This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
The Ambient Ghost is Ola Eriksson (Derango, Bland Blanden, Øresund Space Collective). This is his new single out on Sanaton Records. It features 2 songs, starting with the Midnight Sun. Like the project name suggests it is pretty laid back vibe with some nice layers of nature sounds (birds) and spacey ambient vibe. A sort of Scotish highlands voice-bagpipe lead comes out of the background before a slow relaxed beat is mixed in with some percussion. Very droney and spacey. The lead appregiated synth changes the vibe as multiple layers of syncd rhythmic layers merge into the sound. Track stays very nice and interesting the entire time.
UFO Report starts with a bit darker drone on this nearly 12 min trip. Slowly the soundscape gets more dense with new layers appearing but it takes its time. At nearly 5mins the dark drone fades out and the spacey sounds keep going and there is a spoken word sample of someone describing seeing a UFO. Very spaced out stuff. At 8mins a sampled like rock drum kit comes into the picture but it all remains very trippy and lots of reverb in some of the layers. Quite a trip this one. Cool and creative stuff. Check out some of Ola’s other projects below.
It has been a long time since I have been to an arena show. This is a new modern place and the layout and sound were great. Not often I get to go to a rock show with my daughter as well. Met up with old friends Anders and Freddy (Fuzz Manta) before the show for some food and chat. Great to see them,, We got to our seats way in the back at the top (very top sections as closed off) but still must have been 10,000 people. Jaylar (UK hard rock band) started right at 19. I had never heard them except one song we listened to on you tube. They want to look like 70s Zeppelin and have a bit of that swagger. boogie and vocal style. Most of the songs were 4 min well crafted, tight 70s rock but with short solos. Oh Woman and the very last song were the only ones that really stood out for me. In the last 10min song they jammed a bit and included 2mins of War Pigs by Sabbath. It was a great way for them to end the show. Solid 4 piece band but besides the last song, very tight, no risks taken, rock and roll…
Set List: Down Below, The Getaway, No Woman, Alectrona, Riverboat Queen, Need Your Love, Over the Mountain, The Rinsk (with a bit of War Pigs)
We had to wait 45mins for DP to hit the stage about 2030. Very cool stage and lights and huge high resolution screen behind the band. They had an intro film that showed animated images flying thru space with covers or hints of things from the artwork for a lot of the album covers and then the band starts the intro into Highway star and we are off. It was pretty dam LOUD, which I was happy for. Rock needs to be loud! Sadly, I think Gillan had his mic turned off so missed the opening first verse of the song and then came in. I am sure he warms up his voice but he did not sound good. This song is just too hard for an 80 year old to sing now. But I have to say, by the 3rd song Into the Fire from IN Rock (2nd oldest song, in the set besides HUSH), he was sounding quite good. The band is in top form musically and Simon, is a monster shredder guitar player and a great heavy rock overall sound. Like Morse, he also throws in licks here and there and has fun with the solos but until the end of the show, all the songs were very tight and no extensions. Lots of solos to give these 77-80 year old guys a bit of a breather. Simon did a guitar solo part after the 3rd song and 3 songs later Don Airy had one before Lazy and another later before Perfect Strangers. He also included the Danish National song! No drum or bass solo though. The new songs (Arrogant Kid, Diablo, ?) sounded good, nice to hear Lazy Sod from the last record. They did an instrumental from that album as well and Sometimes I Feel like Screaming (From 1996) , was the only song from the era 1996-2024. The audience reacted the most of course to the classic songs like Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin, Highway Star…. They have been closing and playing Black Night as the last song for many years. I saw at some shows they have been doing When a Blind man Cries but not tonight. IT was great and fun to see them for a 4th time (1985, 1998, 2012, 2026)… Go see them if you get a chance still heavy and rocking!
Set List: Highway Star, A Bit on the Side, Into the Fire, Guitar Solo, Arrogant Boy, Diablo, Keyboard Solo Lazy. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Sacred Land, Lazy Sod, Keyboard Solo (With snippets from "Der er et yndigt land", "Den danske sang" and "Wonderful Copenhagen") Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’, Smoke on the Water, Guinnesis, Hush, Black Night
This is an archive concert taken from the master tapes from the bands US Tour Fall 1977. IT was remastered from the reels by Percy Jones. it is an impressive concert with amazing versions of some of these songs. It will also come out on vinyl in the new year. The set list includes all the songs from the Livestock album as well as some songs that would appear on the Masques album in 1978. Band seem to be in a very good mood and the playing is superb.
