Photo by Blaine Schultz
Dire Wolves at Milwaukee Psych Fest 2019
Dire Wolves at Milwaukee Psych Fest 2019
Psychedelic music comes in many flavors, from breezy pastoral ballads to mind melting sonic challenges. Milwaukee Psych Fest returns to The Cooperage May 4-6 for a three-day festival that boasts a lineup of homegrown talent (Vocokesh and Kendraplex featuring Chelsea Bridge) to world travelers from Australia (Smoke Bellow), Paris (En Attendant Ana) and Japan (Acid Mothers Temple.
For the eighth gathering of the tribes, Andrew Shelp has assembled three days of sonic bliss, jams and freakouts. Appropriate light shows will turn The Cooperage into the Avalon Ballroom.
“Smog” by Los Dug Dugs
Like any proud parent he can’t play favorites but suggests Mexico’s prog/biker-rock legends Los Dug Dugs and “acid folk/free jazz heads” Sunburned Hand. Should you need a jumping off spot, Shelp offers some advice: Mountain Movers should appeal to fans of Crazy Horse, Rain Parade and German space rock; En Attendant Ana recalls the quieter side of the Velvet Underground with a bit of Mazzy Star, and Smoke Bellow “is kind of post-punk borderline no wave.”
Expect the unexpected
Before the pandemic struck, 2019’s MPF found Dire Wolves playing an in-store cosmic voyage at Acme Records (milwaukeetaper.com/2019/07/dire-wolves-just-exactly-perfect.html) before the band levitated once again that evening at the venue. Should you be reading between the lines, it is entirely possible that similar lightning will strike again on Saturday afternoon. (shepherdexpress.com/music/concert-reviews/milwaukee-psych-fest-vii-offered-all-things-psych)
In organizing the MPF festivals, Shelp has learned how to keep a lot of plates spinning at once—including a Saturday set at noon with his own group The Rolling Hills. While he may not be a child of the ‘60s, Shelp certainly is an old soul. With the perspective of going through a pandemic he has gained some wisdom. Businesswise he’s “ learned to have contracts signed that include refunds because … OOF! There was a lot paid out that wasn’t able to be recovered unfortunately but at least it went to the musicians and not a ticket broker or something.”
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He says, all trivial money and financial things aside, the most important lesson that he learned is to clearly not take anything for granted. “It’s cliche but it is so true. Whether it be art, music, eating at a restaurant, bodily autonomy, personal freedoms, whatever, remember how important those things are and support them.”
More info: facebook.com/events/190348793705151.
