As the first song from Stöner’s first album, “Stoners Rule,” states: “Rad Stays Rad.” And that’s exactly what these three veterans of the low desert scene have done over the span of 30+ years.
After pulling double duty and helping out Mario Lalli by playing with Yawning Man, Stöner Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu) sporting a D.O.A. shirt, Ryan Gut (Hammerface, Brant Bjork), and Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Mondo Generator, QOTSA) re-emerged to the stage and immediately began to pummel the crowd with their speaker ripping, fuzzed-out grooves. Aside from a few moments of friendly banter with the front row, Stöner refused to take their foot off the brakes from start to finish with Bjork (guitar/vox) and Oliveri (bass, vox) taking turns on vocals while blasting riff after riff, and Gut holding down the back end on drums.
The set was comprised of mostly songs from their debut album, “Stoners Rule,” along with a few covers including Motorhead’s “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.,“ and closing the night with two searing Kyuss covers – “Green Machine” and “Gardenia”; an obvious homage to their desert roots. If you’re a Stöner fan, you’ll be pleasantly stoked to know that not only did they play “A Million Beers” from their upcoming release, “Totally…,” but they also played a new song, “No Brainer,” from the album due after that which clearly shows that Stöner isn’t just a casual thing, but a lifestyle.
