Provided by Psychs Peak
Audio By Carbonatix
Acidheads, unite! The sixth annual Psychs Peak is returning to Green Mountain Ranch in Pine this weekend, from Thursday, Aug. 27, through Saturday, Aug. 29, with its biggest and baddest lineup yet.
Over 30 bands are set to perform across three days in the secluded mountain wilderness. This year’s rendition includes some of the hottest local psychedelic groups right now — Jesus Christ Taxi Driver, Love Gang, Horse Bitch, Los Toms, to name a few — as well as national headliners Hippie Death Cult and Doom Gong on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
What began as an intimate musical camping retreat in 2020 has blossomed into one of the Front Range’s preeminent gatherings for psychedelia freaks through grassroots efforts and some guerrilla marketing, according to head honcho David O’Donnell.
“It started out as just six local bands,” he says.
O’Donnell and co-founder Nate Dorlac are bandmates in Fort Collins desert-fuzz crew Los Toms. They are the boots on the ground, putting up posters and handing out flyers at local festivals like Blucifer’s First Rodeo and Underground Music Showcase. During last summer’s inaugural Field of Vision in Buena Vista, Dorlac tossed a leaflet on stage before King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s set. Frontman Stu Mackenzie grabbed it and read it out loud to the thousands in the crowd. This year, he attempted it again, throwing a Los Toms tee wrapped in a Psychs Peak poster. A stagehand picked up the flyer before the band came out, but Gizz guitarist Joey Walker draped the shirt on his mic stand. The duo also set up an unofficial fest HQ in the Field of Vision campground.
“I think the word’s getting out. That’s our bread and butter, is word of mouth,” O’Donnell says. “We rely on the bands to post on their socials and get the word out. I think people who are at those festivals are our target audience.”
The Colorado psych scene is as healthy as ever right now, and O’Donnell and Dorlac have some ideas as to why, including a heady Grateful Dead connection.
“There’s nothing quite like the Colorado scene. I think our isolation in Colorado is one of our greatest strengths,” Dorlac explains. “There’s nothing for eight to 12 hours in either direction. That creates a more self-reliant system. And when it comes to music, there’s so much good music here, so many talented people.”
Plus, Denver is far from a flyover spot anymore, O’Donnell adds.
“We’re lucky that we get tons of national touring acts, just because we’re the only stop on the way out to the West Coast,” he says. ‘I think our psych scene can get inspired and ride the coattails, a little bit, of some of those bigger psych bands that come through.”
Courtesy Psychs Peak
But the basis for the current subculture goes back even further, according to Dorlac.
“I have another theory that involves the Grateful Dead and Owlsey setting up acid manufacturing labs in Colorado as, perhaps, why Colorado is kind of the epicenter of psychedelia,” he says of the infamous Dead sound guy and confidant. “It used to be San Francisco, then he moved here in the 70s. Boulder’s had that psychedelic vibe for a while.”
As King Gizz adopts Colorado’s music scene, Psychs Peak wants to jump on a similar uptake by fostering psych music it year-round.
“It’s a good place to meet like-minded people and people who are in the scene. If you’re trying to start a band or just started a band, come check out the fest and, maybe, in a couple years you’ll be on the stage,” O’Donnell says, pointing to Bitchflower, a band that met and formed during the 2023 fest and is now headlining Saturday this year.
Tips for first-timers
Camping is optional for Psychs Peak attendees. There will be food trucks on site, but try to bring your own water, booze and food. Keep the Stage 1 fire restrictions in mind at all times; that means no open campfires.
“You got to bring everything. Bring all your own shelter; be prepared for temps in the upper 40s at night. It almost always rains, so you got to be ready for that. Bring a propane fire pit. Those will be nice at night. You can have propane grills, too,” O’Donnell adds. “If you have all of those boxes checked, you should be in for a good weekend.”
And don’t forget, enjoy it.
“There are so many good people at the festival, so it’s always cool when people are new or they haven’t done it and they get to leave with a lot of friends,” Dorlac concludes. “I just love to see people have a good time and get inspired.”
Psychs Peak runs from 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, to Saturday, Aug. 29, at Green Mountain Ranch, 22184 County Road 126, Pine. Tickets are $70-$300.