CD 1
1. Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria 2. Disco Suicide 3. Access to Data 4. Why Should I Lend You Mine When You've Broken Yours Off Already? 5. Euthanasia Waltz
I am a big fan of Christian and all his projects. What a great musician and he follows his own musical path and heart. This album is a bit of a mixture of his solo stuff, more synth driven but with the addition of a lot more tasty guitar licks that I love as another driving energy in the music. From Distant Shores has some nice keyboard playing but really is lifted up by the guitar solo part.
Love some of the synth arpeggiated tracks as well like discovery of Abacus. Cool track. Hard to Leave, has at least 3 synth layers to create a beautiful emotional piece (I guess about leaving Brazil). Sleepless Raag starts with a fast arpeggiated synth, then the bass line comes. Some very relaxed acoustic guitar is played here and there as the sequence build and modulates. I did not want this one to end… Back on Track Again is just over 2mins and far too short. Could have looped the piece and just kept the solo going… Vale das Sombras (Valley of Shadows) has a darker guitar vibe over the repeated synth sequence, which slowly comes a bit more to the front as it grows and then the drums kick in and the focus changes. Dreamy and spacey but also intense. Summer Reign is another 2min piece, very laid back with acoustic and electric guitar. Wall of Sleep starts with a male vocal choir and synth sequence. Reminds me of Tangerine Dream this one. Paraiso Fechado, starts as a synth track but then there is something that almost sounds like a banjo in the middle section. A heavy guitar riff kicks in later. Nice progressions on this track. Romantic sequence ends the album with a 80s Tangerine Dream vibe. Another great album. Loved it..
If you like Samsara Blues Experiment, Fuzz Sagrado, then you deserve to check this one out. Available on CD…..
The Silver Moon is a new printed fanzine, unlike any you are likely to have read. It is a mix of history, philosophy, deep thoughts,, musical themes and connections, witchcraft and more. I found it to be a very facinating and diverse read. An incredible interview with Anton Levey from 1969 (reprinted with permission), belladonna, performance art, short stories, etc.. Please check it out and I look forward to Vol 2…. Jana Zatvarnická is an artist, editor and founder of The Silver Moon. Her work explores witchcraft, plant knowledge, and embodied forms of memory, often engaging with archival material and ritual practices. I met Jana at Sonic Blast and she gave me a copy of her fanzine, which I am most grateful for as I learned a lot. Very interesting and recommended.
Seb is a local singer songwriter that I have been seeing play locally at markets, etc since he was a young teenager. Wow.. The guy can play and sing. He was joined tonight by another local talent, May, who has an amazing singing voice and also plays guitar. They have put together a wonderful duo doing original and cover songs (pretty obscure as Neil Young was the only one I knew). There was about 45 people but most stayed outside and about 20 were inside and enjoying the concert. They played stuff that was a bit folky, a bit country and western, blues, Americana, style and a bit of rock and roll. Not sure how many songs they played but I guess about 15-17, usually about 3mins in length. They talked a little inbetween, but mostly just played, made people happy. Wonderful and talented duo. Hope to see them again. Sadly, the videos have some distortion but my recording of the full concert sounds great, so they could sink them up….
This was a very cool evening. The band was lead by Dutch keyboard master, Peter Schön and friends. His daughter, Rosalinde, was the head of the choir and also sang solo on a John Miles song, Music is my first Love. Anyway, the place was completely full and were very lucky to get in. The event brought together three local choir groups (about 60 singers- 15 men and 45 women). THey did a medley of rock-pop music starting off with Queen we will rock you and into Another brick in the wall by Pink Floyd. Billy Jean by Michael Jackson, John Miles, ABBA, and some songs in Portuguese that I did not know. They did a long 10-15mins of introductions, handing out gifts and ended with Bon Jovi. We left as we were very hungry and sad that we did not come back to see the Peter Schön Quartet, who was on afterwards. It was some of the same musicians that I saw earlier in the year under the name Pink Umbrella. Great event for the local people.
