Kevin Bronson on October 15th, 2018

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Remember that thunder and lightning storm that savaged the first night of Desert Daze? That weren’t nuthin’ compared to My Bloody Valentine.

There are probably mathematical measurements for the sound achieved by the Irish shoegazing greats on Moreno Beach at Lake Perris on Sunday night, but suffice to say it was like being tied to the ground beneath a NASA rocket during blastoff … with a My Bloody Valentine album being played at 11 in the background. As punishing physically as it was sonically, MBV’s set spanned 90 gripping minutes, sending about a third of revelers who were there at the start to eventually take refuge at a safer distance on the festival grounds. There was really no safe harbor, though. Wearing ear protection was like splinting a broken leg with a toothpick.

Twenty minutes or so in, they played “Only Shallow,” eliciting cheers you could barely hear next to the soundboard, owing to the sweep of distortion, and MBV ended with 12 solid minutes of feedback and a crisp “Bye, thanks” from Kevin Shields.

MBV, which originally was scheduled to play FYF Fest this summer and eventually headlined the Shrine, erased all memories of their appearance at the 2013 FYF Fest, when the sound system couldn’t handle them. The experience qualified as a landmark for Desert Daze, marking the third consecutive year it had landed a headlining act that could truly be considered “influential” (with Iggy Pop last year and Television in 2016). Founder Phil Pirrone has called Desert Daze an “anti-festival,” but it’s more an avant-festival: Its experimental streak runs wide, evident Sunday in the bookings on the main stage, where L.A.’s Julia Holter played her wonky art-pop in the bright sunshine and Death Grips unleashed their convulsive hip-hop after dark.

||| Also: Day 1, the traffic jam and the storm; Day 1, highlights with Pond, Warpaint and more
||| Also: Day 2, rekindling the flame with King Gizzard, Mercury Rev, Slowdive and more

Highlights from the third and final day of Desert Daze:

► “I don’t do this often, but everybody’s doing it and I wanna be like you,” Julia Holter told the crowd at the beachfront Moon Stage, donning a pair of sunglasses. Her set included a bunch of bright, complex new songs, including some from her new album “Aviary,” which comes out next week. The singer bantered lightly with the audience before one song: “This is called ‘Underneath the Moon’ … and we’re on the Moon Stage, but I didn’t think about that when I wrote this song … OK, you can kick me out now.”

► Sextile packed the Theatre tent with their angsty, electro, post-punk intensity. They fit perfectly among the acts after the “Optical Retrospective with Gerald Casale of Devo” that transpired there a little earlier. New fans and superfans pogo’d along to their synth stylings as singer Brady Keehn howled through their set.

► “Thanks, My Bloody Valentine, for letting us open for you,” a genial Kenny Becker told the crowd at the Block Stage as his band Goon dispensed crunchy shards of their “Weezervana.” Becker smiled, he sang, he screamed, he conquered. And even if Goon was one of the least challenging bands at Desert Daze, the familiar taste of those power chords were the perfect appetizer before a trip to the food court to make the toughest decision of the evening: sushi or empanadas (both ruled).

► While Preoccupations raged on the Moon Stage — thereby reshaping your concept of what post-punk can be — Death Valley Girls blasted the Theatre tent with their full assault of defiant riot rock. Despite singer Bonnie Bloomgarden fighting a cold/flu — her voice was so taxed it sounded like she left on a vocal effect when she spoke  — the band blew everyone’s hair back as they rocked devil horns. They were the post-thunder shot of black coffee everyone needed for Day 3 of the festival.

► In the food court, at the books-and-coffee pop-up manned by Echo Park’s Stories bookstore, Entrance — aka Guy Blakeslee — was playing acoustic songs on a small P.A. to a small group of mostly seated fans. “Does anyone think America is great again?” he asked, and when he was met with silence and a couple shaking heads, he added, “That’s not a rhetorical question.” He sang about moving to California “to get strung out on medical marijuana,” and he sang about his native Baltimore, countering with some mellow to the madness fans could hear in the distance.

► Speaking of mellow, whoever scheduled Death Grips in between sets from Earth and Earthless had a sense of humor. No sooner had Washington state veterans Earth mellowed everybody with their album performance of “The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull” amid an awesome liquid light show at the Block Stage, than the crowd migrated to the Moon Stage for Death Grips and MC Ride’s vicious assault. No only was Death Grips’ set riveting, but there were two women wearing wigs and granny dresses doing stripper moves and humping on a walker. That scene digested, it was time for a cup of CBD-infused coffee and a trip back to the Block Stage for the heavy instrumental jams of Earthless.

► The coffee came in handy during My Bloody Valentine.

► As the last strains of My Bloody Valentine’s feedback was terrifying the nocturnal desert wildlife, Shellac took over in the Theatre tent, launching into a jagged set of acerbic tunes, with professional curmudgeon, guitarist and producer Steve Albini thanking MVB for opening for them. Earlier, before “You Came in Me,” he feigned bewilderment: “I don’t why you are not constantly making out. If I were younger and my cock still worked, I’d fuck all of you … but only with verbal consent.”

► Like many of the respected veteran acts playing Desert Daze, Shellac attracted a cadre of the festival’s younger corps watching from the wings. Included was the suited King Khan, pumping his arms and waving his magic stick, as he warmed up for his own set. Sure enough, the witching hour brought the faithful from the tent to the Block Stage for the bold and bawdy craziness of King Khan & the Shrines. The Canadian band leader simply tore into the weary crowd, exhorting them to carry on.

► Then Ty Segall & White Fence took the stage and somehow kept the level of enthusiasm at a fever pitch until 2:47 a.m., at which time another Desert Daze was in the books.

Photos by Samuel C. Ware

Buzz Bands LA contributors Roy Jurgens and Buzz added to this report.