This years Desert Daze was a special one for a couple reasons. The festival celebrated 10 year of stacked line-ups and what better way to celebrate than with Tame Impala on the bill, celebrating their 10 year anniversary of their album, Lonerism. A Birthday celebration on the beach.
I arrived to the fest Friday afternoon just in time to catch Imahran, an Algerian Tuareg quintet from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose fuzzy guitars and rhythmic percussion couldn’t have set the tone better for this weekends beach, mountain side setting. A mix of Tuareg desert blues, funk and other ranging influences. Truly a special group whose message is one of unity and bridging cultures.
The weekend had its fair share of legends take stage, such as Cymande, an early 70’s group who merge African rhythms with rock, funk, reggae soul and jazz. French, jazz quartet Cortex, and a secret, surprise, zamrock set from Witch. All of which are groups whom I’ve discovered and became a huge fan of over the years, but never thought I’d ever have the privilege of seeing live. Truly special performances.
Surfbort rile up a sandy, beach side circle pit. Perfectly timed at mid-day, waking up the stragglers wandering in from their campsites, still recovering from their first (I’m sure sleepless) night of the fest.
Duster, notorious for their disappearance and sudden resurgence in buzz, took stage following up Cortex. Both of which I was extremely excited to get to see back to back!
Funny enough, after having a conversation with a few other fans in the crowd before Duster took stage, it seems the pipeline from “eh, Duster is whatever” to super fan is a common one. One fan expresses “when I first checked them out, I thought they were kinda bullshit”, then goes onto explain how they rediscovered the group years later and became obsessed. This has been my relationship with Duster’s music over the years myself, something about them suddenly struck a chord with me when revisiting their music after some time. Can’t quite explain it, but they were loud, slow and just amazing to hear live. Duster, notorious for their disappearance and sudden resurgence in buzz, took stage following up Cortex. Both of which I was extremely excited to get to see back to back!
I know, I know. “What about Tame Impala?!” I undoubtedly waited over an hour, standing in one spot at the beach side stage, listening to the discussion taking place behind me about favorite psychedelic of choice and theories on why weed scared them so much. Fitting, I thought. Nonetheless, I found myself sticking out the wait, as my inner teenager wouldn’t allow me to miss the chance to hear Lonerism live, in all its entirety. It’s funny how much of the songs I found myself still knowing line for line, even after years of not having listened much to Tame. The blokes still got it, there’s no denying it!
Three days of non-stop music is a lot and can be grueling, even for the most music obsessed and enthused. One thing I really appreciated about the the fest were the many opportunities to step away from the stages and partake in more ‘lax activities.
From soundscape tents, shops, a mini screening and Q&A by chemist/journalist Hamilton Morris, settings for photo-op’s and well, a whole lakeside beach to lounge on when you needed to escape the crowds.
JJUUJJUU fronted by founded by festival founder Phil Pirrone, accompanied by the psychedelic visuals by Mad Alchemy who uses a combo of oil, inks to project vibrant textures that fit the music all so well.
Two acts I stumbled upon for the first time this weekend, Automatic and Working Mens Club. Both great, post-punk bands that took stage during the day. Both have just released new albums that you will want to check out! Just added a few of their songs to my daily rotation.
Levitation Room a four piece garage rock band from LA, my favorite set that weekend, hands down. I’ve been a big fan of them for some time now and was so excited to see them added to the bill. Yet another great, hispanic act added to the lineup.
Yah know, Mexicans love rock music! A lot of us grew up rocker-foo’s that later revisited the Spanish rock classics that our parents played for us as kids. I think that’s why I love bands like Chicano Batman (who also were on the festival’s lineup) and Levitation Room so much. I can hear that influence and homage to roots in Levitation Room’s music and it resonates so much with me personally, as I’m sure it does with many others who are fans of their music and artists alike. So getting to see some representation like that at a festival like Desert Daze, when the “psych-rock/garage rock” space sometimes feels dominated by white dudes cosplaying as the Doors was refreshing and exciting.
On the last nigh of the fest, I ended the weekend watching Beach House close out the main stage. I laid in the sand on the beach, to the side as they performed songs I hadn’t heard in years, right beneath the stars. A truly special moment and could ask for no better way to wrap up my trip. If you missed this year, you definitely wanna make it for the next one. A true oasis of the best upcoming and big name artists, all while on the beautiful Lake Perris. Here’s looking forward to next year, still riding the afterglow all these days later.
