The Black Angels and the Dandy Warhols performed at the Vogue Theatre on October 19, 202

Photo and article by Keir Nicoll

This anticipated double billed concert was the ultimate culmination of psychedelic experiences in three different forms. It had everything - the echoing sounds and vibrant visuals that filled the air. The first performer was Queen Kwong, with a fender electric guitar, slowly grooving and singing about blame while belting out a distorted solo. It was just her, a drum-machine, and a bass-line generator, accompanied by the guitar chords and lines. The music thumped along, creating a hypnotic and eerie atmosphere with haunting vocals and ghostly tones. She looked elegant in a black dress and white cowboy boots. The vibes were heavy, and she sang about desire and breaking the rules. At one point, she mentioned riding on the New Jersey Turnpike, repeatedly urging, "Please don't stop me," while playing a raunchy and dissonant guitar lick-solo. It was a unique blend of groovy, psychedelic, and techno-wave sounds that created an intense and captivating experience for the audience.

The revered Black Angels hit the stage with heavier psych-rock approach and featured leadman Alex Maas, who sang from a distance while peering out from under his hat-brim. They had a variety of electric and acoustic guitars and keyboards being played onstage, with drummer Stephanie Bailey even using a tambourine and soft-mallet. The band's songs were long and drawn-out, with a distinctly southern-bayou-blues sounding metal. They also had four singers, with two trading off with the other two for sequential verses, creating a brilliant dynamic for the harmonies. The guitarist even did a full hitting-the-ceiling solo! The band members wore black satin jackets with “Death Song” in red felt print across the back, adding to the danger of their performance. The Black Angels had echoing vocals, thundering drums, and some cool organ poking, with two Rickenbacker's onstage at once at one point. They had some strange harmonies and long jam-out songs, with references to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dead Meadow, early Verve, and Black Mountain. The leadsinger's epic folklorique-almost style was truly a full-on psych-experience.

The Dandy Warhols were the much-anticipated main act of the night and they did not disappoint. They had a rolling-setlist for this tour, experimenting with what works and what doesn't work. They stuck with what worked and changed up what didn't, giving us a glimpse into how the tour was going. Before the band came on, there was an intense opening sample-soundscape that introduced them. When they took up their instruments, leadman Courtney Taylor led them into starting up with a longer psych-song, followed by their signature Pacific Northwest sorta-sunny pop-rock n' roll. Their female keyboardist Zia McCabe was a force to be reckoned with, playing bass and having three zippers on each leg of her pants! They played some cutesy pop licks with sustain for the psych-line, and McCabe also played bass while Peter Holmstrom killed it on the guitar. They reminded me of Mercury Rev, reminiscent of the original 90s Psychedelic-revival that has come-about to be maintained in the 21st century. They had some falsetto vocals and a thoughtfully propulsive guitar solo that showed what else they could do. When they played “Summer Of Hate” about halfway through, the music of the song was very upbeat and yet groovy-kinda-raunchy. McCabe was on the Moog, and they had a soaring climax of almost cacophonously surging harmony. They played mostly longer jams, with beautiful synth solos, phased-out guitar tremolo, and long-held riffs over a driving rhythm-section. They were an indomitable force, and I loved every minute of it.