusive interview. -
Tom DeLonge Interview
Angels & Airwaves was born out of Tom DeLonge leaving Blink-182. Here he talks about charting that band’s own path along with his thoughts on skating and UFOs. -
Greta Van Fleet Interview
Using musical chemistry, the band members of Greta Van Fleet extract the essence of various classic rock anthems. They combine the parts they like and create a sound all their own. These guys truly rock and roll. -
Mononeon Interview
The term "musical prodigy" doesn't quite capture the bass-playing abilities of Mononeon. It's more accurate to say he's one of the best to ever pick up the instrument. See for yourself. -
Animal Collective Interview
Animal Collective blew up in the skate world when their song was used in Jake Johnson's Mind Field part—which is regarded as a masterpiece of skating/editing/music. The band's unique legacy and sound has only gotten stronger in the following years. -
Thurston Moore's Interview
Thurston is a founding member of Sonic Youth and a guitar virtuoso. His various projects have created a rich musical legacy. He also has deep roots with skating and video-making. Here he describes the mutual affection between skating and his music. -
Soft Kill x Welcome Skateboards
Welcome gets the singer from Soft Kill on the line to discuss music, addiction and their recent collaboration. -
R.A. the Rugged Man Interview
During his 30-year career, R.A. has occupied both the spotlight and the status of an underground hip-hop legend. His song "Uncommon Valor" is regarded as a lyrcial masterpiece and he shows no signs of stopping. -
Third Eye Blind Interview
After millions of album sales since the mid-90s, Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins continues to make music without compromise or concern about radio hits and pop charts. He features Cher Strauberry in his newest video and she sat with him for an interview.