Massive Psych Fest Kicks Off At Bottom Of The Hill
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One of San Francisco's most venerable rock clubs will be hosting a two-day blowout of heavy psychedelia and hard rock on the first weekend of May when the Heavy Psych Sounds takes over the Bottom of the Hill with headliners Red Fang and Nebula and much more.
Organized by noted Italian psychedelic rock imprint Heavy Psych Sounds and brought to the Bay Area in partnership with local show promoter and design company Subliminal SF and sponsor Iron Man Moving, the epic weekend of heavy music marks the only two-day stop for the inaugural year of the U.S. festival.
It also plays Los Angeles on May 3 and two dates with a different line-up in Texas the following weekend. The label held it's first edition of the HPS festival in its Italian headquarters of Rome before branching out to host events in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, but this round of dates will be the first time Heavy Psych Sounds brings the festival to the States.
Offering up a mix of metal, heavy psych and stoner/desert rock bands, the first day of the two-day celebration will feature regular Bay Area visitors Red Fang headlining Saturday's bill alongside Texas-based proto-metal outfit Duel, LA stoner rock band the Freeks featuring former Fu Manchu and Nebula drummer Ruben Romano, local hard-prog favorites Glitter Wizard and renowned Palm Desert experimentalists Yawning Man.
Over the course of more than a decade, Portland, OR-based quartet Red Fang has established itself to be one of the most talented, hard-working bands in heavy rock. Since first coming into wider recognition with the release of their eponymous Sergeant House Records debut in 2009 -- and the viral Dungeons-and-Dragons inspired video for "Prehistoric Dog" that featured the beer-shotgunning band clad in 12-pack armor battling wizards (it's been viewed over four million times on YouTube) -- Red Fang has earned a sizable international fan base with its relentless touring schedule.
The band's subsequent albums -- 2011's Murder the Mountains, the band's first for noted metal imprint Relapse Records, and the follow-up effort Whales and Leeches in 2013 -- further solidified the quartet's reputation, though their continued partnership with "Prehistoric Dog" video director Whitey McConnaughy on a run of hilarious clips didn't hurt. The recordings showed the band refining their compelling mix of sledgehammer riffs and hook-laden tag-team vocals of bassist Aaron Beam and guitarist Bryan Giles (second guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman round out the band).
In 2015, the group convened to record outside of Portland for the first time, traveling to Ventura in Southern California to work with renowned producer Ross Robinson -- who has helped track albums for everyone from Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot to At The Drive In, Sepultura and the Cure. The resulting album Only Ghosts came out the following year and found Red Fang pushing it's sound in experimental new directions while still pounding out the band's signature blend of heavy riffs and indelible melodies.
Red Fang has yet to make any announcement on plans for their next album, but last summer the group was one of the featured bands at the annual metal bacchanal Psycho Las Vegas and issued a stunning cover of the Tubeway Army classic "Listen to the Sirens" as a digital single that showed off yet another side to the band. Besides the chance to see the quartet at the smallest venue it has headlined in years, the balance of the opening day line-up for the Heavy Psych Sounds Festival offers plenty of reasons to get to the Bottom of the Hill early.
Austin, TX-based foursome Duel features two former members of popular retro-rock outfit Scorpion Child: guitarist/singer Tom Franks and bassist/singer Shaun Avants. Mixing southern-tinged blues-rock riffs with an ominous vibe that nods to such proto-metal legends as Pentagram and Lucifer's Friend, Duel crafts tuneful, head-banging hard rock that will be featured on it's forthcoming Heavy Psych album Valley of Shadows.
SF psychedelic glam/stoner-metal group Glitter Wizard has been bashing out its unique style of over-the-top hard rock for over a decade. Twisting together elements of Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Blue Cheer and Black Oak Arkansas (Wendy Stonehenge, the band's outlandishly Spandex-clad lead singer, works the stage in a high-energy frenzy that recalls Jim "Dandy" Mangrum), the group independently released several singles and full-length efforts before putting its third headbanging space-boogie opus Hollow Earth Tour out through Heavy Psych Sounds in 2016. Their ambitious follow-up Opera Villains was issued -- appropriately enough -- just a couple of weeks ago on 4-20.
The first two bands performing on Saturday both feature players with deep roots in stoner and desert rock history. Monster drummer Ruben Romano -- who made his name providing the hard-grooving propulsive backbeat for both Fu Manchu and Nebula during their prime -- anchors psychedelic heavyweights the Freeks. Meanwhile reunited Palm Desert crew Yawning Man is widely credited as a pioneering force on the scene due founding members guitarist Gary Arce and guitarist/bassist Mario Lalli (founder of equally notable band Fatso Jetson, who perform Sunday) being among the first to take their unique brand of expansive psychedelia out of garages and into the desert for the first generator parties during the latter part of the '80s. Tickets for the Heavy Psych Sounds Festival -- $30 for each day or $50 for a two-day pass -- are available at the Bottom of the Hill website.
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, both Yawning Man and Fatso Jetson have been forced to cancel their appearance at the Heavy Psych Sounds Festival
Heavy Psych Sounds Festival Day 1 with Red Fang
Saturday, May 4, 9 p.m. $30-$50
Bottom of the Hill
