Black Rainbows Puts Desertfest Belgium Under the "Desert Sun" (Live Track + Video Premiere)

December 22, 2021

For rock and roll, there’s no greater test for a new song than playing it live. Fans might discount anything other than a studio version (I’m definitely guilty of this!), but for a band trying to figure out if their new music brings the heat or falls flat, the crucible of a live performance and sensing how a song plays out against an energized audience is vital to making it ‘click,’ on record or otherwise. In fact, there may never be as pure an expression of a song as the first live performances before it makes it to tape, when there’s no standard to compare a performance against. In their set at Desertfest Belgium earlier this year, Black Rainbows unleashed two such songs that haven’t been recorded yet—and we’ve got a live video here for one of them, “Desert Sun,” which will feature on the band’s upcoming live album Live At Desertfest Belgium. This may not have been the first ever live performance, but given the Italian stoner rockers’ prolific release cadence, it’s certainly on the newer side. Check out the video of the song’s performance below:

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On stage, the power trio’s single-minded approach to riff/rhythm coexistence put them in complete control of their audience, and they flawlessly knocked out this song as well as existing material. Starting off with some pounding chords and pensive silence, “Desert Sun” soon launches into one of the wicked, hazy grooves with which Black Rainbows has made a name for themselves, adding in ringing vocals and slowly turning up the temperature with every smoky riff they deploy and iterate upon. The crowd, evident at times during the video, responds enthusiastically to the song’s energy—seems to me like this song’s all set for launch.

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Live at Desertfest Belgium will release February 22nd via Heavy Psych Sounds (for US pre-sales, see here). Some of Black Rainbows’ catalog is also being reissued: