RippleFest Texas 2024 was held over the weekend 19-22 September 2024 at The Far Out Lounge and Sagebrush in Austin, Texas. MetalTalk’s Sunil Singh experienced this exceptional weekend and reports with photographs from MetalTalk’s Melanie Webster. You can read all our Ripplefest coverage at MetalTalk.net/ripplefest.
I have never had writer’s block. I have often had the opposite—a tsunami of ideas flooding my brain. And, as a writer, especially in the book I wrote, Sonic Seducer, I have always wanted to find the right droplets of reflection to commit to the written word.
As such, to write an article about my first festival experience in 20 years in Austin, Texas required me to deal with a surplus of magical moments with music and people that I never have had to deal with before in my entire life. It was deliriously daunting.
Even words like abundance and gratitude and stunning photos are not going to be good enough to explain what myself and photographer Melanie experienced at RippleFest over four days from Sept 19 to Sept 23.
That’s because sound is energy. That’s because people are energy. That’s because love is energy.
Energy is what elevates us to moments of transcendence, where the experience reaches a collective state where words and pictures are thankfully falling short in description. That all that remains in that ineffable foundation of eternal energy is a glow that each one of us carries inside–lighting our faces as though what we have seen and heard is nothing short of life-changing spirituality.
Yes. This is how I have to begin this review of RippleFest. It’s a poetic spoiler alert that relieves me of trying to do this again at the end.
Here we go.
RippleFest Day One: Sagebrush – Pre-Party
You’re in Austin. You already win. You’re driving up iconic South Congress Avenue to Sagebrush, a kickass indoor venue. More winning. The outside–especially behind in the back–is replete with picnic tables. This is an iconic feature of Austin, and it’s a green flag to let you know that the heavy music you are about to receive will be in the most welcoming and homespun surroundings.
One of my first awesome sightings was Colin Peterson, guitarist for the heavy blues/doom outfit Shadow Of Jupiter, who played Day Three. We had connected on Facebook months before, and we were both equally excited to meet each other at RippleFest. I must have run into Colin a dozen times over the course of the festival. And, to be honest, this kind of quick bonding/constant smiling at each other is what happens on a rolling boil with everyone. No other music scene has this kind of affection and humility that transcends even the collective energy of artists and fans.
It is truly unique, and a theme that will resurface often in this review.
So, the first day was the pre-party and the official launch of my book Sonic Seducer. Soon as Melanie and I walked through the door of Sagebrush, it was nothing but loud music and loud love–in the form of hearty handshakes and heartier hugs. Four days of pure oxytocin.
And the first band to christen the festival was Vermillion Whiskey, and boy did the tone for everything with their brawling and bruising rock ‘n’ roll because, in the end, that is what all this wonderfully heavy music is!
There however was a slight twist. The lead singer of the band was unavailable, so Earl Walker Lundry of Shadow Witch came in to pinch hit. He only hit it out of the park.
After their set, there was a moment that occurred that unexpectedly captured the spoiler alert I already wrote about, reinforcing the idea that the delta between fans and bands in this scene is a celebratory zero. You just do not find these moments of euphoric intimacy at other festivals.
The energy of the evening only ramped up at this point–wicked music, more hugs, and more drinks. For a good chunk of the evening, I was set up at a table with my books. But, the sightline to see bands from my vantage point was excellent, and the sound, as it always is at Ripple, was top shelf. The whole rest of the evening started to become one blob of inseparable moments, vibes, and hugs–all framed with sweaty, knockout music in the heavyweight class.
Sagebrush was a metaphorical equivalent to the Ali vs. Frazier boxing matches in the ’70s. The only difference is that the energy being released through the fury of stoner/doom rock was rejuvenating and any collapsing that was going to occur was with mutual celebration and love.
Love. There is that word again. Get used to it. It is what defines this festival, this scene, and this community. So many moments and experiences will be framed by that. And one that began early on this night not only continued throughout the festival but now beyond it.
It is when a guy named DJ asked me to sign his book–with a “skin marker”. DJ is a trauma surgeon from Arizona. The full story is here, which bleeds into Day Two when the power of connection through heavy music goes to a level I could not ever have imagined in my entire life.
Just hanging around the entrance was already giving me life-changing experiences. The simple acts of meeting people, signing books, and having discussions about music, as the room just pumped adrenaline and oxytocin hits until midnight was having a philosophical impact. Every band was playing stellar sets, proving how fantastic the band choices were by Ryan Garney, singer of High Desert Queen. This only was cementing the changes that were happening in real time.
In an evening that was always going to be challenging to pull out a musical highlight, if I had to find one, it had to be Norway’s Kal-El. To see one of my favourite bands of the current stoner/doom scene in a club in Austin was nothing short of special.
The energy Sagebrush reached feverish levels. Having the air conditioning not working helped in that matter, but shouldn’t witnessing rock ‘n’ roll be a hot yoga session anyway? This five-piece just killed it in terms of soaring music with anthemic hooks. A part of me could not avoid envisioning Vikings rocking out to this shit while mythical dragons fly overhead!
