The most euphoric moments from Desert Daze 2022

Desert Daze is, before everything, a competition for freaks, however think about that sentiment with love. Take the jet-setter grating cheese on individuals’s heads throughout Viagra Boys, the buddies grooving to samba music with melons carrying sun shades, the disciples toting indicators depicting Kevin Parker as Jesus. Within 20 minutes on the field workplace grounds, I used to be provided a large bag of weed and a psilocybin chocolate bar by two Gizzheads who wanted a experience to the doorway. It’s all so ridiculous and heartwarming and fantastic — plus, there’s at all times a guitar hovering someplace within the background to coax you into the haze.

For three days, Lake Perris, California transforms right into a Technicolor haven replete with sci-fi sculptures, a wall of classic TVs spitting supernatural visions and a sunken lounge on the seashore. In these sacred grounds, apathy is insignificant; the fest refracts hope and happiness at each flip. Simply witnessing concertgoers kick up cosmic stardust for an hour after which bend down to choose up their very own trash afterward makes Coachella’s suffocating influencer tradition or Lollapalooza’s infatuation with mass enchantment appear so distant. And no shock, with its beautiful mountain view and a number of the most pleasant individuals, Desert Daze presents the perfect surroundings to each catch some solar on the seashore or have a revelatory journey with associates.

Read extra: This surrealist trend model goals up freakish meme-iverses onstage and in music movies

This 12 months’s occasion was buoyed by an all-star lineup and a return to a few phases after 2021’s smaller-scale manufacturing, celebrating the competition’s 10 years across the solar. On Friday evening, King Gizzard frontman Stu Mackenzie relented his ferocious trance by crowd-surfing to the lake and again. At The Beach Stage on Saturday, Slift conjured up a mosh so heavy that safety requested backup. The following afternoon, Surfbort prompted mayhem on the identical stage, enjoying cuts like “Lot Lizard 93” whereas followers threw roses at Dani Miller.

With any competition, there are thorns. There had been bands that had been loud for the sake of being loud. Sky Ferreira’s 20-minute set — her first U.S. present in three years — was tragically quick (“I wasn’t late for the sake of being late,” she harassed twice). Under the affect (or not), dodging gopher holes at the hours of darkness poses apparent dangers. But these snags aren’t sufficient to make unfavorable waves; you merely take it as it’s and transfer on.

In a weekend boasting dozens of unimaginable acts, these are a number of the most memorable performances throughout the competition’s three-day celebration, together with a photograph gallery by Maria Cardillo.

Farewell Kikagaku Moyo, one of many world’s biggest residing psych bands

Before there was Kikagaku Moyo, there was Acid Mothers Temple, White Heaven and Boredoms. Japan’s psych-rock scene soared within the ’90s, rife with raucous gems that’ve been relegated to Discogs obscurity. But this 12 months, Kikagaku Moyo transcended their psych predecessors with a sequence of spellbinding farewell exhibits, every totally different from the final. And to mark their closing North American competition look on Saturday evening, the band acted like gods. They transitioned from meditative passages to all-out riffage with the kind of precision that’s rooted in mastery of their craft and a profound sense of alchemy between all 5 members. The set peaked when the band erupted right into a mind-searing freakout throughout “Dripping Sun.” Fans started to mosh. Daoud Popal dipped backward whereas unleashing guitar fervor (he barely seemed human). “Nazo Nazo” and “Monaka” served because the epic, bittersweet comedown. There’s one thing melancholy about individuals beginning to uncover simply how good Kikagaku Moyo are as they head out the door, however their stay present can be an vital a part of their lore. An enormous farewell to those interdimensional psych voyagers.

[Photo by Maria Cardillo] 

The Marías conquer panic assaults and triumph on the primary stage

On wax, the Marías exude a seductive cool that makes you’re feeling as in case you’ve fallen deep right into a classic cinema. Live, that sentiment swells as they flip from rock to reggaeton to Britney Spears covers with a velvet contact. The LA quartet made each music really feel so huge on Sunday night, it was jarring to learn that vocalist María Zardoya suffered a extreme panic assault earlier than they took The Moon Stage. But it makes their set all of the extra revelatory and monumental. Few different bands really feel like they’re casting incantations with the cue of a light-weight. One second, they’re debuting a brand new music in an orange-and-red haze. The subsequent, the group are pulled into darkness, with María’s shadow working a gradual strut throughout the stage.

