Desertfest London 2023 – Saturday

A lunchtime start for Desertfest on Saturday saw the hordes descend upon Camden again. No coronation nonsense here, just another dose of rock and metal. Wren are one of London’s best kept secrets, a captivating band both live and on record. They play a sparse brand of post-rock and do it very very well. Opening up the Underworld stage they start with Chromed and Seek The Unkindred off Groundswells. Chromed in particular shows off the minimalist influence of Kowloon Walled City, Scott Evans of whom is inked to once again produce the follow-up to Groundswells.

Dressed fully in black with simple lighting the quartet let the songs do their talking as they smash through a cathartic set. The musical embodiment of a storm rolling in over the coast on a bleak and chilly day, they provide a truly evocative experience. New tracks fill the middle of the set, with the first especially providing an exciting taste of what the new record will contain. A huge crawling riff slowly building to a crashing post-metal denouement in the vein of the Neurosis classic album A Sun That Never Sets, it got a great reception from a near-capacity Underworld crowd. Closing with the massive The Throes, Wren departed to hero’s acclaim, perhaps it’s high time that this secret is let out of the bag.

And now for something totally different – Dozer, in the Electric Ballroom. This stage has a different vibe from the other venues Desertfest use, perhaps it’s the overly officious security, perhaps it’s the scale of it, perhaps it’s the fact that it always feels like they’re waiting to kick you out and get a disco night in. Suffice to say, it’s not my favourite venue in London, but to their credit the sound is now better than it used to be.

Dozer don’t care about any of these things. This is an avowedly good time band, strolling out one by one to an intro of pounded drums. Launching into a hits set that pulls liberally from 2002’s landmark Call It Conspiracy, they have the crowd lapping up their catchy brand of Scandi stoner rock. While the genre might seem a bit stale now, it would be harsh to pin that on Dozer since they are pioneers of this brand. Taking the riff heavy desert sound populated by Kyuss et al and mixing in high-in-the-mix cheery vocals, Dozer were a revelation twenty years ago and songs like Rising, The Hills Have Eyes and Feelgood Formula still hit the spot. It might not be groundbreaking any more but the musicianship is on point and the showmanship is bang on. An influence for a whole generation of European riff-rock and they provide a showcase at Desertfest ’23.

A quick nip over the road to smallest venue, The Dev, saw a queue out the door for London’s Lowen. A brand of traditional doom metal with wailed vocals, Lowen had the crowd nodding along and mesmerised by singer Nina Saeidi’s exceptional vocals. A tendency for the songs to fall apart a little and leave what seemed like disparate pieces of music held the band back a little but overall, a creditable live set, a sign of the depth of the London scene and the festival in general that such an interesting band were playing The Dev rather than a bigger stage.

Desertfest regulars Weedeater sparked up the Ballroom for a late afternoon set that took in all of their greatest hits. As irrepressible as ever, bassist and vocalist Dave ‘Dixie’ Collins brought all the energy required to match Dave ‘Shep’ Shepherd‘s southern rock groove. Career standout God Luck And Goodspeed followed immediately by the brawly Wizard Fight set a tone that didn’t dip for the rest of the show. Big tokes were taken by all on stage before the trio cracked on into Jason… The Dragon, with a drawled ‘…and burn the Goddamn flag’ providing a great counterpoint to the ceremonial drivel happening just a few miles south. The obligatory riotous Skynrd cover Gimme Back My Bullets and pit baiting Weed Monkey drew the set to a close. Another band who’ve been round the block and know exactly how to put on a festival show.

Having seen a couple of nostalgia acts in a row I was a little wary of going to Crowbar. I’ve never been a major fan but have owned a number of their records over the years and seen them a few times. Kirk Windstein’s signature tone was there, and many were enjoying it but this was not a set for me, another band whose best work is now decades old, I’d hit legacy overdose. Time to hotfoot it out of the Ballroom and head underground.

Another purveyor of tone was just heading on to stage in the Underworld. Northern Ireland’s Slomatics, providing amp worship of the highest order. Eschewing a bass, this all powerful power trio hit max volume early on and stay there. With bonus points for a singing drummer, they hit an incredible depth of low end, down tuned riffage.

As befits a band with split EPs with Conan and MWWB (formerly Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) on their CV, Slomatics hit hard and very very heavy. Highlights were the glacial And Yet It Moves and Telemachus, My Son but overall, this was a superb set that was enjoyed as much in the crowd as it was on stage. They don’t play often, but when they do, the axis of the world is shifted.

Slomatics were a totally suitable headliner for me on middle Desertfest day so I wrapped it up there and began looking forward to Sunday, the day the historic Camden Roundhouse would replace the Ballroom as the main stage.

Wren

Lowen

Church Of The Cosmic Skull

Crowbar

Slomatics

Corrosion Of Conformity

Scribed by: Ian M
Photos by: Nessie Spencer