Acid Ball - Psych Music Festival @ Kulshan Trackside
Acid Ball Fest Review
Written by Keenan Ketzner
It was a lovely summer’s day when I approached the towering rustic antiquities that reside
on the waterfront strip of Bellingham, hosting this evening’s event. It was Waypoint Park’s
titular Acid Ball and the neighboring oxidized obelisks. They were a perfect spot both
because of their surreal nature of them, but also the added echo they and the warehouses
surrounding the block provided.
Nearby was the Trackside Beer Garden which catered to every palate from pizza to Mexican, ice cream, fish and chips, Lummi seafood, burgers, fries, and beer, beer, and more beer. For the youngsters being dragged to the event, there were even bike rentals for the bike park adjacent to the abandoned factory, as well as a minigolf course to the north. You also had your expected communal contributions such as a CBD salesman and a gem merchant..
Entering the performance area (which cost $20 at the gate), I was pleased to find ample shade and seating to accommodate such a warm day. After grabbing a delicious slice of Zeke’s pizza we were treated to the first band: The Groovy Nobody. They’re a Seattle band with a very vampy and funky psychedelic rock sound. It's a pretty typical setup with one notable twist. TWO drummers (condolences to the audio engineer that day). The dual drum set thing was reminiscent of King Crimson, but the music was more akin to Goose, just more tastefully reserved. Definitely dug the spaced out vocals and howling guitar solos.
After finishing up with a dreamy mixolydian jam, there was a quick change over to Emi Pop, the second band of the evening. I really enjoyed this group's change of pace, trading winding structures for more concise and upbeat songs. They’re definitely a killer, high-energy punk rock band, and you can even hear a bit of latin pop as well, as mentioned by the lead singer who was trying to find some cultural connection among our rather pasty crowd. It was nice to hear some diversity in regard, and overall the singers knack for melody and the keyboardists knack of catchy little riffs made them quite enjoyable.
Lorbo was the next set, and wow, they were really something. Fundamental to each song was an intense drums and bass pairing playing dirge-like riffs, but on top of that could range anything from synth mangling, to feedbacks, gasps, screams, and more. With their witchy wigs, black monk robes, corpse face paint, and plumes of smoke, they were certainly more of an experience than the other bands. I did like their lumbering rhythm sections as mentioned, and as far as screaming technique goes theirs were rather good, but their theatrics really took the cake and I can only imagine how cool their shows are when not lit but thousands of lumens.
Then we get Jimmy James & the Sure Things, who are a classic in the Seattle soul and rock scene. Need no introduction really. They came out and as very seasoned musicians, ceremoniously nailed it with precise playing and classic tunes. I loved their rendition of the Hey Joe, with the look of emotional resonance on James’ face while demonstrating his guitar aptitude. After a few songs though it seemed to end fairly abruptly, which was too bad, as I enjoyed the contrast again of a more conventional sound.
Moving forward, we were treated to our final band of the evening. Frankie and the Witch Fingers have been around for quite a while now, and even as a relatively young band, have quite impressive chops of their own. It’s unfair to live in a time and place where this comparison probably comes up often, but they remind me of King Gizzard, with their cleverness and genre bending takes on psychedelic rock. Each song sounds a little bit different. Mixes of fast and slow, staccato, legato, time changes. Mix that in with their grit for performing, they have it all. And they were able to convey the complexity of their tunes as they rounded out the lovely evening at the Acid Ball Music Festival.