Brad, the songwriter, singer and guitarist in Pothead has released a solo record. The music on this record is based on the tracks that he performs solo at the yearly Potstock. As far as I know, all the music performed on modular synth with guitar and vocals. The CD features 10 tracks that are mostly melodic dance tracks with a deep kick, complex layers of Euro rack modular sounds.
Kid Seventeen opens with a real dance track, which will make Pothead fans wonder what the fuck is going on?? This one tells a story about a 17 year old kid in the modern age. Ring of Fire has a really catchy groove and the guitar slowly grows as the tempo speeds up a bit as it progresses. Great lyrics… Hanging Rock, keeps the disco party going, including the falsetto vocals. This track opens with a nice guitar solo and has more later as well. Far out… Saturn and the Moon is less disco and a more ambient synths but the same kick drive. The vocals are more spoken word. Cannonade this has a pothead like groove and I really dig this one. Really grooves and love the way the words flow with the groove. Awesome track and totally different from the first more dance tracks. People can dance to this as well for sure. Just a different vibe. The End of Summer, is a happy track with multiple layers of vocals. Love the synths that start the Soap Opera show. The overall dance vibe of this track is pretty catchy like the ones that started the CD off. A very laid back vocal and nice story. Zeus Zenios brings back a bit of rock to album, with a bit of a snare and kick rather than just kick drum to drive the groove. Nice synths as well. Forked Tongue has a totally different drum groove than anything that proceeds and a nice heavy guitar riff. A pretty cool groove and vocal delivery. The album closes with a more low fi and trippy track, the only really experimental one and also instrumental called Hochspannunsweg 9! Cool stuff Brad. Love this last one.
There are a lot of lyrics on these tracks and Brad clearly had a lot of fun making this album and his voice sounds fantastic. Nice to hear some guitar on some of the tracks. I think most Pothead fans will not appreciate this but it was great that Brad just followed his muse and let us hear some of the modular synth stuff he has been digging himself into for the last 10 years… Enjoy…
This Australian band, lead by Thumlock guitarist, Raff, are on a roll! Album number 6 (plus a split) and their 2nd album this year. I really dig this one. A mixture of classic 70s rock trio and a bit of Alice in Chains on the side! Some fantastic songs and nice long instrumental sections. The title track starts things off with a monster riff and reminds me of Alice in Chains, especially the vocal style. Nice space out section in the middle. Home Sweet Home starts spacey and then slowly builds into some great riffs and dynamics go up and down in this Pink Floyd inspired instrumental track. Voyage of the Whalers has a bit of a Nebula vibe at times but the added harmonica, brings back the Wizard by Black Sabbath in a subtle way. Great guitar solos on this track. Lucid reality is a bit heavier and brings a bit of that AIC vibe again. Oceans of Fire is 11 mins and a highlight track for me as you can really take a journey on this one. Starts slow and spacey with a nice guitar line with some delay. Great track with the entire band just in the zone! The album ends with Drifting into Overdrive, another intense stoner riff rocker to close out a great LP. This track reminds me of the Norwegian band WE. I have only heard 3 albums by these guys but this is my fave for sure. Check it out!
Tracklist: A1 Curse Of The Driven – 6:47 A2 Home Sweet Home – 8:07 A3 Voyage Of The Whalers – 7:02 B1 Lucid Reality – 5:20 B2 Oceans Of Fire – 11:21 B3 Drifting Into Overdrive – 05:37
This was the 2nd free concert associated with the master class workshop. It focused on Eastern Maqam and Balkan guitar lead by Mosh Zehavi from Israel, a clear master of the Balkan and middle eastern electric guitar. He was backed up by a drummer Kuba from Berlin, locals Shahar Kaufmann (bass), Noa (flute, clarinet) and another guitar player. As usual, the concert says starts at 20 but it was nearly 2050 when the show really started. A lot of the same people as last time and about 50 or so, I guess. Sounds was really good and the vibe excellent. The concert opened with the students from the workshop performing one number with Mosh. A lot of acoustic guitars, one Oud, electric guitar. Nice combination. Kuba played a simple backing rhythm.
