Culture: Psycho Las Vegas 2018 - Day One - A Promising Start

(Drivebycuriosity) - I am a connoisseur of heavy metal. I really enjoy atmospheric rock music with very heavy riffs. Fortunately my wife shares this taste. So we went to Las Vegas and attended Psycho Las Vegas which took place at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  80 bands play there over four days. The bands perform on three stages: "The Joint" with a capacity of 4,000, smaller venue, the Vinyl, and in a pool area, called "Paradise". As last year the program focuses on black, doom, psychedelic, sludge & stoner metal and massive walls of sound are shaking the huge casino complex

On Thursday, the first day of the festival, the bands played at the pool and late in the night was an extra concert (with separate ticket) with  2 bands in the Vinyl. We had a slow start and watched just 4 bands on Thursday, but 2 of them we had seen before and belong to our favorite bands. We were happy to see Wolves in the Throne Room again, who played early in the night at the pool.  We have seen the band already three times. Their concert was beautiful & wild again. This time the stage was kept in thick fogs. The "Wolves" again created an intense & hypnotizing atmosphere which suddenly turned into fierce explosions and massive base riffs culminated into annihilating assaults. It seemed like the "Wolves" attacked the civilization and ripped it apart.

We were also happy to watch Wovenhand again, whom we had seen twice before. This time they played the late night show in the intimate Vinyl. Frontman David Eugene Edwards performed his gospels in an amazing way like a heavy metal preacher. His unique body language combined with his ballads and the powerful riffs of the band created an idiosyncratic show,  blending gothic,  psychedelic and heavy metal elements - a kind of metal opera.

We had two discoveries: Cough, who opened for Wovenhand, delivered very heavy and blurred riffs combined with explosive percussion and deep roars. An exceptional band we want to see again. Early in the day we watched Toke, who performed solid stoner-sludge metal at the pool.

The pool area had a mixed crowd who seemed to enjoy themselves very much. A promising start!

To be continued