[Photo by Maria Cardillo] 

BADBADNOTGOOD channel Mahavishnu Orchestra for the brand new age

BADBADNOTGOOD exist in lots of shapes. There’s the jazz college dropouts, the hip-hop disciples, the savvy lounge act. But as BBNG tuned their devices to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” on Sunday night, it reminded goers that the band are dealing in fiery jazz-rock today. During their vivid efficiency, BADBADNOTGOOD channeled the same boldness, grandeur and depth as Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1972. The low finish rattled in your chest. The tone of Leland Whitty’s saxophone felt as golden because the dusky, sun-glowed backdrop. Drummer Alexander Sowinski’s instructions compelled you to groove. Toward the top of their set, the band even introduced out collaborator Charlotte Day Wilson for “I Can Only Whisper” and the hazy stunner “In Your Eyes.” Simply depraved.

[Photo by Maria Cardillo] 

Tame Impala take a bittersweet nostalgia journey by enjoying Lonerism in its entirety

For years, Kevin Parker has mapped out psychedelic ruminations in seclusion, making a profession out of songs that chronicled his anxiousness, social shyness and normal ennui. In the following years, he deserted classic-rock worship for pop status (like buying and selling milky bong hits for purple wine) and have become loads much less attention-grabbing to a lot of his followers. That’s why this 12 months’s Desert Daze marked such a momentous event. Not solely was the competition celebrating its 10-year anniversary, however it additionally signaled a decade of Lonerism. Naturally, Parker was compelled to play his greatest album from entrance to again for one evening solely. The outcome was a heavenly set for lifers, brimming with stage theatrics (lasers, confetti) and stay gems (“Be Above It” was performed for the primary time in seven years, whereas “Sun’s Coming Up” made its stay debut). Lonerism stays a chic illustration of the place Parker’s been and the place he was going, and getting to listen to the document in its entirety was a candy nostalgia journey. But there was one thing just a little off-putting in regards to the second, too, understanding Parker’s outgrown this period of his life. Despite the gimmicks and the gang’s depth, the songs lacked the identical edge. When he mentions how the evening is “going way too fast for me,” a part of you wonders in case you even consider him. Then he kicks into “She Just Won’t Believe Me,” for the primary time ever, and it’s higher to only absorb the second as a substitute.

[Photo by Maria Cardillo] 

Cortex’s slick jazz fusion was an intimate, unforgettable time warp

Cortex possess a kind of aura that feels legendary. The French jazz fusionists have been sampled by everybody from MF DOOM and Madlib to Tyler, The Creator and Raekwon however stay largely shrouded in thriller. The band hardly tour; their most widespread album got here out in 1975; till 2020, you couldn’t discover them on Instagram. It’s a marvel (and a blessing) that the competition managed to e-book them, however we stay grateful. Because witnessing Cortex on Friday evening on the Beach Stage was like being sucked right into a musical vortex and spit out in a mid-’70s Paris jazz lounge. As the band unfurled their silky jazz-funk, it felt like catching a glimpse of Herbie Hancock jamming with the Head Hunters or Donald Byrd mid-session with the Mizell Brothers. The sort of set that’ll make you a jazzhead for all times (and one you wished went on for one more hour at the least).

Chicano Batman personal the primary stage with Latin groove and a “Creep” cowl

Shifting from Cortex to Chicano Batman to Men I Trust on Friday night was its personal life-affirming shock, with every stage presenting a unique vibe. Arriving a few songs into their set, Chicano Batman had been clearly within the throes of a sweeping efficiency. The four-piece carved out deep grooves on the primary stage, enjoying music with a message (“Freedom Is Free,” “Black Lipstick”) and songs that ruminate on day by day life (“Cycles of Existential Rhyme”). They even busted out a devoted cowl of Radiohead’s “Creep” towards the set’s finish. A must-see stay act that makes use of music as each a balm and an act of resistance.

[Photo by Maria Cardillo] 

Nilüfer Yanya brings PAINLESS to life with poise

At the highest of the 12 months, Nilüfer Yanya launched her wonderful second album, PAINLESS. It’s a document that noticed her reaching towards softer introspection, relatively than the searing solos that coloured her debut LP. Naturally, transferring these whispery meditations to a stay setting presents its personal problem, however Yanya made the songs pop onstage. Her touring band helped her deliver the album’s texture to life, significantly the buttery saxophone solos from Jazzy Bobby. Yanya’s set might need been a greater match for Sunday, however her songs acted as a reprieve from the heaviness to come back. Besides, there are worse methods to spend an hour than swaying on a man-made seashore as Yanya performs Radiohead worship and PJ Harvey covers throughout the golden-hour glow.