Kevin Bronson on October 14th, 2018

0

At its start, the second day of Desert Daze seemed like trying to light a blunt using a matchbook left out in the rain. Where was the spark?

Festival-goers trickled in Saturday sharing war stories about the calamities that bookended Day 1. First, there was the agonizing slog in the traffic jam to get to the festival; then there was the thunderstorm that brought lightning and rain and an early end to headliner Tame Impala’s set, as well as the cancellation of the rest of the night’s sets.

Under uncertain skies, though, a certain optimism took hold.  The festival had taken steps to mitigate traffic problems. Mother Nature’s moment had passed. And as Cut Worms and Hand Habits played their hazy, mellow early sets, Desert Daze’s flame began to crackle happily. Stonefield, Cat Scan and Mannequin Pussy escalated things with raging sets in the Theatre tent; festival founder Phil Pirrone’s JJUUJJUU tested the sound system on the Block stage (it failed a couple of times); and Mercury Rev and Slowdive turned in the kind of epic sets Desert Dazers must have imagined when they hatched the idea for this festival. 

Headliners King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard laid out 20-plus songs of psychedelic lightning, inciting a mosh pit even before they played “Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet.” The Australian band’s set might have been the climax of the night, but it certainly wasn’t the end, as revelers partied into the wee hours of the morning with Beak>, A Place to Bury Strangers, Deap Vally and more.

■ See our Day 1 coverage

Day 2 highlights:

► Mercury Rev’s “Deserter’s Songs,” celebrating its 20th anniversary this fall, is a symphonic rock classic, arching and tender with ethereal strings and astral arrangements. The New York band gave a performance of the album at Desert Daze, attracting hardcore faithful and some curious newbies. (One of the latter commented, “I like this, it reminds me of the Flaming Lips,” an astute observation from somebody who had no idea that producer Dave Fridmann had worked concurrently on “Deserter’s Songs” and “The Soft Bulletin” back in the day.) Both Mercury Rev and the Moon Stage sound system did the album justice, with frontman Jonathan Donahue, as usual, flapping his arms like wings as his elfin voice reached the heavens and guitarist Sean Mackowiak (aka Grasshopper) was a study in texture and tone. They completed the album, then finished their set with a song from 2001’s “All Is Dream,” which introduces itself with an epic orchestral sweep. Spines tingled.

► Dream-pop pioneers Slowdive continue to amaze, four-plus years into a reunion that has yielded many memorable concerts and a 2017 album that ranks with the 1990s output that made them so influential. Of everything they played in their hour on the Moon Stage Saturday night, the echoing notes of “Souvlaki Space Station” seemed best for a festival staged at a man-made lake surrounded by boulder-strewn terrain.

► Chelsea Wolfe called forth the dark spirits of the desert with her signature dark metal goth-gaze, well-situated after the bright and shimmery Mercury Rev and before the hard-driving decays of Slowdive on the Moon Stage. Wolfe’s set gave the vampire-inclined a reprieve from light as most of her set barreled from a deep darkness that matched the depths of her soul. It served as the perfect balance to keep the audience from exploding with too much happiness. 

► While the kids were moshing to the Gizzard’s Wizards, a far more intellectual performance was occurring in the Theatre tent, where Beak> entertained an enthusiastic but less rowdy audience with their electro-organic musings. Known for the foggy trip-hop of his other band, Portishead, Geoff Barrow stretched playfully into jam band territory.

► While Oakland’s Shannon & the Clams doo-wopped for lovers in the 1 a.m. chill, the Theatre tent was the site of an absolutely terrifying set by A Place to Bury Strangers. The tone was set 90 seconds into their set, as Oliver Ackermann shattered his guitar upon the stage floor and then proceeded to gnash white noise from the shards of his sacrificial instrument. The NYC trio’s blinding, throbbing, thrash metal shoegaze was blood-curdling. Lia Simone Braswell’s formidable skills behind the drum kit allowed Ackermann and Lunadon free reign to create havoc at will. Backlit by perpetual seizure-inducing strobes, the trio dived into the crowd, where they were swarmed by zombies. Dion Lunadon’s bass was held aloft as a trophy as the crowd handed him back to the stage. Their set was not for the faint of heart.

► And while Deap Vally deserved a better set time than 3 a.m., the L.A. duo certainly made the best of a captured audience of several hundred hardcore attendees determined to get their money’s worth. The duo’s trailer trash Led Zep riffage rang out beautifully under the moonlight cloudy sky at the Block Stage.

► Earlier, JJUUJJUU, Desert Daze founder Phil Pirrone’s band, kicked up some hard psychedelic grooves with huge inflated balls bouncing all around the Block Stage with a unicorn-like figure prancing around for extra charm. So heavy were the grooves, in fact, that the subs blew out a couple of times. Pirrone took a moment to thank the audience for coming and being a part of the festival and being the reason he puts it on every year.

► The Aussie sisters of Stonefield rocked a mesmerizing set in the Theater tent, blasting all with their wall of guitars while singer Amy Findlay pumped the beat on drums. Those who caught them earlier this year at the Bootleg were lucky, as the festival stage was packed to capacity with a long line to get in and overflow watching from outside the back of the tent.  

► Boogarins played a delightful set sung mostly in Portuguese but understood universally. Their playful, improvisational vibe teased the audience with starts and stops just to see how much people were paying attention. Their colorful set was a good representation of the celebratory spirit of Brazil.

► And the finest daylight set belonged to Kevin Morby on the Moon Stage. “Good on you for sticking it out,” he told the crowd. Highlighted by songs such as “Harlem River,” “1234” and “I Have Been to the Mountains,” his set ranged from amped-up psych-pop to erudite Dylanesque musings. And at 5 o’clock, just as festival-goers were regaining their footing, it gave Desert Daze a welcome shot of adrenaline.

Photos by Samuel C. Ware

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