Wallowing in Psychedelia: BFD Attends the Firecracker 500

I made my way down to Iowa City for the first night of The Firecracker 500 last week. It was hot and the genius that I am, I parked a rather long distance away, so I was working on a good sweat by the time I reached The Mill. I finally made it, a little worse for wear and tear maybe, but oh well. I got there and I spent a lot of time lurking about and meandering around until things got started. 

I talked to Ross Meyer of Rusty Buckets some and also sat down and had a conversation with Steven Krakow a.k.a. Plastic Crimewave. Actually, I had commissioned to do an interview but we just talked about records and comic books. In retrospect (after experiencing The Plastic Crimewave Syndicates set) I'd describe it as sitting at the feet of some psychedelic warrior monk. Look for a piece on the Plastic Crimewave Universe some time in the future.

Steve Krakow aka Plastic Crimewave

The show finally got started with Rusty Buckets taking the stage. These gentlemen proceeded to lay down the Buddy Holly is a werewolf, junkyard voodoo stomp and howl in the only way it can be done, which of course is FULL THROTTLE! Make no mistake, these guys kick ass. If The Oblivians are your cup of tea you'll love these guys.

Next up was The Plastic Crimewave Syndicate. They set to the task of proving that space is the place with their all out cosmic barrage of sound. A sound that conjured up images in my mind of giant spacecraft careening into the sides of monolithic obsidian mountains on some alien landscape. 

Whatever, just listen to this band and come up with your own incredible metaphors. These psychedelic heavy hitters are a bad well worth obsessing about. They also have some of the coolest swag I've ever seen.

The show culminated with the band Heaters making their presence felt. And where else can you go after a trip through space? Back in time of course. Somewhere around 1966 maybe. The first couple of tunes by these guys had me convinced they were into some kind of psychic link with the 13th Floor Elevators. I was almost expecting someone to start playing an electric jug. Haunted and heavy. I loved it.

The Heaters (Photo taken from their Facebook page)

I really wish that I could have been able to be there for the other two nights of the Firecracker 500. I can say that from now on the entire event is going to be something I'm going to make sure is on my summer schedule. As long as it keeps bringing in this kind of music I am in for the long haul.