The fact that two bands as sonically distant as ÖLÜM and Brian Jonestown Massacre could share a bill this past March 4, 2026 itself would go down in Ventura Music Hall’s history books is a testament to Psych Rock splendors.
Psych Rock is the least monolithic subgenre you can find. That’s part of the sound’s psychedelic nature, that it encapsulates all the weirdness the world has to offer. That said, when a person thinks psych rock, the words come with sonic baggage. Psych Rock isn’t just an umbrella term for anything trippy, it’s a style and structure of music that is loose, vibey, wild, unhinged, dreamy, and more.
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ÖLÜM represents the sort of psych rock you imagine at a completely unchained house party in Silverlake circa-2015. They sounded like the best Turkish rock and roll the Middle East has to offer. It goes to show you, one man’s psychedelic is another man’s culture. That is to say, some cultures are more inherently psychedelic than others. With histories steeped in shamanism or mysticism, non Western cultures feel more psychedelic. Sure, Europe had its witchcraft, but even that inspiration trickled down into black metal, prog, or goth before Psych Rock.
The West’s contribution to Psych Rock was the sixties, a peak in the history of all things trippy and spiritualized. Blending every non-Western spirituality into an Americanized blotted tapestry of color and cosmos, the sixties is the main inspiration for the sound behind the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I’ve always described it as music to inspire a romp through San Francisco’s Haight & Ashbury district. Much more grounded and vibey than the Grateful Dead, with better songs to amplify your high.
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This was Brian Jonestown Massacre first show in Ventura and they intended to impress. The antics that some may have hoped to see where Anton Newcombe chews his band out were not present. They played a suave set that could have used a little boost to the vocals in the mix, but still gave us all a magic carpet ride to a different place and time. Seeing the Mad Alchemist liquid light show in our minds, the music inspired a vibe that isn’t often visited upon Ventura.
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The band performed a long setlist with tracks ranging across the many years of their work, including songs like “Stairway to the Best Party in the Universe” and “Lantern” for the first time since 2016. After being completely blown away by ÖLÜM’s heavy psych riffing, BJM represented a mellow liquefaction back into the stream of the universe. We were all vibing with each other, nonverbally melding together with an abundance of love in every direction. It was like the instant ramen version of the sixties, just summon up the brilliance of BJM and take a trip to the holiest of holies American psychedelia has to offer.
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With Desert Daze putting shows on here and there, some in Southern California, some going on as far as Toronto, the Psych scene has been pronounced dead by some in Los Angeles. They declare hardcore the champion of the city’s music scene. Like in any wrestling promotion metaphor, the championship belt is always changing hands in Los Angeles. One day it was Psych, then it became goth, now hardcore. However, with Ventura living out a different era than Los Angeles, with time set back at least five years, what’s old in LA is still new to Ventura, so it’s experiencing the beginning of its Psych Rock era that some in Los Angeles dearly miss.
Words by Rob Shepyer
Photos by Michelle Evans
