The Purple Turtle is where the festival finale happened. Read on…
One band that, according to me, had a lot of fans waiting for them was Dead Existence. They were the opening band for the last day of The DesertFest at The Purple Turtle. I had noticed a lot of metal heads (both posers and real ones) wearing t-shirts that carried the logo of the band. I knew they were going to kick ass, but then I had to watch them to decide. Hence I rushed to the venue which is a ten minute walk from the main venue – The Underground. At 4 p.m., exactly how I had predicted, hordes of people had come to The Purple Turtle with beers in their hands (both hands, in some cases) ready to drink some and spill some on the floor.
even Roddy Stone (vocalist, Viking Skull) knows how important it is wear the right t-shirt!
At 4:10 p.m, Dead Existence took the stage. It seemed like a lot of people on stage. There were five members, who slowly started spreading out, getting comfortable with their positions and adjusting themselves since the stage at The Purple Turtle was not-so-big. Now this one here was a metal band so they obviously needed a bigger space lest they hit each other while losing control over themselves. Luckily that did not happen. Dead Existence were from London itself, so it was a home gig for them. They were a straight out sludge metal band with a lot of doom riffing. A lively act who only had to be themselves to be heard. One could see a lot of heads bobbing along to their brand of metal, and I don’t think there is anything else a metal band would want to see when they are looking at the audiences from where they are standing. Well done, Dead Existence!
Wrapping up the entire DesertFest was Viking Skull from Northamptonshire, UK. When I say wrapping up means Viking Skull were the last band playing and the other two venues had already brought the curtains down for this year’s DesertFest. Even the after party was held here at The Purple Turtle. Coming back to Viking Skull, they are very much a band that every heavy metal lover would kill to watch. After watching them live, I can safely say that Viking Skull deserved to headline day 3 at The Purple Turtle, of a festival that payed tribute to the stoner sludge genre because this band drugged the entire venue with right amounts of melody, heaviness and metal. Everybody present during Viking Skull‘s set would vouch for the fact that everything at the venue was in motion when the band performed. Viking Skull was easily one of the festival favorites, and I’d ask you all go check them out if they are playing at a venue near you!
DesertFest Day 3 lineup for The Purple Turtle -
Dead Existence
Sedulus
Widows
Cultura Tres
Iron Claw
Samsara Blues Experiment
Viking Skull
Monster Energy / Dalikfodda Party
The gallery has pictures from Dead Existence and Viking Skull’s set. Click on them to enlarge -
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- even Roddy Stone (vocalist, Viking Skull) knows how important it is wear the right t-shirt!
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And, this was how the opening season The DesertFest came to an end. I don’t know about the day tickets but the weekend ticket were sold out, and the worshipers of southern riffs, rock n’ roll and stoner/sludge/doom metal went back from where they came with shitloads of satisfaction. As for me, my ears are still buzzing due to all the different kinds orgasmic music I took myself through. Here’s wishing the organizers of DesertFest all the best so they can come back with an even more rocking second edition. There are not many of us who love this shit, but I think we are fine this way.
Cheers!
Also, a slideshow containing pictures from Dead Existence and Viking Skull’s set -
