I woke up, feet throbbing, back still in pain from the night before, but while the body was weak, the spirit was willing—and excited. Night 1 of MPFVII had wrapped up around 1:45AM the night prior, and a good night’s sleep only meant I was more prepared to take everything in for Day 2.
After an excruciating wait at Comet Cafe for one of my most favorite chilaquiles in the city (it was worth it), we made the trek down to Water Street to begin Day 2 of Milwaukee Psych Fest. While Day 1 boasted a line-up packed with must-see acts, Day 2’s line-up was just as impressive: festival alums Flavor Crystals, powerful duo Mr. Airplane Man, psych rockers Hot Garbage, and Night Beats, to name a few. Beer in hand, we planted ourselves in front of the Main Stage and prepared for a full day of light shows and mind-expanding psych.
Introduction by Alyssa Lee Welch
Minneapolis drone project IE kicked off the Main Stage lineup in the afternoon and gave the perfect atmospheric performance to lull us into the mood for another full day of psych fest.
Milwaukee mainstays Vocokesh took the outdoor stage and grooved for a solid half hour on some spacey instrumentals that warmed the crowd up on a cold afternoon.
Trouble In Mind Records‘ artist David Nance Group has the ability to morph from country-psych to blues to heavy jams at the drop of hat. The Omaha 4-piece built up the afternoon energy even further and helped set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Toronto’s Hot Garbage quickly became one of our new favorite bands. They created some infectious bass and drum grooves that allowed the guitar and keys to explore some interesting territory throughout the set.
A huge figure in the Midwestern psych scene, we were thrilled to see Minneapolis band Flavor Crystals back at MPF this year. The 4-piece is adept at creating lush, melodic psych-pop and treated the growing crowd to songs from their last release The Shiver of Flavor Crystals as well as some older tunes. By the end of the set, both guitarists donned electric 12-strings to bring their wall of sound to its peak.
After a 10 year break, Boston-based duo Mr. Airplane Man have returned with a new album and a slough of performances. Lucky for us, they made the trip to Milwaukee this year. The two-piece is rooted in high energy blues and garage rock but they take those genres through some psychedelic bridges and tunnels. It was a treat to see them bring the same energy to their live set that they brought to their albums, new and old.
Normally a duo, Elkhorn was joined by members of Dire Wolves on drums and keys to add some extra vibes to their early evening set on the Tent Stage. The combination of acoustic 12-string guitar and electronic instruments took the band’s psych-folk sound to some new levels. A good portion of the crowd felt comfortable enough to take a seat near the heat lamps and let the music wash over them. The relaxed setting was a nice breather as the night ramped up to the headlining sets.
The Mad Alchemy Light Show was in full force when we returned inside for Garcia Peoples‘ set. As their name suggests, the New Jersey band create Grateful Dead-inspired jams that seemed to become one with the visuals behind them. They’re much more than a bunch of Dead-heads though, the band gets into some serious psychedelic territory and finds some high energy grooves that are hard to ignore.
Bringing some much needed “weirdness” to the lineup—experimental psych legends Sunburned Hand of the Man took the outdoor stage complete with light up cloves and masks. Two of the guitar players were delegated to the floor of the tent due to the size of the band but that didn’t stop them from creating some avant-garde jams. The Massachusetts band is more of a collective featuring a wide variety of collaborators and a deep catalog of releases with plenty noise-rock royalty in tow.
LA-based band Triptides do West Coast psych pop better than many. Complete with Vox guitars and organs the band embodies the energy of ’60s psych in a massive way.
English experimental noise-psych project The Telescopes were the penultimate act to take the stage complete with members of Flavor Crystals on drums and guitar. Frontman Stephen Lawrie took the stage after a few minutes of drone from the rest of the band—entering like a mysterious figure in all black he gripped the microphone and delivered a non-stop set that is hard to describe in simple words and pictures. The band’s performances cannot truly be captured unless you’re right there to experience every moment. Saturday’s set was a definite highlight of the weekend. The band ended a few minutes early to leave the crowd with a good 5 minutes of guitar feedback as they filed off stage. I for one, stood transfixed even though the band at exited until the sound person ran on stage to shut off the amplifiers.
Capping off the night were Seattle garage psych legends Night Beats. The band’s popularity has risen since we first saw them in 2013, but they still know how to get a crowd moving. They powered through songs from their latest release Myth of a Man and brought even more energy to the songs than is found on the album. The crowd didn’t seemed phased that the band hit the stage well after 1am and still had enough energy to dance and jump to the music.
What would Milwaukee Psych Fest be without the mind-expanding visuals? The Main Stage visuals provided by Mad Alchemy were better than ever this year and as always, added a truly special element to the fest. Spinning plates of oil have never looked so good.
A. Bill Miller provided equally gorgeous visuals on the Tent Stage.
That was it. Another Milwaukee Psych Fest in the books. Next year’s fest is already in the planning stages, so if you missed this year we hope you don’t make the same mistake twice. We’d like to thank all of the MPF volunteers and the staff at The Cooperage for putting on such an amazing fest. The biggest thank you goes to Andrew James Shelp for inviting us into his psychedelic heart for another year and another amazing lineup. We’re already looking forward to MPF 2020.
Live Photos by Dan Jarvis
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