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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Friday 30th May 9.00am
Day 2
Mattress flat, mouth dry, sun blinding through the tent, this was going to be a bloody great day of music. A quick errand into Seigen to pick up everything we have forgotten, a sizeable list, and back to camp for the very pleasant wander through the pine forest and back to the holy ground for what was going to be one hell of a day. Remembering the camera today (see Gallery) we arrive as Sun Preachers are finishing their set to big early crowd still trying to work out what happened the night before and quite how they are back here again so soon.
The intriguingly named Ivy Garden of the Desert hailing from Italy bought to life the early crowd with a solid mix of fuzzed out stoner riffs, laced with a blues groove providing plenty of light and dark moments as the sun was trying to do the same. People were crawling out of the chill out tents and sofas, deck chairs and inflatable arm chairs were popping up all over the place. Freak Valley was ready to get its rock on.
The Festival ale had been recently tapped and The Midnight m’fing Ghost Train are here to kick arse. This is a relatively new band to me that I found through Wo Fat and after seeing these guys destroy the Black Heart at London’s Desertfest, this was one of my most anticipated acts of the weekend. Disappoint they did not. Well and truly in the swing of their European tour, TMGT bought the live energy, southern rock, crackling voice and guitar show to life on the Freak Valley stage. Finishing with an unaccompanied gospel song enticing the “Freaks” (collective noun) to respond “Aint it a shame” left the faithful feeling just this about the 1hr early in the day slot. Either way, Steve and the lads made a lot of friends this weekend and their approachable and friendly presence in the merch tent all afternoon rounded out the whole experience. I look forward to their European return.
Being London based it was great to see a local band on the big stage here at Freak Valley and that band arrived in the way of Stubb. Bringing there 70’s, straight up, in ya face Hendrix-esqe jams, Stubb really bought it and although battling with a noisy pedal board, they crashed through their 1hr set including all their big tunes and a few windows into the new release. Hard Hearted Woman and the regular closer Road were highlights and got the ever growing congregation swaying, nodding and foot tapping away. Jäger on boys!
Time for some food and recharge before a big afternoon meant not really getting to grips with Sweden’s Mother of God but they offered enough to suggest this is a band to look out for in the future and something I will spend some time with in the coming months. My chill out munchies were suddenly interrupted by Mothership’s opening riff to Hallucination. Breaking off conversation abruptly (sorry) I headed in to be greeted with beards, tats and a Flying V. Texas rockers Mothership on their Texas Takeover tour with Wo Fat play dirty, sleazy, powerful, rough as guts rock n roll and I love it. Keeping things simple as a three piece, the two brothers up front keep the riffs flying thick and fast and burst into a surprisingly early Cosmic Rain, complete with sing-along chorus. These guys look like they are enjoying it as much as the now sun drunk crowd are and their set seems to finish just as they are warming up. One thing is for certain, when some of the most memorable tracks of the set came of the new (as yet unreleased) album, you know this is a band we will be hearing from again very soon. As they say, Rock n’ Roll is here to stay!
Another wander through the merch tent and a flurry of vinyl purchases occur as last night’s beers are colliding headfirst with the new beer buzz. Knowing Wo Fat are on their way, we take a seat and watch Canada’s Blood Ceremony wash the crowd over with their dark and brooding witch craft which doesn’t quite strike a chord with me but this was not the general consensus looking at the largest crowd of the day so far flock to the stage.
For me there was one band on the schedule above all others that essentially got me here in the first place. Mr Kent Stump’s Wo Fat. One of my favourite bands that I had the impossible clash with at DF 13 when they came up against the newly reformed and possible one time only show from Dozer. Knowing what I know now, it was perhaps not that colossal but nonetheless Wo Fat were the signing of this festival which sealed the deal for me. Cowboy hat and double cut away Gibson in tow, Stump, Wilson and Walter strode onto the hallowed stage and delivered a lesson in devastating and crushingly heavy guitar riffs downed tuned beyond what I thought was possible. Opening with Black Code, closing with Black Lotus and meandering through classics from Psychedelonaut and dipping into the highly anticipated new album “The Conjuring”, Wo Fat left me speechless with a dumb grin from ear to ear and in no doubt that this was meant to be the setting for my first live encounter with this band.
Solstifir were not what I expected at all and brought some real diversity to the weekend with their Icelandic deep and brooding tones. It seemed fitting that they bought the darkness to the arena and as the sun set and the crowd swelled to surely the 2000 capacity. They definitely pleased their fan base and watching from afar, I was beginning to see why had such a serious following.
Recharge done and post Wo Fat haze drifting away, we headed in for (if the campsite stereos and caps are anything to go by) the biggest bloody band on the planet! Truckfighters! A convert myself, I never get sick of this band. Energy, energy, energy! These guys bring it every time. Ripping through their hour set like it was a practice jam, Ozo, Dango and Enzo played songs off most albums with standouts for me being Last Curfew, Mind Control and of course the mighty Desert Cruiser. The stage area is well and truly packed and the first real “pit” (if there is such a thing at a stoner festival) starts up and the occasional punter goes up and over. Although I would always prefer to see these guys in a club, they certainly don’t disappoint the adoring masses and leave everyone wondering just who they will pick themselves up for tonight headliners The Blues Pills.
We didn’t have to wait long. The Blues Pills is a band that’s friends back in Melbourne have raved about since seeing them earlier in the year at Cherry Bar and their live show is something to behold. The first sounds you are hit with are the 70’s fuzz soaked blues infused riffs of Dorian Sorriaux on guitar. These are locked in with a driving bass and drum back end and then laid over the lot like a silken sonic blanket is the deliciously soulful and powerful voice of Elin Larsson. The Blues Pills put together a set like seasoned veterans slowly building and winding to it ultimate crescendo which left Freak Valley wanting more and anyone new to this band wondering how they had missed them. I fall somewhere between the two and although most of the set was watched from the back, they really sounded beyond their years and truly worthy of the headline slot. Coffee, Waffle/ Bed! Was it just me or was it bloody freezing on Friday night…and where were Thursday’s fires. Brrrrrrr/.