Mosh, announced the titles of most of the songs. It started fairly laid back and each track had guitar and woodwind solos, some quite long which was nice. After a few laid back tracks they kicked the energy level way up and people started to dance. Some of this Balkan stuff was quite wild and crazy and a difficult rhythm to dance to actually. Shahar was laying down the killer groove and smiling like I have never seen him before at any gig. Clearly having a good time. The band was great and the songs interesting with lots of solos. I dug it a lot. Towards the end, an Indian lady came out and they played an Indian inspired piece. The lady sung as well as danced. That was cool..
This was a very cool event but sadly very poorly attended. Lovely Quinta of legendary DJ and producer Larry Lush was the scene. I arrived early and it was very empty, just the volunteers and Larry, pretty much, no one else. I helped out a bit on the stage.
Before the music they had the premiere screening of the film, the festival is named after by Yo Smet and Leive. It was about 30 mins long and a documentary about the fires in the Serra da Estrela region. There were two main people interviewed voicing their opinions about who fire affects their lives, the Portuguese people, what they think the problems are and the solutions. It was an interesting documentary.
The first artist was a young guy from New Jersey named Dan. He was very nice and had a harem of young girls hanging around him, He plays under the name Bootleg Moses. Loved his first song, 3 Eye Blink, I think it was called. He played all originals except one. Some great stuff and a nice voice.
Next up was Rosalinde and Peter, a Dutch, daughter-father duo, who played all new original material written this year has never been performed before. Wow, both are just exceptional. Peter has truely mastered the piano-keyboard and is so expressive.Rosa, just sings so nice, perfect, easy on the ears. Very nice and diverse set of songs. I filmed the one called Wind.
Andy Shades, from I Spy, played a sort of solo set. All his own original songs, including one he wrote 40 years ago. He was joined by Peter for the entire set except the opening song.Andy was tired having just come back from the UK and was not happy with the stage sound or performance, which was a pity. The small crowd enjoyed it a lot though…They were showing the film again and so I said bye to folks and went home. There were a lot of DJs going til 230 in the morning including: Xixa, DC. L:M:O, Emmy Curl, Red Panda, Quietman and Racubah.
Sept 13th
Dr Space, me, was first on with a solo set at 13. IT was already really hot out and I set up on the stage but it was brutal so we moved the gig down to the bar. There was about 10 people about. I played for an hr and it was pretty fun and good practice for me. Linde, wants me to come play my ambient space set for the horses!!! We will see. There were a few more acts to play in the afternoon but they were showing the film again, which I had seen and it was like 36C, so I headed home..
The Audience
A lovely spot and just so sad no one came out for the film and music. It was a great line up folks all playing for free to raise money for the voluntary firefighters. Sadly, I am guessing no money was raise and in fact they lost money, Larry and Linde.. They have built up a super cool place for a small festival. Congrats to them.. Lets home more events go on here, even though it is a bit out in the middle of nowhere.
Maquamat Music Workshops have started at the Quinta de São Jacinto, Portugal, about 25mins from where I live. It is a huge farm complex with a fully functioning agricultural farm with grapes, olives, veggies, and lots of fruit trees. The owner, he has now rebuilt many of the buildings into a small event center, music studio, rooms for the guest musicians, etc.. What a fantastic place, although still a work in progress..
Durning this week, there were like 10 students and this night they got to perform with their teachers and an audience. I guess they were nervous. Moshie, he did an introduction and then it started with master cello player, Mayu Shviro. The focus of this workshop was Modal Music & Comprehensive Rhythm: Inside the music traditions of the Middle East. Her opening piece was just incredible. It had different movements and flows, very emotional. Wow. I loved it. In one section, it sounded like bagpipes! I wish I had filmed it. The entire event was filmed and multitrack recorded, so we might get to see. It next up was master of the tof miriam, an ancient frame drum, Zohar Fresco. He sang and played primarily a hand drum. It was a cool and intense piece. After that they did one together and then they were joined by the students. Some of the best ones got solos (violin, flute, oud, and a multi-stringed instrument from Crete, played upright but but bowed like a violin. Not sure what it is called. Anyway, they did 3 or 4 pieces and each was quite different. It was awesome.. Wow... Incredible musicians.
How lucky are we to get to see these master players out here in the middle of nowhere Portugal and for free!!! Thanks Moshie.. Awesome..
Tau Ensemble is a German- Israeli world music group feature five members. The band plays mostly short compositions of original instrumental music.The combination of the Oud and violin are the main melodic elements with desert and middle eastern inspired themes.The band was recently recording in my studio and I grabbed them for a few minutes to ask them a few questions.
