Psycho Las Vegas 2019 - Saturday
photo by Ben Stas

Psycho Las Vegas Saturday pics, video & recap (Misfits, Carcass, Triumph of Death, more)

Psycho Las Vegas on Saturday (8/17) was another embarrassment of riches and running from stage to stage, kicking off with Mork all the way from the pits of hell, I mean Norway. The trve classic black metal band, complete with corpse paint, were great live (as the applause from the packed room confirmed), and a nice way to start the day.

The Tom G. Warrior-led Triumph of Death brought Hellhammer songs to the United States for the first time and it was glorious. The pre-Celtic Frost band is considered by many to be part of the first wave of black metal, their legend growing over time, and Tom couldn’t be more thankful that the band he couldn’t even get people to care about in the ’80s in his home country of Switzerland was playing an arena stage to a cheering crowd in Las Vegas in 2019.

The “Original” Glenn Danzig-led Misfits reunion — truly an arena band in 2019 — headlined the big stage on Saturday. It brought out the most people the fest had had in one place for the 90 minute set, AND IT WAS GREAT. The setlist couldn’t have been better and Glenn has clearly been working out since I saw the same show in a NJ arena over a year ago. There are still a lot of pauses between songs where Glenn talks about what song they’re going to play next, but it doesn’t seem like a big deal when every song he does perform sounds so great. His voice and spirits are both in top shape.

Closing out the trifecta of legendary punk and metal frontmen, Wino’s 2019 iteration of The Obsessed played a post-Misfits set in the more intimate House of Blues. Even with a new bassist who just learned 18 songs in 2 weeks, the godfathers of doom (a trio with Wino being the only original member), played a satisfying mix of old and new songs for the late night crowd.

Death metal was represented by modern greats Tomb Mold’s early, packed, and awesome set in House of Blues, and by legendary greats Carcass on the giant stage with a giant crowd. They hilariously apologized for not sounding like Black Sabbath at the fest known for booking lots of stoner rock (and they were playing before Clutch), but nobody was complaining during the 75 minute total onslaught.

Grindcore greats Full of Hell had an unfortunate set time. They were the only band to overlap with Misfits, but they had a crowd of super fans (and those who made it over after Misfits), and impress they did.

Mark Lanegan, who was joined by Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold for a song, played a lovely non-metal set on the beach stage, and I’m sure Black Angels and Black Mountain sounded great out there too.

Isis’ Aaron Turner brought the sludgey post-metal twice in the day, first with a ripping set from his supergroup Old Man Gloom on the big stage, and later on the beach with the jammy but heavy and crushing Sumac (who replaced Oranssi Pazuzu).

Psycho wraps up on Sunday with Opeth and more. Speaking of late additions, Weedeater play that day instead of Rotting Christ, and Integrity were announced as the secret band.

Stay tuned for more about that. Photos, videos, and recaps from Thursday HERE and Friday HERE. Pictures from Saturday are in the gallery above, and you can watch a fan-taken video of part of Misfits’ set below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L1u-OfBZnw

photos by Ben Stas