Colin Peterson, guitarist for Shadow Of Jupiter, who played Day Three, commented that seeing the band at Sagebrush was “life-changing.”
All of this was, of course, wonderfully aided by the intimacy of a club and high-quality sound and lighting.
I was emotionally wiped by the end of the evening and the official festival of bands wasn’t going to start until tomorrow.
Some serious sleeping and strategizing over which bands to file under FOMO was going to be needed for Melanie and myself to survive the sonic onslaught of the best underground music in the world.
RippleFest Day Two: Far Out Lounge
The first band that hit the stage was Formula 400 at exactly 4:20. From what I heard, they did what every band did the previous night at Sagebrush–crush. Sigh. This was something I came to term with early Friday morning, which bands, regrettably, would I have to miss. Being 60 and the Texas heat not relenting was also factoring in how much music I could see and hear.
The first band I did catch was Leather Lung. Pure, unfiltered, mouth-punching rock ‘n’ roll. Imagine if Philthy Animal Taylor ever had a set of pipes and sang with the same fervour he smashed the drums with Motörhead. That would be Mike Vickers of Leather Lung.
Ridiculous energy and need-to-see martial arts moves. The band is just such a tight outfit, playing off the infectious enthusiasm of Vickers. It’s just badass/shake-your-ass rock and fuckin’ roll. What a start to my Friday at RippleFest!
After Leather Lung, I did a speed walk to the main stage. Sweden’s Domkraft were up next, and I was looking forward to them just as much as their Swedish countrymen Dozer and Truckfighters, who both played Saturday.
I wasn’t the only one. You could feel the electricity in the crowd as the sun was setting. Domkraft just does things differently in this doom space. Their sound is relentless. Every song is epic, filled with riffs, hooks, and swelling grooves. Your body just goes numb after a while with the unforgiving discharge of massive sound from the band.
I spent most of the time watching the band with S. Patrick Brooks and his fiance, Andrea Thomas. Just weeks before I had flooded his Facebook Messenger with tons of Domkraft songs. The look on his face while the band just fucking wrecked all at the Far Out Lounge was beautiful.
Towards the end of their set, I yelled out “Slowburner,” my favourite song from them and they launched into that song just seconds after. A guy on my left turned to me to fist-bump me. I believe tears came out of my eye–overwhelmed with the confluence of live music with kindred spirits. It’s this kind of real-time bonding with the Ripple family that amplified the live experience at this festival. It never stopped.
No rest for the wicked, as a sizable portion of the Domkraft crowd made their way to the Yellow Stage to see Thunder Horse. As the name implies–should imply–the band plays an aggressive brand of doom. But there are also elements of classic Metal, replete with well-timed melodic moments. Live, it’s just more of a beastly gallop. So much of a whoopin’ did we all get.
It was almost 9 pm. The Far Out Lounge was fully lit in more ways than one. An almost Druid-like pilgrimage was made to the main stage to see Sheepy Dude, Cheesy Dude, Alky Dude, and Hexy Dude. These are the pseudonyms for the four unapologetic stoner doom instrumentalists from Kelce, Poland that form Belzebong.
Even though I had seen them in a small club in Toronto the previous year, seeing Belzebong on a bigger stage with a mesmerizing, liquid light show just sent things into another realm of head-nodding heaviness. It was sublime and surreal. My head was swimming with unfathomable delight.
One of the things that makes RippleFest Texas such a world-class festival is the careful curation of artists, set times, and stages. It just seems like every band is perfectly slotted into the festival. Here, for example, right after Belzebong’s performance on the main stage, seeing The Heavy Eyes on the smaller Yellow stage was absolutely perfect for fans to get a wide spectrum of complementary experiences all in one festival.
A very appreciative crowd saw the band just tear into their heavy blues/boogie sound with wild abandon. Again, love how much variety there is in their scene, and how much thought gets put into giving us fans contrasting styles that makes the overall experience that much richer. It’s like someone making you the best mix tape, except it is live music!
Bongzilla. Every song is about weed. For a band that has been around since 1995, you might think that might get flat after some time. Well, not if you play at the doom intensity of this Wisconsin three-piece. Bongzilla is like some fantastical creation that could have its own Manga comics.
To say the band’s heaviness could be akin to Godzilla with a stoned gait would be spot on. And I am sure Mike Makela, lead singer/bassist, who I had the pleasure of being introduced to by another new best friend at the festival, Marlene O’Neill, would concur. The band has played Dunajam, Roadburn, and even a side street in Paris. All the accolades I could give them would not match how fucking amazing they were tonight.
I was officially wiped. I made my way over to some picnic tables and collapsed in a satisfying heap of undeserving musical bliss. This is where I would watch the fitting closing to Day 2 with Austin’s own Tia Carrera taking the Yellow stage. Veterans of the scene, the band just carves the perfect instrumental landscapes of stoner/psych jams.
All my senses were thankfully fried, and trippy noodling was exactly what my over-stimulated mind, heart, and soul needed as the evening approached the witching hour of midnight.
Two days down and two to go. I couldn’t imagine how any of this was going to be topped.
But it did. Part II to follow.