Where are you based and how long have you been playing together?
Or- Four years.. Three of us are from Mitzpe Ramon in Israel,the other two are originally from Germany. They are now living as nomads in a van.
Jonas- It started up 4 years ago.
Or- We started off in the south of Israel and were all living together there for 3 years. Mirjam and Jonas then went back to Europe. Since then we are meeting every summer for a tour. We mainly meet in Europe.
It was the one year anniversary of your first release, the First Rain on May 29th. How do you feel about the record one year after and how was it received in the media and by the world in general.
Jonas- It was a long process. it was recorded in 2022. First of all, the way we played in 2022 and the way we play now has evolved a lot. When we listened to it on the release date, we were like, ok it is done but we do not feel like it represents us, because we evolved so much in the meantime. Many things like lost files, war delayed this album and it became a pain in the back part of the body.
Mirjam- Yes.. we had a good response.We actually did not promote this album that much for the reasons that Jonas explained.We are really excited to record a new album.
Please tell me about the lovely artwork cover..
Mirjam- The first album cover was painted by the beautiful girlfriend of our bassist. Maja. She is using pigments from the desert to paint. She is going out to the desert where we all lived and collecting up pigments from different kinds of rocks and sand. The motive is referring to our name. Tau, in German, means morning dew. The idea behind it is a bit like what we want to bring with our music. Something refreshing, something that comes from the silence. The drop on the cover, represents us creating something moving, something alive out of the stillness.
Jonas- Even in the desert where there is no water, there is dew!
Nadav- An ancient way of painting.
You are recording a new album right now.How do you feel the new material is different or a progression from your first album?
Jonas- It is a different world completely. The first album is much more earthy and grounded, gentle, meditative, friendly and now the new material is all opposite of it that. First of all we have new instruments like didgeridoo since we have a new bass player. Also electric guitar. I think the music is more wild and daring, more exploring. For me it is nice to have people to share these realms together.
Almog- We have more wilder parts and gave ourselves more space to explore and expand our genre. To discover new sounds for ourselves.
You are working with the well known music producer, Shahar Kaufmann. How did you meet or know him?
Almog- Like all the rivers go to the sea, all the recommendations go to Shahar!!
Miriam- If we look at what albums we listen to and like a lot, and the sound that we search for, who recorded it, Shahar, next album, oh Shahar..
Or- We have a weekly meeting on line and we asked each of us to choose 1 or 2 albums which we liked the sound and just exploring and 4 out of the 5 of us got the same, the albums were recorded by Shahar!
How has your studio experience been here in Portugal? How is it different to recording at home in Israel?
Everyone- Very peaceful!
Or- No sirens and bombs..
Nadav- The idea came up when we were in Croatia and just practicing in this beautiful house out in the nature, this view, this setting, where to record and we start to think about doing it as a retreat. We thought about doing it in a neutral country, where none of us have any projects, etc.. We were talking to Shahar and he was thinking about this space (my studio).
Mirjam- I think we are good at getting annoyed with each other and it is great to have a space where we can just run away and have some peace for a moment. The band is a relationship of five people.
What inspires you to make music?
Almog- It is individual. Music has been part of my life since I was a kid. I am kind of married to the music. I do not see myself not in a relationship with music. I really like to play in this band as it makes me create, gives me a space where I can express myself. I am inspired by the music that each one of us is bringing to the group like from Turkey, different traditions that we all come from.
Jonas- It was always in my life somehow. There was always a guitar in the house and friends of my Mom´s were musicians. It naturally happened. Music is a kind of space where you flow. It is a little bit like a spiritual factor. To make it nice and good you have to totally not care and it can also be really bad but it is a process of logic and practice and understanding what you do but when you actually play you have to trust that it is going to happen. I like this and to kind of bring them together with music.
Nadav- An inspiration, for me but it also connects us, is trying to explore traditions but create something that we didn´t hear before. There are parts of our music that sounds like something traditional but we are tying to do music that is a mix of a rhythm from here and instruments from there and create a new song, to bring something together.
