#hoverfest

Holy Grove Thrill Hoverfest!

This is one of Oregon's best kept secrets. But not for long. Despite having no records to their name, HOLY GROVE have been building a strong reputation amongst lovers of all things heavy. The southern doom and blues rock quartet not only have the best riffs around, but they have fantastic chemistry with the most showstopping frontwoman in the biz: Andrea Vidal The world will soon experience what we have in Portland for the past two years, because Holy Grove will be soon releasing their debut LP, with sound production in the magic hands of Billy Anderson (who holds many, many fantastic credits to his name, not the least of which is Sleep's epic 'Dopesmoker').

More of our raw footage from the second annual Hoverfest in Portland, Oregon, filmed on a hot, windy Saturday, August 8th, 2015. Lord Dying. played songs from their two albums, Summon The Faithless (2013) and Poisoned Altars (2015) on Relapse Records, which you can get here.

Tune In to The Doomed & Stoned Show!

Sunday evening, our weekly broadcast takes to the airwaves for two hours of the latest and the best in doom metal and stoner rock. Tonight at 5 pm Pacific, 8 pm Eastern, 9 pm in Sao Paulo, 11 am in Melbourne (all Europe will be sleeping peacefully - shhh, don't wake them - while we party).

This week, our HOVERFEST II SPECIAL. On Saturday, August 8th,Cravedog presents Hoverfest in Portland, Oregon, featuring a strong Rose City line-up: Witch Mountain, DANAVA, Lord Dying, Sons of Huns, Zirakzigil, Holy Grove, and Mane Of The Cur...with the great Slough Feg headlining (get your tickets: http://hoverfest2015.brownpapertickets.com)

I'll be spinning some of my favorites from the Hoverfest line-up, as well as airing excerpts from interviews with HOLY GROVE and ZIRAKZIGIL....*plus* new music by Clutch, The Sword, and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeat and a closer look at the High On Fire + LUCIFER + Pallbearer + Venomous Maximus tour, which I'll be covering on Monday at Hawthorne Theatre.

Words & Video: Billy Goate | Photographs: Cherry Darling

Ok, technically, it wasn't the last time we'd get to hear the iconic singer Uta Plotkin before she retired from five years with Witch Mountain, but it was would certainly be her first and last performance at Hoverfest. With all the reunions and comebacks of recent years, however, one is never sure that goodbye is really goodbye.

Witch Mountain is one of Portland's oldest running bands, formed in 1997 by Nathan Carson (drums), Rob Wrong (guitar), with various bassists, since replaced by Charles Thomas in 2013. 

Many remarked upon the youthfulness, confidence, and joy with which Uta delivered her performance on Saturday, August 23rd.  

The sound overall was stellar, once again engineered by Billy Anderson--who has long been involved in the production of that distinct doom-stoner sound.

Pictures by Cherry Darling | Words & Video by Billy Goate

Acid King's visit to the first annual Hoverfest in Portland, Oregon couldn't have come at a better time. The legendary Bay Area threesome had just come off something of a hiatus during which they announced new songs were in the works (as of September 2nd, the new album has been mixed and 2015 settled upon for release).  

By the time Lori, Mark, and Joey took the stage in the North Portland industrial alleyway, it was approximately 4:30.  The weather was actually reminiscent of San Francisco, the sun beating down happily upon a crowd of a few hundred, more than happy to quench their third with that sweet summer Widmir ale.  A merciful breeze wafting from the Willamette River to keep patient bystanders happy while guitars were tuned 'n' tight and the amps just right to suit the ear of sound guru Billy Anderson (who has meddled with more than a few winning albums, counting Sleep's Dopesmoker and damn near a half-dozen Acid King records, among them). 

The feeling of seeing, hearing, experiencing Acid King live, well, it was almost beyond words. I scribble a few here because that's what bloggers are supposed to do, but truly in the moment I was awestruck.  Hearing the wicked, fuzzy, distorted riff that opens "2 Wheel Nation" was just....well, you'll just have to hear it for yourself. That's right, I captured the full set on my little Canon, while Ms. Darling was snapping away, capturing every wicked moment.