(edited to spell "Saturday" correctly)

My brother & I got into Mesa around 5:30 & checked into the hotel. My 2 bandmates were still in ABQ. Hooked up with a few Black Marias & SuperGiants and some online buds from Stonerrock.com before going in.

I got to see Turambar from Denver, locals The Cremains, and then Duke City boys SuperGiant, who played probably the strongest set I've seen out of them. Representin'.

Next was Bay Area trio Greenhouse Effect, who shook some dust outta the ceiling while pumping out slabs of Doom. Then Blood of the Sun, who we'd seen the previous night in Albuquerque. Any dust that remained in the rafters snowed down as they played a strong set at punishing volume. Total body massage was free, courtesy of the Leslie cabinet oscillations. Bottom followed, but I hung outside for most of that set. I came back and caught the last 3 tunes or so, and then came the mighty...

DIXIE WITCH. They had the place swinging, headbanging & grooving to their bloozy, downtuned Southernfried Boogie. Then Bam!

It was over. Back to the hotel to get some sleep for our set Sunday.

SHoD was killer. We had a great time. Our only regret was not staying there the entire weekend. Next year we will. We got to hang out with a lot of really cool bands and make some great touring contacts. We partied hard with the crazy fuckers in Sasquatch and B and G from Black Maria and RacerX from Devil Riding Shotgun and his bro. A late night party session ensued in the SG hotel room after Saturday's show. I was surprised that G pussed-out a bit early (esp. after giving us so much shit for not partying last year) but I guess it was 5am and his lady was with him so we'll let him slide this time

I was completely blown away by Bottom but no one else seemed to agree with me on that. I thought they were fucking dirty dirty dirty.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the sets of Devil to Pay, Greenhouse Effect and of course, Dixie Witch.

Here are a few vids. Sound isn't bad - my brother put bandaids over the camera mic (hint: turn the YouTube player DOWN & yer 'puter volume up!)

I'll link more later, but here's the Albuquerque contingency:

SuperGiant

&

DRS

Pics of all the bands who played, by ALRICtheGREAT.

So, Sunday...

Trying to get up & around in time to see the Golden Pig Electric Blues Band's pre-2PM set was painful, but we pulled it off, as did a surprising amount of others. We were rewarded with one of the best sets of the weekend - thick, creamy fuzzblues that enveloped us like a womb (although my first Stella Artois might have assisted in my case).

Next up was Wormhole, a Las Cruces band. Kinda classic rock based sound, with a damn good singer. They were one of the less heavy outfits there, but they were by no means "off-topic." Their bassist was nice enough to lend Neb his bass head, as Neb's had blown up. In deference to him, Neb did not touch the sacred settings, so the result was a not unpleasant (but totally un-Neblike) tone.

We were next, and rather than review our own set, I'll let y'all check the videos and make up yer own minds. I was having some difficulty hearing Neb, my ears scanning for his usual tone and not finding it. John kept us linked up well, however, and I was happy with the set overall...

We stuck around for Full Stride/Southern Gun Culture reunion, who we'd seen 2 nights before in Albuquerque. Trent & Amber are a husband/wife duo who have a hefty, Southern rock-based sound. Amber has a helluva set of pipes on top of it all. Danny G used to be the third member in SGC along with Trent & Amber. He came up for a few SGC songs and a Southern-tinged cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

DRS took our gear back to the hotel and took a short break from the action, missing The Dirty Clydes, Lovemound, and Ol' Scratch. When we returned, Admiral Browning was on (I think they & Ol' Scratch have the same drummer, so there was very little break). I was outside socializing for most of their set, but they sounded like the most "proggy" of the weekend acts - a 3-piece instrumental band, they explore the outer realms of the Heavy.

I totally missed Enirva, as well. Next up was Via Vengeance, a one-man band that totally blew my mind - he sits on a drumthrone, 7-string guitar in lap, simultaneously picking and drumming with his right hand while drumming with the left & using his feet for the kickdrum & snare. Very spare, aggro stuff - kinda like a slightly simpler Prong. He's from Phoenix.

Husky was next up, and they are another instrumental trio. Yeah, they had some mathy moments, but were much more straight ahead and grooving, with a "Universal Mind" tightness. One of my favorites, they had some nice psych parts and echo manipulation.

Then came Super Destroyer (ex-Sons of Serro/Graves at Sea). Not surprisingly, with that lineage, they blended Doom and Stoner into a potent blend. The only other guitarist playing through Mesa gear besides myself, from what I saw & heard. VERY heavy, but spacy and pshychedelic enough to keep it interesting. Excellent, climactic ending to their set.

HDR was a total surprise - I'd never heard of them, but they took the place by storm. First off, they LOOKED different: drummer had Fox racing gear AND a gangsta bandanna, bassist was a petite oriental female, and the front man looked more the punk than the Metal dood. Whatever - all that vaporized before their onslaught - not a lotta fuzz, just 2 Sunn Model T halfstacks, one reissue, one vintage, with full power tube saturation. He sounded like Angus Young on steroids and the bassist layed down the fat fingerstyle throb and pulled off serious rockstar moves. Unique, powerful, and stripped-down, their sound had elements of Sabbath-based riffs, revved-up punky slashing, classic rock, and a good deal of Stooges/MC5ness without really sounding much like any of the aforementioned. Their roadie wore a pinstriped suit complete with fedora. Outside the box for SHoD, this band.

House of Broken Promises is Arthur Seay and Miguel Cancino of Unida with a new bassist, and they sound pretty much like just that. Simplistic but catchy riffs, driving rhythms, and a strong post-Stoner sound. Arthur & the bassist traded off on the vocal duties (bassist even sounds a BIT like John Garcia), and the singer from HDR joined them for a rendition of Unida's Black Woman. Truthfully, by this point my ears were ringing pretty good, and I was getting well-lubricated in my brain, so I was outside for a good deal of it.

The final act was locals Greenhaven, who were rather anticlimactic. They were okay, but following Super Destroyer, HDR and HoBP was an impossible task for them. They played two cover songs in their short set, and the originals were okay, but not particularly distinctive. Very classic rock influenced and with a Van Halen infatution that went as deep as the "GH" logo on the drums in Van Halen style. Again, I'm not putting this band down as they were fairly solid, but I really think they should have been give an earlier slot.

So, that wrapped up the festivities - I walked out with CDs from HDR, Greenhouse Effect, Grissom (GHE side project), and Via Vengeance, acute tinnitus, a helluva good buzz, and a BIG smile on my face.

Thanks to Rob Levey for putting this event on and to all the bands & fans that participated.

It was an honor and a pleasure to be there.

yo racerX, what's the deal with stonerrock.com?? their site has been fu@ked up for 2 daze now! don't you know the dudes who run that site?

They're doing maintenance - splitting the All That's Heavy Store out into its own URL.

Should be done in a day or two, I'd think.

quote:

They're doing maintenance - splitting the All That's Heavy Store out into its own URL.

i guess they aren't hip to the idea of test servers??

Even with the redesign, SR.com is a rather primitive site design. The BB style here is far superior.

quote:

Even with the redesign, SR.com is a rather primitive site design.

stoners

What I remember of SHoD was great.