Mirjam- I feel music, for people like us who deal with music all the time, it is like a mirror of life, everything. When you play you see how you deal with life. If you manage to stay in the moment. If you manage to enjoy what there is and share it with the world. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and I choose to learn them thru music. Also, to use music as a connection between people. We like instrumental music so people can take the music how they want. I am also trying with music to bring the change that I want to see in the world. I know it is a big expectation but we are at least trying. What is the change that we want to see, all five of us, what is the shared thing we can all put our energy into that we could wish future generations to live in this world. That inspires me.
Or- I came from a family where everyone is playing an instrument, not necessarily musicians. When we play, we can communicate, it is like a clean channel, my thoughts, political views, are forgotten, it is just pure. All the stuff that and mess that is happening around, this is one of the only places I can find this pure communication, is in music.
Last time I was in Hungary was 1998!! A long time ago… I hardly remember anything about it except it was very nice. Bence from Psychedelic Source Records, is my host and I stayed in their small two bedroom house outside of Budapest.
Festival has a great line up of international and local talents. 3 bands from Italy (da Captain Trips, Gioba and Supernaughty), two from Poland (Spaceslug, Weedpecker), The Spacelords (DE), Yuri Gagarin (SE), one from Romania (Roadkillsoda), Bulgaria (Obsidian Sea) and 5 from Hungary.
Travel was ok today with the drive, train (15mins late), plane (10mins late). Landed 15mins early and all went smooth. Was very warm outside, at least 22C when I got outside of the airport. Bence picked me up 10mins later.
30min drive to Páty (Pag-e) where he lives in his grandmothers old house that they have rebuilt into a more modern house. Houses are a kind of run down a lot like in Portugal but a different style, more brick and not granite. Lots of trees in and around Budapest. Slept ok but am tired.
Sept 3rd
We were up at 730 and out of the house at 9 to go pick up the gear, backline, drums, etc. for the festival. It was in 3 different places. They have a small rehearsal studio in one of the small out buildings. She lives in the old family house out in the forest. He lives in the same town area that he grew up and his kids will go to the same school that he did.
Nice weather, but warming up. Soon lunch time… and then we take the gear to the concert venue. What an amazing place this is. A large land with very old trees, huge oak is like 400 yrs old. Huge house, small lake. Wow. impressive. We unloaded all the gear into a old horse stable and tried to secure the door, as there was no lock. There was a wedding going on so we could not do more for the festival set up until tomorrow morning but we have to be there at 7!!
We came back after stopping at the store to get some sausages to grill and some veggies to eat. Hung out and played with the kids, had a BBQ, some beers and a few of Bence´s friends were there, who were going to help. I think there are 17 volunteers to help with the stage setup, etc.. I crashed out about 930, I was really tired.
Sept 4th
Bence got me up at 615 and I had a quick shower and we were out the door. Had to make a couple of small stops, breakfast stuff, pick up another volunteer, etc… The huge lorry with the stage, lighting rig and PA speakers was already being loaded into smaller vans to take down the main festival side down by the small lake in the forest. I did no heavy lifting and just helped with small stuff here and there and chilled out. It is a totally amazing place for a festival. Unreal..
Slowly we moved the merch tables into place, set up the merch for the festival shirts, stickers and our own stuff. The PA and backline was all ready for the stage inside the bit room in the house. a bit hard sound but not bad once the people were inside. It was LOUD in there though. The Spacelords guys arrived early so I spent a lot of time talking with them, Just super nice guys. Really enjoyed our time…
There was no food for the bands or volunteers until 16. I was very hungry and weak as I only had two sandwich rolls and two apples the entire day. Finally they had the pizza ready about 1615 so I could eat. I had set up my gear on the stage so when I finished the pizza I ran down to the soundcheck. It all went well. Had some time to talk with the Yuri Gagarin guys. So great to meet them again. Lovely people.
PSR Jam, we were the first band on the main stage at 17 and would play two 40min sets with a break to change musicians halfway thru. Different bass, drummer and guitar. so more of the PSR collective could play. Each set had two guitar, bass, drums and myself. I had issues with not getting the right delay on the mellotron, so I hardly used it the first set. It was heavy and fun but I was still getting used to the guys and stage sound, etc.. This set had jews harp! Only about 20 people were there to see us. Maybe 30 for the 2nd set, which was a bit disappointing but maybe people were not off work yet. This was really fun. The next band Roadkillsoda, were supposed to be on the mainstage next but they moved them inside and this gave more time for the Spacelords to set up.
