September 25, 2023 by A.S. Van Dorston

The third year of Ripplefest in Austin featured another stellar lineup including Wo Fat, Duel, King Buffalo, Acid King, Unida and many more.

My heart hurt that I couldn’t make it to Desertfest NY on Sep 14-16. I’ve been waiting twenty years to see Colour Haze, and had several near-misses, including a last-minute cancellation of a trip to Duna Jam, and the band cancelling their appearance at Psycho Las Vegas due to VISA issues. But a few days later, the third consecutive year of Ripplefest at my favorite South Austin venue, The Far Out Lounge, blunted the sting. One major improvement over last year is that they made use of both outdoor stages, and did not try to cram us into the tiny indoor bar. In the past, however, we had options between two to four food trucks. Now there was just one option a food tent, Austin Rotisserie, which wasn’t exactly what I was looking forward to. At least there’s a Torchy’s Tacos across the street, but for a fest you’d think a couple vendors could have been added. They changed the date from July to September, I imagine with the hope of offering relief from the heat wave. Alas, in late September the heat still had us in it’s sweaty grip, and temperatures remained in the high 90s long after sunset.

As good as all the Desertfest lineups have been, Ripplefest is the closest I’ve seen to the spirit of the original Palm Desert scene, with several names on the bill from the original scene, including Nick Oliveri, Unida, Brant Bjork Trio, Mondo Generator and Fatso Jetson. Queens of the Stone Age are of course touring larger venues as we speak, but someday, if Homme ever decided to do a Kyuss reunion show, they should do it at Ripplefest. My favorite set of the bunch was probably Unida, even though John Garcia wasn’t there. Instead, Mark Sunshine handled vocals, and he was good, his keening wail sounding like a hybrid of Garcia, Eric Wagner of Trouble, and Axl Rose.

I wasn’t able to make it to the pre-party show at the Sagebrush on Thursday, and with a solid lineup of Warlung, Restless Spirit, High Desert Queen, Telekinetic Yeti and The Heroine. On Friday, Nick Oliveri’s solo acoustic set was extremely rough ‘n’ ready, with lots of screaming, which made the switch to the gorgeous melodies of “Auto Pilot,” which he co-wrote on Rated R (2000) all the more stunning. Sasquatch featured a hairy ton of chonky riff fun, and locals Duel deservedly headlined the night with the most confident, energetic set, showing their experiences with European tours including the massive Hellfest in France have packed extra confidence and swagger in their showmanship.

I was bummed to miss Sun Voyager, Kind and Thunder Horse on Saturday afternoon, but with the sun blazing at over 100 degrees, I was not willing to roast. War Cloud nearly matched the energy of Duel’s set, and it was great to hear New Jersey’s The Atomic Bitchwax still kicknass on their 30th anniversary. Also celebrating their 30th was San Francisco’s Acid King, who’s latest album Beyond Vision is as strong as their best work. They actually went over their allotted time, as the crowd undoubtedly needed one more ten minute long riff. Houston’s Wo Fat patiently allowed the doom legends to let that long, slow riff dissipate into the moist, hot night before plowing into their own swampy set of voodoo stoner/sludge space rock. King Buffalo have grown in stature and ambition since the last time I saw them opening for Truckfighters in 2019, but I was too spent to stay for their whole set.

I don’t love that the fest is bookended by pre and post-party shows at a tiny little indoor venue, so I missed seeing Dead Feathers, which also served as a release party for their latest album, Daughters. The Far Out Lounge is an amazing outdoor venue — hopefully the festival can grow and make use of it all four days in the future. They seem to really be getting in the groove, as they already announced a preliminary lineup and dates for September 19-22, 2024 with legendary Swedish band Dozer coming to North America for the first time in two decades. Demons My Friends are also on the bill, who recently released their debut Demons Seem to Gather, recorded at nearby Red Nova Ranch with Duel’s Jeff Henson.

Posted in: Live, Reviews

Tagged: Acid King, Brant Bjork, Dead Feathers, Duel, Fatso Jetson, Kind, King Buffalo, Nick Oliveri, Ripplefest Austin, Sasquatch, The Atomic Bitchwax, The Far Out Lounge, Unida, War Cloud, wo fat