MIAMI PSYCH FEST
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In the aftermath of the Fyre Festival and its Battle Royale set-up that left people stranded in the Bahamas having shelled out tons of dough for tents and sandwiches on a beach with nary a celebrity in sight; it’s a wonder that festival culture still thrives. But, while that situation was clearly a con, there is still a healthy culture of multi-day, music and arts festivals. For every Fyre Festival, there is a Riot-Fest or Marley Fest that brings like minded people together to enjoy themselves and their specific interests.
South Florida seems to be the perfect spot for a psych fest, we have the beach, drugs, great bands and a party atmosphere that lends itself to getting lost in the midst of all of those vices. The Perfect Trip: Miami Psych Fest produced by Eclectic Overdrive is a labor of love that was inspired, in part, by Levitation Festival. The idea behind, what will hopefully become an annual event: The Perfect Trip, is that while all the bands that are playing may not be psych rock bands, they do fit together in a way that makes sense; basically, they would all be fun bands to hang with while under the influence.
The acts on the bill range from sun drenched bummer rockers, Heavy Drag to the noise rock influenced Ian Iachimoe, the psych and folky music of the Dewars and somehow the typically straight up noise of the Kenny Millions Trio featuring Rat Bastard and Steven Bristol will be transformed to a Jazz set of sorts. The mixed bag of bands is an effort to capitalize on the local crowd and get everyone excited enough to come out and support the music community that has found new interest in festivals.
With I.N.C, Three Points and the recent Rolling Loud Festival, The Perfect Trip joins a plethora of annual events that spotlight the best parts of the city and some of the most exciting up and coming acts South Florida can offer. While some of the more established festivals have the ability to book major acts, The Perfect Trip is more about establishing the festival status with locals and eventually getting the big name acts interested in playing. In other words: If you book it, they will come.
Eclectic Overdrive presents The Perfect Trip: Miami Psych Fest June 23 and June 24 at the Bridge in Miami. Tickets are just $10 a day, or $15 for a weekend pass.
~ Tim Moffatt