I managed to catch a little bit of Endre, a young three piece lead by a female vocalist/guitarist. It was very simple doom sound. Soft voice.. No guitar solos, so I did not find them that interesting. They did do a small hint of NIB by Sabbath. They had a small following and sold a cassette.
Endre
Set List: Buciloop, Bucinmaci, Pingpong, Temeto>NIB, Sulikezdès, Korn
I only saw a bit of Band in the Pit (HU) on the small stage in the house as I had been busy with the two jams and now I am going to play with Yuri Gagarin! These guys were quite heavy, intense but very monotonous, a lot of the same riff over and over, quite hypnotic and you could get lost it in. Hard to describe actually…. The bass player in the band is also in PSR.
The Spacelords were next and now there was maybe 100 people?? I had not seen the guys since we played together in Germany back in 2018?? Super friendly and a great 5 song set. One new song was played. Love the way the guitar and bass work together in this band and the drummer just holds it all down. The audience really liked it and the sound was great although the snare was a bit dry and loud for my taste. They played about 50mins.. Awesome. Great band..
Set List: Brand-new song, still untitled, Spaceship Breakdown (from Liquid Sun album, 2016), Uranus Omnibus Sanctus (Uranus Omnibus Sanctus album), Endorphine High (Nectar Of The Gods album, 2023), Plasma Thruster (Water Planet album 2017)
Yuri Gagarin, first gig in over 2 years!! Exciting. They have a new rhythm guitar player but because the drummer injured his foot he played synth and the new guy played drums! He plays drums in another band, so we was good. Band was in a great mood and had drank the right amount and were ready to fly. It was all new songs except one from the first album, Sonic Invasion. It was so LOUD on the stage. Christians guitar was screaming loud and synths…. A very spaced out dense wall of space rock unlike this world has ever heard. We had a great time and people loved it. I had so much fun…. Love these guys…
Set List: Gäng, Nu, Gammel Nu, Sonic Invasion, P. Maiden
I did not get to see any of Spaceslug (PL), Roadkillsoda (RO) or Madmess (PT). Acid Sitter cancelled. So busy with the gigs.
I had played 3 gigs this day and was very tired as we arrived at the festival at 7 this morning so I went back to the hotel and missed my friends in Madmess but heard they were really great and people loved them.
Day 2 (Sept 5th)
Hotel was about 3min drive from the castle site. I had a room with the guys from Bulgaria, Obsidian Sea. Super friendly and nice guys. Nothing to eat at this place only a coffee machine and tea, so that is what we had. I ate a granola bar. We then went to the local store and I got a muffin, croissant, juice, nuts, and we went back to the hotel and made some sandwiches and ate and chatted. Bence came and picked me up about 11. PSR Jam start the day at 1330. We play like yesterday 2 sets with different people. Bence only will play the first set.
Not many people watching PSR Jam
Had a nice long chat with two of the guys who used to play in Weedpecker and are filling in for this gig. Super cool guys and they love their weed!! IT rained a little but not much. Set up and soundcheck for PSR went well and I felt more in the zone today and the sets were only one guitar player today so I did more solos stuff and found some new patches and sounds which was fun. Again, we played for like 15 people the first set and maybe 25 for the 2nd. It was different not have the 2 guitars but I think we had a lot of interesting jams. I really liked the guitar player David on the 2nd set. He plays on some of the PSR releases but also Diviner Blues Session, . Not many people around and It took people a long time to start to show up today. I think the first set was about 38mins and 2nd about the same. Very fun and great musicians to play with!!
Supernaughty (IT) were the first band in the house and a cool quartet playing pretty straight up California style stoner rock with a melodic vocal and phrasing. People were grooving and they sounded great but not that original! ´
Set List: Poseidon, Black Witch Mountain, Hell Boar, Weird Science, Amsterdamed, Inoculation, The Way I wish to Die, Apocalypso, Queen of Babylon
Mr Bison (IT), were a band I have been wanting to see for some years and they were very good live. Really nice interaction between the two guitar players and the bass player who sings the lead vocals was excellent. Powerful singer with a great voice… I think they played 7-8 songs. I did not like the album from 2025 all that much and not heard the new one yet but love some of their other records. It was a very good concert. Talked with the guys and super nice people..
Obsidian Sea (BG), were a classic 70s- doom rock trio with really good songs, solos, lead and backing vocals and I really liked them. It is hard to fit into this genre where it has all been done already and pull it off enough to keep me interested but I really liked them. I saw about 2/3 of their set and filmed one song. Very nice band.. Very good songs..
Giobia took a long time to set up so the entire schedule was off now and there was more overlap on the house stage. Anyway, I had not seen them since 2019 at Sonic Blast and wow.. This was the first gig with their new drummer- They were fucking great.. Almost all instrumental with vocals only on two songs plus the encore of Silver Machine. I filmed the one track where he played the sitar. I just loved this set. Really space rock stuff with great riffs, grooves, transitions. They really like that Neu groove the drums and bass. Especially the bass player (he also wore a Neu short!) was playing this hypnotic bass riff line a lot. Awesome. A highlight of the day!
Set List: 1976, Fractal Haze, Moonstone, Vers Le Terrer, Karmabomb, Lentarente, This World, Sun Spectre, Silver Machine
Da Captain Trips (IT), a band I have enjoyed for some years. IT was really nice to chat with the guys but sadly, I did not see their whole set. They were playing already when Giobia ended. Not a lot of people there when I arrived, maybe 15... This is the only band that I would call Prog really. Some really interesting music and great guitar and keyboards. I wish I had seen more.
Dalbrovo Granje (Croatia) were recommended by my friend Lone. They were a five piece band, two guitar, bass drums, and trumpet. The music was all instrumental and I am not sure how to describe it. The trumpet player was brand new (Valdamar) and really good so it sort of sets the sound in a way. Mostly it was pretty relaxed music but sometimes it grew in intensity. Not really jazz.. They were interesting..
Set List: Intro, Sejica, Zadnji dan ne Mora, Ponocni Precec, Koka Kolo, Restiranje uma Gevezom, Propuh, Zen Kauboj, (not sure if they played Mehan but it was on the list like an encore.
Alas! (HU) were next in the small room. They were a heavy spaced out trio. The drummer also did the vocals and at first, strange dark incomprehensible stuff but later he really sang. They had this sort of intensity about them. They had some cool guitar parts but then super intense at times.
Weedpecker (PL) were next on the main stage and now the audience had grown a bit. They started a little late so only played like 35mins.. IT was like 6 songs but the first was a long 10 min space jam, that was just awesome. For me it all sort of went down hill after that. They try a bit too hard to sound like 2015-1017 Elder now with songs like Ash. Still a solid good band but a bit too mainstream melodic sound now and not as powerful.. People liked them a lot.
Azutmaga (HU) super heavy stoner duo. I was so tired at this point, I did not film them at all as there was almost no light in the house.. People were into though…
The Qualitons (HU), it was a five piece band and they played an improvised set in 3 pieces, about 45mins. Started very slow and spacey and then really started to take off. This is when I started to film. That video is the of the last part of the first jam. The 2nd and last were even better. One of the highlights of the festival. Great band. They just released a new album on this day also an mostly improvised set recorded last year.
Speck (AU), I have heard their albums but never seen them. They played two long 20mins jams and that was it…. They play a sort of heavy space rock. I think they started as a trio but they now have a synth guy, who also used a modular synth and moog grandmother! Sadly, you could not really hear him at all in the PA, where I was standing or outside. I filmed the most of the first jam. Cool stuff.
Just an awesome festival. I met so many nice and cool people. Had really nice chats with Speck, Gioba, Yuri gagarin, Spacelords, Weedpecker, and Obsidian Sea. Met a guy Danny from the US but lives in Mexico. Sounds like he travels to Europe a few times a year to see bands and festivals. Also another American who flew in from Tennessee just for this festival. The sound was very good for both stages. Thanks to the sound guys (both named Atilla!) Artistically it was awesome and very well done by the organiser (Kutya) and the team of volunteers. Incredible experience for all who attended. It will go down as a legendary festival as it will not happen again. This was a one time event, a sort of goodbye from the music business for Kutya. Maybe someone else will try to organise another Jam in the Castle, but as there was only about 120 people (including all the volunteers and bands, I doubt anyone will take the risk. A lot of money was lost. For those that were here, we will never forget it. What an amazing place and festival.
